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Reviews (34)

Stick with it - it's worth it
After the first 30 pages I suspected something was wrong so I flipped to the blurbs on the covers and flyleaf: "ambitious""challenging""complex"-- uh oh!
I don't know what to say...
I've read more than a few of Greg Bear's books but have come across no books of his that were anything like Queen of Angels.If I didn't know better I'd say there was a bug in his word processor that removed all the punctuation.
Voodoo People ...
Nothing in Bear's previous works prepared me for the nature of this book. In marked contrast to the majority of Bear's novels, Queen of Angels does not deal with speculative evolutionary biology or quantum physics. Yes, it pays to be up to date on the latest articles on nanotechnology and Jungian archetypes, but perhaps more than any other book of Bear's, Queen of Angels is a work that could pass as highly-respected contemporary literature.
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Subjects:  1. Bear, Greg - Prose & Criticism    2. Fiction - Science Fiction    3. Mystery and detective stories    4. Science Fiction    5. Science Fiction - General    6. Fiction / General   

Editorial Review

This is book number two in the new Second Foundation Trilogy beingwritten by hard science fiction authors Gregory Benford, Greg Bear, and DavidBrin, otherwise known as the "Killer B's." In this book, Bearcontinues where Benford's Read more

Reviews (47)

Greag Bear Does Asimov Well
The second book in the post-Asimov foundation series is by one of my favorite SF authors--Greg Bear. This book picks up after Gregory Benford's Foundation's Fear, but does not come chronologically right after the end of that book. Rather, what has been done in this new series is that spots not filled out by Asimov are now filled in, so Benford's work takes place just as the main character, Hari Seldon, takes the post of First Ministership, while Bear's book takes place after that time and what we were left to think was the decline and death of Seldon (that impression made in Asimov's Forward Foundation.
Asimov collections
Amazon should combine the books of a subject together so as to make ordering easier, in the same way you have combined lists. For eg. all of Robot books of Asimov in onr orderable quantity and the foundation series in another.

Very good, but not Asimov
This is a very good story written but a great author.I am so glad that he stayed so true to Asimov's original intentions for the series (unlike Brian Herbert with his Dune books).It does not read like Asimov though.This is forgivable because Bear never tried to emulate Asimov's style, he only tried to take Asimov's unfinished story and do the best job he could with his own writing style, which is really a better way to go if you think about it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American Science Fiction And Fantasy    2. Fiction - Science Fiction    3. Science Fiction    4. Science Fiction - General   

Reviews (56)

A Classic!
The Forge of God isn't necessarily the type of story most Greg Bear readers cut their teeth on, but it is a classic SF story. I liked this one a lot and it is one of the few books I've reread. Despite what some other reviewers say, the reader is definitely rewarded in the end with this one. The ending is spectacular.

The Forge of Liberalism
There's a strong tone of liberalism throughout the book, which is too bad, because otherwise it's very good.Liberals will want to read this, despite the science fiction getting in the way.Big shot SF critic, John Clute himself, trembles with excitement calling this novel subversive.The president is represented in the novel as a religious fanatic and gives a speech that the threat of destruction by the aliens is God's way of punishing the people of earth.I've read other stories and books by Bear and hadn't noticed this flavor of liberalism in them.Maybe it's supposed to be in reaction to Footfall by Niven and Pournelle, another earth invasion story published two years before this one, that many criticized as being neo-fascist.In that story they used atomic bombs as a means of propulsion for a space craft, I mean come-on, how much more fascist can it get.However, this novel is not so liberal as to try to show the bad aliens in a positive light.There are no songs on `the earth-destroying aliens love their children too', or portrayals of the earth-destroying aliens slapping you friendly on the back, and inviting you into their homes for shots of vodka.
jacket summary
from the back cover of the June 1988 Tor paperback edition
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Subjects:  1. American Science Fiction And Fantasy    2. Science Fiction   

Reviews (4)

Splendid Early Novel by Greg Bear
Without question, Greg Bear has been one of science fiction's best writers and prose stylists for decades. He has successfully written everything from hard core space opera to cyberpunk and fantasy. Here in "Hegira", he successfully combines elements of fantasy and space opera in a terse, riveting tale about the life-long search of the secrets behind the obelisks and the enormous world that is Hegira, inhabited by several intelligent civilizations, including humans, who have forgotten their interstellar space travel origins. Bear's prose is as finely crafted as an early Samuel Delany novel in this little gem of a novel. "Hegira" was well worth reading; without a doubt it is a splendid example of Greg Bear's early work.

