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Summary: You'll want to put this book down but won't be able to.
Review: This book was very well paced and even when nothing is actually happening you keep wanting to read on. It is not a cheerful book and it will affect you. I enjoyed the technology aspects and it seems a lot of thought went into them. There are a number of surprises that keep things interesting - I found the soldier with the nuke scene very thought-provoking. What let the book down was the ending. It felt almost as if the author had written himself into a corner and didn't know how to write a decent close, or he was told "deadline day tomorrow!". Nevertheless, go out and find a copy for yourself.
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Summary: Disturbing
Review: One of the very few books I've read that left me with a strange feeling of dispair. This is the first of Bear's books that I read, I've read most of his since. Very good reading.
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Summary: One of my favorites
Review: Although I read this book several years ago it remains one of my favorites. The technonogy combined with involved charitization create a mix which is challenging and enjoyable for any sci-fi fan.
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Summary: A real pageturner
Review: If you like Greg Bear's Eon or Eternity then you'll most likely thoroughly enjoy this as well. Despite a few negative reviews here I really enjoyed this, written as it is in a very easy style, as it was full of mystery and intriguing ideas. Not as good as Niven and Pournelle's Footfall, despite being described quintessentially the best novel of alien invasion since that masterpeice, but up there none the less. I finished this in a single session such did it grip me, something I've not done since reading Orson Scott Card's masterpiece Ender's Game. A good book , not a classic, that is well worthy of both your time and your money.
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Summary: Ever Fry Ants on the Pavement with a Magnifying Glass?
Review: The cries of a child lost in the vast woods serve more to bring the wolves down upon it, rather than a rescue. The technical stuff: Very well written. Great character description and development, with nicely paced plot development and progression. The emotional stuff: I've never been so shaken by a novel in my life. Modern scientific concepts are used to show how aliens might actually destroy a whole planet, (gulp!)... ours! Greg Bear takes the point of view of us, i.e. the ants, in all our glorious human nature, and shows many heartfelt and highly plausible reactions to an inescapable doomsday. It would be great to bring this novel to film or to a miniseries.
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Summary: Deus ex machina plot & weak characters spoil a good idea
Review: The fundamental idea of this book is an intriguing one - if aliens were to come with evil intent, why should we expect to have any chance of defeating them?That good idea is wasted on a lame "disaster movie" plot based on following lots of characters, some to doom and others to salvation. Few of the characters are particularly interesting. The mechanism of destruction employed by the aliens seems uninspired, and the method of salvation leaves nothing for the characters to do but follow the orders of benevolent aliens. Had the book created an interesting alien race, or given the humans some depth, or made the political side of the story more involving, this might have been more interesting. As it is, it comes across as trite.
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Summary: A civilized doomsday
Review: The Forge of God is probably the best doomsday book I've ever read. The elimination of the Earth is deliberate and unavoidable and the characters have no other choice but accept their fate. The faint glimpse of hope cannot make one forget the sinister countdown. And best of all, the "bad guys" are totally faceless, only present through the dire consequence of their actions. This book reflects the story of human beings on the verge of total, injust and cold calculated destruction. All hope gone, there is only one thing to do, fill the last days with all the happiness and peace one can expect from a whole life and setting the stage for the last moments. It is so well written that I lived that book from the inside and I cried at the end. And even there, the few survivors could not bring me any hope, since the fate of their children (depicted in The Anvil of Stars) slashed my heart of father. Don't spend your money on Deep Impact or Armaggedon but buy The Forge of God instead.
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Summary: Planet Earth is destroyed, but avenged in sequel
Review: I read this book one weekend when I was ill with the flu, and through the haze of headache/sore throat/nausea I still vividly recall the final spasms of the Planet Earth. Unique! And vengeance is ours in the sequel as a handful of human survivors seek the home planet of the mechanized destroyers. An unforgettable book!
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Summary: One of the best 'End of the World' Books Ever!
Review: Greg Bear's "Forge of God" was exellent. It combined and involved plot with high technology and still remained scientifically plausible. Unique plot and interesting characters. Definatly worth reading.
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Summary: I read this book at least once a year . . .
Review: I think that the mark of a masterpiece is that it ever changes the life of the person reading it. I have not been the same since reading Bear's "Forge of God." The book leads one through a tale of the ultimate loss: the earth and nearly all it contains destroyed by machines who we cannot reason with nor truly understand. I have never felt the same about our planet: never since have I taken the beauty of the area I live in, architecture, a creek, a freeway system, the neighboring deer and the mountain lion that kills them, my family, or the throbbing mass of humanity, for granted. Not only did this book forge a deeper appreciation of the intrinsic beauty of rock, water, weather, plant and animal life, (not to mention the clever, desperate, honorable and devious human), but I have come to a deeper appreciation of the inate worth of them, simply by virtue of their being. Bear also leads us through the various ways we humans approach death and loss: there are moments of searing compassion and a type of sublime sympathy . . . and Bear does this without being maudlin or using cheap ploys. So I read this book at least once a year, in a personal tribute to our planet and life and humanity, and to remember not to forget the complex and fantastic place we live. Bear has written technically better books, but none with the belly punch impact of "The Forge of God."
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