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Anvil of Stars | 
| Author: Greg Bear
Publisher: Orb Books
Category: Book
List Price: £10.90
Buy New: £10.44
You Save: £0.46 (4%)
New (11) Used (5) from £5.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 235590
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.5 x 1.8
ISBN: 0765318148
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780765318145
ASIN: 0765318148
Publication Date: March 4, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 9 to 12 days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Teen angst in space August 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I had read "Forge of God" a number of years ago and i could not put it down-it is a great Sci Fi novel. When i heard of the follow up (Anvil of Stars) i couldn't wait to read it, but i was so disapointed. This is a long read and nothing much happens until the last 50 pages or so, Bear tries to use this as a vehicle to explore the themes of leadership, adolesence and social interaction, the result-teen angst in space ! and not enough of the great story telling that was present in "Forge of God". A missed opportunity to develop the exciting ending of "Forge" which left us wanting more.
 New Idea April 18, 2007
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is one of my favourite books of all. I love the new ideas such as "noach" etc. I will read it again and again
Mesmerising February 12, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The reviewer before me has already done a very good job and I agree with him entirely. However, this book is so good and so unusual in its themes that it is worth reiterating many of them:
A truly enveloping pathos that, in conjunction with the setting and the storyline, gives the book an intense and profound emotional backdrop;
A great underlying sense of unease that remains pretty much throughout the story;
A very effective and intriguing use of science, and very imaginitive use of differing physical and environmental conditions in other places in the universe;
The author doesn't shy away from any of the 'issues' that the story leads him to and deals with all of them very effectively;
Lots of novel and original ideas (indeed, the story itself is entirely unique) such as, how to deal with the immensity of the distances you would need to travel in space to get anywhere (and the time required);
A genuinely satisfying conclusion to a story written over the course of two books.
If you enjoy being mentally stimulated and intrigued in ways that can only be achieved by the best sci-fi- writing, then you really should read this book - this book, IMO, exemplifies the work of an author who exemplifies the very reasons for which I read sci-fi. (Actually, I'm certain that non sci-fi readers would enjoy this book - there's even a way in which it made me think of Lord of the Flies!).
unsung classic June 14, 2006
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
This little-appreciated book is Greg Bear's best, in my opinion. Science Fiction it may be, but its themes are as adult and rigorous as any book in any genre. It is also very well written.
An air of melancholy and despair - as well as barely suppressed terror - carries right through from start to finish, as befits the situation set up in its predecessor, The Forge of God. Bear does not shirk the philosophical implications of the story he is telling. The humans and aliens caught up in the story are overwhelmed by the mysterious technology that surrounds them, and never fully understand what is happening.
The climactic battle is very exciting, and the ambiguous outcome a satisfying, well-rounded one.
The technological explanations make enough sense to be convincing, but Bear also makes economical use of little suggestions and implications to give texture to the weird, merciless galaxy in which the story takes place. The Braid aliens, too, are a superb invention. They seem completely ahuman, unlike most alien races in sci fi.
Not a good sequel August 21, 2000
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
Taken on its own, this is a respectable book, although some of the characterisations are a bit weird, to say the least.Unfortunately, it fails to impress as a sequel to Forge of God. If this is the only Bear book you read, you'll wonder why the hype. If you read his others, you'll wonder why he didn't think about this one a bit longer before writing it.
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