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The Way #2
Eternity
A visitor from the end of time comes to take a handful of strangers into space, where they must destroy the ultimate marvel of science in this powerful sf classic."Modern mainstream SF of the highest order...Bear rockets the story ever onward and upward". -- Chicago Tribune
367 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
422 people are currently reading
3341 people want to read
About the author
Greg Bear
229 books2,094 followersGreg Bear was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict (Forge of God books), parallel universes (The Way series), consciousness and cultural practices (Queen of Angels), and accelerated evolution (Blood Music, Darwin’s Radio, and Darwin’s Children). His last work was the 2021 novel The Unfinished Land. Greg Bear wrote over 50 books in total.
(For a more complete biography, see Wikipedia.)
(For a more complete biography, see Wikipedia.)
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 193 reviews
May 1, 2009
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.
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.
February 13, 2015
Statutory warning to potential readers: the book is named based on the time it will take to get through it.
April 8, 2015
This is the 1990 sequel to Greg Bear's 1985 Eon.
Eon was a very good hard-sf novel, that unfortunately has come to suffer from being written at a time (1985) when nobody knew the Soviet Union was about to go out with a whimper rather than a bang. By the time Eternity was written in 1990, that was known, and Bear downplayed a lot of the Cold War plot events that were already established in the Eon universe. Unfortunately, another paradigm was about to shift as well, and I refer here to inflationary cosmology. There is no longer any question as to whether the universe is decelerating fast enough to eventually re-contract. Evidence found in the 1990s clearly indicates that the expansion of the universe is in fact accelerating, and the universe as we know it will simply gradually dissipate, forever. No end of time. No build-up of intelligent experience/memory to propel through the Big Crunch into the next cycle of the universe. No "Way" at least not as Bear envisioned it in the 1980s. Sadly this writing has become an exercise in out-of-date geopolitics and cosmology.
Aside from that, in terms of plot and characterization, this is not as strong a work as the original Eon. About 30 years have passed since the sundering of the artificial pocket universe known as the Way from the hollowed and inhabited asteroid known as Thistledown, and Earth itself is only partially recovered. The major known characters scattered through spacetime at the end of Eon, and have mostly now aged appropriately to their circumstances. The major plot suspense now is whether there will be the political will to re-open the Way. Bear lovingly explores the world and life setting of each of the characters drawing them very slowly together. I found this to drag on much more than necessary. One high point, however, was the alternate Greek-dominated Earth where Patricia had been stranded, whose point of departure from our own history was back during the reign of Alexander the Great. I would be interested to read a complete novel in that setting.
In the end, though, I found this to be just a tolerable extension of an aging great work.
Eon was a very good hard-sf novel, that unfortunately has come to suffer from being written at a time (1985) when nobody knew the Soviet Union was about to go out with a whimper rather than a bang. By the time Eternity was written in 1990, that was known, and Bear downplayed a lot of the Cold War plot events that were already established in the Eon universe. Unfortunately, another paradigm was about to shift as well, and I refer here to inflationary cosmology. There is no longer any question as to whether the universe is decelerating fast enough to eventually re-contract. Evidence found in the 1990s clearly indicates that the expansion of the universe is in fact accelerating, and the universe as we know it will simply gradually dissipate, forever. No end of time. No build-up of intelligent experience/memory to propel through the Big Crunch into the next cycle of the universe. No "Way" at least not as Bear envisioned it in the 1980s. Sadly this writing has become an exercise in out-of-date geopolitics and cosmology.
Aside from that, in terms of plot and characterization, this is not as strong a work as the original Eon. About 30 years have passed since the sundering of the artificial pocket universe known as the Way from the hollowed and inhabited asteroid known as Thistledown, and Earth itself is only partially recovered. The major known characters scattered through spacetime at the end of Eon, and have mostly now aged appropriately to their circumstances. The major plot suspense now is whether there will be the political will to re-open the Way. Bear lovingly explores the world and life setting of each of the characters drawing them very slowly together. I found this to drag on much more than necessary. One high point, however, was the alternate Greek-dominated Earth where Patricia had been stranded, whose point of departure from our own history was back during the reign of Alexander the Great. I would be interested to read a complete novel in that setting.
In the end, though, I found this to be just a tolerable extension of an aging great work.
August 13, 2024
A bit of a misunderstood sequel, possibly.
Where Eon dealt with The Way itself, Eternity does nothing of the sort, although it does have some sense of wonder elements.