Awesome!
I absolutely loved reading this book. It was a mesmerizing and fantastic story with implications that blew my mind (read it about 10 years ago, as a matter of fact, and glad to see new printings coming out). The obelisks are a fascinating idea, how the civilizations of the planet will only discover the higher technology inscribed on the obelisk when they are able to reach the "higher" levels of the obelisk to read what is written on it. I was shocked and dismayed when one of the obelisks fell, crushing an entire civilization! This is as fascinating a sci-fi story as you will ever find, and it is storytelling that will stay with you.

Read it or die
Wow. I was amazed by Greg Bear's brilliant sense of literary artistry. Every chapter evolved into an eloquent journey, enticing the reader into the quilt that is being knit before your eyes by this author. This work is nothing short of amazing. For too long has conceptual writing been avoided. Even for non-regulars, this work contains the rare ability to capture a once wary wanderer and find himself wandering down a gloomy alley in one of Hegira's elegant cities. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book, now. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bear, Greg - Prose & Criticism    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - Science Fiction    4. Science Fiction - General    5. Fiction / Science Fiction / General   

Editorial Review

It's an unexpected combination: Greg Bear, author of so many ambitiously complex SF novels, writing about the colorful simplicities of the Read more

Reviews (183)

Unusual story set between Eps I and II.
Greg Bear brings some very notable writing credentials to the Star Wars universe, including multiple Hugo and Nebula awards. His book Rogue Planet is a notch headier than many of the EU novels, both in the prose itself and in his character-driven focus. The story of this one is unusual in that much of it ties closely to the New Jedi Order saga, which comes decades down the timeline.
A Headstrong Padawan
Rogue Planet is the story of the twelve-year-old Anakin Skywalker going with Obi-Wan Kenobi on a mission to find the mysterious planet of Zonama Sekor. A part of the journey is the continued training of young Anakin and a trial he must undergo to move forward in the ways of the Jedi. The book is an excellent adventure story on one level and our first real introduction into the mind of Anakin on a deeper level. Qui-Gon Jin obviously is no longer around, having fallen to Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace, and the lack of his guidance is still deeply felt by both Anakin and Obi-Wan.
great book
this is a fantastic read.gives alot of detail of annikin's early training with the jedi and his first steps towards the dark side.if you like starwars pick this one up and read it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bear, Greg - Prose & Criticism    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - Science Fiction    4. Kenobi, Obi-Wan (Fictitious ch    5. Kenobi, Obi-Wan (Fictitious character)    6. Life on other planets    7. Science Fiction    8. Science Fiction - Space Opera    9. Science Fiction - Star Wars    10. Star wars fiction    11. Vader, Darth (Fictitious chara    12. Vader, Darth (Fictitious character)    13. Fiction / Science Fiction / General   

Editorial Review

All the best thrillers contain the solution to a mystery, and the mystery in this intellectually sparkling scientific thriller is more crucial and stranger than most. Why are people turning against their neighbors and their newborn children? And what is causing an epidemic of still births? A disgraced paleontologist and a genetic engineer both come across evidence of cover-ups in which the government is clearly up to no good. But no one knows what's really going on, and the government is covering up because that is what, in thrillers as in life, governments do. And what has any of this to do with the discovery of a Neanderthal family whose mummified faces show signs of a strange peeling? Read more

Reviews (246)

Great concept made plausible by good science
I enjoyed this clever novel very much and unlike some reviewers think that the hard science is not at all tiresome.On the contrary, the careful explanations of genetics, bacteriophages, evolution and viruses are extremely helpful, even essential, for fully appreciating the story line.For readers who are not scientists, but who are smart and curious, this is a highly satisfying book.
Engrossing
This book could have been shorter and would have been the better for it. It is very well done though and hit some kind of deep psychological cord for me. It is a great piece of SF.

