The Forge of God

The eighties produced a lot of really good science fiction. It was perhaps a third wave in the modern genre, anfter the blind belief in progress of the fifties, and the dystopian visions of the sixties and seventies. Greg Bear is but one great name of that era. He wrote several very different books. Perhaps Forge of God is one of the best. Bear is here reminiscent of Clarke with his vision of a wast uncaring universe which impacts on an unsuspecting humanity. He does introduce hope, as a few humans are saved - not out of any altruism, but as recruits in the hunt for the shadowy civilization that runs amok among the stars. Many characters in the book die. I think he wants to stress that hope and success go hand in hand with failure and disappointment. And, sometimes, being a little person, your part tend to be little, but it is still an important part. This book has served as an inspiration for the fim Independence Day.

I read FOG many years ago and bought another copy recently to reread it. The story has stuck with me through the years. The encounter of the alien with the President just floored me when I read it the first time: "Do you [aliens] believe in a God?" "We believe in punishment." How Old Testament can you get? There are superior powers in the universe -- a chosen race? -- who have judged us wanting and are here to wipe the slate clean to further evolution of more promising worlds. Or are they? One wonders just whose side the Planet-eaters and the Benefactors are on. Perhaps they are on the same side and just want to step up the evolutionary pressure on our species. Perhaps they are waging a war between themselves by proxy. Or perhaps, like Saberhagens Bizerkers, the Planet-eaters just want to eliminate all biologic life in order to advance robot evolution. Or perhaps, there is an advanced civilization out there that wants to terminate all competing species and have the galaxy all to itself. The book gives us the counter argument to SETI that maybe the universe is a hostile place and like the a child in the woods, we better shut up or we will be eaten by wolves. Perhaps, as Arthur C. Clarke has said, the best proof that there are extraterrestrial intelligences in the universe is that everybody is silent. FOG is a paen to our mother Earth and a first contact scenario gone horribly wrong. We should not be so naive as to think evolution does not apply to extraterrestrials. Competition for dominance, territory, reproduction, and scarce resources will always come to play where we ever find life. Anyone who reads it will realise how precious our planet is and Bear lovingly depicts Earth's beauty through out the book. To watch the destruction of our planet some of the characters choose Yosemite valley (my choice too) and others are forced to watch from space as The Law (Old Testament again?) requires our species to witness the Crime. "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you have lost til its gone." Read FOG and you will look homeward rather than spaceward to cultivate your garden.

Never have I read another novel that changed my outlook on the world the way that The Forge of God has. I read the book a little over three years ago and I still remember it vividly. Bear's portrayal of mankind's reaction to Earth's inevitable destruction is disturbingly true to reality. Despair, apathy, quiet rage, hopelessness, its all painted into this magic work with morbid mastery. I enjoy light sci-fi tales of alien destruction such as Independence Day (The day we fight back!). However, I would have to say that Bear's version of the story (The day we give up) is much more thought provoking. This is the book that got me hooked on Greg Bear, but just a warning to those of you who prefer ID4 endings... skip the last 50 pages.Simply the most stimulating novel that I have ever read.

Novels don't get much better than this. Bear really penned a true classic here. I've read many different versions of the end of the Earth, but this one truly spooked me. The aliens Bear creates are so thoroughly cold, calculating, and without compassion that even the mere possibility of a race like that in existance is a frightening thought. Also, the way that Bear has the aliens destroy the earth is chilling in itself. The methodology that they employ in setting up the Earth's destruction is simply unforgettable. But what really got me about this book was the human element that Bear employed. Though Bear didn't do deep character development, he did enough so that the reader could identify with them. As the end approached, I was able to feel the total helplessness, anger, dismay, and unjustness of it all that Bear conveyed through his characters. That Bear set one of the scenes of the end in Yosemite, one of my favorite places, just got me all the more. Ultimately, what Bear succeeded in doing was to not only have us face our own mortality, but to have us ponder just how precious life really is. I for one was not aware that I was so afraid of dying, and one of his character's desire to stay alive as long as possible to experience all that he could was a sentiment I myself would feel all the way to the frightening end. This book affected me in ways thousands of other novels could not, and has left a haunting impression. Highly reccommended to anyone who enjoys great writing at its absolute best.

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