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[[File:Greg Bear.jpg|250px|thumb|Greg Bear]]


[[Image:Greg Bear.jpg|thumb|Greg Bear]]
'''Gregory Dale Bear''' (born August 20, 1951) is an [[United States of America|American]] science fiction and mainstream author. His work has covered themes of galactic conflict, artificial universes, consciousness and cultural practices, and accelerated evolution.
'''Gregory Dale Bear''' (born August 20, 1951) is an American science fiction and mainstream author. His work has covered themes of galactic conflict (''Forge of God'' books), artificial universes (''The Way'' series), consciousness and cultural practices (''Queen of Angels''), and accelerated evolution (''Blood Music'', ''Darwin's Radio'', and ''Darwin's Children''). Bear, Gregory Benford, and David Brin also wrote a trilogy of prequel novels to Isaac Asimov's famous ''[[Wikipedia:The Foundation Series|Foundation]]'' trilogy with Bear credited for the middle book in the trilogy.
 
His most recent project is a [[Forerunner Saga|trilogy of novels]] focusing on the [[Forerunner]] civilization for the first time, set prior to the activation of the [[Halo Array]], before and during their war with the [[Flood]]. The first novel in the series, titled ''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'', is set to be released on [[2011|January 4, 2011]].<ref>[http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/news/headline/science-fiction-legend-greg-bear-set-to-explore-the-time-of-the-forerunners/5011 '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Science fiction legend Greg Bear set to explore the time of the Forerunners'']</ref>


==Biography==
==Biography==
Bear was born in San Diego, California. From 1968 to 1973 he attended San Diego State University, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1975, he married Christina M. Nielson, but they divorced in 1981. He remarried in 1983, to Astrid Anderson, the daughter of science fiction author Poul Anderson. They have two children, Erik and Alexandra. Erik is currently a Painting and Drawing major at the University of Washington. They live outside of Seattle, Washington.
Bear was born in [[Wikipedia:San Diego, California|San Diego, California]]. From 1968 to 1973 he attended [[Wikipedia:San Diego State University|San Diego State University]], where he received a [[Wikipedia:Bachelor o Arts|Bachelor of Arts]] degree. In 1975, he married Christina M. Nielson, but they divorced in 1981. He remarried in 1983, to Astrid Anderson, the daughter of science fiction author [[Wikipedia:Poul Anderson|Poul Anderson]]. They have two children. They live outside of [[Wikipedia:Seattle, Washington|Seattle]], [[Wikipedia:Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]].


===Career===
===Career===
Bear is often classified as a hard science fiction author, based on the scientific details in his work.
Bear is often classified as a [[Wikipedia:Hard science fiction|hard science fiction]] author, based on the scientific details in his work. He often addresses major questions in contemporary science and culture with fictional solutions. One of Bear's favorite themes is reality as a function of observers.


Bear often addresses major questions in contemporary science and culture with fictional solutions. For example, ''The Forge of God'' offers an explanation for the Fermi paradox, supposing that the galaxy is filled with potentially predatory intelligences, and that those young civilizations which survive are those which do not attract the attention of the predators — by staying quiet. In ''Queen of Angels'' Bear examines crime, guilt and punishment in society, framing these questions around an examination of consciousness and awareness, including the emergent self-awareness of highly-advanced computers in communication with humans.
Notably, Bear has been credited as being the first author to describe [[Wikipedia:Nanotechnology|nanotechnology]] in science fiction, namely in the story ''Blood Music''. More recent works such as the ''Darwin's Radio''/''Darwin's Children'' pair of novels, which deal with the impact of a strange disease which appears to drive evolutionary transitions, stick closely to the known facts of molecular biology of viruses and [[Wikipedia:evolutionary theory|evolution]].


One of Bear's favorite themes is reality as a function of observers. In ''Blood Music'' reality becomes unstable as the number of observers — trillions of intelligent single-cell organisms — spirals higher and higher. Both ''Anvil of Stars'' — a sequel to ''The Forge of God'' — and ''Moving Mars'' postulate a physics based on information exchange between particles, capable of being altered at the "bit level". (Bear has credited the inspiration for this idea to Frederick Kantor's 1967 treatise, "Information Mechanics.") In ''Moving Mars'' this knowledge is used to remove Mars from the solar system and transfer it to an orbit around a distant star.
While most of Bear's work is science fiction, he has also written fantasy and horror stories, as well as science fiction fantasy. He has received many accolades, including five Nebula awards and two Hugo awards for science fiction just to name a few.
 
