Eon by Greg Bear

This novel stands as one of the more epic science fiction adventures equalling the likes of Asimov's Foundation series. I've never read anything else by this author but my father told me that Eon is a must-read.

When a large asteroid goes in orbit around earth, some of the best scientists on offer are sent to investigate what begins to be referred to throughout the book as 'the stone' (and its inhabitants are thus referred to as stoners). The book opens as a theoretical physicist, Patricia is taken to the stone; plucked from a myriad of people with similar talents but none with the specialisation she soon learns is vital to her mission. The asteroid holds many secrets which are exposed to Patricia one by one. The reason why she has been called to the stone soon becomes evident when she sees a seemingly endless corridor stretching away into infinity.

One of the recurring themes in this book is the lack of agreement between the USSR and the USA. While Soviet scientists are allowed on the stone, they are not privy to any information and have virtually no high security clearances. What becomes clear throughout the book is that nuclear destruction on earth is imminent and the plot centres around the end of a large portion of mankind.

The book is filled with aspects of a thriller, as well as aspects more related to the science of the infinite corridor. Patricia's real purpose on the stone becomes clear to her when she begins to find articles written by her twenty years in the future. The novel continues to a devastating conclusion, while at the same time the Soviets and the Americans are forced to make amends.

A grear science fiction thriller which I would recommend to all.

The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle

This was recommended to me by my father in the library, he said it's a "classic" that I can't miss. Fred Hoyle was a renowned astronomer and physicist who wrote books as well, science fiction books. For this reason, I found this book extremely interesting, all of the fiction was backed up in scientific theory and often scientific fact. Some of the sections of the book even had footnotes where an equation to work something out was showed or similar.

The "black cloud" referred to in this book is one spotted by astronomers who seeing what effect it is going to have get a government-funded sanctuary to further research its effects and why it has come so close to Earth that it is in the same orbit around the sun. The characters are pretty delightful. I mentioned to my father at one stage the evident dislike of politicians, especially by Kingsley who has organised the sanctuary. My father then told me that this is shown in most of Hoyle's books, although there is always at least one likeable politician apparently.

This is definitely science fiction of the purest kind. Unlike Asimov, Scott Card or Clarke, Hoyle makes all of the events closer as her manages to ground them in explanations about what they mean. The characters become more and more engrossed as the book goes on and this results in an astonishing twist. I paticularly liked the inclusion of the character Joe, a simpleton who later features in an important part of the book.

Would highly recommend to anyone, paticularly if you are a space geek like myself.