Heads

Queen of Angels #2

by Greg Bear, Fred Gambino (Illustrator)

Mickey awaits imminent chaos when his brother-in-law uses the moon's facilities in his quest for Absolute Zero and his sister Rho tries to read the memories of 410 cryogenically frozen heads

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Cyberpunk, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy, Religion, Speculative Fiction

125 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Greg Bear was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict (Forge of God books), parallel universes (The Way series), consciousness and cultural practices (Queen of Angels), and accelerated evolution (Blood Music, Darwin’s Radio, and Darwin’s Children). His last work was the 2021 novel The Unfinished Land. Greg Bear wrote over 50 books in total.

(For a more complete biography, see Wikipedia.)

Reviews

[prcardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Storyline: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Writing Style: 3/5
World: 3/5

I liked this to a degree that might be challenging to defend. I suppose it is because it was largely free of major errors and never promised more than it delivered. Certainly, I could have asked that the two plotlines in the story better merge. It would not have been overly demanding to expect that Bear be either a little more original or insightful with his complaints against organized religion. The setting too, warranted more detail. The story takes place on the moon, but it could just as easily have been set in two different galaxies or two different American states. It was the organizational structure of business arrangements that Bear spent most of his worldbuilding efforts on. That barely would have been enough to ground a longer work, but it was plenty enough to support this thin 151-page novella. Heads was also something of a bureaucratic procedural. I was surprised at the tension and emotion Bear was able to generate through this. Again, the short format helped here, Bear successfully implementing a device that might have turned stale if overused in a longer work. Overall, it was simply a capably written, interesting tale set in a modestly creative environment.

I read this as the sequel to Queen of Angels . There is not much of an overlap between the two. There’s some mention of bio- or genetic customization that appears in both books, but they play very minor roles in each. I suppose they complement one another. There does not seem to be any advantage offered to those who already read Queen of Angels nor is there any need for readers of the first to continue to the second – no new answers or connections are made. They are very different with both style and substance, and it is something of a feat, I suppose, to make two so wildly different books part of the same series.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

My wife recommended I read Heads, written by Greg Bear. A short book, with only 151 pages, I could hardly refuse. Bear paints a future where colonies on the Earth, Moon and Mars all have family ran corporations. Heads focuses on a Moon based corporation, the BM Sandoval company.

The story switches between the main character, Mickey Sandoval trying to clean up a mess made by his sister Rho and her purchase of 410 cryogenically frozen heads and his brother-in-law, William, trying to reach absolute zero on the Kelvin Scale. Over half the book is the set up which has the story line build as slow as 151 pages would allow. The pay off starts roughly 110 pages into the story and a limited amount of twists start.

The twists presented are good and by the ending of the story, you aren't quite as mad at yourself for reading the book as you were at page 90. Bear gives interesting thoughts on future politics, religion and corporate structures. I found the book very different compared to most of the science fiction I have read in the past. What was presented wasn't good enough to save the story as a whole. Perhaps if the book was longer and followed the potential side stories it offered, I would have thought more of the book.

Heads is supposed to be a prequel to Moving Mars. Heads is good enough for me to leave Moving Mars on my "To Read" list, but not good enough for me to bump Moving Mars up on my reading list.

[Strix · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange, good little book. Other reviews are right to call it a short story in disguise: it has the tempo of one. The author had an idea, constructed a plot around it and fit in the characters, and it clicks along very efficiently.

But oh, what an idea, and oh, what a fascinating look at the future!

The premise is, in the future when we've colonized the moon and they've established their own government and politics, a heir to one dynasty/syndic orders 410 frozen heads from Earth and has them brought to the moon, so scientists can try to read their memories. Her husband, meanwhile, is studying how to induce absolute zero.

The main character is their relative and accountant - he takes care of the finances and internal politics to keep their experiments afloat, and he's at the forefront when things begin to go wrong: a corporation fused with scientology (it's not scientology, it's called something else, but we all know what it is) begins to meddle, and things go strange and interesting.

This book isn't just an idea about absolute zero, or frozen heads - it's a meditation on what politics is and should be, and what religion is and should be, and it's just... it's neat, and I really enjoyed reading it.

One last note: while it's marked as #2 in a series, it's the first Greg Bear I've ever read, and it stood alone absolutely. All you need to know to enjoy the book is in the book itself.

[John Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heads (1990) 151 pages by Greg Bear.