''Blood Music'' (first published as a short story in 1983, and expanded to a novel in 1985) has also been credited as being the first account of nanotechnology in science fiction. More certainly, the short story is the first in science fiction to describe microscopic medical machines, and to treat DNA as a computational system, capable of being reprogrammed--that is, expanded and modified. In later works, beginning with ''Queen of Angels'' and continuing with its sequel, ''Slant'', Bear gives a detailed description of a near-future nanotechnological society. This historical sequence continues with ''Heads'' — which may contain the first description of a so-called "quantum logic computer" — and with ''Moving Mars''. This sequence also charts the historical development of self-awareness in AIs, with its continuing character, Jill, inspired in part by Robert A. Heinlein's self-aware computer Mycroft Holmes ("High-Optional, Logical, Multi-Evaluating Supervisor") in ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress''.
 
More recent works such as the ''Darwin's Radio''/''Darwin's Children'' pair of novels, which deal with the impact of a strange disease which appears to drive evolutionary transitions, stick closely to the known facts of molecular biology of viruses and [[Wikipedia:evolutionary theory|evolution]]. While some fairly speculative ideas are entertained, they are introduced in such a rigorous and disciplined way that ''Darwin's Radio'' gained praise in the science journal ''Nature (journal)|Nature''.
While most of Bear's work is science fiction, two of his early works, ''The Infinity Concerto'' and ''The Serpent Mage'', which are now published together as one novel ''Songs of Earth and Power'', are clearly fantasies, and ''Psychlone'' is horror. ''Dead Lines,'' which straddles the line between science fiction and fantasy was described by Bear as a "high-tech ghost story" ([http://www.fwomp.com/interview_gregbear.htm interview, Fiction Writers of the Monterey Peninsula]). He has received many accolades, including five Nebula awards and two Hugo awards for science fiction just to name a few.
 
His most recent project is a [[Forerunner Trilogy|trilogy of novels]] focusing on the [[Forerunners]] species for the first time, set prior to the activation of the [[Halo Array]], during their war with the [[Flood]].<ref>http://www.curtisagency.com/news.php</ref><ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=921153 Frank O'Connor]]</ref>


== Bibliography ==
== Bibliography ==
===Collection of Short Stories===
===Novels===
* ''The Wind from a Burning Woman'' (1983)
====Series====
* ''Early Harvest'' (February 1988)
=====Darwin=====
* ''Tangents'' (1989)
* ''[[Wikipedia:Darwin's Radio|Darwin's Radio]]'' (1999)
* ''The Venging'' (1992)
* ''[[Wikipedia:Darwin's Children|Darwin's Children]]'' (2003)
* ''Bear's Fantasies'' (1992)
* ''W3 Women in deep time'' (2003)
* ''Sleepside: The Collected Fantasies'' (November 2005)


===Darwin===
=====The Forge of God=====
* ''Darwin's Radio'' (1999) Nebula Award winner, 2001[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=2001]; Hugo, Locus SF, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards nominee, 2000[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=2000]
* ''[[Wikipedia:The Forge of God|The Forge of God]]'' (1987)
* ''Darwin's Children'' (2003) Locus SF, Arthur C. Clarke, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards nominee, 2004[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=2004]
* ''[[Wikipedia:Anvil of Stars|Anvil of Stars]]'' (1992)


===[[Wikipedia:The Way (Greg Bear)|''The Way'' Series]]===
=====Songs of Earth and Power=====
* ''Eon'' (1985) Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, 1987[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1987]
* ''[[Wikipedia:The Infinity Concerto|The Infinity Concerto]]'' (1984)
* ''Eternity'' (1988)
* ''[[Wikipedia:Serpent Mage (Greg Bear)|The Serpent Mage]]'' (1986)
* ''Legacy'' (1995) Locus SF Award nominee, 1996[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1996]
* ''Songs of Earth and Power'' (1994 - combines ''The Infinity Concerto'' and ''The Serpent Mage'')


===''The Forge of God'' series===
=====Quantico (Queen of Angels prequels)=====
* ''The Forge of God'' (1987) Hugo, Nebula, and Locus SF Awards nominee, 1988[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1988]
* ''[[Wikipedia:Quantico (novel)|Quantico]]'' (2005)
* ''Anvil of Stars'' (1992)
* ''[[Wikipedia:Mariposa (novel)|Mariposa]]'' (2009)


===[[Wikipedia:The Foundation Series|''Second Foundation'' Series]]===
=====Queen of Angels=====
* ''Foundation and Chaos'' (1998) (Second Foundation series: book 2)
* ''[[Wikipedia:Queen of Angels (novel)|Queen of Angels]]'' (1990)
* ''/'' (also known as ''Slant''; 1997)


===''Songs of Earth and Power''===
=====[[Wikipedia:The Way (Greg Bear)|The Way]]=====
* ''The Infinity Concerto'' (1984) Locus Fantasy Award nominee, 1985[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1985]
* ''[[Wikipedia:Eon (novel)|Eon]]'' (1985)
* ''The Serpent Mage'' (1986)
* ''[[Wikipedia:Eternity (novel)|Eternity]]'' (1988)
* ''Songs of Earth and Power'' (1994 - combines ''The Infinity Concerto'' and ''The Serpent Mage'')
* ''[[Wikipedia:Legacy (1995 novel)|Legacy]]'' (1995)
* ''[[Wikipedia:The Way of All Ghosts|The Way of All Ghosts]]'' (1999)


