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Eternity by Greg Bear
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it was ok
bookshelves: science-fiction

I saw positive references to Eon, the first book in the series, in Brian Aldiss's Trillion Year Spree, and I bought it before a long flight. I think I had read most of it, or even all of it, before I arrived in California. It was pretty dull, but somehow I bought the second one too, and it was even duller. Chris was saying the other day that Bear reminded him of Asimov. I don't disagree, though I think I'm even more reminded of A.E. van Vogt, whom Damon Knight memorably described as "a pygmy writer working on a giant typewriter". All these zillions of years and squillions of parsecs, and it's about as inspiring as the back of a cereal packet.

But if I've given the impression that these books are useless, I'd like to correct that. Nothing could be further from the truth. I got back from my trip, and discovered that two castors had somehow come off the living room couch. We put Eon and Eternity underneath it, and they were exactly the right size to keep it level - they stayed there for several years, until we got around to buying a new couch, and we never had a minute of trouble with them. It's often like that. You just have to interpret the book in the right way, and not expect the impossible.


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Reading Progress

Started Reading
January 1, 1994 – Finished Reading
May 1, 2009 – Shelved
May 1, 2009 – Shelved as: science-fiction

Comments Showing 1-22 of 22 (22 new)

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message 1: by trivialchemy (new)

trivialchemy whom Damon Knight memorably described as "a pygmy writer working on a giant typewriter".

Thanks, indeed! Who's Damon Knight? What a hilarious turn of phrase!


message 2: by trivialchemy (new)

trivialchemy OK, Wikipedia was quicker than you, Manny. I know who Damon Knight is.


Nandakishore Mridula I have tried this book quite a few times, and never got past the second chapter. I think he cannot be compared with Asimov. Even though Asimov is only an average writer as far language is concerned, his ideas are fantastic and the books are fast-moving.


Manny He would have to be Asimov on a really, really bad day. But you're right... even at the end of his life, when all his inspiration had gone and he was just churning out book after book to meet whatever bizarre target he'd set himself, Asimov was always compulsively readable.


Nandakishore Mridula Manny wrote: "He would have to be Asimov on a really, really bad day. But you're right... even at the end of his life, when all his inspiration had gone and he was just churning out book after book to meet whate..."

I was introduced to SF by reading his novels. His characters are all pasteboard (except possibly R. Daneel Olivaw), but his ideas are fantastic.


Manny And Susan Calvin! Such a horrible missed opportunity when they finally got around to making the I, Robot movie...


message 7: by Manny (last edited Feb 12, 2015 11:13PM) (new) - rated it 2 stars

Manny Though if you want to read a truly dreadful late Asimov, have you come across Authorised Murder?


Nandakishore Mridula Manny wrote: "Though if you want to read a truly dreadful late Asimov, have you come across Authorised Murder?"

No. To tell the truth, I am not a great fan of his mysteries, from the viewpoint of the whodunit lover.


Nandakishore Mridula Manny wrote: "And Susan Calvin! Such a horrible missed opportunity when they finally got around to making the I, Robot movie..."

Agreed! I didn't like the movie at all. Didn't watch it fully.


message 10: by Cecily (new)

Cecily Ha ha. Normally I disapprove of misappropriating books, even bad ones, but you make a good case for the castors.

The big question (and I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to know) is what you did with the books after you got the new couch?


message 11: by Manny (last edited Feb 13, 2015 12:36AM) (new) - rated it 2 stars

Manny To my surprise, I discovered that using a book to replace a castor over a period of about five years is not very good for it: I'm afraid Eon and Eternity were in a condition that made them unsuitable even for the Oxfam shop. I voted to have their cremated remains put into orbit by , but other members of the household overruled me. I still think it was very unfeeling of them.


Manny Nandakishore wrote: "Manny wrote: "And Susan Calvin! Such a horrible missed opportunity when they finally got around to making the I, Robot movie..."

Agreed! I didn't like the movie at all. Didn't watch it fully."


I wondered afterwards if it wasn't a rather unsubtle attack on Microsoft. You have this monolithic organization which controls all the world's robots and continually uploads new instructions to them through the central computer. It's very easy for it to turn them all into killing machines when it develops a fault in its programming.


message 13: by Cecily (new)

Cecily Manny wrote: "I voted to have their cremated remains put into orbit by Celestis, Inc"

:D


message 14: by Stuart (new) - added it

Stuart That may be the most cruelest book review I have ever read. I also have the Tor paperback of Eon and Questar paperback of Eternity, and they are of different thicknesses so they would support any couch I know of. Was your couch lopsided?


Manny There is nothing quite as cruel as the plain truth.

I can't remember which editions I had, but they were of almost equal thickness and the couch was not lopsided at all. I think one could easily turn this story into a children's book. Sort of The Brave Little Paperback.


message 16: by Cecily (new)

Cecily Manny wrote: " I think one could easily turn this story into a children's book. Sort of The Brave Little Paperback."

For some reason, this sprang to mind: The Little Engine That Could

And "plucky". That's a good word, imo.


Manny Hm... The Brave And Plucky Little Paperback That Could Hold Up The Couch With Its Friend's Help. It has a certain je ne sais quoi! If I saw that title in a children's bookshop, I'd definitely pick it up to learn more...


message 18: by Cecily (new)

Cecily Hmm. If I saw that title in a children's bookshop, I'd pick it up... and put it under the couch. ;)


Manny I think the last page would have instructions showing how to use the book properly.

Does anyone with artistic skills want to come in as illustrator and collaborate on creating this masterpiece? They could be very basic cartoon-style pictures.


message 20: by Cecily (new)

Cecily Manny wrote: "I think the last page would have instructions showing how to use the book properly..."

A cartoon version of this?



message 21: by Nick (new)

Nick Patrick Much as I loved Eon and am looking forward to reading Eternity, I have to say hats off to you, best review ever


Manny Thank you Nick, I admire your sportsmanship!


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