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The Forge of God : A Novel

The Forge of God : A Novel

List Price: $16.95
Your Price: $11.53
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Superb imagery of earth powerless to stop it's destruction!
Review: 20th century Earth becomes embroiled in an alien war in which one side has unleashed a 'berserker' type destruction machine. By the time earth discovers the truth, it's too late. One side attempts to save what it can of humanity and it's accumulated knowledge before destruction. The elegance of the alien's plan to destroy the earth, the discovery of this method, the terror in waiting, and the description of the destruction is most powerful. If Hollywood misses this one, they are missing the next biggest blockbuster on record.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent and disturbing. Have read it again and again.
Review:

One of my favorite books. Aliens stop by to visit, and we don't know why until it is WAAAY too late. Elements of horror a la "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," mixed with an interesting plot make this a great read.

This is a book for readers who like the plot to jump in, grab them, and not let them go until the last page slaps 'em in the face

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Incredible!
Review: I'm not usually a fan of "doomsday science fiction" and I read the book only out of lack of anything else, having borrowed it from a 11-year-old that I babysit. Sceptical about it's content, (after all, what kind of book would a kid read?), I looked at the end, and peeked at the middle - an unforgivible sin, actually, but I didn't expect to read the whole thing. Then I started at the beginning. That was in the morning. I finished at midnight, having skipped all my classes but one, and forgetting about my four-exams-in-one-day. The exams are tomorrow and I expect I shall flunk them all, but I can't study. I'm still shaken, and keep staring at the sky and river, and trees, half-expecting to see something unusual. Something indicating that end of the world is coming? Please belive me that when I rate a book "8" I consider it extremely good. I reserve my nine's and ten's for absolute masterpieces. I had to write this review, to shake off the effects of the book. To get rid of the apocaliptic visions I keep having. To forget. But I know that I'll read it again, and that's not something I can say about a lot of books.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best of Greg Bear!
Review: Once inside a Greg Bear novel, there is no escape. This book enthralls to the hilt. The subject is one of survival as foreign elements destroy planet after planet. A typical John Doe discovers part of the solar system is missing. Hard Science fiction and Quantum Mechanics play to new levels as earth meets its greatest challenge. Its a prelude to the destruction of the solar system. Planetary destruction is necassary to the final end. Hard Sci-Fi abounds. Plenty of Greg Bear staples surface in this epic thriller, Don't miss the sequal either

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: High marks for intense plot and scientific imagination
Review: _The Forge of God_ was an astoundingly good book. Bear writes science fiction much in the way Tom Clancy writes spy fiction: with rich descriptions and detail, and complicated plots that lead the reader through even the heftiest of volumes with ease. _The Forge of God_ relates the story of alien machines landing on Earth. Fortunately, Bear doesn't succumb to the basic "Good Earth people defeat the evil alien invaders" plotline; instead, the reader is left guessing as to just whom are the heroes and villains in the novel. It can get scientifically involved in places, especially when describing theoretical transportation modes based on quantum physics. Nevertheless, the characters were well-formed and realistic. As with all Bear's works (Blood Music, especially) _The Forge of God_ has a highly atypical ending that left me very satisfied and refreshed by its ingenuity

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great plot, weak writing
Review: This is the first Greg Bear novel I've read. And the story he writes is a frightening one. The Earth is undergoing an alien invasion from "unseen" aliens, i.e., aliens who stay hidden and let machine proxies interface with humans. What the human race does to enounter the aliens and fight back comprises most of the book. The plot itself is engaging and interesting, even though there are a few points where the story plods a little.

One of the irritating things about this book is the number of minor characters that come and go without adding much to the story. I also have to disagree with a couple of reviewers about the level of sentimentality - I found the book at times to be overly maudlin. Yes, we are dealing with a very heavy subject, but the repetition of some themes or certain thoughts going through the characters heads was overdone. Finally, I had a problem with Bear's writing style. It felt like it was written by a college undergrad. There's very little style to speak of. There are a number of other Sci-Fi writers (Niven, Stephenson, Simmons) whose writing is really a pleasure to read.