A wee bit tedious
Like a lot of the reviews on here, I was excited to read this book--my first Bear novel--and thought the premise of the plot was a great idea.But by midway through the book it became tedious and convuluted.Way too many characters to follow that don't go anywhere and aren't necessary for the good of the book.The science seems solid enough (don't listen to all those self proclaimed scientists [by the way, I'm a microbiologist] who slam it for being innaccurate or not up to their ego driven standards) but didn't really mesh with the character development or--as hard as this seems like it would be--the plot.
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Subjects:  1. Adventure fiction    2. Bear, Greg - Prose & Criticism    3. DNA viruses    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - Science Fiction    6. Medical    7. Science Fiction - General    8. Science fiction    9. Women molecular biologists    10. Fiction / Science Fiction / General   

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Science Fiction    3. Science Fiction    4. Science Fiction - High Tech    5. Technological    6. Fiction / Science Fiction / High Tech   

Editorial Review

This collection of Greg Bear's major short fiction ably demonstrates why Bear is one of science fiction's most popular authors. The multiple Hugo and Nebula award winner offers here a feast of his most famous stories and novellas, accompanied by thoughtful introductions and afterwords that provide insight into the writer and his process. Standouts include "Blood Music," a precise and chilling tale of human cells that become individually intelligent; "The Wind from a Burning Woman," in which despair and anger inspire a young woman's terrible act of vengeance; "The White Horse Child," a loving look at the nascence of the creative impulse; and "Dead Run," in which the road to hell is paved with concrete, and not all intentions are good. This extensive collection is chock full of good stories told with Bear's characteristic intelligence and flair. While he examines big questions of science, politics and religion, Bear's driving force as a writer is his curiosity about the human spirit. Read more

Reviews (2)

Greg Bear Stuns!
This is an astonishing series of stories. It seems almost impossible that one mind could cover this kind of scope and do it so entertainingly and well. Strong anthology
Greg Bear is the winner of numerous prestigious awards in all the categories.This particular collection contains many of his short stories (21), and three novellas.The stories have all been printed before, but not in one volume and would be impossible to obtain in their original format.Each tale includes an introduction that is new.Fans of the author and science fiction readers in general will relish The Collected Works of Greg Bear in spite of the near breaking of the $30.00 barrier as this anthology displays the talent of one of the late twentieth century genre's top spinners.Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Science Fiction    3. Science Fiction    4. Science Fiction - General    5. Science Fiction - Short Stories    6. Science fiction, American    7. Short stories    8. Fiction / Science Fiction / General   

Reviews (59)

A very big disappointment
On occasion, I'll run into a work that can't live up to it's promise.The infamous Curse of the Sequels usually does it every time.This book feels like the opposite to me- something that could've been great left me feeling nothing so much as robbed of time.
It could have been a great book, but...
Vergil Ulam has created cellular material that can outperform rats in laboratory tests, cells that can think! When his company cancels the project, Vergil loses his job but is determined to take his discovery with him the only way he can think of - he injects himself with these cells! The first effects on Vergil are great and his overall physique improves from day to day. But within his blood these cells form complex organisms and whole societies. A universe of intelligent cells. Soon the cells think it is time for a change. A complete change...
Loss of identity is GOOD for you!
Don't be misled by the utopian aspirations of the climax; BLOOD MUSIC is little more than fascist propaganda in disguise. All flaws are removed, all imperfections are eliminated, and everyone has become one big, happy family of mutant muck. Adolf and Josef would have embraced the concept of the noosphere with open arms. In some regards, BLOOD MUSIC is similar to a fan-written STAR TREK novel that tries to depict the Borg as the good guys.
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Subjects:  1. Popular American Fiction    2. Science Fiction   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (56)

