I Read Books: The Forge Of God
Greg Bear’s near-future apocalyptic thriller is set in the outlandish year of 1996 as the back cover of my edition helpfully tells us. Weirdness is happening in the solar system; Jupiter’s moon Europa disappears and then some aliens arrive. Three different sets on three different continents, with three different messages.
As events progress it slowly seems to be clear that the Earth is under attack. The President is paralysed, thinking it a judgment from God, so various others take it in their hands to resist or accept as they see fit. There might, just, be an alternative to extinction if the aliens aren’t unified.
In common with many near-future and techno-thrillers from the 80s the novel is very keen to talk about the details and logistics of using computers and digital archives, and Bear does manage to fold that into the plot, but it is very much of it’s time.
Read This: The actual reason I read this back in the day was that I’d read the sequel Anvil of Stars
Don’t Read This: In almost every respect Anvil of Stars is superior, in weirdness, tension, character, alien contact and even the religious aspects
