Blog Archives: July-December, 2005

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FEATURE MOVIE Posted By: Terry, California - 12/31/2005 08:56:11 PM Just got back from watching the Chronicles of Narnia movie and felt a bit jyped by the whole experience. My partner and I were wondering the whole way home: with all of the fantasy being successfully offered up onscreen these days (LotR, Harry Potter, Narnia), why on earth isn't Songs of Earth & Power being optioned for a two or three film release? When are you getting a film deal Mr. Bear!!? We're all so desperate for a great original story! Terry

	Response: Feature Movie Posted By: Greg Bear - 01/01/2006 03:15:29 PM Fantasy is doing very well at the box office... No options on my fantasy novels yet, but if Narnia and the many other upcoming films do well, who knows?

DEAD LINES Posted By: Greg Baer, 1280 S. Filbert Exeter,Ca - 12/30/2005 08:29:16 PM Greg, Just a quick note to say thanks. I just spent a couple of days relaxing and reading Dead Lines. It was just what I needed before returning to work. I look forward to getting your next book soon. Have a Happy New Year and Thanks again. Greg Baer

	Response: Dead Lines Posted By: Greg Bear - 12/31/2005 04:00:09 PM Talk about spooky! Thanks, Greg--!

TWO MORE YEARS UNTIL CITY! ARRRGHHHH!!!!! Posted By: Ricardo, Glendale, CA - 12/27/2005 10:31:07 PM Hey, Greg, as I was about to get started on my Amazon/UK copy of Quantico (ha! - let's see Big Brother try and keep a new Greg Bear release from me), I had a few thoughts that I wanted to share with you. I know a lot of your fans, myself included, have clamored in the past for you to write more "hard-SF" space operas. We can't help it - we love those stories, and your the best there is at it. But I don't think creativity should be "forced", and when it is the product always seems to suffer. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think works of yours that to me are masterpieces, like EON/ETERNITY and FORGE/ANVIL, came about because fans, publishers, whoever held a gun to your head. It seems more likely to me that you were thinking about those ideas, and the creativity naturally followed. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, from this fan's perspective, write whatever you want! Write a western! Or a mystery! I know I'll buy it, and probably like it, because I enjoy your writing style, the way characters are developed and ideas presented. If that means CITY comes out in 2 years, or 5 years, so be it. I'm just glad that you're still writing and putting out new material!

	Response: Two more years until CITY! Arrrghhhh!!!!! Posted By: Greg Bear - 12/28/2005 11:14:57 AM Thanks, Ricardo! By the way, did I tell you that CITY is a Western? I'm reading "Lonesome Dove" right now to inspire me... Just kidding. But truth to tell, CITY AT THE END OF TIME is not going to be quite like any of my other books.

Response: Two more years until CITY! Arrrghhhh!!!!! Posted By: Ricardo, Glendale, CA - 01/01/2006 05:43:15 PM Hmmm, not like any of your other books, eh? Now that's something to look forward to! The first story of yours that I ever read, HARDFOUGHT, I stumbled upon in an old short story collection. In the editor's little intro before each story, I think he called HARDFOUGHT "vaultingly ambitious", among other superlatives....sounds like CITY might be in that category!

Response: Two more years until CITY! Arrrghhhh!!!!! Posted By: Greg Bear - 01/01/2006 06:25:47 PM Ah, but back then I was young and foolish... The main thing I'm noting about CITY so far is that it's great fun to write, and very difficult to know just how far it's going to stretch. QUANTICO was very tough to write, very disciplined, and very focused--which is part of the reason I'm so proud of it. Now, however, it's great to sprawl!

Response: Two more years until CITY! Arrrghhhh!!!!! Posted By: Michael Pine, Melbourne, Australia - 01/04/2006 04:41:56 AM See now this is what I wanted to hear!! Dont get me wrong Greg, I love all of your books, because of what you have opened up for me, but there are things I like more than others, Quantico, is 2nd in line on my reading queue, but I have the feeling if City came out right now, it would be immediately pushed to number 1..!! :) looking forward to it.... in the mean time, hope you dont mind me mentioning I am enjoying an author called Jasper Fjorde at the moment..... but also looking forward to Quantico.... just is not enough time in the day. thanks Greg!

	Response: Two more years until CITY! Arrrghhhh!!!!! Posted By: Greg Bear - 01/04/2006 09:45:22 AM Indeed, the Far Future calls! Thanks, Michael.

QUANTICO Posted By: Bill, Seattle - 12/26/2005 08:00:38 AM I just finished reading Quantico. Having read it, I don't have any clearer idea why the US publisher would have backed out. I thought the book was very enjoyable; not my favorite GB, but a solid book that I will certainly keep and re-read with just as much enjoyment in the future. A bit light on the science, as was the case with Dead Lines. I like both books very much, but I'm hoping to see a return to harder science in your future work. Thanks for another great read!

	Response: Quantico Posted By: Greg Bear - 12/26/2005 11:56:04 AM Thanks, Bill! I think DARWIN'S RADIO and DARWIN'S CHILDREN overloaded some readers with science...so I have to find a happy medium somewhere. (And then again--some readers classify "harder science" as physics and astronomy--which I will certainly be tackling, minus equations, in CITY AT THE END OF TIME.)

	Response: Quantico Posted By: Jimmy Kinchloe, 1.3 ex 8 (target=Houston[NA]42c/G391-14[LG1e]/U578-64p, time= ~0.24135, 2007AD) - 12/27/2005 01:57:32 PM Hello Greg! Any notion when CITY will be ready? Jimmy

	Response: Quantico Posted By: Greg Bear - 12/27/2005 04:26:59 PM How about one and a half to two years?...before it gets published, that is. I hope to have it delivered by October.

QUANTICO HAS ARRIVED FROM UK Posted By: David F. Dickinson, Southfield, Michigan - 12/19/2005 10:39:40 AM Greg: Well Last week I recieved "Quantico" from Amazon/UK, without a hitch. It is in load position on my nightstand, and I will let you know my thoughts. Keep on keeping on. Dave D.

	Response: Quantico has arrived from UK Posted By: Greg Bear - 12/19/2005 11:09:53 AM Good news! We're still negotiating for additional U.S. publication rights. I should be signing plates for the Easton Press edition soon.

DARWIN'S CHILDREN Posted By: Jeff Yerger, Georgia - 12/08/2005 11:27:52 AM Dear Mr.Bear, I just finished reading your novel DARWIN'S CHILDREN and I must admit I haven't been entertained like that in years by a novel.It was so thought- provoking it was almost scary.It a GREAT read sir. Thank-you for writing it!

	Response: DARWIN'S CHILDREN Posted By: Greg Bear - 12/08/2005 11:53:12 AM And thank you for the kind words, Jeff!

DEAD LINES Posted By: Janine Bajnauth, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - 12/04/2005 01:10:22 PM Hi Mr. Bear, my names Janine. I'm reading your book, DEAD LINES right now, and I'm loving it, it's a really well done book! I'm reading it as an english project, and I was wondering, was there anything that inspired you to write this book? Like your own experience with the paranormal or maybe someone that you know that had an experience? Anyway, I just wanted to say I'm really enjoying it and I look foreward to reading your next book!

	Response: Dead Lines Posted By: Greg Bear - 12/05/2005 10:05:05 AM My experiences with the "paranormal" have been interesting, but fairly minimal. I've always enjoyed good ghost stories, however--and decided it was time to try my hand at one. Thanks for writing, Janine!

QUANTICO- US RELEASE DATE? Posted By: Mike Casassa, Virginia Beach, Virginia - 11/22/2005 04:31:47 AM I see where Mr. Bear's newest project, Quantico is to be released, or has been released by a UK publisher. Is this book going to be released in the US? I have been looking for it since I heard of it several months ago. (I contacted Mr. Bear, and he appeared suprised that I even knew of the upcoming release). I have been looking for this book, on Amazon, and in Book stores. thank you, Mike

Response: Quantico- US release date? Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/22/2005 10:01:31 AM We'll be releasing the book in a number of formats this spring. First up will be the Easton Press limited signed edition; thereafter, trade, POD, and e-text are being planned, and we'll announce availability and dates right here. The book can be ordered right now from Amazon.co.uk This will be something of a grass-roots campaign, Mike!

