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I loved this book as a teenager/young adult in the 80's. It was the awesomest thing I'd read to that point, and it remained awesome in my memory. I own a true first edition hardcover in fine condition—actually pretty rare, especially in such good shape—and it will remain one of the prized pieces of my book collection for a long time. Eon also will remain one of the seminal sci-fi works of the late-20th Century. In retrospect its influence on later works is clear, its position as a pioneering work solid. It helps that Greg Bear is a physicist and mathematician, and his knowledge impelled him to make use of modern theoretical physics in ways that previous sci-fi authors couldn’t but which every subsequent author would attempt to emulate and tune to their own songs. The world building—and here I must qualify, I mean in the Thistledown asteroid—is fabulous. For those of you who haven't read Eon, the asteroid appears in our solar system from another universe, one closely paralleling our own, and enters orbit around Earth. We send people to investigate and discover seven hollowed-out chambers full of cities, forests, mountains, deserts, and machinery. The great wonder—which you quickly discover so I'm not really spoiling anything—is that the seventh chamber goes on forever. Re-reading this book I felt like I was entering through the bore-hole for the first time and experiencing the asteroid anew. I was there, in the Thistledown, one of the team, ready to explore and learn and add to scientific knowledge and grow closer to myself and my teammates. Then, when the war came, I felt the anguish and grief of The Death; I thought deeply about the horrors of nuclear weapons and the devastation they will someday bring.

And yes, if you're wondering, I do believe that nuclear weapons, so long as we allow them to exist, pose a very real threat to the survival of our civilization. No weapon is ever designed not to be used. If nuclear weapons are never again used, it's because they've either been destroyed or superseded by something more horrible.

Coming back down from my soapbox � Greg Bear's writing was very satisfying for me when I was younger. He conveys information effectively, dreams up creative storylines, and knows how to keep a plot moving. Now, having expanding my reading tastes—and ability—to a much broader spectrum of styles and authors, I find Bear's style a bit grating. Not too grating to read, but enough to make me chafe, like rubbing your palm on very fine sandpaper. Still, reading it again now, I thoroughly enjoyed Eon through the first 250-or-so pages. The plot was interesting and moved quickly. The characters were a little too obvious, a little to "best-seller" shallow for my taste, but they fit their environment and had plausible motivations and actions.

Then, somewhere between page 250 and 300, things settled down. The story plateaued. Many mysteries were solved, most plot points wrapped up. The mysteries and plot points that remained unresolved were, to me, not so interesting anymore. The world-building became estranged, even contrived, though that may be a bit too harsh. It became more about the characters than the plot. Now, let's make sure we're on the same page, here. I love character studies. I'm okay with a slow-moving plot full of interesting characters. But, as I noted above, the characters in Eon aren't that interesting. They make sense, but there's no real mystery to them, not enough depth to explore, and so became predictable. Slow plot + predictable characters = Bo.Ring.

However, even given the flaws and failings, I'm still glad I re-read Eon. It showed me how far my reading taste has evolved over the last 20 years. It helped me appreciate Eon in a way I couldn't as a young man, for the original work that it was. Re-reading Eon also was a nostalgic experience, helping me connect with my younger self, the self that developed a passion for sci-fi largely because of Eon and others of Greg Bear's novels. So, its flaws notwithstanding, Eon will retain is "awesomest" status in my memories.