Proteomic viral vector factors and other riveting plot points
Greg Bear has a well deserved reputation as a great science fiction writer.Indeed, as one of the "Killer B's" (along with Gregory Benford and David Brin) he is generally considered one of the most accomplished living writers in the field.As such, he seems to be constitutionally unable to write a bad book.
A New Improved Human Species

I couldn't finish this book
A famous author once said that in his work, he tries to leave out the parts that people tend not to read. Unfortunately, Greg Bear reversed that advice while writing this book. He starts out with a fascinating premise: a new generation of children born with unprecedented abilities of communication. But he mostly ignores the children themselves, who could have made fascinating point-of-view characters, to concentrate on the "normal" humans who have to deal with their reactions to the new children. Plus, every time the story threatens to get interesting, Bear backs off and skips away to another scene. The only thing he seems to delve into very deeply is the pathology of the virus which caused the genetic mutation in the children. It left me feeling like half the story was missing, which is probably why I only read half of this book before giving up on it. The only reason I give it two stars instead of one is that it managed to hold my attention that long. Maybe I would have liked it better had I read the book that came before it, but somehow I doubt it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bear, Greg - Prose & Criticism    2. Children    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - Science Fiction    5. Mutation (Biology)    6. Parent and child    7. Science Fiction    8. Science Fiction - High Tech    9. Social control    10. Fiction / Science Fiction / High Tech   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (67)

Mind-blowing, surrealistic landscape
Is an author to be bashed for stepping outside his safe zone? Granted, this is not your typical sci-fi tale of aliens, fabulous nanotechnology, time travel or space exploration. It is a mesmerizing, almost hallucinogenic journey through a world that may or may not exist.What starts out as a tale of science into life-extension evolves into a warning on the pitfalls of trying to fool Mother Nature.
Interesting premise, but a so-so read
This started out with such promise because it was something different.It becomes confusing not only to the protagonist but to the reader as well.It limped home to an unsatisfactory ending in my opinion.

Great read
First off, I just want to say that I was shocked by some of the bad reviews of this book perhaps due to the fact that when I finished the book I thought, "Wow I need to tell everyone I know to read this one."So I did and then I thought, "Why not do an Amazon review as well?"So here I am.
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Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Espionage / Thriller    3. Immortalism    4. Science fiction    5. Suspense fiction    6. Thrillers    7. Fiction / General    8. Bargain   

Reviews (81)

Alice in Wonderland meets the Twilight Zone.
Take Isaac Asimov's brain, Stephen King's wind, blend in a vacuum and you get a Greg Bear novel.
Well Developed Tale of Exploration and Future Possibilities
This story describes the sudden appearance of an asteroid into the Solar system during the Cold War.The US (and allies) sends teams of scientists and soldiers to explore and secure the asteroid, which is hollow and filled with cities and advanced technology.It turns out that the original creators of the asteroid are descendants of Earthmen, and the explorers find the historical record of a cataclysmic war that will take place several years after the appearance of the asteroid after which humanity will be reduced to barbarism.This is really only the beginning of the story, and it turns out that there is more to the asteroid than meets the eye, of course, as forces both internal and external begin to shape the destinies of the characters.The story proceeds along several different threads and follows the events from several perspectives.There are definitely some similarities between this book and Clarke's `Rendezvous with Rama', although the exploration stage really only presents a minor subtext to the plot in the first 100 pages or so.This story lacks the gravitas and mystery of `Rama'; it is not a story that one will remember forever.It is probably more comparable to the Giants Novels of James Hogan or the work of Hal Clement.There is a little bit of space opera, some contact with greatly advanced civilizations and `aliens' (that are well fleshed out and have an interesting political and cultural system described in detail), bureaucratic intrigue, and political maneuvering.There are several things I really liked about this story.Bear makes good use of basic physics combined with some speculative ideas about time travel, alternate universes, and the space-time continuum.The characters are realistic and refreshingly well-developed (something lacking in most sci-fi), and the plot is complex and well thought-out.There are a few negatives as well, however.This book was written during the Cold War (1985), and the rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union is crucial to the development of the story.This gives the tale a definite dated feel.Many of the Russian characters are cliched characatures and not particularly imaginative.Second, this is a fairly long novel (500+ pages), and the ending is somewhat weak with many unresolved threads, presumably to leave space for the sequel.I felt a bit cheated at the end (although I liked the story enough to buy the sequel).Overall, this is a solid, if not uniquely outstanding novel.This is my first novel by Greg Bear, so I can't compare it to his other work, but I think that anyone who likes hard sci-fi (such as Hogan or Clement) will find this a worthwhile tale.

Try Greg Egan instead
If you like hard science fiction, I would recommend trying Permutation City and Diaspora by Greg Egan instead. Another book more similar to Eon but far more readable is "Rendezvous with Rama" by Arthur C. Clarke (not the sequels). Greg Bear wasn't able to convey the sense of wonder of the situation he describes, in fact, sometimes I have found very hard to understand his descriptions, as others reviewers say (not because of their technicallity, but simply because they are sometimes very convoluted). Also, part of the plot seems outdated, be aware that this book was published in 1985 (USSR, Cold War...). I haven't been able to read past a third of the book, so this review may be a bit biased ;) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American Science Fiction And Fantasy    2. Fiction - Science Fiction    3. Science Fiction    4. Science Fiction - General   

Editorial Review

Remember Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Read more

Reviews (23)

Slow to start, never got going
This book reads like either, A) an early effort written before a good author learns pacing and plot development, or B) a movie or television treatment flushed out to book length. THE REAL LOST WORLD REVISITED!
Fans of the films of Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen (King Kong, Mighty Joe Young, Vally Of Gwangi etc.) must not miss this wonderful book. Bear has payed loving homage to those masters of the lost art of stop-motion animation in a thrilling, beautiful story that begs to be read again and again. A sequel to the original "The Lost World" by Arthur Conan Doyle, this book is tailor-made for those like myself who grew up glued to the TV on Saturday afternoons whenever the local UHF station treated us to any of the aforementioned films (often with a dog-eared copy of "Famous Monsters Magazine" clutched in our hands.).Indeed, reading "Dinosaur Summer" was like watching the lost O'Brien-Harryhausen film that you never knew existed. coming-of-age story devlolves into bad Jurassic Park rerun
Jurassic Park meets Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World in this unpretentious story about a group of adventurers returning circus dinosaurs back to the wild. The first half was a pleasingly poignant story, centered around a coming-of-age-story of a boy trying to understand his father. Much of this novel had the feel of a young adult story, in a good way; I could picture myself reading it to a young nephew someday. Unfortunately, once the adventurers released the dinosaurs into their native habitat, Jurassic Park broke loose. And so I read as quickly as possible to get to the end. P.S. The illustrations are keen. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adventure stories    2. Bear, Greg - Prose & Criticism    3. Dinosaurs    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - Science Fiction    6. General    7. Science Fiction    8. Science Fiction - General    9. South America   

Editorial Review

This is the sequel to Greg Bear's popular Read more

Reviews (39)