===''Star Trek: The Original Series''===
====Series (non-originating author)====
* ''Corona'' (1984)
* ''[[Wikipedia:The Foundation Series|The Foundation Series]]: [[Wikipedia:Foundation and Chaos|Foundation and Chaos]]'' (1998) (Second Foundation series: book 2)


===''Man-Kzin Wars''===
* ''[[Wikipedia:Man-Kzin Wars|Man-Kzin Wars]]: [[Wikipedia:Man-Kzin Wars#The stories|The Man Who Would Be Kzin]]'' (with [[Wikipedia:S.M. Stirling|S.M. Stirling]]) (1991)
*''The Man Who Would Be Kzin'' (with S.M. Stirling)


===''Star Wars''===
* ''[[Wikipedia:Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek - TOS]]: [[Wikipedia:Corona (novel)|Corona]]'' (1984)
* ''Rogue Planet'' (2000)


===''Queen of Angels''===
* ''[[Wikipedia:Star Wars|Star Wars]]: [[Wikipedia:Rogue Planet (novel)|Rogue Planet]]'' (2000)
A group of novels featuring a shared history and some common characters.
* ''Queen of Angels'' (1990) Hugo, Locus, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards nominee, 1991[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1991]
* ''Heads'' (1990)
* ''Moving Mars'' (1993) Nebula winner, 1995[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1995]; Hugo, Locus SF, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards nominee, 1994[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1994]
* ''/'' (aka ''Slant'') (1997) John W. Campbell Memorial Award nominee, 1998[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1998]


===''[[Halo Universe|Halo]]''===
* ''[[Halo]]: [[Halo: Cryptum|Cryptum]]'' (2011)
*[[Forerunner Trilogy]] (2010)


===Non-series Novels===
====Non-series====
* ''Psychlone'' (1979)
* ''[[Wikipedia:Psychlone|Psychlone]]'' (1979)
* ''Hegira'' (1979)  
* ''[[Wikipedia:Hegira (novel)|Hegira]]'' (1979)
* ''Beyond Heaven's River'' (1980)
* ''Beyond Heaven's River'' (1980)
* ''The Strength of Stones'' (1981)
* ''Strength of Stones'' (1981)
* ''Blood Music'' (1985) Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards nominee, 1986 [http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1986]; British Science Fiction Award nominee, 1987 [http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1987]
* ''[[Wikipedia:Blood Music|Blood Music]]'' (1985)
* ''Sleepside Story'' (1988)
* ''Sleepside Story'' (1988)
* ''Heads'' (1990)
* ''[[Wikipedia:Moving Mars|Moving Mars]]'' (1993)
* ''New Legends'' (1995)
* ''New Legends'' (1995)
* ''Dinosaur Summer'' (1998) (winner 1999 Endeavour Award)
* ''Dinosaur Summer'' (1998)
* ''Country of the Mind'' (1998 in literature|June 1998)
* ''Country of the Mind'' (1998)
* ''Vitals'' (2002) John W. Campbell Memorial Award nominee 2003[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=2003]
* ''[[Wikipedia:Vitals|Vitals]]'' (2002)
* ''Dead Lines'' (2004)
* ''Dead Lines'' (2004)
* ''Quantico'' (2005)
* ''[[Wikipedia:City at the End of Time|City at the End of Time]]'' (2008)
* ''City at the End of Time'' (Gollancz edition published 7/17/2008<ref>http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/search-list-Greg%20Bear/~SW=Y~subject=cat3</ref>; Del Rey Books edition August, 2008<ref>http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345448392</ref>)
* ''Hull Zero Three'' (2010)
*''[[Wikipedia:The Mongoliad|The Mongoliad]]'' (expected 2010)


==Other awards and accolades==
===Short Fiction===
* Before Blood Musicwas a novel, it was a story published in the June 1983 issue of Asimov's. It won the Best Novelette Nebula Award (1983) and Hugo Award (1984).[http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Nebula1984.html]
====Collections====
* Darwin's Radiowon the Endeavor Award in 2000
* ''[[Wikipedia:The Wind from a Burning Woman|The Wind from a Burning Woman]]'' (1983)
*Hayakawa Award "Heads" Best Foreign Short Story (1996).
* ''Early Harvest'' (February 1988)
*Doris Lessing, winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in literature, wrote, "I also admire the classic sort of science fiction, like ''Blood Music'', by Greg Bear. He's a great writer."<ref>''[http://www.dorislessing.org/boston.html Doris Lessing: Hot Dawns]'', interview by Harvey Blume in Boston Book Review</ref>
* ''[[Wikipedia:Tangents (collection)|Tangents]]'' (1989)
* ''The Venging'' (1992)
* ''Bear's Fantasies'' (1992)
* ''W3 Women in deep time'' (2003)
* ''Sleepside: The Collected Fantasies'' (November 2005)


