TANGENTS. [Paperback]

Greg. Bear (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: P/B (1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575047755
• ISBN-13: 978-0575047754
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hits and misses, September 4, 2000

By 

Alanna Evans (US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tangents (Paperback)

"Tangents" is a mixture of mostly strange, bizzarre 'hard' sci fi and a few stories that actually are easy to grasp by the casual scifi reader (which I am one). Dealing with the drawbacks of genetic programming in a very futuristic world, "Sisters" was touching emotionally, a fascinating short story that was very well written. "Blood Music", the short that spawned an entire novel by the same name, had an intriguing premise, while "Tangents" (the story) showed us the musical bridge to the fourth dimension but the real star of the show was the haunting "Dead Run" which was turned into a Twilight Zone episode. Its by far the best of the bunch. The rest range from disgustingly strange, "Sleepside Story", which is one of the worst pieces i have ever read, and a giant waste of time, and the same sentiments apply to "Webster". Casual sci fi'ers might want to look elsewhere.

2.0 out of 5 stars Sleepy selection of randomenss, December 13, 2007

By 

M-I-K-E 2theD "2theD" (The Big Mango, Thailand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tangents (Paperback)

This collection of short stories by Greg Bear (his first collection published) feels as if he scoured his desk drawers looking for anything to fill the pages of this collection. His main focus was, obviously, the short story Blood Music. It's great, but the book is even more epic. And the only other story which seems to fit well into a Greg Bear short story collection would be Sisters. This is a sort of precursor to his future society based books Queen of Angels and Slant. Sisters is a healthy grassroots look at being a simple teenager in simple future times.

The rest of the stories range wildly and annoyingly from 1) a story about a man and a magical prostitute, 2) a woman and her dictionary-born boy-toy, 3) a news article about the (quite dated) future of computer graphics and animation.

If you're looking for Bear SF, then look no further than The Venging, which has heaps of hard SF in a number of presentable not-pulled-from-the-back-of-his-desk-drawer stories.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, September 29, 2007

By 

Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tangents (Paperback)

An earlier story collection, and he writers an introduction talking about the difference between forward looking and 'past=comforted' pepole in America, relating that to science fiction.

A pretty good bunch of stories, averaging 3.44.

Tangents : Blood Music [SS] - Greg Bear
Tangents : Sleepside Story - Greg Bear
Tangents : Webster - Greg Bear
Tangents : A Martian Ricorso - Greg Bear
Tangents : Dead Run - Greg Bear
Tangents : Schrödinger's Plague - Greg Bear
Tangents : Through Road No Whither - Greg Bear
Tangents : Tangents - Greg Bear
Tangents : Sisters - Greg Bear


Microcolony kill failure transfer overrun.

4 out of 5


Escort pruning promotes renewal.

3.5 out of 5


Dictionary definition not the same as the real thing.

3 out of 5


First contact rapid overtaking.

2.5 out of 5


Trucking hell, man.

3.5 out of 5


Coin toss experimental global philosophy pandemic probability.

3.5 out of 5


I see bad things for the SS.

3.5 out of 5


Music just adds that extra dimension.

4 out of 5


Designer defect death.

3.5 out of 5