The novel is comprised almost entirely of the political build up and debate around whether,
1. The Way should be reopened,
2. The Way should be reopened and destroyed, or
3. The Way should be left sealed off
There are three factions and the novel is told from the perspectives of proponents of each of the choices on the table (with the relevant background details driving their beliefs). And that is all there is too it, more or less. Oh, except that there are some ramifications to each of the above…
Now before you cry “foul” – it is worth noting that Eternity is actually not a bad novel. I have been avoiding it for very long, because of the synopsis (fairly clear it was never going to be another Eon), but I ended up enjoying it all the same.
There are some sequences here that I really found intriguing, notably those providing detail about the nature of the Jarts, but also the philosophical and metaphysical aspects of the novel. It was something I hadn’t expected, and I thought Bear dealt with these quite well.
As far as novels about Post Humans and transcendence go, you could probably do better than Eternity but you could also do much worse. If you go into this with the right expectation there is no reason not to enjoy it. Bear seems to attract quite a bit of criticism, but for the most part I have always found his books (the ones I’ve read, at any rate) very palatable.
Eternity also features early examples of the kind of artificial, or simulated, environments that feature so prominently in the works of authors like Peter F. Hamilton (I’m reading the Void trilogy and I couldn’t help but pick up on some similarities).
3.5 stars.
Is it immodest to say we planned to become gods? We had no choice. We had reached the end of the Way, such as it had any end, and we could not go back…
Where Eon dealt with The Way itself, Eternity does nothing of the sort, although it does have some sense of wonder elements.
The novel is comprised almost entirely of the political build up and debate around whether,
1. The Way should be reopened,
2. The Way should be reopened and destroyed, or
3. The Way should be left sealed off
There are three factions and the novel is told from the perspectives of proponents of each of the choices on the table (with the relevant background details driving their beliefs). And that is all there is too it, more or less. Oh, except that there are some ramifications to each of the above…
Now before you cry “foul” – it is worth noting that Eternity is actually not a bad novel. I have been avoiding it for very long, because of the synopsis (fairly clear it was never going to be another Eon), but I ended up enjoying it all the same.
There are some sequences here that I really found intriguing, notably those providing detail about the nature of the Jarts, but also the philosophical and metaphysical aspects of the novel. It was something I hadn’t expected, and I thought Bear dealt with these quite well.
As far as novels about Post Humans and transcendence go, you could probably do better than Eternity but you could also do much worse. If you go into this with the right expectation there is no reason not to enjoy it. Bear seems to attract quite a bit of criticism, but for the most part I have always found his books (the ones I’ve read, at any rate) very palatable.
Eternity also features early examples of the kind of artificial, or simulated, environments that feature so prominently in the works of authors like Peter F. Hamilton (I’m reading the Void trilogy and I couldn’t help but pick up on some similarities).
3.5 stars.
Is it immodest to say we planned to become gods? We had no choice. We had reached the end of the Way, such as it had any end, and we could not go back…
February 24, 2010
This, the sequel to Eon, is much better than its predecessor. Jeopardy is introduced early and the book appears to be about some things; going home and getting old. Unfortunately I still found it hard to relate to most of the characters and their varied fates.
There is, I discovered, a third book - I feel that I'd like to read it more to see where the SF ideas go than from a desire to follow the characters further. I'm in no pressing hurry, though.
There is, I discovered, a third book - I feel that I'd like to read it more to see where the SF ideas go than from a desire to follow the characters further. I'm in no pressing hurry, though.
January 31, 2013
One of the things that makes great science fiction stand out is the big ideas. Eternity is full of big ideas. The story is well told, although it takes a while to get going, but once it does it clips along at a fair rate. Highly recommended.
April 25, 2013
De fapt am recitit-o si cu siguranta am inteles mai multe decat prima oara cand am citit-o ca pe o carte de sine statatoare.
August 30, 2009
While I initially had mixed feelings about Bear's Eon, I have to admit that certain points of his world did capture my interest and I did feel the desire to read more. In this light, Eternity is excellent and shows us what happens to most of the important characters after the final events in Eon. In contrast though, the book was extremely slow to start and seemed mainly concerned about the characters attitudes and feelings as long passages were devoted to personal insight and environmental descriptions. Only after about 1/3 into the novel do things become much more interesting and the conclusion is definitely thought provoking. Overall, I would recommend fans of Eon to give this book a chance as it seems a fitting conclusion to the story, even if a bit long winded. (There is a third volume to the saga, but I may not read it.)
September 4, 2017
3.5 stars
I found this second book in the series to be just slightly better than the first. It is a direct sequel to Eon. Relatively, it had less politics, less technological descriptions, more drama and dialogues. Yet, I did not really enjoy at all times. Some parts of the story were such that I decided to nearly skim through them, while some were certainly interesting. I also found the writing style of the author to be something which I could not really absorb quickly, somehow, which goes out to both of his books. The continuing story is interesting enough, yet something was holding me back from not getting caught in its grip, and I was at several times wanting the book to just end.
