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Far Thoughts and Pale Gods
6 dazzling stories, freshly revised for this volume, plus new introductions, commentary, and reminiscences from the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author of War Dogs , Eternity , and The Forge of God
Greg Bear is the author of more than 30 books, from thrillers ( Darwin’s Radio , Vitals ) to science fiction ( Blood Music , Eon , Hull Zero Three ) to pure fantasy ( The Infinity Concerto , The Serpent Mage ). He has won 5 Nebula and 2 Hugo Awards, his works have been translated into more than 20 languages, and his titles have sold millions of copies worldwide. But his skills are not confined to writing at full-length He is also the author of dozens of brilliant short stories, novellas, and novelettes. Far Thoughts and Pale Gods contains 6 highly acclaimed stories, each newly revised by the author, that illustrate Bear’s abundant breadth of talent. The volume
· “Heads,” which marks the first time the concept of quantum computing appears in science fiction—though it is a vision of 400 frozen heads that will remain in the reader’s memory;
· “The Wind from a Burning Woman,” the first story set in the universe that spawned the novels Eon and Eternity ;
· “Plague of Conscience,” which explores what it means to be alien—and whether that can be comprehended without understanding what it means to be human;
· “Scattershot,” beginning “The teddy bear spoke excellent Mandarin,” a gripping deep-space adventure that is also a tribute to legendary female science fiction writer James Tiptree Jr.
These and the remaining entries—“Mandala” and “Petra”—form a remarkable collection showcasing the talents of a major American writer.
Each story is accompanied by an introduction and an afterword written especially for this volume.
Greg Bear is the author of more than 30 books, from thrillers ( Darwin’s Radio , Vitals ) to science fiction ( Blood Music , Eon , Hull Zero Three ) to pure fantasy ( The Infinity Concerto , The Serpent Mage ). He has won 5 Nebula and 2 Hugo Awards, his works have been translated into more than 20 languages, and his titles have sold millions of copies worldwide. But his skills are not confined to writing at full-length He is also the author of dozens of brilliant short stories, novellas, and novelettes. Far Thoughts and Pale Gods contains 6 highly acclaimed stories, each newly revised by the author, that illustrate Bear’s abundant breadth of talent. The volume
· “Heads,” which marks the first time the concept of quantum computing appears in science fiction—though it is a vision of 400 frozen heads that will remain in the reader’s memory;
· “The Wind from a Burning Woman,” the first story set in the universe that spawned the novels Eon and Eternity ;
· “Plague of Conscience,” which explores what it means to be alien—and whether that can be comprehended without understanding what it means to be human;
· “Scattershot,” beginning “The teddy bear spoke excellent Mandarin,” a gripping deep-space adventure that is also a tribute to legendary female science fiction writer James Tiptree Jr.
These and the remaining entries—“Mandala” and “Petra”—form a remarkable collection showcasing the talents of a major American writer.
Each story is accompanied by an introduction and an afterword written especially for this volume.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 26, 2016
57 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Greg Bear
230 books2,095 followersGreg 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.)
(For a more complete biography, see Wikipedia.)
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 18, 2018
Out of this World Sci-Fi shorts
One of the best collection of short stories I’ve read in a while. Each of the stories created a world as wrought with hardship and struggles as to make our world seem tame. Each distantly related to an almost forgotten Earth the “people of tomorrow in these stories have metamorphasized so much they barely resemble humans of today. Yet, the conflicts of the future remain familiar. Colonies on the moon struggle to develop a democracy much like American revolutionists. Missionaries on another planet wrestle with religious fervor and fending off killer virus. In another story the last remnants of humanity experience all the heartache of Romeo and Juliet and only the offspring of gargoyles and sex crazed parishioners can shed light on the dark world. Even a talking Teddy bear mascot experiences human conflicts in a story that involves an unexpected hero who keeps coming back to help her people find their ways home. Finally, a story of a young man seeking his manhood and the meaning of life is sorely disappointed when his true identity is revealed. Just goes to show, you can take the man off of this world, but the human struggle remains.
