Legacy [Paperback]

Greg Bear (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Tor Books (1995)
• ASIN: B000OTKNDG
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,954,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Greg Bear is the author of more than thirty books, spanning thrillers, science fiction, and fantasy, including Blood Music, Eon, The Forge of God, Darwin's Radio, City at the End of Time, and Hull Zero Three. His books have won numerous international prizes, have been translated into more than twenty-two languages, and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Over the last twenty-eight years, he has also served as a consultant for NASA, the U.S. Army, the State Department, the International Food Protection Association, and Homeland Security on matters ranging from privatizing space to food safety, the frontiers of microbiology and genetics, and biological security.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Legacy, November 27, 1999

By 

"mandark" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legacy (Mass Market Paperback)

I purchased "Legacy" mainly because I had read Eon and Eternity...and was hoping for a book that would give me the good stuff that Bear is capable of and didn't fully deliver in Eternity. Be Warned though: Legacy abandons a great deal of the fascinating elements of EON.

The thread linking these books is very thin - that was disappointing...but the quality of Legacy goes beyond either of the other two books.

It reminded me a great deal of the grand adventure novels of an earlier age. Even a little taste of Charles Dickens in places, though you might have to look hard. You can allow yourself to get caught in the storytelling as long as you aren't too upset by the fact that this novel drops much of the fururistic science fiction in favour of a nostalgic seafaring epic with elements of the fantastic that are natural wonders rather than technological ones.

Bear shows his craft well in this book, and I kept thinking "What a spectacular film this would make!" Each new twist had me smiling to myself in appreciation of the way that he had interested me in a world that I was initially dishearted to find after reading the other two related books in this series.

Drop the expectations of another "EON" and you may find yourself loving this book more than the other two.

A pleasant surprise to be sure. Though I still hope for another book in the series to continue the EON series and make up for "Eternity"'s weak spots.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fairly entertaining but not worth the time invested, April 16, 2005

By 

Matthew Nigrelli "Sci-fi Junkie" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Legacy (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a fairly entertaining book with some remarkable ideas and concepts but I felt like it never achieved its full potential. I also found it to be a very frustrating book because it constantly got bogged down in dull forest and ocean adventuring at the expense of exploring the interesting sci-fi concepts that are introduced in the book (far too infrequently, I might add). It explores a tiny bit of the early history of Thistledown at the very beginning of the book but never returns to it, instead continuing the rest of the book on the planet of Lamarckia. The book begins with a lot of promise but quickly descends into boring planet exploration for hundreds of pages. The unique flora and fauna of the planet, although fascinating, are not enough to hold the interest of the reader for 400+ pages. There is so little action that actually takes place in the Way that it is difficult to connect this book with Eon at all, never mind calling it a prequel. Overall, the book was mildly enjoyable and I recommend it to those that want the complete story of the Eon world, but otherwise it's not worth the time it takes to plow through it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Exploratory and unnecessary, May 19, 2007

By 

M-I-K-E 2theD "2theD" (The Big Mango, Thailand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legacy (Paperback)

For being a prequel to the great book Eon, this was a huge let down. The simple idea for a Eon prequel is fascinating and using Olmy as a character in a book makes me giddy. Again, such a let down. Legacy should have been an entirely seperate book which explores the planet of Lamarckia.

Lamarckia is such an interesting idea. The plant/foliage/being/queen thing was explored thoroughly. That left me satisfied, at least. But for Legacy to be part of The Way series, I was disappointed. The story starts off well enough with Olmy having to go on a mission to Lamarckia. which is down The Way a bit. Then the story becomes about sailing and biology. Sailing? The only time I want to read about sailing is if the ship is a huge solar sail.

Another redeeming factor of Legacy is the depth in which we get to know Olmy. Olmy was a great guy in both Eon and Eternity. From Legacy, we get to know that he's a ladies man. Unnecessary? Yes.