But on the whole I would recommend this book, especially to fans of movies like "Independence Day", or "Day The Earth Stood Still". This is a thought provoking book that will certainly make you appreciate the planet more. And I do plan on reading the sequel, "Anvil of Stars" at some point.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Armageddon 2?
Review: Greg Bear doesn't do things in half measures and when it comes to this book, that's no exception. Between it's covers he explores the minutae of human emotion and interaction and the grandness of planet wide destruction (by means of a weapon a bit more plausable than the Death Star). Although the story isn't that long from a time span point of view, Bear manages to pack a lot of punch into it through the use of multiple story lines (which don't always interact - a possible down side for some readers) and a large cast of characters. Bears attention to detail, is as usual, brilliant. From descibing formal protocol for alien interaction (and autopsy) to giving a brief glimpse of the Internet (this book was written before ARPANET opened up to the world in the form of the Internet). For people who liked the movie Armageddon, this book is for you. For people who like things to be tied up neatly at the end and could do without the pyrotechnics, this book might seem a bit of a long read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another SF Great
Review: Greg Bear's work will rank up there with Asimov and Clarke before he's through. He is similar to Arthur C. Clarke in the way that he is able to stimulate the imagination without wandering over into the fantasy realm. If you love the science fiction classics, you won't be disappointed by the Forge of God.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Imaginitive but Disappointingly Shallow
Review: The Forge of the God is well regarded by a rather large audience. It's sold a lot of books, has enjoyed multiple printings, and has to be regarded as a successful novel. However, according to our criteria where the greatest books change the genre and the way we look at literature, it fails. The idea and the unflinching honesty in its execution are so good that it is enough to inspire audiences but it will inspire them in ways that will not reflect the tenets of the book, its author, or its characters. Numberless fans will disagree with us but we ask them: can you honestly tell us that this is one of the top ten or so books you would have your kids read? We don't think that it rates that highly. There are other books that are deeper, richer, and more rewarding. In the end, it is a terrific alien invasion book told in a compelling (if irritating as far as an editing plan goes) manner--but that's all. And we can say that about a lot of books.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS:

Alien invasion has a lot of currency. Most especially there are a great many books being published that are being powered by our current puzzling lack of evidence as far as extraterrestrial life goes in genuine scientific inquiry ("Where are they?" as the question goes). It's refreshing to see a book that's good enough with its science to be aware of this problem (Fermi's Paradox, etc.) and deals with it in ways that are important and integral to the novel. For people who enjoy cerebral exercises of this sort in alien invasion, they will be keenly satisfied with The Forge of God. Readers who enjoyed the premise of Alastair Reynolds Inhibitor Series (beginning with Revelation Space) then Forge will read with much the same vigor and rewards equally if much closer to home in time and space. For people who like reading about Earth dealing with aliens but are tired with the excesses of movies like Independence Day, V, Sphere, and The Puppet Masters (movie not book!) then you will find this book refreshing in the extreme. Certainly people who have long enjoyed Greg Bear and his books have little use for a review like this and have already read and enjoyed his work. If you're discovering Greg Bear and liked Darwin's Radio and Darwin's Children (how could you on the latter?) quite a bit then you should reach back and try this one out.

WHY YOU SHOULD PASS:

No literary mastery here, as we would understand it. That is to say, people who enjoy reading about people specifically will not get along with The Forge very well. They will, as we were, be annoyed by the short chapters and featureless characters. People who read Gene Wolfe, Jeff VanderMeer, and Ted Chiang, for example, should probably stay far away from a book like this. Another group that will be disappointed by this book will be those people who read for the action itself. These are the people who liked all the gunfire in Independence Day and didn't particularly care that not a lot of it made scientific sense. The irony of Greg Bear is that he fails both sides of this extreme but, then again, he probably doesn't care. His imagination is so forceful that it probably doesn't deign to notice such trivial criticisms as these.

READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best book I ever read
Review: I bought this book at Gatwick airport when it came out back in the early 90's, I was waiting for a flight with my girlfriend and her sister to go on holiday to the Canary Islands. I had never heard of Greg Bear before this, although I have a huge collection of "classic sci-fi" novela and an a big Clarke fan.
The book lasted only as long as the flight and the first two days of the holiday.. by this time I had read it all, I couldn't put it down! Then I read it again, and when the sequels came out I was first in line to buy them.

I cannot praise this book enough, despite what other reviewers say it isn't disjointed and the seemingly fragmented storyline and character introductions can seem a little odd at first. Read the book a second time and it makes more sense - I have read this book and it's sequels at least seven or eight times now, and I'm STILL finding new stuff in there.


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