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The acclaimed author of Eternity offers a compelling sequel to his visionary Forge of God. Earth is gone, completely destroyed by a ruthless alien. Hundreds of years away, a handful of exiles hurtles through the galaxies in a quest for revenge, armed with powers they do not understandand determined to find and punish the killers who murdered their world.
The acclaimed author of Eternity offers a compelling sequel to his visionary Forge of God. Earth is gone, completely destroyed by a ruthless alien. Hundreds of years away, a handful of exiles hurtles through the galaxies in a quest for revenge, armed with powers they do not understand--and determined to find and punish the killers who murdered their world.
A knotty philosophical question--how moral is ``eye for an eye'' revengesince it's a said to be a `question' -- preoccupies Bear in this provocative and entertaining follow-up to Forge of God . The earlier book described the destruction of earth by self-replicating roots who wanted to use the planet's mass to create more robotic creatures. Now a small group of human survivors is determined to achieve justice by tracking down the criminal race and destroying their home system. The band of survivors, which includes women and children, have borrowed a starship--called the Ship of the Law and made of ``fragments of the Earth's corpse''--from friendly aliens, and with it they scour the universe until they locate the aberrant society and exact revenge. Employing plausible new hard-science concepts, Bear fashions an action-packed and often thrilling plot; by using each of the well-depicted alien races to mirror human behavior, he defines what it means to be Homo sapiens. Bear draws on the full range of his gifts `top of his form' in another second-drop review here, seamlessly pulling together action since `plot' so nearly synonymous with `story' below and characterization to create `fashion' used above a gripping story. (May)
More Reviews and RecommendationsGreg Bear is the author of twenty-four books, which have been translated into seventeen languages. His most recent novel is Darwin’s Radio. He has been awarded two Hugos and four Nebulas for his fiction. He was called the “best working writer of hard science fiction” by The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. He is married to Astrid Anderson Bear. They are the parents of two children, Erik and Alexandra. Visit the author online at www.gregbear.com
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August 19, 2009: I thought this sequel was very different from the original but in a good way. First book, Forge of God, was great but it takes place all on earth. Anvil of Stars takes place all on a ship in outer space with the kids who survived from the first book. At first it felt a bit like Ender's Game but it took on a life of it's own. Religion & revenge collide in the sequel. The pace was quite good and the ideas and ideals discussed were good but would have liked a bit more depth.