Blood Music Paperback – May 20, 2014

I spent today reading this because I found it hard to put down. This is a cerebral story and quite imaginative. The characters go through much introspection, and it touches on existentialism. It begins with an interesting laboratory science experiment, and goes through the changes and effects it has on people. It's a bit melancholy, and it's not thrilling, but it's a well written story about people coping with change.

Engaging. Beyond speculative. Big ideas. Good characters. Not too long. A tad dated but easily overlooked. The best G Bear novel I’ve read except for the incredible collaboration that is the Mongoliad series.

As I said , a variation of the old apocalyptic theme ,where some very smart people do some very stupid things to get us in this situation . Some survivors which I am sure in the end will contain the solution to humanities survival . Fortunately I will never know the ending as I have up reading half way through . A waste of my time I am afraid.

Or maybe just a damfool. Like that, all one word.Back in 1984 or so, either in Analog, or more likely the Anthology, The World's Best SF, edited by Groff Conklin, I read a short story. And it was amazingly good. Strong chilling story, numerous implications to sort out, scary as Hell. A fiction story that really hinged on the science. Reasonably believable science, with ethical issues abounding that were really being discussed at that time. And so, 35 years ago as I write this, a novel length expansion of that beloved story was published. I bought it without question, and then hesitated. I have a very poor record with novel length expansions of beloved short stories, or in this case, novelettes. And so I did not read this book until a few days ago.The first wave of the Corona Virus Pandemic Panic is winding down, and we're looking at a resurgence of cases. And here I am reading was is, at it's base, a sort of pandemic novel. Which, before I natter on further, I must say is a remarkably fine book. Excellent, even. It pushes past the boundaries of the original story, and becomes something grander and bigger. So read it, please.And don't fear that the years have not been kind to this book. I've really only hit three things that push the story back into it's original timeline.1. There are two Germanies.2. Russia is still Soviet and a Union3. Some action takes place in a place that isn't there any more.

I have meant to read this for a while, it's been one of those books that people talk about as a classic. When I read it, I wasn't disappointed, but it was a bit different than what I expected. I've read elsewhere this started off as a short story, and was later developed as novel and I think I could have known that from just reading it.The first half of the book focuses on Virgil, a brilliant but perhaps short-sighted scientist who, in classic Sci-fi fashion, experiments on himself. The way he's written, it makes sense (to him) why he would do this. It could have been bad, but Bear makes it realistic, so my suspension of disbelief isn't taxed much at all.The second half of the book switches between different characters, and gets into some meta-physical stuff that I think works better as a metaphor for politics than as hard science fiction. For example: at one point, Virgil is talking to the cells in his body, and he discovers that, to them, he's the universe, they're surprised there is an outside of him, but he isn't sure what they're up to, since he's only talking to the researchers, not the cells in charge.Overall, it's a good book, and it's made me think about things since I've read it. Not saying it's perfect, but I'd recommend it.

Originally written in 1985, I came across this book as a scientist takes mattersinto his own hands and endangers others on Earth. Some of the places are dated(since it was written in the 1980's), but it is eerie how one man's decision affectedeveryone he came in contact with. Must read.

Thanks to the ability in Amazon to read the first few pages of many books, I bought "Blood Music" since I had to find out "the rest of the story". It read like a 5-star early on, in much the same genre as Michael Crichton (scary biotech/nanotech), and somewhat like Stephen King (think "The Stand") (spooky things that go bump inside you).In my 344 page version, it took a downturn around page 150, when it started to get...well,...less like good Crichton, and more like bad King.I downgraded it to a 4-star, with a feeling of foreboding that maybe a 3-star was coming on.By the time page 250 rolled around, I had it figured out that the book was turning out to be a biotech/biohazard version of "We are the world", and that maybe at the end, the earth and any humans left would hold hands and sing "Kum Ba Ya" and "I'd like to teach the world to sing"And that is how it ended. Or nearly so. So if you like that sort of thing, you'll enjoy this book. (But don't say I didn't warn you)The beginning had shown so much promise...

I've read this book twice and listened to it as many times more on disc.This is also the second copy of the book I've bought since my first ended up a gift but I still wanted a copy for my library.Perhaps it's Bear's concept of an integration of nanobots forming a construct that surpasses humans' capacity, perhaps it is a development that an altered consciousness will create on our altered world, perhaps it is his playing out of a theme of transformation that rivals 2001 but Bear's Blood Music is just pleasing and thoughtful to a superior degree for me.I bought a Book of the Month copy because it is in great condition. If I had loads of money I might buy a first edition signed by Bear. That ain't going to happen!Buy hardcover for yourself or your heirs or paper for yourself.This is a great book worth reading, keeping, and reading again.

When I read Greg Bear's original first short version of Blood Music when it was a novella, the transformative body horror he was describing thrilled me the same as when I watched David Cronenberg's film Videodrome (1982). The characters still largely spoke in first-person narrative, as they do in this fully expanded novel of Blood Music, but there were tantalising plot and character details that couldn't yet be elaborated upon in the short version. This is my humble opinion...years later that now I've read the entire version of Blood Music, in hindsight I find a lot of the characters sound the same and there's a logical, scientific coldness prevelant within the narrative. As the novel draws to a close, Greg Bear gets so much beautifully correct about the dreamy nature of what we call "reality", that my criticisms fade and I'm left awestruck by a magnificent talent <3.

It seems like a long time since I last read Greg Bear, I’d forgotten just how good his tales are. This is an excellent book, wonderful in the real sense of that word. Shows just how scared we all are and what we miss by being scared. I wonder if someone is capable of making the ‘mistake’ that will help us ……

An expanded version of an original short story, leading one to wonder if some authors have a surfeit of writing talent but actually have few ideas of their own. Greg Bear does have a propensity to write sequels to most of his novels so the both are probably true. He was careful to wait until his writing skills enabled him to write with effortless formulaic ease before turning this small idea into a novel, so we have the best of everything -- a good idea, good writing, and an engaging novel. Arguably his best, before the lure of lucre turned him into a cross-genre novelist of the hack variety. He joined that elite of American science fiction writers who all seemed to be the same person after a while. But this novel remains as one of his finest, and although it never really touches upon literature, it's skillfullty laid down and a joy to read.

Read the short story many years ago and loved the concept.the novel fleshes that out and follows the premise as it engulfs the world with some really surprising developments. Stunning alien imagery of a future Anerica changed beyond recognition.One of my sci fi top 5. Highly recommended for lovers of mind blowing ideas.

I have loved this novel since its appearance on the SF market. I find the concepts both exhilarating and challenging and Bear hits the target with his usual elegance and pace. Since I have no in-depth scientific background worthy of placing on my CV I find reading the hard science passages akin to a soaring poetic experience where the language seduces and convinces without my having to fully comprehend. The sci-facts are pure language-at-play and wash over the neurones with assuring authority. I couldn't challenge his premise about intelligent viruses nor do I care to. This is excruciatingly riveting stuff and I strap in and enjoy the roller coaster.I trust someone working at Bear's level of competence to have done his homework and if he is describing laboratory procedures and research parameters I go along for the trip knowing he has his reasons. His job is to engage me in the world he is creating. Engage and immerse. And challenge. Engage, immerse, challenge and THRILL.Well, he has done that with Blood Music. His descriptions of the gradually transforming world post-Ulam are incredibly evocative and have astonishing power. Why BM hasn't been silver screened yet is a mystery. I must have read this work about forty times and am glad to finally own it on Kindle. A rare, visionary, thrilling and paradigm-expanding work, superbly told and a real keeper. Thanks Greg.