''The Forge of God'' is a

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

novel by American writer

Greg Bear Gregory Dale Bear (August 20, 1951 – November 19, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict ('' Forge of God'' books), parallel universes ('' The Way'' series), c ...

. Earth faces destruction when an inscrutable and overwhelming alien form of life attacks.

Plot

The novel features scenes and events, including the discovery of a nearly-dead alien in the desert, who clearly says in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

, "I'm sorry, but there is bad news," and the alien's subsequent

interrogation Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful inf ...

and

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any d ...

; the discovery of an artificial geological formation and its subsequent nuclear destruction by a desperate military; and the Earth's eventual destruction by the mutual

annihilation In particle physics, annihilation is the process that occurs when a subatomic particle collides with its respective antiparticle to produce other particles, such as an electron colliding with a positron to produce two photons. The total ener ...

of a piece of

neutronium Neutronium (sometimes shortened to neutrium, also referred to as neutrite) is a hypothetical substance composed purely of neutrons. The word was coined by scientist Andreas von Antropoff in 1926 (before the 1932 discovery of the neutron) for the ...

and a piece of antineutronium dropped into Earth's core. There is another alien faction at work, however, represented on Earth by small spider-like robots that recruit human agents through some form of

mind control Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashin ...

. They frantically collect all the human data, biological records, tissue samples, seeds, and DNA from the

biosphere The biosphere (from Greek βίος ''bíos'' "life" and σφαῖρα ''sphaira'' "sphere"), also known as the ecosphere (from Greek οἶκος ''oîkos'' "environment" and σφαῖρα), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also ...

that they can and evacuate a handful of people from Earth. In outer space, this faction's machines combat and eventually destroy the attackers but not before Earth's fate is sealed. The evacuees eventually settle a newly

terraformed Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make ...

Mars while some form the crew of a Ship of the Law to hunt down the home world of the killers, a quest described in the sequel, ''

Anvil of Stars ''Anvil of Stars'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Greg Bear, a sequel to '' The Forge of God''. The book was initially released in 1993 by Warner Books. Overview In the novel, volunteers from among survivors of the recently destr ...

''. One of the point-of-view characters is Arthur Gordon, a scientist. He, his wife Francine and son Martin are among those rescued from the destruction of Earth. Some other characters are close to an American president, who fails to take action against the threat. The two books show at least one solution to the

Fermi paradox The Fermi paradox is the discrepancy between the lack of conclusive evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life and the apparently high a priori likelihood of its existence, and by extension of obtaining such evidence. As a 2015 article put it, ...

, with electromagnetically noisy civilizations being snuffed out by the arrival of

self-replicating machines A self-replicating machine is a type of autonomous robot that is capable of reproducing itself autonomously using raw materials found in the environment, thus exhibiting self-replication in a way analogous to that found in nature. The concept of ...

designed to destroy any potential threat to their (possibly long-dead) creators. (A similar theme is explored in

Fred Saberhagen Fred Thomas Saberhagen (May 18, 1930 – June 29, 2007) was an American science fiction and fantasy author most famous for his ''Berserker'' series of science fiction short stories and novels. Saberhagen also wrote a series of vampire novels in ...

's ''

Berserker In the Old Norse written corpus, berserker were those who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word '' berserk'' (meaning "furiously violent or out of control"). Berserkers ...

'' novels.)

Cultural reference

It features a character, Lawrence Van Cott, that is modelled on science fiction author

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are '' Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, '' The Mote in God's E ...

, whose full name is "Laurence van Cott Niven".

Reception

Dave Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...

reviewed ''The Forge of God'' for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes ...

'' #95, and stated that "A good nasty read ..with a flicker of optimism: in the jungle Out There, someone is on our side ..." ''The Forge of God'' was nominated for the

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of prof ...

for Best Novel in 1987, and was also nominated for the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1988.

Reviews

*Review by Dan Chow (1987) in '' Locus'', #319 August 1987 *Review by Stephen P. Brown (1987) in ''Science Fiction Eye'', #2, August 1987 *Review by Don D'Ammassa (1987) in ''

Science Fiction Chronicle DNA Publications was an American publishing company that existed from 1993 to 2007 and was run by the husband-and-wife team of Warren Lapine and Angela Kessler. Initially based in Massachusetts, DNA Publications relocated to Radford, Virginia. A ...

'', #99 December 1987 *Review by Tom Easton (1988) in ''

Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

'', February 1988 *Review by Tom Jones (1988) in ''

Vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

'' 142 *Review by John Sladek (1988) in ''

Foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

'', #42 Spring 1988 *Review by Paul J. McAuley (1988) in '' Interzone'', #23 Spring 1988 *Review by Dean R. Lambe (1988) in ''

Thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that ...

'', #29, Winter 1988 *Review by John Gilbert (1989) in ''Fear'', September 1989 *Review by Chris C. Bailey (1989) in ''Paperback Inferno'', #81 *Review

rench The Rench is a right-hand tributary of the Rhine in the Ortenau ( Central Baden, Germany). It rises on the southern edge of the Northern Black Forest at Kniebis near Bad Griesbach im Schwarzwald. The source farthest from the mouth is that of the ...

by Piet Hollander (1990) in ''Yellow Submarine'', #68 *Review

erman Erman Rašiti may refer to: Given name * Erman Bulucu (born 1989), Turkish footballer * Erman Eltemur (born 1993), Turkish karateka * Erman Güraçar (born 1974), Turkish footballer * Erman Kılıç (born 1983), Turkish footballer * Erman Kunter (b ...

by John Sladek (1991) in ''Das Science Fiction Jahr'' Ausgabe 1991 *Review by Tom Jones (1999) in ''

'' 204 *Review by Chris Amies (2001) in ''

'' 220 *Review by John Sladek (2019) in ''New Maps: More Uncollected John Sladek''

Movie

In the early 2000s, ''The Forge of God'' and ''Anvil of Stars'', as well as an as-yet-unwritten third book, were optioned by Warner Bros. to be made into movies. It was reported that Stephen Susco worked on a script for ''The Forge Of God''. In July 2006, Greg Bear mentioned on his website that the movie is "Still under option. Studio engaged in 'silent running.' " However, in October 2010, Bear commented on his website that Ken Nolan (who wrote the screen adaptation for Ridley Scott's '' Black Hawk Down'' film), was actively working on a screenplay.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forge Of God, The 1987 American novels 1987 science fiction novels Alien invasions in novels Apocalyptic novels Novels by Greg Bear Self-replicating machines in fiction Tor Books books Fiction set in 1996