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The Forge of God
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Cover of first edition (hardcover) |
|
| Author | Greg Bear |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Forge of God series |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
| Released | 1987 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 474 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-312-93021-6 |
| Followed by | Anvil of Stars, (1992) |
The Forge of God is a 1987 science fiction novel by Greg Bear that gives an account of an alien attack on Earth accomplished through misdirection and the use of self-replicating von Neumann machines. It features a character, Lawrence Van Cott, that is modelled on Larry Niven[citation needed].
The Forge of God was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1987 and was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1988.
The novel features scenes and events including the discovery of an alien in the desert, who clearly says in English, "I'm sorry, but there is bad news," and this alien's subsequent interrogation and autopsy; the discovery of an artificial geological formation and its subsequent nuclear destruction by a desperate military; and the Earth's eventual destruction by the mutual annihilation of a piece of neutronium and a piece of antineutronium dropped into Earth's core.
There is another alien faction at work, however, represented on Earth by small spider-like robots that recruit human agents through some form of mind control. They frantically collect all human data, biological records, tissue samples, seeds, and DNA that they can, and evacuate a handful of people from Earth. Some of the evacuees eventually settle a newly terraformed Mars while others form the crew of a Ship of the Law to hunt down the home world of the killers, a quest described in the sequel, Anvil of Stars. In space, this faction's machines combat and eventually destroy the attackers, though not before Earth's fate is sealed.
The two books show at least one solution to the Fermi paradox, with electromagnetically noisy civilisations being snuffed out by the arrival of self-replicating machines designed to destroy any potential threat to their (possibly long-dead) creators. (A similar theme is explored in Fred Saberhagen's Berserker novels.)
In the early 2000s, The Forge of God and Anvil of Stars, as well as a as-yet-unwritten third book, were optioned by Warner Bros. to be made into movies. It was reported that Stephen Susco worked on a script for The Forge Of God. In July 2006 Greg Bear mentioned on his website that the movie is "still under option. Studio in 'silent running'."[citation needed]
- The Forge of God publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database