Mickey Sandoval is given the job of being the business manager for his brother-in-law's scientific project of trying to reach absolute zero. While this project is underway, Rho, William's wife and Micko's sister, has purchased the frozen heads from StarTime an Earth based cryogenic company that has gone out of business. Rho's plan is not that they can revive these 410 heads, but rather they can access the memories.

The moon is now a consortium of binding multiples, family groups that formed after the split. The Sandoval binding multiple is one of the founding and wealtiest BMs. Fiona Task-Felder is the current president of the multiple council. She belongs to a BM founded by logologists. Soon after the heads arrive there is some uproar from the council. Mickey has to grow up in a hurry facing political situations that he really hasn't been trained to do.

The resolution of the heads story line was logical and good. The resolution of the absolute zero story line was "OK that's what happened." The development of Mickey's character was very good. Only 150 pages so it was a quick read. Overall good, not great.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novella, definitely. A snapshot of a snapshot. Lunar colony, years beyond. A great experiment to reach zero state, a newly purchased lot of 420 frozen head corpsicles and new politics with a reason to cover things up.

It's short, it's rather simple, but there is nothing wrong with that. Bear has a good sense of the human touch without having to describe molecular interactions. His books as far as I've read are comfort reads within a sci-fi realm. Not bubble gum, but I don't hit Wikipedia every other page because my physics is below passing.

This book covers some interesting characters, a bit of rambunctious naivety and how aging strips us of much of these things for traded hard wisdom. Then a moment happens, and this is really all just a reflection--but we knew this all along. What happened, something.. something that is not really good at finding vocabulary to encapsulate, and that's ok. I liked the characters in the time I briefly knew them.

Curious where his next "series" number goes. These all seem so very disconnected. Same universe but vastly different perspectives within time scale of events. I'd really hazard at this point there is no reason to read in any order.

[Teemu Öhman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olen ehkä Greg Beariltä lukenut aiemmin jonkun novellin, mutta en muistaakseni romaaneja. Päät oli sen verran hyvä, että pitää harkita Bearin muuhunkin romaanituotantoon tutustumista.

Päät tapahtuu Kuussa, mikä harrastusten ja (entisen) ammatin vuoksi lisää kiinnostustani mihin tahansa scifi-kirjaan. Pisteet Bearille siitä, että hän kuvitteli Kuussa olevan luolia (kuten monet muut ennen häntä, ainakin H. G. Wellsistä lähtien), jotka nykyisin ovat erityisen kiinnostuksen kohteena, mutta iso miinus siitä, että hän esitti Päissä niiden pitäneen aikoinaan sisällään jääesiintymiä. Päät julkaistiin alkujaan vuonna 1990, joten Bear oli sellaiset 50–60 vuotta myöhässä tuon ajatuksensa kanssa. Kuun keskileveyksillä ei ole jäätä, ja tämä oli kirjoitusaikaan 80-luvun lopulla hyvin tiedossa. Bear tosin selittää luolan alkujaan vulkaaniseksi, ja siinä hän on toki oikeassa. No, scifiä tämä tietysti on eikä selenologiaa, mutta silti.

Tykkäsin Bearin kuvaamasta Kuun yhteiskuntajärjestelmästä, jossa valtaa pitävät "sitovat moniot", jotka ovat eräänlaisia perheyhteisöjä. Mielenkiintoista ja aina ajankohtaista oli myös Bearin pohdiskelu uskontojen vallasta. Samoin tämän lyhkäisen romaanin pääteema, jäädytettyjen aivojen sisältämän tiedon lukeminen, on kiehtova.

Kirjan loppu oli minusta hieman turhan nopea ja töksähtävä, joltain osin sekavakin. Samalla kuitenkin se oli aika odotettu. Tämä pudottaa arvosanaa hieman, mutta muuten Päät oli iloinen yllätys. Eero Mänttärin suomennos oli pääosin mukiinmenevä, vaikka jossain kohdassa oli selvä moka (en muista enää missä) ja pari kertaa englanninkieliset ilmaisut paistoivat hieman liiaksi läpi.

[Devero · Rating 4 out of 5]

La storia è quella di una famiglia delle future colonie lunari, e dell’esperimento tentato da uno di essi per raggiungere gli 0° Kelvin, in teoria non raggiungibili. Si specula sulla natura dello spazio-tempo e dell’informazione. La vicenda si intreccia con quella della moglie dello scienziato che porta sulla Luna quattrocento teste criogenizzate tra la fine del XX e l’inizio del XXI secolo. Una di queste teste, senza nome, è quella del fondatore di una religione che si sta preoccupantemente diffondendo ovunque nel sistema solare, il logologismo. Qualunque somiglianza con movimenti tipo dianetics secondo me è voluta e pertinente. Le vicende si intrecciano in modo intelligente fino alla conclusione. Si tratta di 154 pagine che scorrono come acqua tumultuosa dei torrenti e trascina il lettore fino alla conclusione in meno di tre ore. Decisamente un buon romanzo breve. Scopro poi che HEADS, questo il titolo originale, è parte di un ciclo. Essendo però un romanzo fatto e finito, la cosa non è importante.
3 stelle e mezza.