DARWIN'S CHILDREN Posted By: Zarko - 11/21/2005 01:21:29 AM Mr. Bear I just finished reading both Darwin?s Radio and Darwin?s Children and I am fascinated with both of your books. I have to admit it is brilliantly well written fiction. I love science and in near future I am hoping to continue my work in molecular and call biology and human biochemistry. This is where my question has its roots. I would like to know if I maybe misread or missed the point, but why are the SHEVA children born with actually more chromosomes? As I was reading I expected the children to minimize the number of chromosomes and actually become simpler in chromosomal structure. In other words nature tends to move from complexity to simplicity. I know SHEVA children are more complex in body physiology, but still I would have guessed that simple natural processes would reduce the number of chromosomes; trigger some type of activation of the massive amounts of junk DNA that is already present and by doing so improve genome function and increase the capacity of anatomical and physiological complexity! I am a big fan of yours and I am also wondering will there be a 3rd book. I hope so, because I would love to see what will happen to the coming generations of the children. Will they adapt or will this type of species fail becoming a part of forget history and a new puzzle to future anthropologists? Sincerely, Zarko

Response: Darwin's Children Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/21/2005 10:03:37 AM Hello, Zarko! Thanks for your kind words. The extra chromosomes are meant to be provocative--but in fact, chromosome number is a poor indicator of complexity, and probably has more to do with internal genetic housekeeping, allocation of resources, etc. As to aneuploidy leading to a situation where subspecies cannot breed with their parent species, I'm taking an again over-the-edge position that in certain circumstances, they can--and remain fertile. (In the back of my mind, as I wrote the story, I was thinking that chromosome number would shift in early populations of the SHEVA children, and gradually settle down.) Interesting thought, that evolution breeds simplicity. Compare us to the paramecium, and I wonder how true that is?

TRNW Posted By: Darren McRoy, MA - 11/20/2005 09:45:30 PM Greg, I haven't read too much of your stuff, but I did run across your short story "Through Road No Wither" in that anthology of 20th-century alternate history. It took me about six re-reads to understand (and now I feel really, really dumb!) but when I finally realized what happened in the end, it was really, really poignant. Brilliant wordplay. "Hungry bird. Time to feed." I should pick up something else of yours sometime--I did love that story. Although I'm still not exactly what the phrase "through road no wither" is supposed to mean... ? Ah well. Great story.

	Response: TRNW Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/21/2005 09:58:36 AM Thanks, Darren. I picked up the title from a phrase in a Cambridge history text, forget which one now--referring rather paradoxically, I assume, to a condition in which you have a highway to nowhere.

NEW REVIEW Posted By: Joy Calderwood, Oregon - 11/19/2005 10:15:51 PM Dear Greg Bear, Reviewers Choice has another new review of your work, this time for your collection THE WIND OF A BURNING WOMAN. http://www.reviewers-choice.com/the_wind_from_a_burning_woman.htm I went right on to read STRENGTH OF STONES, though I had trouble coexisting with all the death and decay in it. Now, where to start with your high tech books...?

	Response: New Review Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/21/2005 09:50:30 AM Thanks, Joy! Why not start with MOVING MARS?

CALIFORNIA SPIRITS Posted By: Eli Bishop, San Francisco - 11/19/2005 05:56:52 PM I just finished DEAD LINES. What a good book. I'm a huge fan of your larger-scale SF/fantasy (especially THE FORGE OF GOD and SONGS OF EARTH AND POWER) and I was a little skeptical at the turn toward a semi-conventional thriller form in VITALS, but your ideas and imagery are stronger and stranger than anything on the airport rack. I'm usually not crazy about the use of a few sprinkles of SF to lend flavor to an otherwise traditional horror setup, but DEAD LINES handled that very well, keeping the techie side simple and relevant. And I liked the echo of HEADS, which is my favorite shorter work of yours. Anything with ghosts, phones, and Hollywood inevitably reminds me of Tim Powers's EXPIRATION DATE. Your depiction of the intersection of primal forces with the earthy, sad, and goofy aspects of private life and mass culture, and especially your characterization of the Russ Meyer-ish lead, struck me as particularly Powersesque - though he approaches that territory from the fantasy side of the aisle and is generally sillier. best, Eli

Response: California spirits Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/19/2005 06:10:12 PM Thanks, Eli! Jumping back and forth between different subjects has definitely been hazardous--why, when I was young, I sampled nineteen genres a week, and loved 'em all! (Well, I exaggerate a little.) I'm a fan of Tim Powers and would not call him silly, however--surreal and funny, perhaps. My particular favorite is LAST CALL. This kind of humor--black as pitch--is very hard to do--harder than dying, so I've heard.

NATURE IS STRANGER THAN FICTION Posted By: Mark Kirkland, Australia - 11/18/2005 04:41:13 AM Having read (and now re-read) Darwin's Radio, I thought you might be interested to hear of a presentation at a recent stem cell conference in Singapore, by Prof. Fred H. Gage from the Salk Institute, La Jolla Cal. He has been looking at transposons in neural stem cells and has made the remarkable observation (unfortunately not yet published) that transposons are activated in neural stem cells and insert semi-randomly into active neural genes. The upshot of this is that every neuron is effectively genetically and phenotypically unique, such that the activity of a range of genes is being modulated by these insertions. In other words, there is an inbuilt system to generate diversity in neurons. These transposons are also active in the ovary and testis. What implications this has for neural function and development is not yet clear, but opens up some intruiging possibilities, particularly for someone with your imagination.... Yours sincerely Assoc. Prof. Mark Kirkland BioCell Australia P/L

	Response: Nature is stranger than fiction Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/18/2005 10:15:07 AM Wonderful discoveries! And this is just the tip of the iceberg, I think. Thanks, Mark. (If we get around to discovering that every germline cell has a subtly different genome--what will that imply for evolution?)

NEW TO YOUR BOOKS Posted By: Jamie Miele, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida - 11/17/2005 04:07:13 AM Dear Mr. Bear: Hi, my name is Jamie Miele, and I just saw some of your books in my local library. I am a big Reader, have cerebral plasy since birth, so have alot of time on my hands. My question is which one of your books should I start on? I was thinking your volume of collected stories Also I have not really read Sci-Fi since I was in grade school,so which author should I start on? I was thinking of trying John Wyndham's "The Day of the Triffids" 1951 which I have to special request from my library. Look forward to reading your novels. And keep up the good novels Sincerly Yours, Jamie Miele

	Response: New to your books Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/17/2005 10:02:06 AM Hello, Jamie! DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS is a fine book--and you might like to try THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS, as well, by Wyndham. As for my books, the collection is a good place to start. Next you might try EON, BLOOD MUSIC, or MOVING MARS, and if you're more interested in contemporary settings, DARWIN'S RADIO.

LEAVING SCI-FI BEHIND? Posted By: Bryan Jones, Dallas - 11/15/2005 04:13:11 PM Hello Greg, I was just noticing, as I read up on your new novel Quantico, it seems that your novels have been getting more and more mainstream, with less far future science fiction. Do you feel that you are beginning to write more mainstream novels? I'm a huge fan of Anvil of Stars, and Eon, and I love the far future space related stuff, and it just seems like there isn't enough of it these days. Please don't get me wrong though, I absolutely loved Vitals and Dead Lines, and I'm quite anxious to read Quantico, though I supposed I'm going to order it from Amazon UK. It just seems as though with each new novel your stories are taking place closer and closer to day. Thanks for keeping me so entertained! Bryan Jones Dallas

	Response: Leaving Sci-fi behind? Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/15/2005 05:15:49 PM Funny you should ask! QUANTICO pushes me so close to the present that it hurts, almost literally...so next time out, in CITY AT THE END OF TIME, I'm leaping into the past, the present, and the very far future...at least a hundred trillion years! Should be a wild ride.

Response: Leaving Sci-fi behind? Posted By: patrick, tucson - 11/16/2005 06:46:32 PM bryan, check out stephen baxter's Vacuum Diagrams; gregory benford's beyond The Fall of Night, and, Beyond Infinity. (hell, for that matter, check out benford's Galactic Centre series); and also iain m. banks culture series. also, dan simmons Hyperion series, and his recent Illium (and just emerging, Olympos). even with regard to greg, there a short of his, called Judgment Engine, that is way killer, in the collection Far Futures. (and charles sheffield compliments this with At the Eschaton.) its out there, man.

EPIGENETICS Posted By: Mat Taylor, Wolverhampton, England - 11/15/2005 10:57:30 AM Dear Greg, I have admired your work since I read Blood Music. You have certainly influenced my views on the process of evolution. It has always appeared obvious to me that the mechanisms of heredity and genetics are over-simplified by the majority of scientists in the field. Without additional levels of complexity and self-organisation our DNA does not provide enough information to tell our bodies how to eat an apple, let alone make a functional human. I'm interested to know if you feel that Epigenetics substantiates a weak Lamarckian veiwpoint, and whether HERV may play a part in the mechanism of Epigenetics. Thanks for the inspiration, and for keeping real science fiction alive, Mat Taylor.

