Customer Reviews

Eternity: Our Next Billion Years

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I thought this book was an incredibly fun read. It's broken into two sections: plausible speculation about the next hundred years, then WILD speculation about the next thousand, ten thousand and million years. The first half of the book is fairly depressing: in short, the rich will likely get richer, the poor will suffer more. On the bright side, Hanlon presents his arguments for why non of our doomsday scenarios will pan out and is very optimistic about our short term survival.

The second half is the fun half. It reads like a string of science fiction short stories, spanning topics from machine sentience, human civilization discovering lost relics from our "ancient" society and the social implications, first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, and more. I've found the topics to be great geek discussion ammunition at dinner or over beers.

The book moves at a brisk pace, but is very accessible. I disagree with an earlier review about this book being boring and repetitive. It moves quickly and is an absolute blast to talk about.

This is a very silly book, reptitive and unsatisfying. Does not live up to the hype of the cover. Give it a miss is my recommendation

I haven't read this book, nor do I plan to. (Although I might give it a skim should I come across it in a library or bookstore by accident.) Even so, I give this book five stars...not because of its content, which probably is superficial, repetitive, and banal, as mentioned elsewhere...but because of the power of the concept, which comes through loud and clear even just from the book summary. I give credit to the author for a great idea for a book, even if he himself was not up to the task of its realization. Without a doubt, future authors will at least see the title, and become inspired themselves to produce more convincing works expanding on the concept of placing humankind's journey in the context of the history of the universe.