Blood Music

by Greg Bear

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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2,827	51	5,100	(3.78)	88
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML: In the tradition of the greatest cyberpunk novels, Blood Music explores the imminent destruction of mankind and the fear of mass destruction by technological advancements. Blood Music 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 of nuclear fear. 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 quite 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. .… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 48 (next | show all)

Nauseating to read because 2020, but mind-blowing and gripping. Took so many wild turns, and in terms of style felt like it could have been written yesterday. (

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Amateria66 | May 24, 2024 |

Fun hard science fiction, interesting ideas. Kinda like Annihilation in a way, and kinda creepy in a way... (

)

keithostertag | May 14, 2024 |

Enjoyably Good (

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saltyessentials | Dec 23, 2023 |

Great exploration of biotech, biochips and intelligence.
I had read the Analog short-story (which was great on its own) and the novella takes it further, not necessarily in a great direction, sometimes stretching credulity but interesting nonetheless.

A solid, enjoyable scifi book. (

)

acaciocruz | Jan 1, 2023 |

What an interesting story. It started a bit rough for me with a bit of the science feeling out of date. But by page 100 the story hit its stride and then it became a delightful read. Very imaginative and well worth reading. Greg Bear was certainly deserving for the accolades he received for this novel. It did have some of the feel of Stephen King’s The Stand but was much more optimistic in outlook. (

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Neil_Luvs_Books | Dec 12, 2022 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Greg Bear	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Brautigam, Don	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Jetter, Frances	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Salwowski, Mark	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Wachtenheim, Dorothy	Cover designer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Gallimard, Folio SF (200)

Gollancz Future Classics

Heyne Meisterwerke der Science Fiction (52365)

Heyne Science Fiction & Fantasy (4480)

Science Fiction Book Club (02354)

Science Fiction Book Club 50th Anniversary Collection (27)

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SF Masterworks (40)

Is an expanded version of

Blood Music [short story] by Greg Bear

Inspired

The Birthday Problem by Caren Gussoff

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Epigraph

Dedication

For Astrid - Luxury, necessity, obsession With all my love

First words

Each hour, a myriad of trillion of little live things - microbes, bacteria, the peasants of nature - are born and die, not counting for much except in the bulk of their numbers and the accumulation of their tiny lives.

Quotations

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Anderson, Poul

Benford, Gregory

Original language

English

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▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:

In the tradition of the greatest cyberpunk novels, Blood Music explores the imminent destruction of mankind and the fear of mass destruction by technological advancements. Blood Music 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 of nuclear fear. 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 quite 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.

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Vergil Ulam's breakthrough in genetic engineering is considered too dangerous for further research. Rather than destroy his work, he injects himself with his creation and walks out of his lab, unaware of just quite how his actions will change the world. Bear's treatment of the traditional tale of scientific hubris is suspenseful and a compelling portrait of a new intelligence emerging amongst us and changing our world irrevocably.

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