I found this second book in the series to be just slightly better than the first. It is a direct sequel to Eon. Relatively, it had less politics, less technological descriptions, more drama and dialogues. Yet, I did not really enjoy at all times. Some parts of the story were such that I decided to nearly skim through them, while some were certainly interesting. I also found the writing style of the author to be something which I could not really absorb quickly, somehow, which goes out to both of his books. The continuing story is interesting enough, yet something was holding me back from not getting caught in its grip, and I was at several times wanting the book to just end.
September 22, 2010
I must say the book kept me entranced to the very ending, finishing a 2am, but on the whole I really was not happy with how things worked out. Somehow I get the feeling he did not know what to do with the mess he had created. But since it kept me interested & since it is the first book I have read on my new Kindle it gets 3 stars rather than the two my assessment of the plot would incline me to give.
**Mild spoilers: My objections: All the interesting world building was in Eon, the whole thing devolved into the gods messing us up, and basically everything was returned to what it was at the beginning of Eon. It was just not satisfying for me.
**Mild spoilers: My objections: All the interesting world building was in Eon, the whole thing devolved into the gods messing us up, and basically everything was returned to what it was at the beginning of Eon. It was just not satisfying for me.
November 13, 2013
Eternity by Greg Bear
3/5 stars
Although it has the same characters and universe (multiple universes really) as Eon, the first book in the trilogy, this is really quite a different book. In some respects it was better than that first book, in others worse.
I found this book was much less confusing than Eon; it managed to make the whole Hexamon society much more understandable and accessible. In Eon I felt I was being bombarded by too much new stuff all the time and this made the book and certainly my recollections of it more than a little confused. Eternity, on the other hand, is somehow much easier to follow, though the plot itself is no less complex. I also found myself getting closer to the characters than I ever did in Eon (even though many of them are the same!).
My main complaint with Eternity was its pacing which I found very poor. The first half to two thirds of the book I found very slow and it really dragged. The latter part of the book did redeem it though, and was very good. I struggled a little bit with the Gaia sections which were inevitably very different to the other parts of the books and it always felt like a big switch moving between those sections and the others and yet despite this I think I ended up liking those sections the best. Go figure.
All in all not an excellent book, but a good enough one for me to read the third at some time in the future.
3/5 stars
Although it has the same characters and universe (multiple universes really) as Eon, the first book in the trilogy, this is really quite a different book. In some respects it was better than that first book, in others worse.
I found this book was much less confusing than Eon; it managed to make the whole Hexamon society much more understandable and accessible. In Eon I felt I was being bombarded by too much new stuff all the time and this made the book and certainly my recollections of it more than a little confused. Eternity, on the other hand, is somehow much easier to follow, though the plot itself is no less complex. I also found myself getting closer to the characters than I ever did in Eon (even though many of them are the same!).
My main complaint with Eternity was its pacing which I found very poor. The first half to two thirds of the book I found very slow and it really dragged. The latter part of the book did redeem it though, and was very good. I struggled a little bit with the Gaia sections which were inevitably very different to the other parts of the books and it always felt like a big switch moving between those sections and the others and yet despite this I think I ended up liking those sections the best. Go figure.
All in all not an excellent book, but a good enough one for me to read the third at some time in the future.
May 20, 2021
What.. was all that? Did they want to open The Way? Did they want to destroy it instead? Who's they, anyways? And why was first half of the book spent on figuring out if Mirsky is real or not?
February 21, 2019
Eternity is one very good novella, intermixed with an okay novella, and a mediocre one. Unfortunately, the mediocre one is the most important.
Roughly 30 years after the events of Eon, the characters are trying to make sense of what comes next.
The good part is Rhita, granddaughter of Patricia Vasquez from Eon, stranded on an alternate Earth dominated by Ptolemaic heirs of Alexander the Great. A gifted scholar, carrying the strange artifacts of her grandmother, Rhita lives in a deft, Greek inspired alternate Earth, and has to negotiate a way to open a gate back to the Way, without understanding the consequences. I loved the glimpses of alternate history, and wished there were more of that.
The okay novella follows Olmy, as he investigates the great secret of the Jart War. It seems that at some point, Hexamon Defense captured a Jart and hit it away in Thistledown. Olmy's last mission is to interrogate the Jart, a combination of diplomacy, cryptography, and mind-to-mind combat. It turns out the Jarts a cybernetic collective, with a goal of archiving every lived experience. They are interesting antagonists, though the military aspect of the series has always been a weak point.
