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Far Thoughts and Pale Gods (The Complete Short Fiction of Greg Bear Book 2) Kindle Edition

by Greg Bear (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.2 33 ratings

Book 2 of 3: The Complete Short Fiction of Greg Bear

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6 dazzling stories, freshly revised for this volume, plus new introductions, commentary, and reminiscences from the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author of War Dogs, Eternity, and The Forge of God

Greg Bear is the author of more than 30 books, from thrillers (Darwin’s Radio, Vitals) to science fiction (Blood Music, Eon, Hull Zero Three) to pure fantasy (The Infinity Concerto, The Serpent Mage). He has won 5 Nebula and 2 Hugo Awards, his works have been translated into more than 20 languages, and his titles have sold millions of copies worldwide. But his skills are not confined to writing at full-length novels: He is also the author of dozens of brilliant short stories, novellas, and novelettes. Far Thoughts and Pale Gods contains 6 highly acclaimed stories, each newly revised by the author, that illustrate Bear’s abundant breadth of talent. The volume includes:

·      “Heads,” which marks the first time the concept of quantum computing appears in science fiction—though it is a vision of 400 frozen heads that will remain in the reader’s memory;
·      “The Wind from a Burning Woman,” the first story set in the universe that spawned the novels Eon and Eternity;
·      “Plague of Conscience,” which explores what it means to be alien—and whether that can be comprehended without understanding what it means to be human;
·      “Scattershot,” beginning “The teddy bear spoke excellent Mandarin,” a gripping deep-space adventure that is also a tribute to legendary female science fiction writer James Tiptree Jr.

These and the remaining entries—“Mandala” and “Petra”—form a remarkable collection showcasing the talents of a major American writer.

Each story is accompanied by an introduction and an afterword written especially for this volume.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Greg Bear
“Bear takes a profound and unusual approach to hard SF.” —Los Angeles Times

“Bear is one of our very best.” —New York Daily News

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.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0155UBSDC
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy (April 26, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 26, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2370 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 332 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #454,892 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #668 in Science Fiction Anthologies (Kindle Store)
- #1,198 in Hard Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #1,324 in Science Fiction Anthologies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 33 ratings

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Lia Rinearson

Out of this World Sci-Fi shorts

Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2018

Verified Purchase

One of the best collection of short stories I’ve read in a while. Each of the stories created a world as wrought with hardship and struggles as to make our world seem tame. Each distantly related to an almost forgotten Earth the “people of tomorrow in these stories have metamorphasized so much they barely resemble humans of today. Yet, the conflicts of the future remain familiar. Colonies on the moon struggle to develop a democracy much like American revolutionists. Missionaries on another planet wrestle with religious fervor and fending off killer virus. In another story the last remnants of humanity experience all the heartache of Romeo and Juliet and only the offspring of gargoyles and sex crazed parishioners can shed light on the dark world. Even a talking Teddy bear mascot experiences human conflicts in a story that involves an unexpected hero who keeps coming back to help her people find their ways home. Finally, a story of a young man seeking his manhood and the meaning of life is sorely disappointed when his true identity is revealed. Just goes to show, you can take the man off of this world, but the human struggle remains.

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SMS

Original and Very Classic Sci-fi Stories

Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2016

Far Thoughts and Pale Gods is one of three books released to collect some of Greg Bear’s short stories, be they part of established narratives or standalones. I’ve never read Mr. Bear before, only seen his books on a great many shelves at the book store and library so I thought a short story collection would be a great introduction. I have to say I enjoyed it! I’ve been easing my way back into science fiction this year, and perhaps this is one that more threw me in kicking in screaming, but it was a great addition on my ladder. Mr. Bear seems to specialize in hard science fiction, but his work also carries a lot of the undertones that work for me. Things affecting human mentality, culture, or religion make the flesh around the Science Fiction backbone on these.
Even though I stumbled a bit through the first story in the collection, I managed to get my feet under me before it ended and wound up really happy with it. It was grim, but incredibly fascinating. The same can be said for the rest of these. They weren’t what I would call happy stories, but they were challenging and did make you think. The additional ‘context’ that Mr. Bear added to the stories at the beginning really helped. I wish more collections did this, it adds a lot to the story getting where it was coming from.
The stories managed, even if they were riddled with science and the ins and outs of the technical, to take a deeper look and I really appreciated that. I think Greg Bear has definitely made his way to my ‘to read’ list with these stories – I would call them smart science fiction. I’ll be picking up the rest of these to read for myself, I really recommend them if you’re ready to tackle some harder science fiction.

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