Mariposa, the latest novel by American science fiction author Greg Bear, went on sale last week, accompanied by a limited set of generally positive reviews.
Bear is best known among fans for books like 1985′s Eon and 1987′s The Forge of God, although he has written a variety of other novels, including fantasy books, Star Trek books, and in general has diversified out of the hard science fiction sub-category he mainly wrote in in the 1980′s.
Mariposa pictures an America which has been driven to near bankruptcy by crushing foreign debt. But there is one success story – the Talos Corporation, which trains soldiers and provides logistics and troops for the US Government. But the company’s end goals are somewhat more nefarious – the destruction of the government itself.
From the book’s blurb:
Three FBI agents are all that stands between Talos’s CEO Axel Price and the subversion of our nation. Fouad Al-Husam is working undercover in Lion City, Texas, on the Talos Campus—but he may have just overplayed his hand. Agent William Griffin will engage in a desperate diversion to try to rescue Al-Husam, and the top-secret information he literally carries in his blood.
Rebecca Rose is called into action to partner with an unlikely hero: Nathan Trace, one of a team of four who created and programmed the thinking machines that are about to help Axel Price in his plans for domination.
Trace and his colleagues were caught up in a violent incident in the Middle East several years ago, and experienced Post-Traumatic Stress disorder. All of them were forcibly enrolled in a treatment program sponsored by Talos Corporation, code-named Mariposa—which supposedly cured their PTSD.But now they are beginning to notice unexpected side effects. The Mariposa subjects are being liberated from nearly all human emotions and concerns—and all mental limits—to become brilliant sociopaths. They are out of control and they must die.
Publisher’s Weekly has given the book a positive review, stating that Bear “keeps everything whizzing right along to the slam-bang conclusion”, and an Amazon reviewer noted that the underlying technology in the book was “effortlessly interwoven into the fast-paced, never decelerating story line”.
The book is a follow-up to Bear’s 2005 novel Quantico. Bear’s site notes that Vanguard Press had already gone to press for a second printing of the book – before it was released – which could be an indicator of demand.
Commentary
I’ve read quite a few Greg Bear books (from The Way and The Forge of God series), and while Bear is a competent writer, I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend him as an amazing one.
He’s the kind of writer you won’t mind finding tucked away in the science fiction & fantasy corner of your local bookshop when you stop in there on holidays and need a meaty read. But he’s not the kind of writer you’ll remember for the rest of your life as someone who blew your mind.
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4 Responses to Greg Bear’s Mariposa goes on sale
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I wish he had stuck with hard sci-fi. His “the way” series was amazing. Also enjoyed his Darwin series. I probably won’t bother to pick this one up though. If I wanted to read about current government politicking and power projection, my reading tastes would be mainstream rather than sci-fi.
I haven’t read any of his recent stuff — but there is quite a lot of interest in it in general.
I agree with Guang. Bear used to be incredibly good, but he has slid into mass-market thrillers, a’la Clancy now. Blood Music was an incredible novel, and there are others, like Eon, Anvil of Stars and especially Moving Mars.
I liked Darwin’s Radio, Eon, Forge etc. But for such philosophical SF I’d rather spend time with the other Greg, Egan.