The mediocre novella follows Lanier, now an old man who has refused regenerative medicine, and the political struggle between rebuilding Earth in the aftermath of a nuclear war, and reopening the Way. Pavel Mirsky reappears, an avatar of a godlike intelligence at the end of time, with a dangerous message. The Way must be destroyed for the universe to reach its fulfillment. The politics and cosmology are scattershot, and the meditates about death and the growing distance between Lanier and his wife Karen little more than cliches.
Roughly 30 years after the events of Eon, the characters are trying to make sense of what comes next.
The good part is Rhita, granddaughter of Patricia Vasquez from Eon, stranded on an alternate Earth dominated by Ptolemaic heirs of Alexander the Great. A gifted scholar, carrying the strange artifacts of her grandmother, Rhita lives in a deft, Greek inspired alternate Earth, and has to negotiate a way to open a gate back to the Way, without understanding the consequences. I loved the glimpses of alternate history, and wished there were more of that.
The okay novella follows Olmy, as he investigates the great secret of the Jart War. It seems that at some point, Hexamon Defense captured a Jart and hit it away in Thistledown. Olmy's last mission is to interrogate the Jart, a combination of diplomacy, cryptography, and mind-to-mind combat. It turns out the Jarts a cybernetic collective, with a goal of archiving every lived experience. They are interesting antagonists, though the military aspect of the series has always been a weak point.
The mediocre novella follows Lanier, now an old man who has refused regenerative medicine, and the political struggle between rebuilding Earth in the aftermath of a nuclear war, and reopening the Way. Pavel Mirsky reappears, an avatar of a godlike intelligence at the end of time, with a dangerous message. The Way must be destroyed for the universe to reach its fulfillment. The politics and cosmology are scattershot, and the meditates about death and the growing distance between Lanier and his wife Karen little more than cliches.
July 11, 2007
This follow-up to Greg Bear's earlier "Eon" clinched my feelings about this two-part drama of parallel universes, asteroid starships, and space-time distortions. It's been done before and done better. While certainly a complex tale, Bear's pedestrian writing style and Tom Clancy/Michael Crichton sensibility for plot twists and character development rob the story of any majesty or serious social observation. The beauty of a mathematically ingenious wormhole spanning universes and time itself becomes mostly a plot device for uninspired alien invasion/investigations. The theme of knowing yourself and being home, labored upon obviously and even out loud by many characters, loses its poignancy early.
I prefer Rendezvous with Rama.
I prefer Rendezvous with Rama.
March 27, 2011
The sequel, Eternity, is about how mankind must give up it’s manipulation on space-time. After the message of hope brought by the first novel, it is interesting how in Eternity Bear takes humanity back down a notch, not closing the door to the future but simply reminding us that the gods do not take kindly to hubris. And through it all, Bear’s astounding imagination is combined with a gift for good, clear and interesting prose.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=437
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=437
February 15, 2013
I am an hardened fan of Greg Bear and have read a number of his books, i.e. Eon, The Serpent Mage, The Infinity Concerto, Blood Music and others. I have found them all to be a great and grasping read and reccommend them to anyone who likes good quality science fiction stories. The concept of this book being the second in the series is remarkable. His first, Eon was an amazing story and Legacy was also an incredible read.
February 23, 2020
Oh the beautiful hexamon society Bear details fascinates and titillates my deepest transhumanist fantasies! "Eternity" continues some years further than where "Eon" left off ... it entices you into two intriguing societies continuing the stories of the wonderfully developed characters you grew to love in the first book and leaves you satisfied yet excited for the next book.
August 23, 2022
Ei kovinkaan helppolukuinen teos, jonka tapahtumissa oli paikoitellen vaikea pysyä perässä. Todennäköisesti olisi helpottanut, jos olisi lukenut tämän heti ensimmäisen osan perään, eikä parin vuoden tauolla.
Kuitenkin mielenkiintoinen kirja, joka varmasti kuuluu scifi-klassikoihin.
Kuitenkin mielenkiintoinen kirja, joka varmasti kuuluu scifi-klassikoihin.
December 17, 2020
Probably the best novel in the three-novel series. The concepts of humans becoming or joining a creation at the end of time and presenting data is part of the occult god delusion known as "Omega Point" which Christanic and Islamic cultists some times believe in, yet the author goes to some pains to note that he's not talking about white supremacist constructs, he's talking about humans being part of the deity-like construct at the end of time.