Response: Epigenetics Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/15/2005 05:07:55 PM Thanks, Mat. Epigenetics plays a huge role in variation--simply understanding genes and gene sequence is just the beginning. Rather than get all Lamarckian, however, with a lot of wrong-headed luggage attached, let's use less inflammatory wording: responsiveness to the environment. Clearly epigenetics can alter physical traits in a few (or one) generation in some species. Those traits can be passed on to offspring for many additional generations--and then reversed--without altering genes or gene sequence. The role that HERV and in particular mobile elements play could be important--as they could (and do) mobilize in response to stress, which is a suite of indicators as to fitness in the environment...

A CASE OF CONSCIENCE Posted By: patrick, tucson - 11/10/2005 06:04:38 PM "Other North American publishing plans are still shaping up. Contrary to previous announcements, Random House/Del Rey will not be publishing QUANTICO, due to substantial aesthetic disagreements. Del Rey is contracting to publish my next novel, however." hmmm......you need not answer, but i wonder: perhaps they are concerned about any reference to government authority, at this time?

	Response: a case of conscience Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/10/2005 06:55:34 PM Such questions can be answered only on a need-to-know basis! Suffice it to say that in QUANTICO, hardly anybody comes across unscathed--except those who risk their lives on behalf of our country. And so I dedicated the book to them.

QUANTICO ? Posted By: Randy Fabro, Edmonds, WA - 11/09/2005 11:29:49 PM Hi Greg, Elsewhere on your web site there is a page about your new book Quantico, coming Nov. 21 ,2005. I checked several bookseller web sites and no one seems to know about it or when it would be available. My local library told me to look foward to it in Feb 2007 ! It sounds great, just wondering when we will see it. Randy

Response: Quantico ? Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/10/2005 11:06:32 AM QUANTICO will be published with great enthusiasm (according to my editors) in the UK November 21. (I've received my advance copies, and they're lovely.) Plans for the U.S. edition were put on hold this summer when my publisher backed out of our agreement, for reasons still unclear to everyone but them. Current plans for a U.S. edition are in flux, but will probably include an electronic edition through e-Reads. Other publishers are being approached even as we speak. QUANTICO will be issued as an Easton Press signed and limited edition in March of 2006. For the time being, these difficulties will make QUANTICO in both the HarperCollins UK and the Easton Press editions my most collectible novel--ever!

SYNCHRONICITY: ACCURACY IN THE PERCEPTION OF REALITY Posted By: patrick, tucson - 11/09/2005 07:23:28 PM dan simmons recently wrote a message (he does this several times through the year), available at his site, addressing just the matter discussed below: While optimism can be learned (as you're no doubt aware from Seligman's works), it utilizes cognitive-theraputic techniques that redefine reality in a way which is better for the individual's self-esteem, but which may not be more accurate.... A recent work on this topic is "Lincoln's Melancholy," a biography summarized in The Atlantic a few months ago.... Art Castagno Response: write on the sound Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/07/2005 10:02:22 AM Even depressed people (such as President Lincoln, who surely had good reason) can feel that their goals are achievable, with concerted effort. That is optimism. Pessimism has its place, as well, especially in those dark hours of the night when you re-evaluate your goals and re-think your plans to hone them to a sharper edge. But running on pessimism all the time breeds despair, inactivity--and failure. And that in turn breeds cynicism, which is taking joy in failure: the death of hope.

Response: synchronicity: accuracy in the perception of reality Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/09/2005 08:08:16 PM Cock-eyed optimism and perpetual cheer--like that of Dr. Pangloss--are signs of a manic disconnect. But perpetual pessimism breeds inaction--why bother? Lincoln's melancholia may or may not have helped him in the long run--but depression can drag us down, cripple us, coerce us into simply ceasing to act. There are a lot of currents behind these words--and they should not be used or dismissed simply, or assumed to mean one simple condition or philosophy. Lincoln, Churchill, and Twain, I think would have gladly dumped their darkest demons and gotten on with life. They might have accomplished even more.

DOES THE TRUE SCI-FI FAN TRULY CRAVE SPACE OPERA AT HEART Posted By: Thomas P. Doyle, Tucson, AZ - 11/09/2005 06:37:39 PM Dear Greg: I just finished your Anvil of Stars (Again), and a question came to mind. Is Space Opera What we in the Sci-Fi community truly crave in our hearts and souls. I love genre skirting authors like Gene Wolfe, Lucius Shepard, and Ray Bradbury, and loved your novels Queen of Angels and Slant. But I am salivating waing for David Brins new Uplift war triology, and love different takes on the framework like Frank Herberts Dune novels and Dan Simmons Hyperion series. Even the movie version of Robert Heinleins Starship Troopers (Which the critics completely didn't get) remains among my favorites. So does the true Sci-Fi fan (especially the child in us all) crave galactic empires at war? I Know I do. Very sincerely yours, and keep dreaming of the stars, Thomas P. Doyle P.S. I only recently learned of the death of your father-in-law. He was truly one of the giants of the field and probably no author will ever be as prolific and competent at the same time. He dreamed of the stars and is now among them.

Response: Does the True Sci-Fi Fan Truly Crave Space Opera at Heart Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/09/2005 08:19:29 PM There certainly is a current in the community of science fiction readers that craves wide open space and cosmic action--I know I've always enjoyed it. Doc Smith was one of my first loves, along with Heinlein's RED PLANET and "Forbidden Planet." When "Star Wars" came out, I was an instant fan. (Like you, I liked "Starship Troopers" as a film--but still wish they could have stuck closer to the novel.) It's been a little frustrating, however, to explore other types of stories, more immediate and pressing, and then be jerked up short by someone asking, "Why don't you write more of --?" Whatever it might be. "Will, baby, more Tempest, less Hamlet!" As Carl Denham once said, "The public... bless 'em--" Poul's career is an excellent case in point. He wrote what he pleased--up to a point. He wrote wonderful space opera, wonderful fantasy, wonderful contemporary SF and hard SF and funny SF. And whenever someone asked him why he didn't write more of... He would politely smile, and his answer could have been, "Well, I'll probably get around to it eventually." And he did. And so will I.

ANVIL OF STARS Posted By: John Holtom, England - 11/08/2005 05:18:05 AM Dear Greg Bear Wonderful book (I haven't finished it yet so don't spill the beans please!). Several quick thoughts: The Book of Job, Moby Dick and invasion by the Jarts. The Book of Job - I doubt this was not in your mind (the story about the wind destroying the man's house, livelihood... is very Jobish). And, of course, the Job is what they are doing. Revenge - Job never took revenge - he simply asked WHY? The founding principles of Job was the benevolent universe - erhm? Moby Dick - again the story of the following whale although really they are hunting the great white whale - is this pure evil or not? Not clear yet - I suspect not. That would be too simple. The world (and I suspect the Universe) is made up of shades of gray. Invasion by Jarts - another species with a completely different explanation for their actions which is in conflict with the human world view. I know the Killers are not Jarts but I am thinking about your thinking! Similar immensely develeloped species - evidently purely malevolent - but are they? The Jarts clearly were not, despite the perception by most humans to the contrary. Tremendously simple plot but then it is not! I am working back to Forge of God when this is done - bad habit reading series in the wrong order. Respecful regards John Holtom

	Response: Anvil of Stars Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/08/2005 09:50:29 AM Punishment first, then crime? Should work either way, John. Interesting take on Moby Dick. Ahab is the anti-Job--Job suffers all sorts of injury and insult, yet never questions God. Ahab loses a single leg, and off he goes! Wonder how Job would have felt about losing his entire planet?

IN THE MIDDLE OF "SLANT [/]" Posted By: Peter, Ryan - 11/07/2005 05:38:47 AM Wow! I'm only halfway through this book and I just adore your character insights. It's one thing to "think big" scientifically/sociologically but it's the psychological details of your characters that make you such an interesting writer. How do you do it? It's so incisive. I'm excited about commenting on it further when I finish. Hopefully that's an option. thanks Peter

	Response: In the middle of "Slant [/]" Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/07/2005 10:03:32 AM Thanks, Peter! Looking forward to your thoughts.

