Thoughtful and deep. The reader sees the exploration of an abandoned world and empty cities and then he is drawn into a deftly woven world of biotech and sentience and wonder-science all knotted about the questions of mortality. No other writer handled the religion aspects better than Bear in my view. And the end is both grand and sad at the same time. ( )

Post-apocalyptic on a distant world in the far future. Toss in some religious mysticism and too-complicated-to-explain technology.

The planet "God-Does-Battle" was purchased and colonized by Christians, Jews, and Moslems. They contracted architect Robert Kahn to build their high-tech cities - designed to re-inforce their shared religious ideals. Only centuries after their creation the cities expelled their inhabitants for failing to live up to those ideals. Without citizens, the cities have no mission and wander and decay.

This book concerns events on "God-Does-Battle" almost a millenium after the events above and itself spans a few centuries. The texture of this book is much different than other works by Greg Bear I have read. I found it somewhat to remain engaged in the storyline since there was no single unifying character to which the events held a personal significance so everything that happened seemed to have a "distance" to it that I had trouble overcoming. ( )

Not his best by a long shot. Try The Infinity Concerto or Blood Music if you want to sample Greg Bear. ( )