Eon (novel)

The high technology of the Hexamon civilization, with their control over genetic engineering, human augmentation (including post-symbolic communication), the concept of parallel universes, alternate timelines and the manipulation of space-time itself are major themes in the latter half of the novel. The Way itself cuts across space and time: "gates" may be opened through its surface at regular intervals, which lead to space and worlds occupying other timelines, including alternate timelines for the Earth. As a result of commerce through the gates, several alien species have come to be partners of the Hexamon as well.

Information technology and "virtual" realms are another important theme. While being held as a "guest" of the Hexamon, Vasquez learns more about their culture; she discovers that (if they choose to) its citizens are fitted with implants that can store, transmit and replicate part or of all their memories and personality. This technology confers many abilities. One is that they can create virtual replicas of themselves (known as "partials" or "ghosts") that contain functional parts of their full personality and are able to operate independently, on their behalf, and then reintegrate their experiences with their original later. In the event of major injury or even death, their implants (if recoverable and undamaged) can be used to "reload" their personalities into artificially reconstructed replicas of their old bodies, or even into entirely new forms. However, many of its citizens are limited to only two "reincarnations" before their personalities are stored in the Hexamon's memory, where they continue to exist in virtual form. Hexamon technology is also able to reconstruct the bodies of the humans from 21st century, as the Soviet commander Mirsky discovers—when he is fatally shot in the head by his rivals during a confrontation in one of the libraries, the Stone's automatic defense and repair systems are triggered by this act of violence. The system reconstructs Mirsky's shattered skull and brain and resurrects him, but—because he lacks a Hexamon implant—it cannot recover all of his memories, and other physical and neurological functions can only be partially restored.

Conflict between political and ideological factions is another major theme. The book was published in 1985, before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and in Bear's projected future (the novel opens in 2005), the cold-war tensions between the Soviet bloc and the NATO countries continue into the 21st century. The arrival of the Stone further destabilizes the situation—the Soviets suspect that the US and its allies are controlling the Stone to gain exclusive access to advanced weapons and technology, and in the first half of the book this accelerates the world's inexorable descent into an all-out nuclear war. In the second half of the book, the theme of ideological conflict is continued through the growing tensions between the hardline political officers assigned to the Soviet force, and their more moderate military leader, Mirsky, who (like Vasquez) gains life-changing insights into the situation that faces them after being exposed to the accelerated learning facilities of the Stone's libraries. These themes are further explored as we learn more about the rivalries between the two major factions of the "Stoners"—the more radical, pro-technology Geshel, and the more conservative and predominantly anti-technological Naderites, named in honor of 20th century consumer rights advocate Ralph Nader (who, in Bear's fictional future, was martyred in the nuclear war).

Another major theme (which Bear also explores in other novels) is the Hexamon's ongoing war with a highly advanced and implacably aggressive alien race known as the Jarts, who have entered and taken control of large sections of the Way, beyond the 2x10^9 kilometer (2 billion kilometer) point. Unknown to its creators, the Jarts were able to open a gate into the Way, where they settled and spread for three hundred years before the descendants of the Stone's original human occupants evacuated the Stone and moved along the Way. Their first encounter with the Jarts resulted in a major war that ended in a stalemate, and in the second half of the book it is revealed that the Jarts are on the verge of breaking through the Hexamon's defenses. In the novel's final climax, the Jarts launch an all-out offensive to destroy the Hexamon by opening a gate directly into the heart of a star, allowing superheated plasma to enter and blast along the Way, destroying everything in its path.

To counter the threat, a coalition of the Geshel faction and "liberal" Naderites seizes control of the Nexus and launches a risky plan to save the Hexamon culture and destroy the Jarts who occupy the Way. They take over both Axis City and the Stone, and after evacuating the Stone for safety, they give the Hexamon's inhabitants and the 21st century humans a choice between two means of escape—either fleeing back up the Way in two of the self-contained Axis habitats, Axis Nader and Central City (which can travel along the Way's central singularity), or staying in the "present day" solar system, with the Stone and the other two Axis habitats, Axis Thoreau and Axis Euclid.

The first part of their plan involves hitching Axis Nader and Central City units to the singularity that runs through the center of the Way, and accelerating them to near light-speed. The Hexamon scientists theorize that the time-space shockwave generated by their speed will act as a sort of "battering ram", protecting them from the oncoming blast of stellar plasma, while simultaneously sealing all the open gates along the Way and destroying the occupying Jarts. The other half of the plan requires the separation of the Stone from the Way by triggering explosive charges to blow the cap off the end of the Stone. Axis Euclid and Axis Thoreau join the Stone in Earth orbit. The possibility remains that the machinery in the Stone's sixth chamber could be used to reconnect the Stone and the Way in the future.

Dave Langford reviewed Eon for White Dwarf #85, and stated that "this is impressive SF on the most colossal scale, where the concepts are bigger than universes but human beings still matter desperately. Hear that horrid grating noise? It's the sound of America's other hard-SF writers gnashing their teeth in sick envy."[2] Kirkus Reviews called it "An impressive and often absorbing enterprise, but patchy and problematic, from the unconvincing characters and poor descriptions to fizzling subplots and the prolonged, dull opening. And even when the narrative finally gathers momentum and excitement, the many dazzling ideas here are never firmly under control.[3] James Nicoll stated about the characters and the novel: "These are technologically advanced people but they are not terribly bright. The book would be much shorter if they were and the plot would make more sense but the nonsensical technology and settings are really very fantasitic, wonderful to imagine but ultimately empty."[4] Stephen Baxter commented that "what this book is essentially about is the conceptual breakthrough, a keystone trope of science fiction: the change of scale, the revelation of a meaning previously hidden. In Eon the breakthroughs come at you with bewildering speed. Novel-sized ideas are almost thrown away...You do have to concentrate; it’s rather like watching a particularly Moffat-esque episode of the modern Doctor Who. But for sheer ideative sugar rush, for the exhilarating sense that you almost understand as scenes of staggering complexity flicker relentlessly through your mind, it’s hard to think of a comparison in modern sf."[5] Alma A. Hromic on SF Site felt that "it has all the technical overkill of some of the worst-afflicted Larry Niven books, with very little character development as a redeeming leaven. It might be a classic, but not all classics stand the test of time too well. This book, despite its scattered points of brilliance, just reads tired, and dated."[6]

• Eon title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database