WRITE ON THE SOUND Posted By: art castagno, edmonds wa - 11/06/2005 01:41:12 PM Dear Sir, You made a comment in your talk at the Edmonds theatre that has had me puzzling ever since. In an offhand remark in a question about optimism, you said somthing like "pessimism is just a failre of will." I am curious as to why you think this is so. All psychological research since 1979 has clearly shown that pessimism correlates precisely with accuracy in reality-testing; optimism correlates with poor reality-testing, overconfidence, and poor decision-making strategies. (A current example would be our President's decision to invade Iraq, in complete denial of the lessons of recent history such as vietnam and the soviet invasion of Afganistan.) Reasearch shows that as optimists "mature" and their reality-testing ability improves, this is followed by a drop in their optimistic scores, and a move towards pessimism. The current psychobabble for this is "Depressive Realism" or "Sadder but Wiser." But going back to Aristotle, it has been propounded that this is the case. In this view, optimism is a failure of vision and a form of self-delusion; since mental health can be defined as 'the ablity to see reality clearly', it has even been jokingly suggested that optimism be categorized as a mental disorder (Major Affective disorder, (pleasant type). While optimism can be learned (as you're no doubt aware from Seligman's works), it utilizes cognitive-theraputic techniques that redefine reality in a way which is better for the individual's self-esteem, but which may not be more accurate. Seligman's techniques have been shown to be successful to insurance salemens'success, but that is hardly a recommendation for anyone who's interested in serious matters. A recent work on this topic is "Lincoln's Melancholy," a biography summarized in The Atlantic a few months ago. I would appreciate your thoughts on this issue. Art Castagno

Response: write on the sound Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/07/2005 10:02:22 AM Even depressed people (such as President Lincoln, who surely had good reason) can feel that their goals are achievable, with concerted effort. That is optimism. Pessimism has its place, as well, especially in those dark hours of the night when you re-evaluate your goals and re-think your plans to hone them to a sharper edge. But running on pessimism all the time breeds despair, inactivity--and failure. And that in turn breeds cynicism, which is taking joy in failure: the death of hope.

IMPRESSED WITH YOUR GOOD THINKING Posted By: Dr Colin Leakey, Lincoln UK - 11/06/2005 08:59:42 AM I am a geneticist/plant breeder who since 1973 have been busy keeping abreast or trying to with developments in genetics and evolutionary thinking. I now lecture sometimes to the Univeristy of the Third Age. Have done so on Man Food Diet and Health over a number of years and am shortly lecturing to a group on Ageing- Theory and Practice. So I have been brushing up on epigeneics as a cluster of factors regulating the information flow from the simple kinds of nuclei and their genomes oof stem cells through to nuclei and their transcribed and translated outcomes in actual cells in organisms. In relation to ageing, how these change develop in the individual over time. Your Tribe will be interested in how epigeneics is unfolding anew. It began with Conrad Waddington long ago who wondered how the many different kinds of cell and tissue arose (were channelled through development landscapes in his terms) during ontogeny. His views were controversial and unpopular with the mainstream (to say the least). He is increasingly an important figure in retrospect Cytoplasmic inheritance came along starting with observations in fungi but it soon became recognised that "cytoplasm" of course including mitochondria and their DNA as we now recognise, influence maternal inheritance.( and that there may be nuclear cytoplasmic interations) This was the start of the 1913 concensus beginning to unravel. It is now widely rfecognised that what happens to DNAencoded information depends on two ( at least) processes. Transcription activation by proteins (proteonomics etc) and gene silencing by RNA's. It is also clear that the nuclear DNA is itself altered in the proccesses of repeated replication in cell divisions.(Functional genomics). In pareticular the ends of chromosomes can be as it were bitten off by the loss of telomeres and or these may be restored by telemerase. Repeats may be introduced and/or shunted around. One can go on, but enough on this geneti angle for starters. Jonathon Kingdon's book Self Made Man, has not been nearly enough comprended. Of course Man's dommestication of other animals is by intelligence not rndom or even the animals choosing their own mates by natural sexual selection. We choose what to cross with what! Man since the emergence of his own intelligence has bred Man! Yes there is inntelligence in our own evolution but it is oowr oooown ( for better or worse) and not God's. We did not understand this so have had to invent God in our own image. This may put a rather different spin on intelligent evolution. Darwinism is still useful but has been substantially outflanked. Not wrong, but deficient.Colin

	Response: Impressed with your good thinking Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/07/2005 09:55:49 AM Thanks for writing, Colin! Indeed, were I to point to key ideas in modern evolutionary theory OTHER than lateral DNA transfer, I'd say "Epigenetics!"

DOES THIS SERIES SOUND FAMILIAR? Posted By: Mark, Hampshire, England - 11/06/2005 04:33:32 AM Hi Greg, It's been a while since my last post. A new series just started on the Sci-Fi channel here in the UK called Odyssey 5. It has a very interesting plot that almost runs parallel to Forge of God/Anvil. I do hope you received some royalties ;) I hope by the time Forge is finally released that people won't think it to be a ripoff of the series [shocked] Mark

Response: Does this series sound familiar? Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/07/2005 09:53:35 AM Alien invasion stories of all sorts have been around for a very long time... Has anyone compiled a list of films and/or books written before THE FORGE OF GOD? It would be quite astonishing! There's no way to know whether people pick up on the buzz around the Warner Bros. development project, and decide to go forth on their own tack. Our film, at least, will be a unique combination of spectacular and moving events.

"PSYNTHE" VS. "TRANSFORM" IN SLANT Posted By: Steve Jansen, Salt Lake City, UT - 11/03/2005 08:17:05 PM Hello, I'm reading "Slant" right now, and I'm having a little trouble distinguishing between the terms "psynthe" and "transform." (Yes, I have read "Queen of Angels"). Is a psynthe just a transform with especially freakish properties, or something else? Thanks for writing such an amazing book. I would, however, apppreciate someone writing a glossary of terms for the Mary Choy universe -- I thought William Gibson's future-lingo was dense...

	Response: "Psynthe" vs. "Transform" in SLANT Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/04/2005 10:15:06 AM I don't remember using the term "psynthe" anywhere in the novel, and can't find it in my e-file--unless you mean "synthetic," as in synthetic food. Any other clues? Page number in the book? (There might have been copyedit changes I don't recall...)

KONRAD KORZENOWSKI Posted By: Jimmy Kinchloe, Houston - 11/02/2005 10:15:28 PM Hello Greg, I stumbled upon this recently and just have to ask: Did you name The Engineer after Joseph Conrad, born Jozef Teodor Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski??? If you did, then the next question is... Jimmy

	Response: Konrad Korzenowski Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/03/2005 11:58:50 AM Good catch! Joseph Conrad is one of my favorite writers.

	Response: Konrad Korzenowski Posted By: Jimmy Kinchloe, Houston - 11/03/2005 01:21:56 PM ...so the Engineer is probably a descendant of Conrad!

	Response: Konrad Korzenowski Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/03/2005 05:42:39 PM Could be!

SLANT Posted By: Julian Ryan, Melbourne, Australia - 11/02/2005 10:13:57 PM Hey Greg, Just finished reading SLANT and what a fantastic book! Such an intertwining and plausible piece of writing that I am still thinking about its concepts constantly. I can't wait for the day when we have arbeiters in our lives! Admittedly it took me a few attempts to get into this book but all i needed was some time off work, sitting by a pool on holidays and I crunched it in 3 days (much to the frustration of my girlfriend who now claims to be a "book widow"!) On another note, I watched a documentary last night on advancements in robotics and the main story focussed on a new robot that remarkedly reminded me of the chords and braids from Anvil of Stars - many single units that have the ability to seek out other units and form a more intelligent robot and resembles a caterpillar. Amazing stuff - its a pity you can't put a patent on your advanced ideas as I feel we will encounter many more your concepts as technology evolves. Either way, your fans know where it all started! Thanks so much for the entertainment! Cant wait for Quantico. Cheers, Julian

	Response: SLANT Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/03/2005 11:57:51 AM Thanks, Julian! I wish I could take credit for colonial organisms and interacting robots... I would, but then people would remind me of DEMON SEED, where Dean Koontz speculated about a modular robot (though I haven't read the book recently, the movie has a pretty interesting robot-slash-creature. Oops, I mean, slant creature!)

BRILLIANT SLANT Posted By: GB Hajim, Hakalau Hawai?i - 11/01/2005 10:05:37 PM Just finished reading SLANT. Loved it. Wished Border's stocked more of your books. Being a speaker of Hawaiian I have one beef: on page 273 you spell wahine "wahinis" We struggle to keep alive this precious indigenous language and I am always excited to see those words appear in other literature, but when they are modified, they become frail and are more likely to disappear in what Angela Davis so aply called "the meltdown pot". I do hope you'd lend your pen to our TV series (once our feature film "strange frame" is complete), but I will discuss those particulars in the future. Thanks for your imagination and will to get it all onto paper. GB Hajim screaming wink productions Hakalau Hawai?i

	Response: Brilliant Slant Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/02/2005 09:58:42 AM Good luck with the productions, GB! Thanks for the tip on Hawaiian spelling, as well.

