Anvil of Stars

Rating:
Summary: A touch of Godhood
Review: A must read book. Human life in space that is not contained. Children that grow to adults, then must make the right choice. The difficulty seems impossible, but the end is a suprise.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting futuristic plot kept me engrossed to the end!
Review: A unique viewpoint on justice and liberty of the future - plus a few plot twists to ensure that the reader's attention is kept throughout. This is the best of the Greg Bear novels in my opinion.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling ethical dilemmas alone make it worth reading
Review: Although I liked Forge of God enough that I bought this book as well as Moving Mars, this book was definitely superior to Forge of God. Anvil contains a lot of compelling ethical questions, and they already make it worth reading. Plus I found the main character (Martin, from Forge of God) sympathetic. I disagree with some of the previous readers on a couple of points: (1) I think the ending could actually have been more interesting if it were different (just the last 5 pages) and (2) I'm not sure what the reader who complained about homosexual sex was bothered by, in that my copy only seems to contain allusions to homosexual sex as having happened.

Whatever. I'd definitely recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Anvil of Stars a worthy sequel to The Forge of God
Review: Anvil of Stars is a worthy sequel to Greg Bear's outstanding The Forge of God. Rich in detail, plot, and character, Anvil doesn't disappoint, especially in the last fifty pages.

Martin Gordon's task is not an envious one...Carrying out The Law, hunting down the Killers, self-replicating machines that destroyed Earth in Forge, across the vast expanse of our universe. Along the way, politics, sex, and duty shape his outlook on justice.

This book checks in at a respectable 471 pages, and you get your money's worth out of each page...One of the deepest books I've read in a long time!

Rating:
Summary: A completely shocking ethical story
Review: Anvil of Stars is the best sci-fi I have ever read, for numerous reasons. Besides interesting characters and good writing, Bear wraps into this scientifically-reasonable book an ethical question which left me speechless. It is so incredible to find a sci-fi book in which the science is used to create a dilemma as remarkable as this one. I can't say enough good things about the book; having read it a year ago, I still think about the central question daily. Further, unlike other reviews I have read, I found it both interesting and encouraging that Bear could treat the sexuality of the characters with such even-handedness and lack of Judeo-Christian judgement. Few authors would be willing to include such a subject without allowing it to dominate their writing; that Bear does so well at is suggests how progressive an author he is.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Sequel to The Forge of God
Review: ANVIL OF STARS is the sequel to THE FORGE OF GOD but is a much different book. A group of human children volunteer (are coerced?) to board a Ship of the Law created by the alien race that saved humanity. Their mission is to seek out and destroy those beings that created the devices that destroyed the Earth.

To make this commentary short - this is a fairly entertaining novel and wrestles with dilemmas similar to those found in Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card). A group of human children are taken away from their parents and environment in which they have grown-up, with no possibility of return. As result Bear is able to explore interesting ways human beings develop and interact in an enclosed environment with minimal social restraints - as well as grapple with life or death issues. From leadership, sexuality, religion, war, xenocide, xenophobia, ethnicity - it's all here. And we get even get to closely encounter another rather interesting race of alien - which is actually the most inventive and interesting part of the novel. The drawback to this book is it is too long. It could have been much tighter and shorter.

Certainly an above average novel, if at a times a bit tedious.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Sequel to The Forge of God
Review: ANVIL OF STARS is the sequel to THE FORGE OF GOD but is a much different book. A group of human children volunteer (are coerced?) to board a Ship of the Law created by the alien race that saved humanity. Their mission is to seek out and destroy those beings that created the devices that destroyed the Earth.

To make this commentary short - this is a fairly entertaining novel and wrestles with dilemmas similar to those found in Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card). A group of human children are taken away from their parents and environment in which they have grown-up, with no possibility of return. As result Bear is able to explore interesting ways human beings develop and interact in an enclosed environment with minimal social restraints - as well as grapple with life or death issues. From leadership, sexuality, religion, war, xenocide, xenophobia, ethnicity - it's all here. And we get even get to closely encounter another rather interesting race of alien - which is actually the most inventive and interesting part of the novel. The drawback to this book is it is too long. It could have been much tighter and shorter.

Certainly an above average novel, if at a times a bit tedious.

Rating:
Summary: Less than Forge of God, but good
Review: Anvil of Stars opens with the survivors from the destruction of Earth (Forge of God) begining a quest for the beings responsible for the crime. The mysterious galactic Benefactors, who manage to save a tiny fraction of Earth's inhabitants and destroy the self-replicating machines that blasted the planet, provide a "Ship of the Law" for humans to carry out the galactic edict calling for the elimination of civilzations that create destructive devices of this nature. The crew of the ship are children who survived the Earth holocaust.

Anvil of Stars begins slowly. The children seem petty and peevish, and lack the roundness of character that is usually typical of Bear's creations. Character developement and plot take a marked upturn after the humans meet aliens on another "Ship of the Law" seeking to avenge the destruction of their world. Only in the final hundred pages does Bear reach the level of intensity that has made him one of the most successful SF writers today. The plot takes interesting twists at the end, which makes for fun reading. One does not have the legendary "plans within plans", but it is engaging. I only wish the book had gotten up to speed a little more quickly.

Rating:
Summary: The Ending Makes the Book
Review: As frequently noted, this book drags in places. (Like the first two thirds of the novel!) The ending is so poignant and surprising, however, that it not only *makes* the book, it makes the book one of the most spectacularly well-crafted novels that I've ever read. What a turn about, and all in the last dozen pages.

I've read many books that were intriguing until the end -- because many authors can design a story but haven't put much thought into the conclusion. "Anvil," however, has such a NEAT conclusion that my otherwise ho-hum feeling about the book's long start was transformed into one of complete admiration.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing, Dark, Wonderful
Review: As you can see, I gave this book the highest possible rating, but I honestly can't say I always enjoyed it. The setting, the characters interactions and dilema, and their all encompassing mission of justice/vengence were at many times disturbing to the soul. You could feel the oppressive weight put upon these kids as they traveled the stars searching for an enemy. But I absolutely, positively had to finish the book to see how it concluded. When I finished, I simply said in a small voice. wow. Great writing, great read.