==References==
==Sources==
<references/>
<references/>


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.gregbear.com/ Greg Bear's Official Site]
*[http://www.gregbear.com/ Greg Bear's Official Site]
*[http://www.epicsff.com/articles/05/04/dlrdarwinsradio/ Darwin's Radio Review]
*[http://halo.xbox.com/Content/assets/en-us/Podcast/343Sparkast_001.mp3 Greg Bear interview on 343 Industries Podcast #1]
* [http://www.sffworld.com/interview/8p0.html Interview] at [http://www.sffworld.com SFFWorld.com]
*[http://www.sffworld.com/interview/8p0.html Interview] at [http://www.sffworld.com SFFWorld.com]
*[http://www.thefutureandyou.libsyn.com/?search_string=bear&Submit=Search&search=1 All of Greg Bear's audio interviews on the podcast ''The Future And You''] (in which he describes his expectations of the future)
*[http://www.thefutureandyou.libsyn.com/?search_string=bear&Submit=Search&search=1 All of Greg Bear's audio interviews on the podcast ''The Future And You''] (in which he describes his expectations of the future)
*[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Greg_Bear Greg Bear at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database]
*[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Greg_Bear Greg Bear at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database]
*[http://www.goodreads.ca/gregbear/autopoiesis.html An excerpt from ''Slant'' (1997)]
*[http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/eon/index.php The 20th challenge of the ''society of digital artists'', which made use of ''EON''.] In the ''about'' part it includes the chapters 1, 2, 10 and 33 [http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/eon/about_eon.php].
*[http://www.quanticothebook.com Quantico: Official Website]
*[http://mmbooks101.blogspot.com/search?q=Greg+BEar Interview with Greg Bear] Conducted by Murder and Mystery Books 101
*[http://mmbooks101.blogspot.com/search?q=Greg+BEar Interview with Greg Bear] Conducted by Murder and Mystery Books 101
*[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/author.asp?ID=72#books Complete list of sci-fi award wins and nominations by novel]
*[http://www.worldswithoutend.com/author.asp?ID=72#books Complete list of sci-fi award wins and nominations by novel]
[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Authors]]

Revision as of 07:15, October 26, 2010

Template:Ratings Template:SeeWikipedia

Greg Bear

Gregory Dale Bear (born August 20, 1951) is an American science fiction and mainstream author. His work has covered themes of galactic conflict, artificial universes, consciousness and cultural practices, and accelerated evolution.

His most recent project is a trilogy of novels focusing on the Forerunner civilization for the first time, set prior to the activation of the Halo Array, before and during their war with the Flood. The first novel in the series, titled Halo: Cryptum, is set to be released on January 4, 2011.[1]

Biography

Bear was born in San Diego, California. From 1968 to 1973 he attended San Diego State University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1975, he married Christina M. Nielson, but they divorced in 1981. He remarried in 1983, to Astrid Anderson, the daughter of science fiction author Poul Anderson. They have two children. They live outside of Seattle, Washington.

Career

Bear is often classified as a hard science fiction author, based on the scientific details in his work. He often addresses major questions in contemporary science and culture with fictional solutions. One of Bear's favorite themes is reality as a function of observers.

Notably, Bear has been credited as being the first author to describe nanotechnology in science fiction, namely in the story Blood Music. More recent works such as the Darwin's Radio/Darwin's Children pair of novels, which deal with the impact of a strange disease which appears to drive evolutionary transitions, stick closely to the known facts of molecular biology of viruses and evolution.

While most of Bear's work is science fiction, he has also written fantasy and horror stories, as well as science fiction fantasy. He has received many accolades, including five Nebula awards and two Hugo awards for science fiction just to name a few.

Bibliography

Novels

Series

Darwin
The Forge of God
Songs of Earth and Power
Quantico (Queen of Angels prequels)
Queen of Angels
The Way

Series (non-originating author)

Non-series

Short Fiction

Collections

  • The Wind from a Burning Woman (1983)
  • Early Harvest (February 1988)
  • Tangents (1989)
  • The Venging (1992)
  • Bear's Fantasies (1992)
  • W3 Women in deep time (2003)
  • Sleepside: The Collected Fantasies (November 2005)

Sources

  1. ^ Halo Waypoint: Science fiction legend Greg Bear set to explore the time of the Forerunners

External links

Retrieved from "https://www.halopedia.org/index.php?title=Greg_Bear&oldid=860665"