STRENGTH OF STONES Posted By: John Holtom, Luton, England - 10/25/2005 09:45:00 AM Dear Greg Bear I felt this was a little (unusually) unsatisfactory. It has elements of the Infinity Concerto and Serpent Mage (moving between worlds that are nearly identical but not quite - and creating new worlds) and elements of Moving Mars and the books of the Way. If I remember rightly, God Does Battle was stretched over the old Earth - but then Khan (the second incarnation) ends up on the Earth having gone through the Bifrost (again I did not really understand what was happening to the body and soul - what was this fantastical machine and how was it that Matthew was able to destroy some of the Bifrosts which were surely immensely powerful (like the cities) and able to defend it(them)self (selves)?) - sorry about the tortuous grammar! Maybe I just did not read it closely enough to understand the "cosmology" of the narrative. What was really going on? Man creates machine machine destroys man then man (very Stapledonian) eventually (after a thousand years) regains the upperhand (no doubt to repeat the error?). Anyway, I still enjoyed it (as ever) whilst suffering a degree of mesmerization and confusion. Respectfully John Holtom

	Response: Strength of Stones Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/25/2005 09:55:24 AM Thanks, John! S.O.S. was written beginning in the mid-1970s, and was first published in 1982. God-Does-Battle is on a planet far from Earth, though Earth-like. The cities don't so much destroy humans as reject them, rather like having your house kick you out because you don't meet the standards you programmed into it.

DAYDREAMS AND NIGHTMARES Posted By: Cory Cudney, Buffalo NY - 10/23/2005 01:27:34 PM Greg, Hi there. I'm a big fan (to say the least) of your novels. I've been holding off on reading Forge Of God for a couple of years, since you have a limited number of books I could eventually read. I try not to do what did I with H.P.Lovecraft, which is to frantically soak up every story until I'm left hopelessly wanting more with no way to ever fulfill. Anyway, I read it in three days. I can honestly say that I've never had a novel affect me the way this one has. Good job. I can't seem to shake the feeling. Not only did I strongly empathize with every character, but with the entire human race as well. Sounds corny, I know. I've had some unusually vivid dreams since, as well. Like I exist in that reality somehow, but am unable to take an active role in the story. Thanks for being so damn good. What I really would like to know is which of your books is your personal favorite? This is important to me. Thanks, Greg. Keep up the good work! -Cory Cudney PS: I've only read one other author who uses the term "electric torch"...

	Response: Daydreams and nightmares Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/24/2005 10:39:57 AM Many thanks, Cory. FORGE is one of my personal favorites--and I'm also fond of DARWIN'S CHILDREN (and of course RADIO, but particularly CHILDREN) and DEAD LINES. Not that I can actually pick favorites among all these textual offspring...

QUANTICO Posted By: Tim, Sydney - 10/22/2005 12:38:12 PM Dear Greg Its about bloody time you released a new book! I suspect our current fears about terrorism are about to get a whole lot worse in Quantico. Al Quada sponsored Von Nuemen probes eating Mt Rushmore perhaps? he he he Tim

Response: QUANTICO Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/24/2005 10:34:49 AM Let's not give them ideas! Of course, that was one concern with QUANTICO, and I took pains to walk that fine line between describing plausible scenarios and actually giving blueprints. But the scenarios described in QUANTICO are far more immediate and some (bioterror SIMADs--Singular Individual, Massively Destructive) are already attracting significant attention in security circles. Right now, QUANTICO is scheduled to be published (with great enthusiasm) by HarperCollins UK (November 21st--we'll soon post links as to where to find copies here and in the UK) as well as by Easton Press in a limited leatherbound edition in February or March. Other North American publishing plans are still shaping up. Contrary to previous announcements, Random House/Del Rey will not be publishing QUANTICO, due to substantial aesthetic disagreements. Del Rey is contracting to publish my next novel, however.

ARE DARWINS CHILDREN COALESCENT ? Posted By: Kevan Tildesley, Ash, Somerset, UK - 10/19/2005 02:18:21 PM I have just read "Darwin's Children", following on from "Darwins Radio" a few years ago. They are fantastic stories and I was impressed with the depth of science fact woven into the narrative. Your grasp of genetics lends a credence to the words that left me with a feeling of having glimpsed the future of human evolution. Over the summer I read Steven Baxter's "Coalescent" and "Exultant" novels, an author whom I rank alongside yourself. "Coalescent", in particular, explores the development of a "hive" culture as an alternate form of human society. The hive members relied heavily on scent and touch to bond and communicate. These traits seem to be prevalent in Shevite communities in "Darwin's Children". You seem to have constructed a similar new culture, where the issues of sex and reproduction have been re-partitioned and where there are closer bondings between individuals in large social groups (privacy being an alien concept etc.). Finally, to my question: do you feel that hive societies lie in the future of our species and do you intend to explore the idea any further?

Response: Are Darwins Children Coalescent ? Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/19/2005 05:52:22 PM What makes us think we aren't already a hive culture? The Shevites are no more and no less individuals than we are, but they have stronger bonds between each other, and more of an awareness of the ways in which the group can guide and even coerce the individual. Think of all the ways in which even present-day society both guides and coerces you and me! We are not bears, wandering lonely in the woods--we are social animals, through and through. I wonder--do the bees ever read the apiary equivalent of Ayn Rand, and buzz about free will? Thanks for your comments, Kevan!

ONE STEP CLOSER TO BIOCOMPUTERS Posted By: Mike Glosson, Rainy San Diego - 10/17/2005 01:12:30 PM This just pop'd up over on Nature this morning: http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051017/full/051017-3.html Cybor'd Bacteria! That even continue to function after they "Die".

	Response: One step closer to BioComputers Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/17/2005 04:37:10 PM Interesting, but I'm wondering how this is any different from attaching a sensor to a sponge? Sponges continue to function after they die, as well...

GENES INFLUENCING CULTURE Posted By: C K Ray, Foster City CA - 10/15/2005 04:52:53 PM re - Sickle Cell anemia A paper by Dr. John Gartner mentioned sickle genes as a analogy for "hypomanic" genes. Having a single sickle-cell gene confers some resistance to malaria and little ill effect, having two sickle-cell genes confers sickle-cell anemia. Gartner posits a "hypomanic" gene (or gene complex) that in the "double-dose" form causes manic-depression, but in the "single dose" form causes hypomania, a socially acceptable (if not desirable) set of behaviors that is characteristic of many entrepreneurs, and 10 times more common than manic-depression. Hypomania is more common in the USA than elsewhere, because it is self-selected by voluntary immigrants looking to bring their ambitions to fruition. So the USA's lack of vacation time (among other things) comes not so much from our Puritan ancestors, as it does from all those work-a-holic hypomanics who immigrated to the USA. And California is even more hypomanic than the rest of the USA. Genes influencing culture. I found John Gartner's paper on this subject to be very interesting... he expresses his ideas better than I can: http://www.changethis.com/17.HypomanicAmerican Check it out.

Response: genes influencing culture Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/15/2005 06:00:42 PM Fascinating possibilities here. I've long thought that social animals genetically (and perhaps unavoidably) divided themselves into categories of proneness to certain statistically useful behaviors--which might be painful and on occasion debilitating to an individual so afflicted. One obvious goal would be a perpetual state of dissatisfaction--churning of the population and resistance to stasis. Other results might include resistance to diseases and/or variations in behaviors which might render a specific small group more likely to survive in an unlikely circumstance--simple natural selection, writ large. What becomes interesting here is the movement away from natural selection in individual organisms, toward "coerced" and even "protected" genetic variation that benefits the group as a whole, but not the individual--something obvious in social insects, less obvious in us!

PHYSICS OF EON Posted By: gil artman, far rockaway, ny - 10/14/2005 05:38:46 PM again, my thanks to you and patrick for your response to my question posted 10/11/05. i want to convey my admiration for the way (the Way!!) you've incorporated these absolutely fascinating physics concepts in your work. the "pi meter" employed to investigate properties of space/time in the stone was ingenious. when patricia exclaims, upon examining the flaw, that it's like "the square root of spacetime" it made my head spin. and when judith mentioned in passing that h-bar was the "quantum of (angular)momentum" it was the first time i received any inkling that quantization could apply to things other than electron orbitals. moreover, i could not get over your account of how the Way sprung into being as a consequence of the action of the Engineer's inertial damping machinery. strangely, this reminded me of psychlone where the cataclysmic, catastrophic and sudden death of japanese civilians had awesome psychic consequences (that novel led to more than a couple of sleepless nights for me!). the inertial damping machinery, fabricated to allow for acceleration of the stone while sparing damage to thistledown, had so upset the natural order, so to speak, that it had the unintended effect of wrenching the Way out of the fabric of spactime. i had the same feelings, in reading Eon as an adult, as i did as a child reading the wonderful superhero comics published by Marvel and DC in the early and mid-sixties. Greg, for all this i'll always be grateful! again, my best wishes and looking forward to Quantico! gil artman

	Response: physics of Eon Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/14/2005 07:55:53 PM I must pass along some of your flattery to the wonderful James Blish, whose way of handling both psychic and physics phenomenon (in his BLACK EASTER and JACK OF EAGLES) inspired me no end. Try them! I wrote an introduction for the Del Rey reissue of A CASE OF CONSCIENCE, thematically related to BLACK EASTER.

PERSPECTIVE Posted By: Bill Panagoulias, Ambler, Alaska - 10/14/2005 01:08:10 AM Hello Mr. Bear, I recently reread The Forge of God, and I am sure I'll pick it up again in a few months. It's my favorite! I am an elementary school teacher in rural Alaska. I'd like to know if you've ever reread some of your own novels and wished you had presented a concept or character in a different way. Thank you for your time. I wish you all the best in your endeavors. Regards, Bill Panagoulias

Response: Perspective Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/14/2005 11:34:35 AM Re-reading a book is often a matter of pleasure and pain--pain at an infelicitous phrase, collision of word sounds, typos, etc--pleasure on occasion at something that still seems to work well. Mostly, though, I don't re-read books all the way through, because I know how they turn out... and the book I'm working on is so different (whatever book it is) that I'd prefer getting inspiration from other, better authors!

SERENITY Posted By: Rob Steen, Ireland - 10/13/2005 01:20:29 PM Hello Mr. Bear, Firstly I'd just like to say I've been a fan of your books since I first picked up Eon when I was 17 and then went on a whirlwind adventure through all your books from before and since - and that was 17 years ago! I was just wondering if you had seen the recent movie 'Serenity'. I've really enjoyed it. It has a lot of potential topics from mind control, psychics and simple colonisation. Yet still managed to be a fun film. If you have seen it what did you think? I'm hopeful that more character and story based science fiction can follow. Also, any chances of you coming back to Ireland at all? I missed you the one time I knew you were here as you had gone to the pub! Or so I was told and I can't blame you for that! Thanks again, Rob.

Response: Serenity Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/13/2005 02:10:52 PM Both "Serenity" and "Firefly" are delights. There's a lot of good old-fashioned adventure SF mixed in with some advanced elements--Chinese language inserted (and not always for swearing), and in "Serenity," the core idea behind the creation of the Reavers. Though I still have doubts about the ability of the Reavers to cooperate with each other and get stuff done--like run spaceships... But perhaps Mr. Whedon and his fellow creators will explain this in due course! Congrats to all involved. I'd love to get back to Ireland, if only as a tourist, and I was in Scotland with my family for Worldcon recently--but no immediate plans for return, unfortunately!

HAJJ, INTER ALIA. Posted By: Richard Blaber, Northamptonshire, England. - 10/12/2005 09:27:41 AM I look forward to reading your new novel - it certainly sounds very topical! However, I must point out that the 'hajj' is the pilgrimage that practically every Muslim is supposed to make to Mecca during his/her lifetime, rather than the object of the pilgrimage, as the introductory 'blurb' on your website seems to suggest. This is, of course, the Great Mosque, at the centre of which is the Kaaba, or Black Stone, supposedly given to Abraham by the angel Gabriel. Many hajjis also visit Medina, where the prophet Mohammed is buried. As to the bio-weapon aspect of the plot: I wondered if you had any comment to make on the fact that the CDC have just published (published!) the genetic code of H1N1 Spanish flu in the pages of Science, where anyone, be they first year biology major or Osama bin Laden, can read it. The thing killed 50 million people - more people, so we have been reminded repeatedly, than died in the First World War. So was it really a good idea to release this information, when there are so many bad guys out there who are only too willing to make ill-use of it?

	Response: Hajj, inter alia. Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/12/2005 10:00:31 AM Thanks, Richard. QUANTICO's conclusion takes place during the Hajj in Mecca. As for biohacking deadly germs--that's a major part of QUANTICO's plot!

THANKS FOR YOUR WONDERFUL NOVELS! Posted By: gil artman, new york, ny - 10/11/2005 08:12:51 PM i first read EON and ETERNITY over 10 years ago and have reread them several times, each time understanding them a little better. please let me ask you to clear up something i can't quite wrap my brain around. in EON, lanier (and all the other investigators from earth) access the stone from one end and encounter the seven chambers, the last of which extends forever. if an investigator had entered the stone by penetrating through the other end, which chamber would he/she have accessed? again, many, many thanks for your wonderful novels!! truly yours, gil artman

	Response: thanks for your wonderful novels! Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/12/2005 09:55:25 AM Thanks, Gil! That's an excellent question. Reality Police patrol Thistledown and bust you if you even think about entering from that end...

Response: thanks for your wonderful novels! Posted By: patrick, tucson - 10/12/2005 12:55:02 PM gil, this is an old type of question, even in fantasy. if you were able to avoid reality police detection, making a small hole in the center, i think it'd be simply like this: from the outside, the chamber does occupy a certain space; if you make a small hole, looking in, you would see the bulk of the chamber to its beginning (its apparent size from the outside, perhaps a km...). if looking from the inside of the chamber, you'd see a small hole, about a km out, out into space. now the tricky part: what would it be like, if you went up close to it, from inside? edge-wise, you might not see anything. from behind, you wouldnt see anything; in a sense you'd be behind, and in front of, whoever was coming through. if you stuck your hand through from the back, to someone on the other side, it'd look like an arm of some length, attached to nothing, was coming from the hole, but not through it. dig that? (you could even stick your hand through the hole, and BEHIND the beginning of the arm coming from the hole. crap - what would happen if you tried to bring your hand through the arm?....) now, what if you made the hole the diameter of the chamber? either, you'd get a distortive effect, making the chamber appear to balloon radially outward around the hole....or, space-time fluxuations would destroy the whole thing. which might happen if even a small hole was created. *disclaimer: i have no academic physics expertise, so i could be way off. but it was a fun thought-experiment; something ive thought of for years. maybe you should ask someone like kip thorne or john wheeler or sumpm....

	Response: thanks for your wonderful novels! Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/12/2005 02:19:46 PM Very cool thinking, Patrick!

BLOOD MUSIC - A BUG Posted By: David Miller, Titusville, FL - 10/11/2005 06:24:01 PM I read your very interesting book, Blood Music. The version I have, I think the third printing in trade paperback, had the following error: "By accident, Slotin and seven others had been accidentally exposed to a sudden burst of ionizing radiation." should be? "Slotin and seven others had been accidentally exposed to a sudden burst of ionizing radiation." ...just thought I'd let you know, David Miller

	Response: Blood Music - a bug Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/11/2005 07:46:59 PM Good catch! I'll correct my e-file.

DINOSAUR SUMMER NEW REVIEW Posted By: Joy Calderwood, Oregon - 10/10/2005 11:30:52 PM Dear Greg Bear, This is to let you know there is a new review of DINOSAUR SUMMER: http://www.reviewers-choice.com/dinosaur_summer.htm . Reviewers Choice welcomes authors to quote our reviews for marketing purposes. I hope this will be reissued in the not too distant future? I first noticed your work in the STRANGE DREAMS collection: "The White Horse Child" was easy for me and several of my friends to relate to. Thanks for your storytelling. It looks like it's time to embark on your high tech novels. ;-) Joy Calderwood Reviewers Choice Reviews

	Response: DINOSAUR SUMMER new review Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/11/2005 12:09:30 PM Thanks, Joy! DINOSAUR SUMMER is still in print from Warner Books in paperback. They've been talking reissue in the light of KING KONG, but no definite news on that yet.

SPACE AGAIN? Posted By: Carl Anfinson, Minnesota - 10/05/2005 06:33:30 PM Not to complain, I've really enjoyed your recent novels, but I was wondering if any of your characters would be venturing out into space any time soon?

	Response: Space again? Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/06/2005 10:15:40 AM Not space as we know it! My new novel may involve a bit of space travel, but the universe has become very strange...

DARWIN'S CHILDREN Posted By: Shawn McKee, Austin Texas - 10/05/2005 11:29:57 AM I enjoyed both books quite a bit but I nearly fell out of my chair when I read the line in Darwin's Children about the New York Times only creating an electronic edition. I assume you meant web site but you might find this interesting. PC User http://newsstand.com/?fuseaction=signup&promo_id=2424 Mac User http://newsstand.com/?fuseaction=signup&promo_id=4531 This is a free trial to the real New York Times Electronic Edition.

