Strength of Stones [Paperback]

Greg Bear (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1991

In a theocratic world far into the future, cities control their own movements and organization. Constantly moving, growing and decaying, taking care of every need their inhabitants might think of, the cities have decided that humans are no longer a necessary part of their architecture, casting them out to wander in the wilderness and eke out a meager subsistence. To the exiled humans, the cities represent a paradisiacal Eden, a reminder of all they cannot attain due to their sinful and unworthy natures. Bu

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

-This is an excellent novel. It came on me as a surprise, and it knocked me out!- -Harlan Ellison -Greg Bear is one of the freshest writers to break into the science fiction and fantasy field in many a year.- -Dragon Magazine --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

* #40 in the Millennium SF Masterworks series, a library of the finest science fiction ever written. * Blood Music won the Nebula and Hugo Awards in its original shorter form. * 'One of the few SF writers capable of following where Olaf Stapledon led, beyond the limits of human ambition and geological time' --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Questar (November 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446361933
• ISBN-13: 978-0446361934
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,547,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Greg Bear is the author of more than thirty books, spanning thrillers, science fiction, and fantasy, including Blood Music, Eon, The Forge of God, Darwin's Radio, City at the End of Time, and Hull Zero Three. His books have won numerous international prizes, have been translated into more than twenty-two languages, and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Over the last twenty-eight years, he has also served as a consultant for NASA, the U.S. Army, the State Department, the International Food Protection Association, and Homeland Security on matters ranging from privatizing space to food safety, the frontiers of microbiology and genetics, and biological security.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable Vision, January 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Strength of Stones (Mass Market Paperback)

What a fascinating idea! Greg Bear has a remarkable vision for the future of both religion and architecture that will leave you in awe. These are not normal subjects for SciFi, and it's a really interesting trip.

I had read Strength of Stones before, and returned to it after recently reading Greg Bear's "Vitals." Vitals has a complete shipwreck of an ending (literally and figuratively!), and I'm realizing that this is typical of Greg Bear. Even his best ("Eon") has a kind of fuzzy ending. "Strength of Stones" is great until the last few pages, when the action suddenly shifts to a different continent, with a completely different vision of the future of architecture and religion. Where did that come from!??! It seems that Mr. Bear just doesn't know how to end a book in a way that makes any sense. Despite this, Strength of Stones is a great journey, even if the ending is botched.

I docked a star from this particular printing. The paperback with a green cover is listed as an "iBook." I don't know what that means, but I think this is a different publisher than the copy I originally read. Several sections of this book read like a previous printing of it was sent through OCR, and then the editing was poor. For example, "walls" shows up as "wails" several times. Also, one character's name switches back and forth between "Lod" and "Led." (I seem to recall it was "Lod" in the original.) I'm not sure where this publishing run came from, but it's a bit frustrating to read. If there's an earlier run of this book available in your local used book shop, you might be better off with that version.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A discussion of sin against a backdrop of sentient cities, April 4, 2006

By 

Semioticghost "Semioticghost" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strength of Stones (Mass Market Paperback)

Greg Bear's "Strength of Stones" focuses on the development of planet God-Does-Battle, the self-elected exile of Christians, Muslims and Jews from a secularised earth. The planet's habitats are living, sentient, mobile cities designed as a paradise of coalition between the world religions, but they slowly grow disgusted by human sin and cast out all their inhabitants to fend for themselves on a more primitive level. The novel charts what follows as the plot develops, on both philosophical and individual levels, with the backdrop of the cities supporting a spare, but engaging set of characters. In some ways, this is just another planetary-development novel, but it is written and structured well and provides enough surprises to lift it clearly above the throng.

To me, Bear's "Blood Music" remains the most enjoyable, original and unusual of his novels, but "Strength of Stones" is well worth a read nonetheless.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading but flawed, March 27, 2007

By 

Netloss (The Hinterlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strength of Stones (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is definitely worth reading, as it has a great concept and Bear's prose is nice and uncluttered. Some salient points:

* The concept is very engaging and unique

* Very readable prose, especially for the SF/F genre

* Somewhat reminiscent of Asimov's Foundation, in that it covers a world across several characters and a span of years

* Spelling errors in this version get progressively worse toward the end of the book, suggesting poor copy editing

* The ending is a complete "Huh?", going in a totally different direction from the rest of the book, and suggesting a master plan that is completely unrelated to everything that has come before. It's as if it was pulled from a different book entirely.

Another reviewer suggests that Bear cannot seem to properly finish a book, and while this is my first book of his, I can definitely see that problem here. It's a shame because it's a nice, quick read that never bogs down, and has some great ideas. It would be four stars if it had a satisfying ending. I will try other Greg Bear books, and hope that some of them end more convincingly.