Characters and plot development: 2 stars
Universe building: 4 stars
Underlying philosophy: WTF

Do me please the favour of tolerating a small personal indiscretion, for the sake of further clarity down the road of this review. Many, many years ago, I finally gathered the courage to send The Great Love Of My Life on his merry way, explaining to him that, looking back, it was clear to me that we had been mutually toxic for virtually all the fifteen years of our relationship, and also that I had felt empty, un-loved, in need of more respect and trust, and desperately lonely for the best part of it. I also reminded him of how he was so unhappy himself that he had been constantly threatening to break up and complaining about my shortcomings for years. His answer was a boyish, pained look of disbelief and the unforgettable statement: "Why? Why do you want to throw it all away?! I AM SO HAPPY WITH YOU..."
Yes, he did. And yes, he probably was.

Great world-building and disappointing plot development with some glimpses of interest seem to be signatures of Greg Bear's narrative style. So is the veiled sexism poking out the futuristic sexual freedom like nettles through the fabric of an old blanket.
Here the first chapters promise a whole lot, that is not delivered by the end of the novel. The AI story arc is compelling and well concluded, while many other characters fizzle out running around without purpose after being introduced as main actors in the plot. One of them even opens one the introductory chapters only to be carried around as a dead weight, while another seems to be the protagonist, but in the end is just there to be substantially tortured by the plot, and to let readers revel into the aforementioned gorgeous world-building. Maybe even to show how women are fragile, but I am not sure about that.
Possibly the most unnerving quirk of Greg Bear's novels is the streak of sexism and broken psychology that makes some characters and their choices feel like a glitch in the matrix. One of the main plot devices arises from the necessity, for a woman scientist, to MODIFY HER OWN BRAIN BECAUSE THE FEMALE BRAIN IS NOT CREATIVE ENOUGH TO GIVE HER AN EDGE AS A RESEARCHER. Yes, you just read that. It's not all, and here we get to the reason for my little dirty confession above. One of the main characters is an insufferable, holier-than-thou, arrogant, puritan American yuppie convinced that life, wife, children and society at large all owe him more than they gave him. The Great Love Of My Life and our break-up exchange came immediately to my mind. Oh boy, did I savour his fall from grace (or the apocalyptic damage he may cause if victorious). I am a long-hating green monster, I know. By the way, much to my dismay, it became clear half-way through the novel that he was the good guy all along. We are even treated to a molassey happy family ending. People, Greg Bear IDENTIFIES with this guy. Shivers of uneasiness and cringe. Long, painful soul-searching and questioning of my literary choices and taste. Conclusion: I know I will go looking for the first installment of the series (this book is a stand-alone, but I understand it takes part in a longer story arc). This man Bear builds worlds so well. I will just write it down to Guilty Pleasures, together with watching dr. Phil videos on You Tube and reading the Guardian, knowing it will infuriate me.

Today I learned that there is such a thing as hate-reading. ( )

