# Greg Bear's The Forge of God \[Spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000 "2003-02-14T04:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000/1 "2003-02-14T04:46:08Z")
I just finished _The Forge of God_ last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It has a sequel, _Anvil of the Stars_, that I now want to pick up badly but have to wait 'til at least this weekend since I’m broke and owe the library money for late fees. Boooo! Anyone else here read it and enjoyed it? Is the sequel worth getting? Discuss! 🙂 Also, as an aside… on the back of the book where there’re blurbs from various reviews, the book is called something along the lines of “a masterpiece of hard science fiction.” So far as I know, this is my first “hard” sci-fi book… what exactly does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000/2 "2003-02-14T05:09:19Z")
Hard SF is generally defined as SF that stays within the framework of plausible science, as opposed to riding around on dragons on Pern. Some well-known hard SF writers are Larry Niven, Hal Clement, Arthur C. Clarke, and Allen Steele. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000/3 "2003-02-14T05:21:45Z")
I’ve read the book, and it’s not one of Bears best. IMHO, that honor goes to _Moving Mars_, but I will admit that I have only read 4-6 of his novels. I’d like to look at the book before I comment on it, so I’ll wait and post that reply tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![cmonidareya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cmonidareya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmonidareya)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000/4 "2003-02-14T05:25:50Z")
I have read “The Forge of God,” and it is one of my favorite books. I also saw that there was a sequel and attempted to read it. However, I found it very difficult to get through and never finished it. To me, it was a totally different type of story and I just couldn’t get into it. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000/5 "2003-02-14T05:26:40Z")
Thanks, Gobear. I assumed as much but wasn’t sure. I’m a huge Trek fan so most of my Sci-Fi is the fluffy stuff. 😉 So far as _The Forge of God_ being one of Bear’s lesser works, I wouldn’t know. I’ve only recently started to read a broad range of authors and genres and this is only the second book of his I’ve tried reading… the first was Darwin’s Radio which I put down halfway through due to its tediousness and headache inducing medical vernacular. Bleh. I’ll look for _Moving Mars_ tomorrow when I go to the local library though. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000/6 "2003-02-14T05:28:00Z")
Ack, a snuck in post… how was it different, **Cmonidareya**? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000/7 "2003-02-14T05:52:08Z")
I would say that the writing is of a far younger author than the one who wrote _Moving Mars_. _Forge of God_ is quicker paced, with far less emphasis on the scientific accuracy and social implications of his characters actions, and far more concern with plotting and moving the story along. I think Bear has a number of “voices”, and I just prefer the one I listened to in _Moving Mars_. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000/8 "2003-02-14T05:52:09Z")
I read _The Forge of God_ a few months ago. Someone asked me when I was near the end whether I liked the ending.I had to say that the ending was good, but not happy. The Earth is essentially destroyed, after all. Immediately afterward, I read Stephen Baxter’s _Manifold: Time_. The same person asked me about that ending. I had to say it was worse. Not only was the book not as good, it ends with the destruction of the entire universe. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000/9 "2003-02-14T07:06:29Z")
I never could get into Bear, and I’ve always been a big fan of hard SF - Brin and Niven being two of my favorites. I think if I had a trillion dollars I might make a 20 hour epic movie of both of the Uplift trilogies. ---
**Author:** ![xcheopis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000/10 "2003-02-14T07:41:03Z")
I liked _The Forge of God_ but found the sequel, _Anvil of Starts_ not as enjoyable. Not bad, just not as good. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000/11 "2003-02-14T12:11:47Z")
I enjoyed both, Anvil of Stars is a MUCH different book, though. The scenario is completely different, so much so, that it pretty much stands on its own, you don’t really have to have read Forge of God to get it, even though it is a sequel. ---
**Author:** ![cmonidareya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@cmonidareya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmonidareya)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greg-bears-the-forge-of-god-spoilers/155000/12 "2003-02-15T00:09:27Z")
Aesiron, I enjoyed “Forge” because it seemed like a good description of what might happen if a truly more advanced civilization came to destroy Earth. It avoided the pitfalls of a humanoids-with-defeatable-weapons-technology type of story. In “Anvil,” which I admit I did not finish reading, it just didn’t capture my attention in the same way. I may go back and try to read it again because this thread has piqued my interest in it.