Customer Reviews

Legacy

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

One thing I enjoyed about Bear's books such as Anvil of Stars and Eon is his ability to keep the action going. This book, sadly, just drags along, and the action is mostly mundane adventure, unrelated to science fiction. This book really has nothing to do with Eon, except for a few short chapters at the beginning and the end. Ser Olmy enters a weird planet through a gate and the book takes place there. The science fiction angle is uninspired. If you were intrigued by the physics and mystery of the Way, don't follow Olmy through this gate. Surely, Bear has much more to offer than this.

Greg Bear creates a very fascinating world, but he doesn't go anywhere with it. The main character's very vague mission is to study the planet and the society that develops there. All this takes place with the background plot of a weak love story and a civil war. I found the descriptions of the 'ecoi' very interesting and enjoy that kind of writing. It's too bad he couldn't think of a plot, other than the main character wandering around describing things, to go with it. A book I would read once and will never pick it up again.

When I first started reading Legacy I was a little disappointed, as I had expected it to be a straight sequel to Eon and Eternity, and had wanted to learn more about the Jarts. However, I found myself becoming swiftly involved in this well-written tale of human colonists struggling to survive in and coexist with a truly alien biosphere. The adventure progresses well, turning first into a sea journey that could almost have come from the pages of Joseph Conrad, and finally into a confrontation with the human forces that are corrupting and ultimately destroying this new world. The book's main triumph is the depiction of alien life forms that, refreshingly, fail to conform to the Earthly division of the plant and animal kingdoms, consisting of vast 'ecoi' that contain colonies of plant-like 'phytids' and mobile 'scions' that act as messengers and scavengers, much like blood cells and hormones in the human body. This is good - why indeed should we expect to find alien analogues of Earth biota everywhere we go, from trees and flowers up to humanoids and dinosaurs?! In an infinite universe, after all, the possible varieties of planetary ecology should be infinite. The human world of the colonists, with its divisive conflicts and deep-rooted unease, is also very well described. In fact, the only note that doesn't ring quite true, I find, is the fact that Olmy is able to blend so well into this insular society so quickly, with minimal preparation. In reality, he would have revealed himself to be a complete outsider the moment he opened his mouth, and would swiftly have been imprisoned or worse. But this is a minor quibble; to sum up, Legacy is science fiction at its best, with a near perfect balance of characterization and ideas.

I purchased this book because it was advertised to be a prequel to Eon, which I thoroughly enjoyed. In fact, the link to Eon is contrived, at best; however, as a standalone novel, Legacy is quite good. The intricacy of the world Bear creates is impressive. Some readers seem to have found the detail boring, but I found them essential to the fabric of the novel (without giving Bear too much credit, suggesting that he lighten up on the detail would be like suggesting that Melville should have left out all of that burdensome detail about whaling or the rules of the King's navy). Bear seems to have inherited the role of grand world-builder within the SF literature. This novel, like Blood Music and Eon, plays out events on a grand and ever increasing scale. More so than Blood Music and Eon, Legacy develops good old-fashioned characters and human themes within the context of a fantastic world. This book was a bit different, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed other works by Bear, Asimov, or other authors within this genre.

I held off reading this book for a while due to some of the lukewarm reviews here on Amazon. However, Legacy really is a great story. I enjoyed it much more than Moving Mars that I read last year.

It has been at least 15 years since I read Eon and Eternity, so the fact that the story is only loosely coupled to those story lines was not an issue for me. Legacy was not at all what I expected, but as other reviewers have said this story stands on its own very well.

Bear links the Legacy story to the Eon universe but takes you away from the most fascinating aspect of it, "The Way". That amazing, man made universe, with infinite gateways to other worlds and universes. This book takes a shocking turn from incredibly advanced technology, to a world of steamboats and plant life on the verge of sentience. But don't get me wrong. If you can set aside the future shock of Eon and Eternity, I know you'll love this book. Legacy stands on its own as another of Bear's imaginative and masterfully written stories. I am greatly looking forward to reading his latest addition to the Eon universe, Lamarckia. I don't believe it's released yet, but I recommend you search Amazon.com for it, just in case it has since the posting of this review.

Greg Bear fashions a unique world complete with utterly believable people. His character building is especially noteworthy. Admittedly, characterization in Legacy is not a backdrop for action. No, it is the other way around. But that is not to sell the action short. It just that it's, well, "biological" action, with the sweep of generations that such a theme requires. Legacy may be one of the finest pieces of English fiction ever written in this genre. It reminds me of some of the works of some of the "classic" authors in literature such as Poe and Stephen Crane. Time and subsequent great works (such as Slant) will reveal his value as a writer, regardless of contemporary assessments. I, for one, am an enthusiastic fan and welcome his efforts to raise the bar of quality in SF.