[Roger Ley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bear often writes big, dense speculative fiction but this is quite a short book, a novella really. It was okay as far as it went but not one of Greg Bear's best. I quite liked the drawings line by Fred Gambino.

[Tex-49 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Noioso, per nulla interessante! ...zero assoluto!

[Linus · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this short SF novel, Greg Bear uses the setting of a colonized moon decades in the future to describe two very intriguing experiments. On the one hand, we have a scientist who wants to achieve absolute zero temperature. His wife, on the other hand, purchases 410 cryogenically frozen heads of people who died in the early 21st century, eager to access the memories of these long-deceased individuals.

Alongside these two experiments, Bear describes a vivid picture of a lunar society comprised of several prominent families that govern the moon in a decentralized manner, coming together in council sessions. The moon, Earth, and Mars together form the "Triple" and maintain complex economic relationships. The story is narrated from the perspective of Mickey Sandoval, a member of the Sandoval family on the moon, and the brother of Rho, who procured the frozen heads. Mickey finds himself responsible for overseeing both experiments.

The story unfolds in a straightforward manner, and challenges quickly emerge. The Absolute Zero project shows no progress, and concerning the frozen heads, a weird, but powerful religious cult becomes involved, who intents to prevent the reading of the old memories, with their motivations unclear. Political intrigues and discussions begin, but there's also a philosophical aspect. Should we truly reveal the memories of these deceased individuals?

The book is only about 150 pages long, so it cannot go into much details, but it remains an entertaining read. Bear does a good job in creating this world, making it believable and enjoyable, but the story lacks depth. "Heads" is my second Bear novel, following the outstanding "Blood Music" and I will come back to his work.

[Andrea Bampi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficile capire come questo romanzo breve possa essere stato scritto grosso modo in contemporanea con La regina degli angeli. Fatico anche a riconoscere la stessa mano, obiettivamente - non so darmi una risposta. Fatto sta che LRDA è quasi un capolavoro, e Zero Assoluto... no, ma neanche ci prova.
Non aiuta la lunghezza atipica, tra il racconto lungo e il romanzo breve, un taglio tradizionalmente povero e non a caso raramente scelto dagli autori -difficile da integrare con altri racconti in ottica raccolta, ma difficile anche da pubblicare autonomamente. Nel caso specifico la pubblicazione è andata in porto, ma le aspettative del lettore a quel punto sono giustamente di un certo tipo; e vengono magramente disattese.
Due linee narrative, nessuna particolarmente stimolante, in un intreccio sociofilosofeggiante con un paio di scontatissimi (presunti) colpi di scena ed un finale tra il mistico ed il lovecraftiano, che c'entra veramente poco con tutto il resto.
Non ne capisco il senso e sconsiglio a tutti la lettura: saltate dalla Regina a Marte in fuga, non perdete tempo. Bear ha scritto di meglio. MOLTO meglio.

[Luke Bishop · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got duped into reading a 150 pages of moon politics.

[Michael Vawser · Rating 4 out of 5]

1P

[mkfs · Rating 3 out of 5]

A guy is trying to lower the temperature of matter to absolute zero in a controlled environment, his wife decides to use some of the decidedly cold space in his lab to store a few hundred heads from the bankruptcy sale of one of those companies Timothy Leary ended up in, and people freak out.

There's not a whole lot to say about this one - the Big Reveal is so obvious that I had been anticipating it ever since conflict started, and the events at the end were of the "well duh, what did you *think* would happen" variety. Which is not really a flaw in the novel, as it means the author realistically depicted how these events would play out and it is only the characters who are clueless, but it is not that entertaining either.

The big surprise with this novel is the evisceration of, shall we saw, Elron Hoover's First Church of Appliantology:

Here was a creed without a coherent philosophy - a system without a sensible metaphysics. Here was puerile hypothesis and even outright fantasy masquerading as revealed truth.

