“Eon” is a story that takes place in Earth’s near future where technology has advanced somewhat, although not significantly. The major difference between our present and this future is the abrupt appearance of a mysterious asteroid, nicknamed “The Stone” by Americans, with seven chambers carved into it. These chambers were not carved by anyone on Earth . . . at that time, anyway. “Eon” is a story of Earth’s present being linked with its future through the mystery of the Stone and the equally mysterious seventh chamber which appears to never end–to stretch endlessly across a horizon made of eternity itself.
Patricia Vasquez may be the main character in “Eon” if there is one at all. She is a brilliant mathematician who is sent to the Stone to help solve the mystery of the Stone itself, although more specifically to solve the mystery of the Seventh chamber. Vasquez, while at the Stone, feels quite homesick and longs for her parents and fiance, Paul, who remained no Earth. Vasquez has often felt out of place and, to some extent, an outcast, and she actually feels more at home in her distant future.
Garry Lanier is another one of the more important characters. He is one of the higher ranking American officials on the Stone, but he finds himself under a lot of stress. He feels somewhat responsible for the Earth itself, because he knows that a terrible war is about to occur and he, as well as the other characters, although not necessarily with as much of an onus of responsibility, desperately wants to stop it. (This information was obtained from a library in the Thistledown, a city in the Stone. The Stone can prophesy some information since it is from the future). Toward the end of the book, he and Vasquez develop a somewhat intimate relationship.
Colonel Pavel Mirsky is another frequent character in “Eon.” He is Russian and eventually is promoted to General when the current general dies during battle with the Americans on the Stone and Mirsky is the next highest in rank. Also, Mirsky eventually suffers from a sort of partial amnesia, although this is for a rather unusual and shocking reason.
Olmy is another character who plays a rather large role in “Eon.” He is human, but from the vast future. He is rather mysterious and has been sort of “reincarnated” several times, which is not something unusual in the future of earth except that Olmy has been “reincarnated” more than most people are–there’s a general limit of two per person. After the second “reincarnation,” people are then stored in “City Memory,” but Olmy, being a reliable person was allowed more reincarnations than usual so he could work for the government.
Some of the characters above are influenced by Olmy and some of his kind (people from Earth’s future) rather directly toward the end of the book. However, they are also influenced by Olmy in rather devious, subtle ways around the beginning of the story.
Characters in Eon are also influenced by the mystery of the Stone. Not only does the mysterious aspect of the Stone motivate characters to find out more about it, but what they learn from the Stone also influences them by motivating them to save the world–for the Stone holds a prophecy of Earth’s gruesome, if temporary, destruction.
The theme communicated in “Eon” is that Man’s past will always catch up with his future, sometimes producing favorable outcomes. The future Earth was inadvertently reunited with its past self, but this proved to bring about such a grand potential for peace unlike any other in the universe. In “Eon,” Man’s past caught up with his future and produced almost unconditional peace.