Title Description # pages Price
Lives of Love
This group of ten amazing female disciples of Meher Baba have much wisdom and experience of living with the Avatar. 309 $15.00
Kissed by God
(my childhood with Meher Baba) Charles Haynes first met Meher Baba in 1958. He was just eight years old. This beautiful gem of a book tells the stories of Charles' time with Baba and his inner experience of Baba. As he puts it so well, “Like a time capsule from the past, each story of Meher Baba opens in the present to release the fragrance of His love.” (from the Preface) 160
60 fotos $18.00
Upasni Maharaj
A Perfect Master of India “Conceived by Meher Baba. . . and written under his auspices, this spiritual biography of Upasni Maharaj is a gift to America, to the West, and to the world. As a clear and authentic guide to the unfolding of higher consciousness, the life story of this Perfect Master serves as an invaluable resource for the contemporary Western seeker, for it accurately portrays the many stages of high illumination as well as the forceful transformative processes that accompany them.” 555 $75.00
Meher Baba’s
Blue Bus Tours
Including never-before-seen photographs from the newly digitized Elizabeth Chapin Patterson Photo Archive, Meher Baba's Blue Bus Tours is a meticulously researched chronicle of Baba's travels in India with His Western and Eastern women disciples, beginning in December 1938 and ending in November 1941. 848
100 fotos $45.00
The Boys
In 1927, Meher Baba initially established only the Meher Ashram, which offered a full academic curriculum as well as instruction in spirituality. Just months after the ashram began, a number of boys began to lean much more towards the spiritual offering, which on many days was being given to them directly by their Spiritual Master, Meher Baba. 465 $25.00
Meher Baba’s Samadhi
Tales from The Beloved's Tomb Over the decades, countless thousands have traveled to India's Maharashtra State to honor or worship Avatar Meher Baba at His Samadhi in upper Meherabad.
This collection of stories includes some history of the Tomb-shrine itself, and an account of Meher Baba's interment seven days after dropping His physical body on Jan 31, 1969. 234 $20.00
Twenty Years with Meher Baba
Dr. Ghani was a childhood friend and neighbor of Merwan S. Irani, before he was known as Meher Baba. In 1920, after some years apart, he was reacquainted with Merwan and learned of his new name (meaning Compassionate Father), given to him by the growing group of people who recognized and respected him as a great spiritual personality. Meher Baba lovingly referred to Dr. Ghani as “Big Head 110 $12.00
The Silent Messenger
The Life and Work of Meher Baba Meher Baba's life and teachings move through Vedantism, Sufism, Christianity and Buddhism. Uniquely, Baba gave all this to the world whilst remaining silent for 44 years. 311 $23.95
He Gives the Ocean Stories of the Savak Kotwal Family's Life with Meher Baba Najoo was one of a few Baba lovers who spent much of her childhood growing up at Meherabad. Her father, Savak, longed so intensely to serve God, he took his wife, Nergiz, and their three children, Najoo, Hilloo, and Adi, to live with Baba in March 1940, when Najoo was twelve. 416 $20.00

 
I hate dystopias! Several sub-plots coalesce into a nano-nightmare of complexity: the bad guys are trying to create a shelter so they can ride out the eventual collapse of world civilization--which they are aiding and abetting, so they can reemerge from safety and then take over the world--in comfort. The writing and excitement deserve a 5* rating....but I hate dystopias.

The first two stories take place about the same time—but the next 2 seem to have been written out of sequence. Book 4, “Slant”, takes place about 3 or 4 years past the first book and even mentions Mars as a major focal point of human expansion. But this is where/when we learn of the mysterious world-wide society that controls much of the real world. Book 3, “Moving Mars”, even mentions this secret society, in passing.

The reference to Mars in “Slant” and to the secret society in “Moving Mars” hint at the preferred chronology. While the distinctly unsatisfying ending to “Slant” makes me wish I had read “Moving Mars” last—with its much more encouraging ending. ( )

Didn't realize it was part of a series until coming here. I slogged more than half way through it before characters and terminology finally started making sense. Normally I'd get the rest of a series if I'd started one, but this one didn't grab me enough to do so. ( )

Slant, is a aequel to Queen of Angels, but, I would say, is much less ambitious and also a much better book.
Policewoman Mary Choy is back, after a few life changes (divorce, move from LA to Seattle, job change). When she's called on to assist in an investigation of sex workers killed through botched back-alley nanotech operations, she does not expect to be launched into a far-reaching conspiracy to bring down society. But a billionaire investor's mysterious suicide, a virtual-reality murder, and an unprecedented epidemic of mental disturbances and general crime all seem to be somehow related...
With diverse characters that include a has-been porn star, a scientist with self-induced Tourette's syndrome, a renegade AI, and a heist mastermind without a past, Bear discusses many of the same themes as in the previous book, but in the context of a complex, entertaining and action-filled novel. ( )

Bear's characters can suffer somewhat (for lack of depth) from the density of his plot, but this is a thought-provoking sci-fi novel. Nice to see "normal" people struggling with some of things Bear thinks we all may have to deal with very soon. ( )