Response: Darwin's Children Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/05/2005 12:33:00 PM Thanks, Shawn! Unfortunately, corporate owners seeking higher rates of profit, the loss of young readers and the departure of many advertisers are squeezing so many newspapers hard that newer methods of delivering news are likely to supersede major dailies. However, let's put this in the Cassandra file and hope it doesn't quite work out that way...

PARENTHOOD Posted By: Regina Belcher, Greensboro North Carolina, land of O Henry and Orson Scott Card - 10/03/2005 09:55:16 PM Dear Mr. Bear, I am knee-deep into Dead Lines, and have read the Darwin novels, and I just want to express my thanks for the expressions of the faces of parenthood in those novels. My husband and I lost a full-term baby girl to stillbirth in January of this year, and upon reading the first half of Dead Lines, I have experienced a sense of recognition with the protagonist and his grief. I won't quote you to yourself, but the scene in the bedroom when he begs his deceased daughter to give him another chance was particularly well written. I just wanted to thank you for your ability to convey parental loss so eloquently and realistically. Thank you, Regina

	Response: Parenthood Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/04/2005 09:57:35 AM Thanks for your kind words, Regina. Our condolences for your loss.

NEW NANOTUBE CONSTRUCTION Posted By: patrick, tucson - 10/03/2005 07:29:08 PM and, somewhat on the heels of the protein posting, i thought ya all might be interested in this new information on nanotube construction: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003330.html

POST-HUMAN Posted By: Andrew Nicholson, Edmonds, WA - 10/03/2005 10:02:18 AM Greg, Thanks for the swift reply. I don't like catch phrases but "post-human" is a term that captures the idea of a human with enough augmentation, biological or electronic, that enable us to think faster, smarter, or be more resistant to newer diseases; it captures the idea of a new class of humans. If you have a better term I'd love to hear it. If we haven't figured out how to avoid bigotry or genocide by then I fear what will happen. As far as biotech creating new things; last month a group at UT Southwestern proved they could create a new protein, not found in nature, insert it into an RNA strand and have cells start producing this new man-designed protein. http://www.news-medical.net/?id=13303 The biological clock is ticking. regards, Andrew Nicholson

	Response: post-human Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/03/2005 10:19:49 AM Following Steve Allen's lead, maybe we should call it "post-dumbth" rather than post-human!

Response: post-human Posted By: Jimmy Kinchloe, Houston - 10/03/2005 01:29:51 PM Andrew, I will not pretend to know enough about the science relating to this topic. But I do kinda know humans (current ones) fairly well, and I project that engineered humans will reject any lable as negative as "POST-human." Of course, that will not matter much, as the rest of society will probably find a name for them immediately - one that will stick. (Your thread has, however, reminded me of some lables [usually derogatory] given to certain groups by others in our recent past, and how at least three of these groups now use these lables as terms of endearment amongst themselves.) This is an interesting question to me... Though perhaps not appropriate, BISHOP keeps popping into my head! Jimmy

DINOSAUR SUMMER IS AN EDITOR'S PICK FOR OCTOBER AT WWW.SFF.TIGERHERON.COM Posted By: Tony Freixas, Portland, OR, USA - 10/02/2005 11:18:26 PM Dear Greg, I run a web site at www.sff.tigerheron.com which provides reading recommendations each month to science fiction and fantasy readers. Your book Dinosaur Summer is an October editor?s SF pick. I'd like to thank you for providing all of us with this wonderful book. This is a courtesy notice that you will get each time I recommend one of your books. NOTE: Most of my visitors are either too shy or too passive to send me recommendations. I locate most recommendations on my own, but I've got some excellent recommendations from authors, who tend to understand the value of promoting good works. If you have any recommendations, I would be pleased to receive them. You will be credited with the recommendation unless you specify otherwise. Forum readers are also welcome to send in recommendations. Read on if you want more detail: * A stable link to my recommendation of this book will always be at http://www.sff.tigerheron.com/editors-sf-picks-0510.php. * I don't require it and it doesn't influence who I pick, but you are welcome to link to this page if you wish. The authors who have included a link to my site have really increased my traffic and I appreciate their help. * I try to provide a reading list each month which includes recent books appealing to a variety of tastes. To see the company in which you've been placed, check out http://www.sff.tigerheron.com/previous-recommendations.php. * I present a reading list, not a set of reviews. My site is a fan site and I use the list to select my own reading. My tastes are pretty broad but I deliberately include excellent books that might not personally appeal to me. There's no way I can read all these books, and I don't have access to advance copies. * Famous authors do get listed, but they don't really need my help. I try to promote good books by first-time authors and good books that have not had good press. * I figure that if I can promote good books, there will be more good books for me to read. And the quality of my reading has gone up since I started the list! * I have read Dinosaur Summer. Tony Freixas tony@tigerheron.com www.tigerheron.com

	Response: Dinosaur Summer is an Editor's Pick for October at www.sff.tigerheron.com Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/03/2005 09:40:46 AM Thanks, Tony! And here's to Kong and all his offspring!

GREAT TALK ON SATURDAY Posted By: Andrew Nicholson, Edmonds, WA - 10/02/2005 02:13:58 PM Greg, Thanks again for the talk on Saturday (1st). It was great to listen to someone who believes that writers still have the ability to effect society's behaviour and maturity. You may have pushed my wife Lorraine over the edge into writing again. She has been so disillusioned with the apathy shown by the general population toward bettering the human condition. I asked you "Did you have a problem trying to write beyond the singularity (Vinge)" to which you replied "there is no singularity, we haven't reached the 21st century." I have always worked as a programmer pushing technology forward and as a result you have 3D graphics, multimedia and DVD today. Recently I've been switching to Biotech - in particular decoding proteins, how they fold and their interactions using multiple genomes sequences. If you thought computing technology evolved quickly .. it's a snails pace compared to this type of microbiology and its applications. The technology of the 21st century is marching forward regardless of whether society keeps up, or regresses. Do you believe we will stumble into the "post-human" era or past a "greater than human inteligence" before we understand what we are doing? It was a pleasure meeting you finally, regards, Andrew Nicholson

Response: Great talk on Saturday Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/03/2005 09:37:22 AM Thanks for attending the talk, and for writing, Andrew. I'm not much for catch-phrases like post-human... Biotech indeed is advancing at an incredible pace, but it has not yet so much created new things as discovered and measured an encouraging amount of the very old. When biotech starts CREATING new biology, then we can ask ourselves how long we have until we hit Vernor's singularity!

ANY UPDATES ON "FORGE OF GOD"? Posted By: Teresa, Houston - 10/01/2005 06:41:50 PM Like many other readers, I am anxiously awaiting any updates on the upcoming film treatment of "The Forge of God". Any casting decisions yet? Is it true that Trevor Hicks was eliminated from the screenplay? (too bad if it is true. John Hurt would have been *perfect* for the role...). Please don't let this film go the way of Clarke's "Childhood's End" or "Rendezvous with Rama". How about "Eon"? I think ILM has gotten good enough to do justice to Thistledown and The Way, as well as many Geshel neomorphs. (And Ewan MacGregor would make a great Olmy....) Oh well I will always have the books to enjoy. Thank you so much for the stories! They pique one's imagination in a wonderful way.

	Response: Any updates on "Forge of God"? Posted By: Greg Bear - 10/03/2005 09:34:56 AM Still waiting for screenplay. I assume no more Trevor Hicks--since we're compressing both FORGE and ANVIL OF STARS into one movie!

Response: Any updates on "Forge of God"? Posted By: John Holtom, England - 11/28/2005 07:50:11 AM Dear Greg Bear Any news on the screenplay or production? The more I read (and enjoy) your books, the more I worry!! In Eon you blew up the Earth (some survivors)with nukes, in the Forge of God you blow up the entire planet (with black holes - or at least that is my understanding so far - book not finished), in the Songs of Earth and Power, the Earth is invaded by the Sidhe following the destruction of their world, in Strength of Stones, the Cities have already destroyed civilization (perhaps with hope that it will be rebuilt), in Dead Lines the undead are mounting a takeover of the world, in Blood Music, all functioning illigences are reformed into ethereal non-corporeal data, in Moving Mars, Earth has decided to and tried to destroy Mars, and THEN(!) in Anvil of Stars (great book - sorry I repeat myself), whole planetary systems are blasted to dust.... Great CGI I would think but...? Okay in Queen of Angels I can't remember any worlds being invaded, destroyed by quantum data messages or otherwise nuked, but even in that splendid book the two protagonists have their perception of the country of the mind unpinned, apparently never to be the same again. Obviously I have not read your whole oevre but, as I mentioned some time ago, you do seem to enjoy shredding the reassuring simplicity of ordinary daily life on Earth! Anyway, it is time for a good film to be made from your stories!! The trouble is that you probably need a Stanley Kubrick to apply extreme discipline and a degree of mania to be faithful to your writing. Respectful good wishes John Holtom

	Response: Any updates on "Forge of God"? Posted By: Greg Bear - 11/28/2005 10:29:46 AM Hello, John! I only blew up the Earth once. Sheesh. Everything else was just rearranging a few things. FORGE is still on at Warner Bros.--more news when it arrives!