The future is here and it is dense
This apparently is a sequel to his previous novel Queen of Angels, which I read so long ago that I don't remember any specifics of the plot other than the bare basics, which didn't help me at all when reading this novel.However, it doesn't really matter because while I think they share the same future and some of the characters, everything else is different and I imagine both works can easily stand alone.In this particular book, Bear postulates a world where most problems have been solved and people have turned to improving their minds, undergoing therapy to smooth over all disorders and so on, making society a not too unpleasant place to live.Of course, there's a problem or we wouldn't have much of a story.Bear doesn't take the easy way out, kicking off the first part of the story by introducing a number of characters who don't have any connection other than the fact that we know their plots are all going to intersect somehow, or else they wouldn't be in the same book.But by doing so he gives us a crosssection of this future society, from the rich people railing against what they see as a regression, to the people working in the entertainment industry (where people immerse themselves more and more), to the police keeping it together, to the therapists who have to ensure we all don't go crazy.And little by little, he starts to show things falling apart at the seams, as each character gets a tiny piece of the puzzle and are drawn together, as we finally see the extent of the plan and what some people will do to make society more in their own image.For me the book works better in the beginning, when we're exploring the society and all the little quirks of it.Yes, it's not as dense as Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar but not much is, and Bear sprinkles enough quotes and excerpts in between chapters that we can get a good feel for things without being overwhelmed.As the various plots start to come together and the mysteries stand revealed, the characterization starts to take a backseat to rapidly cutting back and forth between what's going on and people reacting to what's going on and thus things paradoxically start to lose a little bit of steam.The steps to reach the climax seem to take quite a while to get there for no good reason and part of me just wanted him to get on with it and have bodies start dropping.Plus, after starting out with a whole slew of characters, toward the end we're only focusing on a few and the rest are just bystanders, which was a little disapointing.But the pace moves swiftly enough and Bear deserves a lot of credit for writing a novel where everything isn't spelled out for us and for showing a future that is better in some ways but still not perfect.There's always room for improvement.But it feels like SF with some thought actually put into the science while managing to tell an entertaining story without having the book sit there and lecture us about stuff that we may or may not care about all that much.In these days where everyone with a doctorate is writing some kind of novel, people who can still pull off the storytelling aspect of it are still impressive.

One of my favorite cyberpunk books
Bear takes on William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and delivers in spades.The tone of this book is unsettling and edgy, a wonderful page-turner of a grim future. The plotting and characterization are highly entertaining. Is it Dostoevksy?No, but it's a great Sci-Fi read that's will please those who liked the first Matrix movie's headier elements.

This is one of Greg Bear's best works
This book is so prescient it's scary.Greg is dead on in many techno-prophecies, particularly in how technology may change and challenge humans. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Artificial intelligence    2. Bear, Greg - Prose & Criticism    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - Science Fiction    5. General    6. Science Fiction    7. Science Fiction - General    8. Twenty-first century   

Reviews (30)

How fantasy should be.
Originally two separate books, Greg Bear's `Infinity Concerto' and `The Serpent Mage' are brought together in one volume renamed `Songs of Earth and Power'.
This book outdoes everything else in its genre...
I have a confession to make.Before I read Songs of Earth and Power by Greg Bear, I was a fan of the SciFi/Fantasy genre.Now, nothing can satisfy me.In his spectacular book, Bear more than raises the bar for his fellow writers.As for his supposed "blasphemous" writing: Bear is taking creative license.I am a very religious person, and I beleive wholeheartedly in God.Yet I am openminded, and can read a novel that questions God and the story of creation and take it for what it truly is -- a story, nothing more.If you cannot be open minded and take offense at "blasphemous" writing in a fiction novel, then you probably shouldn't read this book. APleasantDiversionFromHardSci-Fi
I have been an avid fan of all genre of sci-fi for as long as I can remember.I found most of my books in a little out-of-the-way used book store in Sudbury,MA called "Bearly Read Books".The owner of the shop and I became great friends over the years and when an original print copy of Greg Bear's "The Serpent Mage" became available, it was highly recommended to me with the stipulation that I put it away somewhere and wait until a copy of it's predecessor "The Infinity Concerto" became available.At the time I purchased the sequel I had already become a fan of Bear's work (along with writers like Larry Niven & L. Sprague de Camp); so it was with great difficulty that I stored the book away to await a first edition copy of "The Infinity Concerto".I had completely forgotten about the stashed copy of part two of Bear's epic fantasy when part one became available some eighteen months later.....then I began to read....Read more

Subjects:  1. Bear, Greg - Prose & Criticism    2. Fantastic fiction    3. Fantasy    4. Fantasy - General    5. Fiction    6. Fiction - Fantasy    7. Imaginary wars and battles    8. Los Angeles (Calif.)