Eon (Eon Series #1)

The 21st century was on the brink of nuclear confrontation when the 300 kilometer-long stone flashed out of nothingness and into Earth's orbit. NASA, NATO, and the UN sent explorers to the asteroid's surface...and discovered marvels and mysteries to drive researchers mad.

For the Stone was from space—but perhaps not our space; it came from the future—but perhaps not our future; and within the hollowed asteroid was Thistledown. The remains of a vanished civilization. A human—English, Russian, and Chinese-speaking—civilization. Seven vast chambers containing forests, lakes, rivers, hanging cities...

And museums describing the Death; the catastrophic war that was about to occur; the horror and the long winter that would follow. But while scientists and politicians bickered about how to use the information to stop the Death, the Stone yielded a secret that made even Earth's survival pale into insignificance.

" The arrival of the 300km long stone was the answer to humanity's desperate plea for help against the threat of nuclear war for inside the stone lies a long dead human culture and the long buried secret which may be the salvation from death. "

Isaac Asimov's SF Magazine

The only word for it really is blockbuster.It is big and breathtaking; the story and the concepts are ambitious to the point of mind boggling.

Greg Bear is the author of twenty-four books, which have been translated into seventeen languages. His most recent novel is Darwin’s Radio. He has been awarded two Hugos and four Nebulas for his fiction. He was called the “best working writer of hard science fiction” by The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. He is married to Astrid Anderson Bear. They are the parents of two children, Erik and Alexandra. Visit the author online at www.gregbear.com