The Forge of God by Greg Bear

The Forge of God is an acknowledged ‘classic’ of the science fiction genre. It tells the story of aliens arriving and they have a spectacularly miserable message.

The story begins with scientists noticing that Jupiter’s moon Europa has suddenly disappeared. Then three geologists in Death Valley find a dying alien who says, ‘I’m sorry I have some bad news.’ Apparently the Earth is doomed, DOOMED! Meanwhile in Australia some other aliens arrive and say that everything is great, let’s have a BBQ (the latter part isn’t true but that’s what Australians would probably do if they heard this news). What the balls is going on?

The Forge of God starts superbly. It grabs you and makes you eager to find out what is happening and how things will work out. Unfortunately, in my reasonably humble opinion, it then slows down and becomes a trifle plodding. Which is a shame. There are a few intriguing moments but generally I just wanted stuff to happen. Thankfully, at the end, stuff then happens in a BIG way.

The Forge of God has one of the most memorable endings ever. I can’t tell you about it without giving away a huge chunk of the novel but it is awe inspiring, beautifully written, and shocking. I can still remember all the scenes in vivid detail and I have read six other books in the month since reading it (I’ve been on holiday and they were mostly quite short, I’m not boasting).

So there you go. A great start and a great end with a mostly slow centre. Would I recommend The Forge of God to you? Yes. It is worth it for the end alone. Plus there is a sequel that is supposed to be pretty good and you can’t very well read that first. Hell, you might even enjoy the middle and I just have a short attention span. It is also a classic and you should always read classics. Enjoy.