KILLER "V" Posted By: Jimmy Kinchloe, Houston - 09/28/2005 05:00:58 PM Hello Greg, Recently I took somewhat of a risk, moved out of the "B" section of my favorite bookseller, and purchased A FIRE UPON THE DEEP by Vernor Vinge. (Yes, my friends will agree with you that I am often slow to catch on.) My brain is still pinging through data webs from that experience. His writing is so satisfying that I sensed that you two might be friends. Are you? Do you discuss ideas? I have heard you confide that QUANTICO is a far future novel. Was there a behind-the-scenes communication going on there? I love his work. Can you recommend another letter of the alphabet that I might try?!! I am really Jonesing for DARWINS CHILDREN on SciFi. I admit that I am a little nervous about it. I know this is rather codependent of me, but I want to see justice done! Jimmy

Response: Killer "V" Posted By: Greg Bear - 09/29/2005 10:16:17 AM Vernor has been one of my favorite writers and a friend since the 1960s. We do get together every now and then (we're both San Diego natives, and Vernor still lives down there) and swap ideas and bits of data. QUANTICO is not the far future novel--it's the VERY NEAR future! The next piece in the pipeline is, however, ridiculously far future...

BLOOD MUSIC THE MOVIE? Posted By: Matthew Rawls, Keller, Texas - 09/26/2005 10:25:47 PM Greg, just wanted to inform you that "Blood Music" is one of my favorite novels of all time. I can't help but thinking what a great film this could make, though. Has anyone ever shown any interest in writing a script for it and turning it into a movie (without dumbing it down to just a silly horror flick)? I am positive with today's CGI capabilities that the film could be horrorific, interesting, and beautiful where it would need to be. Is part of the reason it has not been made into a movie because the movie technology may not have been sufficiently advanced enough to adequately portray the microscopic cellular scenes? I hope it is not due to a lack of interest.... :( Thank you so much.

	Response: Blood Music the movie? Posted By: Greg Bear - 09/27/2005 10:28:07 AM We're still scheming on this one. Nothing solid yet, but lots of communication over the years--and of course several options. We'll see...

RELATED TO BLOOD MUSIC Posted By: Mike Burke, Arvada, Colorado - 09/26/2005 10:03:47 PM Greg, you may or may not want to post this - makes no difference to me. But I thought you may be interested. I posted a response on the blog to Sir Arthur Clarke's Law (actually his 3rd Law) posting by another reader. In that log I mentioned Carbon Nanotubes. The next morning my wife told me about an NPR Morning Edition segment about nanotubes as communication between immune cells. I listened to the segment on the web and was immediately thinking of "Blood Music" and the communicating T-cells. It seems that a major means of immune cell communication is to generate a "nanotube highway" (sometimes called tunneling nanotubes) from lymph nodes to areas of injury so that the T-cells can know where to go and what to do. They appear to be made up of biological molecules (not pure carbon nanotubes of the currently-sexy type) some of which are class I MHC proteins. This way they can traffic cell surface proteins between immune cells over many tens of microns. This is a truly remarkable mechanism and will be the subject of a lot of work in the field of cellular immunology. So maybe your T-cells in Blood Music were using these connections as a sort of internal telephony network - or more likely a type of neural net - for their communication. Very clever of you. But then science fiction is often a bit ahead of science itself because the range of possibilities is effectively limitless. I cannot attach docs to your system so the reference is: Onfelt et. al. The Journal of Immunology, 2004, 173: 1511-1513. You can get it online. My interest in carbon nanotubes goes back many years but recently I have partnered with a nanotube scientist and an engineering professor at the Colorado School of Mines to start a company to exploit a unique and low-cost approach to growing both single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes of, theoretically, any length from cm to km. There may be some kinetic reasons to think that from a practical and commercial viewpoint the length may be limited to somewhere in the 10 to 100 meter range but that's not too bad. Someone cleverer may be able to capitalize on our work and make them thousands of km in length. We are raisimg money now to get this going so keep your fingers crossed - we may be holding one of the keys to a space elevator yet. Not to mention cheap and efficient air and water filters, etc., etc., etc. That's when science fiction becomes current science. Mike

	Response: Related to Blood Music Posted By: Greg Bear - 09/27/2005 10:26:57 AM Fascinating stuff, Mike. Of course, cells are the original inspiration for nanotech...

THANK YOU! Posted By: Healey Lockett, Seattle, Washington - 09/26/2005 06:03:51 PM Mr. Bear, Thank you for writing smart science fiction. I grew up on Heinlein and Clarke, and while I love a good fantasy yarn (Burroughs is also one of my favorites) I've been disappointed in recent years that so many writers of science fiction are turning out fluff; no substance and very little regard for science. Your novels challenge the intellect and stimulate thought. I loved Blood Music and recently picked up Darwin's Radio. The story and ideas are fabulous, the details riveting. And, as a former animal trainer at the San Diego Zoo, now living in Seattle your accurate descriptions added an extra air of reality. Thanks for writing and thanks for reading my comments. Healey Lockett

	Response: Thank you! Posted By: Greg Bear - 09/26/2005 06:57:33 PM Ah, the San Diego Zoo! I actually worked at Sea World myself--for a year or so, not training dolphins, but letting people in and out of shows, selling fish, and picking up trash... Thanks for the kind words, Healey!

PLEASE RECOMMEND GOOD SCIENCE MAGAZINE Posted By: Jeff, Carmichael Ca - 09/25/2005 07:42:18 PM Greg, I've read all of your stuff, many thanks for some great reads over the years. As a writer who is up on your science, what magazines do you read or recommend? New Scientist, Science News, American Scientific... or websites, any help would be much appreciated. Kind regards, Jeff

Response: Please recommend good science magazine Posted By: Greg Bear - 09/26/2005 09:56:14 AM All of those magazines, of course (Scientific American, actually), along with the direct journals--NATURE, SCIENCE, and wherever scientists in your particular field of interest will publish their work. I've found Googling on a subject to be particularly rewarding, as long as you have a good filter for Web sites that may not be strictly accurate! And many of these magazines have excellent Web sites, as well, with wonderful search functions--all part of your subscription.

Response: Please recommend good science magazine Posted By: Jeff, Carmichael Ca - 09/26/2005 08:33:15 PM Greg, Many thanks for your response. I'm looking for general science news, do you have a preference, New Scientist, or Science News? Just curious. Recently finished Dead Lines. Very good and creepy indeed. Pacing was quite good, as the booked zipped right along. Good characters. Looking forward to your next book. Kind Regards, Jeff

	Response: Please recommend good science magazine Posted By: Greg Bear - 09/27/2005 10:46:26 AM I subscribe to both magazines. Piles of magazines, in fact... I despair of ever keeping up with them!

DINOSAUR SUMMER INTO A MOTION PICTURE Posted By: Armand Gagnon, Springfield, Oregon - 09/23/2005 11:42:07 PM Hello Mr. Bear, I am your age and, I am abashed to admit,I finally got around to reading your books for the first time. I just finished reading "Dinosaur Summer" and truly loved its scope, characterization, and ending. Being a bit of a dinosaur buff since 1957 ( I still have my old dinosaur books from that time), I love "Jurassic Park", "Journey to the Center of the Earth", and many more cinéma dinosaurus yarns. So, here is my question: Have you ever considered having "Dinosaur Summer" put onto the silver screen? I imagine it would be a box-office blow-out. The book feels so cinématic to me with the lush descriptions and the ferocious creatures you've painted with your words. Thank you for your time reading this. Most Appreciatively, Armand Gagnon

Response: Dinosaur Summer into a motion picture Posted By: Greg Bear - 09/24/2005 10:39:21 AM Good to hear from you, Armand! DINOSAUR SUMMER has attracted precisely zero interest as a film. KING KONG is about to come to brilliant life again, however, so there's no way of knowing how producers will react... Dinosaurs and Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen may yet return to Hollywood favor! (And take a look at that piano in THE CORPSE BRIDE...)

	Response: Dinosaur Summer into a motion picture Posted By: Jeff, Carmichael Ca - 09/26/2005 08:36:19 PM Have to agree here, this would make an excellent movie, or mini-series. I had such a great time reading this book! Kind regards, Jeff