February 15, 2020
Bear, Greg. Eternity. The Way No. 2. Warner, 1988.
Even though Greg Bear eventually wrote a prequel novel to The Way series, Eternity seems to be its conclusion, though there are enough loose ends that he could have more transhuman-multiverse fun someday if he gets the urge. This novel has pretty well ditched the cold war politics that seemed so out of place in Eon, but the plot is again three- or four-ring circus. The asteroid Thistledown is now in Earth orbit and is using its technology to repair the planet after the apocalyptic war that isolated Thistledown in the first novel. But the Jart and their descendants are back with agendas of their own. The best new character is the granddaughter of Patricia who landed in a version of the Earth called Gaia in which Alexander the Great lived to a ripe old age and was able to keep the Hellenic empire together. If there is ever another novel in the series, I hope it picks up her thread. The Way is certainly big-idea, sense-of-wonder science fiction with some interesting speculation on the upside and downside of uploading your consciousness. I am sorry I waited so long to read it.
Even though Greg Bear eventually wrote a prequel novel to The Way series, Eternity seems to be its conclusion, though there are enough loose ends that he could have more transhuman-multiverse fun someday if he gets the urge. This novel has pretty well ditched the cold war politics that seemed so out of place in Eon, but the plot is again three- or four-ring circus. The asteroid Thistledown is now in Earth orbit and is using its technology to repair the planet after the apocalyptic war that isolated Thistledown in the first novel. But the Jart and their descendants are back with agendas of their own. The best new character is the granddaughter of Patricia who landed in a version of the Earth called Gaia in which Alexander the Great lived to a ripe old age and was able to keep the Hellenic empire together. If there is ever another novel in the series, I hope it picks up her thread. The Way is certainly big-idea, sense-of-wonder science fiction with some interesting speculation on the upside and downside of uploading your consciousness. I am sorry I waited so long to read it.
December 14, 2010
This is the sequel to Eon, which I just reviewed. This book deals with some of the consequences of the artificial universe described in the first book. Because most of the book deals with re-opening the new universe, as well as politics, it's not as interesting as Eon. However, there is a large portion of the book which deals with a main character taken over by a vicious alien intelligence. Those parts are the most interesting.
Overall I enjoyed the book, and would recommend it.
Overall I enjoyed the book, and would recommend it.
November 16, 2013
I listened to the audiobook version, read by Roy Abers.
I enjoyed the book a great deal. Less so than the first book of the series, "Eon". Perhaps that was due to the fact that the first book introduced me to so many new ideas and was the initial world-building for the series. Still a great read.
started: 2010-09-24.Sep.Fri 11:07:45
finished: 2010-10-01.Oct.Fri 12:14:14
duration: 14h:20m:44s
I enjoyed the book a great deal. Less so than the first book of the series, "Eon". Perhaps that was due to the fact that the first book introduced me to so many new ideas and was the initial world-building for the series. Still a great read.
started: 2010-09-24.Sep.Fri 11:07:45
finished: 2010-10-01.Oct.Fri 12:14:14
duration: 14h:20m:44s
May 25, 2015
A really good follow on from EON, however it was unlikely to have been as good as the original. I enjoyed catching up with the characters from EON and meeting some new ones. Where the story failed compared to the original is the ending, it is somewhat less structured and possibly rushed, where it does well is the sheer size and scale of the universe coupled with some big ideas and some nice twists.
August 6, 2012
This is one of the best books ever! My brain felt a little slow on the draw but I made it. This was so well written. This is the work of a man who has already accomplished his little menial stories to find his own style and bypassed the "I am the shit!" stage too. Such good work. It is a pity i read the second one first.
November 27, 2013
Superb sequel to Bear's masterpiece Eon, returning us to the plot and main characters several decades down the line from the plot of the first novel. Excellent work with preserving/developing characters and creating an interesting story without losing much of the momentum of the prequel. Definitely would read again. A+!
July 5, 2017
If Eon was cool enough in its setting, this sequel offers nothing enticing:
- no cool expansion of that setting
- no plot continuation or improvement
- same boring characters and political squabbles
Just like Larry Niven's Ringworld, this started with a cool idea, but then the author kept trying to squeeze more money out of it, without coming with anything interesting or original.
- no cool expansion of that setting
- no plot continuation or improvement
- same boring characters and political squabbles
Just like Larry Niven's Ringworld, this started with a cool idea, but then the author kept trying to squeeze more money out of it, without coming with anything interesting or original.
May 13, 2007
All Bear's stories are challenging and thought provoking, though sometimes to the point of headache inducing as one tries to wrap his mind around mathematical constructs that actually exist.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 193 reviews