Where's the Greg Bear sub-forums???

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killface

Sci-fi devotee
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Apr 24, 2009
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Hey everyone,

New here...I just read The Forge of God by Greg Bear, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The beginning was a bit odd...winged alien and boxy robots and other hokey seeming stuff...but it quickly got better and the apocalyptic end to it was enjoyable. I'm just wondering what you all consider Greg Bear's better work, in case I want to dabble some more into his stuff.

Thank you,

Killface
 
I read DEADLINES a few years ago and it was such a chore for me to finish it will be a while before I'm in the mood to try him again. Not condemning him mind you, this is his only book I've read, but based on it I've no motivation to try another anytime soon.:(
 
Personally I think that when Greg Bear is hot, he is on fire. Unfortunately I also think that he is past his prime. The stuff that he has put out recently has seemed to be more mass-market oriented then the intellectual stuff that he put out in his middle period. Here is a link to reviews that I wrote of some of his books. Moving Mars was my favorite, followed by Anvil of Stars, the sequel to Forge of God:

Omphalos' Book Reviews: Search Books
 
Have you also read the Anvil of the Stars? (It's the follow up novel.)

I'd also like to know why GB's not names on the Sub-Forum. Or Alastair Reynolds?
 
Thanks for the recommendations. I'm glad to know there's a sequel to Forge of God, as it ended on such an interesting note.
 
I thought so too, though I have asked a lot of people who read both and surprisingly (to me, anyway) most thought the first book was better.
 
Greg Bear did his best work - Blood Music and Eon - 25 years ago. He hasn't really written anything since then that really stands up to that. His 'big comeback' SF novel from last year, The City at the End of Time, was just tired and rehashing old ideas.

I'm much more interested in seeing what David Brin's new book is about, and if he's going to get back to the Uplift universe any time soon.
 
Moving Mars was almost a masterpiece. I think he had it in him to produce another one at that point in his career, but he tackled Mars, which was just a huge thing for any SF writer to do. For me the beginning of the slide downwards was with Darwin's Radio.

I haven't read City at the End of Time yet.
 
Moving Mars was okay but it came out at the same time as Kim Stanley Robinson's trilogy, which massively overshadowed it.
 
Teresa Edgerton said:
Because there isn't enough discussion of either author's work to warrant a sub-forum.
Click to expand...

Maybe there would be if there was a sub-forum. Both are great writers with a bit of a following. Maybe i'm a bit lazy, but i can't be doing with trawling back through old posts in a general forum looking for a discussion thread.

Would anyone else like to see some other authors on their own sub-Forum?
 
Rodders said:
Maybe there would be if there was a sub-forum. Both are great writers with a bit of a following. Maybe i'm a bit lazy, but i can't be doing with trawling back through old posts in a general forum looking for a discussion thread.

Would anyone else like to see some other authors on their own sub-Forum?
Click to expand...

There may be mileage to this. SFFWorld ditched their author sub-forums and promptly killed a lot of ongoing discussions about those authors stone dead.

That said, looking around the blogosphere the number of people talking about Greg Bear is pretty low. Alastair Reynolds is a current top author in the SF field still producing well-received work, whilst Greg Bear, although still alive and writing, does seem to be considered a bit of yesterday's man, like Gregory Benford and Larry Niven.
 
Rodders said:
Maybe there would be if there was a sub-forum.
Click to expand...

A writer's name among the sub-forums on the index page doesn't stimulate discussion of his or her work. Threads that engender lively conversations about an author's books or aspects of his/her works are what create interest and further discussion. Why don't you start some and see what happens? Generally, Brian requires five active threads before he starts a sub-forum.

Would anyone else like to see some other authors on their own sub-Forum?
Click to expand...

Everyone has favorite authors that they wish had a sub-forum here. I have several. Some of us have, on various occasions, made a real push to establish enough ongoing discussion to make it happen for one of those favorite authors. A few (a very, very few) times these efforts have succeeded, but in most cases the discussion dies out before the five thread threshold is reached. Even more often, someone starts a "Why doesn't X have a sub-forum" thread and makes a few posts about how there should be a sub-forum, but that's the extent of their effort, and perhaps a true measure of their enthusiasm.
 
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To be honest I've not read any new Bear. Have read the classics,Blood Music,Strength of Stones,Hegira etc but thats about it. I do have Eon and the the others in the series on my shelf,also Anvil of Stars. I borrowed Slant some years ago and quickly took it back as I couldn't make head or tail of it. That kind of put me off! Darwin's Radio sounds intriguing tho,even tho its not what I class as SF
 
Yeah, i had a real problem getting into Slant. Never got more than 100 pages into it.

I would recommend The Forge of God and Anvil of Stars to anyone. Eon and Eternity wasn't too bad either.
 
It helps to read Queen of Angels, Heads or Moving Mars first. They are all set in the same storyline.
 
Agreed, it looks like one of the text messages that i get from my Nieces and Nephews. Incomprehensible. :D
 
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