This is particularly interesting because, while the "church" harrassment of critics was in full swing when this novel was written, it was only in 1993 (a full year later) that Steven Fishman released documents in court that publicly revealed just how ludicrous the purported religious doctrine actually was. South Park famously skewered these beliefs some ten years later, but Greg Bear seems to have been ahead of the curve here. As usual.

[Zina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very solid story, very much hard sci-fi. It is set in the same world as the Queen of Angels and Moving Mars, on a timeline in-between the two. It is a lot simpler, more straightforward (and shorter a story). I find it interesting that while the other two novels in these series are available in many formats including audio, this book has not been released again in a long while and is not available to purchase, not available electronically - I had to get it by an interlibrary loan. The main plot of the book is centered around some evil scheming by Logology, a false religion cult that has a very peculiar set of beliefs about everything including neonatal care and involves aliens and very expensive memberships. I wonder if it was this barely veiled criticism of the obvious prototype cult and using it as the villain in this book that led its followers to somehow affect the release of this book. On this suspicion alone, I hope folks start asking for this book more. Besides, - it is a solid, satisfying sci fi story. Go folks, find it, read it. Don't let religious cooks hide good books from you.

[John Wickline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had me engaged from beginning to end. It constantly made me want to read more to find out about both the experiment for absolute zero, and the circumstances surrounding the frozen heads. The world building around family and corporate structures, and also the relationship between the moon, earth, and Mars, were fascinating and provided the reader with many ideas to think about while reading.

While short, the novella accomplishes what it set out to tell with a satisfying and interesting conclusion. While the author’s stance and presentation of religion may be very cynical and pessimistic, it complemented the story well and provided the reader with more world building.

This book is not for people searching for a long read or lots of action. If you like politics, scientific mysteries, exploration of religious institutions, or want something that can be read in a day or two, this book will satisfy.

[Wampuscat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't give this one very high marks. Creativity is good, but as a stand-alone story (my mistake, didn't know it was a sequel) it is hard to jump into. I liked both the main premises, the quest for absolute zero & the scanning for knowledge from corpsicles (with the obvious poke at Scientology), but the world setup was just... odd. It read like a 1950s or even 1940s pulp story. I may check out Queen of Angels some day to see if it makes more sense in retrospect.

Giving it a 2 of 5 star Meh Read rating.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's surprisingly intense for its short length...which is my main criticism, as I wanted much more. The scientific side of the story was interesting, but it's the religious-political future world building that truly had me intrigued. I simply didn't get enough of it...and I really wanted much much more of this magnificent goodness. A delicious taste simply isn't enough...

[Deb Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure why Queen of Angels is considered a series. Book 1 and 2 are not connected except in a few side comments about a couple of dead characters from book 1. This story is easier to follow. I enjoyed the idea of recovering thoughts from frozen skulls and what happens when you reach absolute zero.

[Aaron Schumacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because I heard it was about consciousness. It was only a little bit about consciousness. Some quantum computers had some kind of consciousness, but they were not central to anything. At the end there was some possible additional consciousness stuff, but mostly not. In the end, not nearly enough about consciousness. Three stars.

[A.N.G. Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. The rich lunar world; the blunt, sometimes obtuse politics; the distinct characters; and the entirely human decisionmaking all packed elegantly into a story where not a word is wasted. Bracketed perfectly by the strange scientific experiments of a raving madman, to add something a bit more tangible. It has secured it's place on my shelf of favorites.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't even remember where or when I got this book, but it's been sitting on my shelf next to HG Wells and Arthur C Clark for years, and the cover made me think it was a lot older than it is.
Very quick read, still not 100% what happened at the end, but I'm not sure I care enough to go back and re-read that scene. Not bad, but not a classic.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Politics is management and guidance and feedback, William. We seem to have forgotten that on the Moon. Politics is the art of managing large groups of people in good times and bad.”

It’s nice that the space scientists here are made to deal with political forces, but thirty years on the political imagination reads as incredibly naïve.

[Rob Markley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing early novel from Bear - based on a short story I think. A good idea of course but not transferred well into a novel

[Elenaran · Rating 2 out of 5]

Novel based on a short story and it shows, unfortunately. It has a great setup, but then the story is over just when things start to get going.

[Shelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thinly veiled poke at Scientology. Enjoy it as it was quick and, of course, sci-fi.

[Earl Truss · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a waste of time.

[Devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a re-read with a friend. I love it.

[Justin Couchot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted there to be more heads.

[Evan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really mediocre in contrast to Blood Music - my reference point for Greg Bear. My eyes glazed over whenever any hard SF science passages appeared, the political intrigue was not particularly interesting or fun.