One of the best collection of short stories I’ve read in a while. Each of the stories created a world as wrought with hardship and struggles as to make our world seem tame. Each distantly related to an almost forgotten Earth the “people of tomorrow in these stories have metamorphasized so much they barely resemble humans of today. Yet, the conflicts of the future remain familiar. Colonies on the moon struggle to develop a democracy much like American revolutionists. Missionaries on another planet wrestle with religious fervor and fending off killer virus. In another story the last remnants of humanity experience all the heartache of Romeo and Juliet and only the offspring of gargoyles and sex crazed parishioners can shed light on the dark world. Even a talking Teddy bear mascot experiences human conflicts in a story that involves an unexpected hero who keeps coming back to help her people find their ways home. Finally, a story of a young man seeking his manhood and the meaning of life is sorely disappointed when his true identity is revealed. Just goes to show, you can take the man off of this world, but the human struggle remains.
December 13, 2021
3.5 stars
A definite improvement over the previous volume. Some of these stories were really good and all were very readable.
CN: violence, objectification of women, unthinking and not entirely thinking colonialist mindsets
A definite improvement over the previous volume. Some of these stories were really good and all were very readable.
CN: violence, objectification of women, unthinking and not entirely thinking colonialist mindsets
May 16, 2017
I didn't like any of the novellas and there weren't enough shorts. The first volume wasn't very good either so I should have started reading before buying all three.
March 18, 2025
Bear's more theologically based stories. Not a genre I'm that much in to, but I still enjoyed the stories. Bear's very good at weaving an interesting tale.
July 13, 2016
Far Thoughts and Pale Gods is one of three books released to collect some of Greg Bear’s short stories, be they part of established narratives or standalones. I’ve never read Mr. Bear before, only seen his books on a great many shelves at the book store and library so I thought a short story collection would be a great introduction. I have to say I enjoyed it! I’ve been easing my way back into science fiction this year, and perhaps this is one that more threw me in kicking in screaming, but it was a great addition on my ladder. Mr. Bear seems to specialize in hard science fiction, but his work also carries a lot of the undertones that work for me. Things affecting human mentality, culture, or religion make the flesh around the Science Fiction backbone on these.
Even though I stumbled a bit through the first story in the collection, I managed to get my feet under me before it ended and wound up really happy with it. It was grim, but incredibly fascinating. The same can be said for the rest of these. They weren’t what I would call happy stories, but they were challenging and did make you think. The additional ‘context’ that Mr. Bear added to the stories at the beginning really helped. I wish more collections did this, it adds a lot to the story getting where it was coming from.
The stories managed, even if they were riddled with science and the ins and outs of the technical, to take a deeper look and I really appreciated that. I think Greg Bear has definitely made his way to my ‘to read’ list with these stories – I would call them smart science fiction. I’ll be picking up the rest of these to read for myself, I really recommend them if you’re ready to tackle some harder science fiction.
Even though I stumbled a bit through the first story in the collection, I managed to get my feet under me before it ended and wound up really happy with it. It was grim, but incredibly fascinating. The same can be said for the rest of these. They weren’t what I would call happy stories, but they were challenging and did make you think. The additional ‘context’ that Mr. Bear added to the stories at the beginning really helped. I wish more collections did this, it adds a lot to the story getting where it was coming from.
The stories managed, even if they were riddled with science and the ins and outs of the technical, to take a deeper look and I really appreciated that. I think Greg Bear has definitely made his way to my ‘to read’ list with these stories – I would call them smart science fiction. I’ll be picking up the rest of these to read for myself, I really recommend them if you’re ready to tackle some harder science fiction.
June 18, 2016
Far Thoughts and Pale Gods by Greg Bear- This is Volume Two of The Complete Short Fiction of Greg Bear and it has a lot going for it with its first two stories "Heads" and Wind From A Burning Woman". Both novella length stories deal with hard science and politics in the not too distant future. Heads happens when a researcher brings four hundred frozen, body-less heads to her Moon facility and the religious organization, who governs the Moon, and others object. In Wind, a terrorist attempt at revenge threatens to become a global killer. Along with these two fine stories is "A Plague of Conscience", a Murasaki story from a shared volume of stories with Poul Anderson, David Brin and others and "Mandala" part of his Strength of Stones novel. A fantasy "Petra" and "Scattershot" round out the offering. I enjoyed most of what I read here; even the outdated stuff is compelling. In 2002, TOR published a big hardcover anthology of the Best of Greg Bear. These stories are all part of it with another volume to follow. That's how publishing works now. They're doing the same thing with Arthur C. Clarke's huge "Complete Stories" book- break it up and sell it piece-meal. It's a shame, but what can you do?
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews