Blood Music, by Greg Bear: ***

I thought I had this book figured out after only a couple of chapters. It started out as a Chrighton-esque scientific thriller. Then I realized that I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The book jacket aptly compares the book to Clarke's Childhood's End, a pretty substantial compliment. Though this isn't as good as Clarke's masterpiece, largely because there's too much scientific mumbo-jumbo for my taste, and a bit too much uncontained speculation, the trajectory, the opening up of the universe, compares similarly to Clarke, without feeling like a rip-off in any way. It's a unique novel, one that made me think about humanity in a new light. The book is primarily plot-based, and it's pretty fast moving, though there are some characters of note as well. They feel very real to me somehow, with different and reasonable motivations. Like Clarke's novel, though, and much of the best sci-fi, it's primarily a book of ideas, presented through the interactions of the characters and their reactions to the situations in the book. The worst part about the book is the picture on the back of the hardcover edition. Why? Greg, you've written a good book, but don't force me to look at your little pin-head with an 80's mustache and high-school-math-teacher glasses. And it's such a huge photo.

I got this book from my buddy, Henry Vega, who I visited in Holland for a week. I was happy to learn that he was reading sci-fi, because I had no idea. And so I turned him on to Steppenwolf. He got the better end of that deal, but this was a good reading experience.
(Spring 2004)


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