Rating: 
Summary: One of his best...
Review: Bear has the ability to transport you to a world where humans are just minor and insignificant. Opening one of portals along the Way, the devaricates find themselves escaping percieved persecution from the Hexamon and landing on a planet where the jungles (silvas) span continents that create animal like plants to perform functions... A planet where the storms are alive, literally... One of Bears crowning achievments..
Rating: 
Summary: Tied to the Eon universe but could easily stand on it's own.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Tied to the Eon universe but could easily stand on it's own.
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Average
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: May be one of the best SF pieces of literature ever written
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.
Rating: 
Summary: Misleading
Review: I am a huge Bear fan-but this book reminds me of Orson Scott Card milking his Enders Game success ad nauseaum.
The most charitable explanation I can think of is that Bear didn't even write this book-perhaps it is ghost written. The connection to EON and ETERNITY is laughable.
If you are in the mood for an Edgar Rice Burroughs style Tarzan novel from the 30's -you might find this interesting.
I wouldn't have minded this too much if Bear had been honest about this book and not tried to connect it to EON/ETERNITY. It might have worked as a stand alone fantasy adventure. Hardcore science fiction-this is not. Its going rate of 40 cents on the used list is a good gauge of the value of this book. If I could get my money back-I would.
Rating: 
Summary: If you want good sci-fi, read a different Greg Bear book
Review: I enjoyed Eon. The cover of this book says it's a "prequel to Eon" so I picked it up expecting to learn about the Way and Thistledown and all the mysteries brought up in Eon. Instead, I got Legacy...Do you like plants? Do you want to read about a giant, intelligent, plant-like organisms on a distant world? Do you want to read about the trials and tribulations of colonists? Well I sure didn't. This book was not what I expected and I did not enjoy it much. There was some mention of the fantastic science of Thistledown but that was not the focus of the book. This book was about human nature, charismatic leaders, ecological destruction, and the misadventures of a guy named Olmy. The end reminded me of the surrealistic river travel shown in the movie Apocalypse Now. Perhaps the story was over my head because I like Greg Bears' books but I sure did not enjoy this one.
Rating:
Summary: What am I missing?
Review: I found this book so boring I couldn't even make myself finish it
Rating:
Summary: Legacy not quite up to standards of EON and ETERNITY
Review: I have read almost all of Greg Bear's books and loved EON and ETERNITY as well as THE FORGE OF GOD and ANVIL OF STARS. I found LEGACY a little disappointing compared to EON and ETERNITY, which preceded them. The narrative spends a lot of time on the human interactions of the characters, and not much time on the technological concepts of the flaw and gate openers, which I missed. I did finish this book and at times was quite spellbound by it. Not Mr. Bear's best work, but a must-read if you have read EON and ETERNITY.
Rating:
Summary: Legacy not quite up to standards of EON and ETERNITY
Review: I have read almost all of Greg Bear's books and loved EON and ETERNITY as well as THE FORGE OF GOD and ANVIL OF STARS. I found LEGACY a little disappointing compared to EON and ETERNITY, which preceded them. The narrative spends a lot of time on the human interactions of the characters, and not much time on the technological concepts of the flaw and gate openers, which I missed. I did finish this book and at times was quite spellbound by it. Not Mr. Bear's best work, but a must-read if you have read EON and ETERNITY.
|
