Blood Music

Greg Bear

Apr 2014 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

Nebula Award Finalist: A genetic engineering breakthrough may portend the destruction of humanity in this cyberpunk novel by the author of The Forge of God.

This Hugo and Nebula Award finalist follows present-day events in which the fears concerning the nuclear annihilation of the world subsided after the Cold War and the fear of chemical warfare spilled over into the empty void it left behind. An amazing breakthrough in genetic engineering made by Vergil Ulam is considered too dangerous for further research, but rather than destroy his work, he injects himself with his creation and walks out of his lab, unaware of just how his actions will change the world. Author Greg Bear’s treatment of the traditional tale of scientific hubris is both suspenseful and a compelling portrait of a new intelligence emerging amongst us, irrevocably changing our world. 

Ratings and reviews

I very much liked the concept of the story. I liked the characters. But there were things I didn't like about it as well. One of which was the lack of a main character throughout the story, it made the narrative a little disjointed and somewhat hard to get emotionally involved with the characters. The closest we get was Bernard. I also didn't like the introduction of Jerry and John 2/3 of the way through the book. Really, the brothers could have been completely left out of the story. The part with the reporter Upton reminded me of The War of the Worlds radio show. Though I enjoyed the book, I think I liked the short story better. Some of his later works I liked a little better, like Slant and Darwin's Radio. As he has gained more experience his story telling has gotten better. The eBook was formatted OK with a couple of minor spelling errors. The biggest problem was the lack of control over the type size. It was either really tiny or really large with no in-between.

Disappointing read. The book changes drastically halfway through and becomes very hypothetical and abstract which makes it very hard to visualize or follow. The ending of the book kind of dissolved into nothing and even compared to the abstract nature of the last half of the book it was almost unintelligible. Maybe a good read if you are planning on taking mushrooms.

The singularity is only a concept until it happens. I would have like to see where it led to next. After all if we can evolve to change reality, there's no stopping it happening again. So what drives us forward again and again and again...

About the author

Greg Bear is the author of over twenty-five books, which have been translated into seventeen languages. He has won science fiction’s highest honors and is considered the natural heir to Arthur C. Clarke. The recipient of two Hugo Awards and four Nebula Awards, Bear has been called “the best working writer of hard science fiction” by the Science Fiction Encyclopedia. Many of his novels, such as Darwin’s Radio, are considered to be classics of his generation. Bear is married to Astrid Anderson—who is the daughter of science fiction great Poul Anderson—and they are the parents of two children, Erik and Alexandria. Bear’s recent publications include the thriller Quantico and its sequel, Mariposa; the epic science fiction novel City at the End of Time; and the generation starship novel Hull Zero Three.