Greg Bear | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bear in 2016 | |
| Born | Gregory Dale Bear (1951-08-20)August 20, 1951 San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Died | November 19, 2022(2022-11-19) (aged 71)[1][2][3] |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Education | San Diego State University (BA) |
| Genre | Science fiction,Speculative fiction |
| Notable works | Blood Music |
| Website | |
| gregbear | |
Gregory Dale Bear (August 20, 1951 – November 19, 2022) was an American science fiction writer.[4] His work covered themes ofgalactic conflict (Forge of God books), parallel universes (The Way series),consciousness andcultural practices (Queen of Angels), and acceleratedevolution (Blood Music,Darwin's Radio, andDarwin's Children). His last work was the 2021 novelThe Unfinished Land. Greg Bear wrote over 50 books in total.[5]
He was one of the five co-founders ofSan Diego Comic-Con.[6][7]
Greg Bear was born inSan Diego, California.[8] He attendedSan Diego State University (1968–1973), where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. At the university, he was ateaching assistant toElizabeth Chater in her course on science fiction writing, and in later years her friend.[citation needed]
Bear is often classified as ahard science fiction author because of the level of scientific detail in his work.[5] Early in his career, he also published work as an artist, including illustrations for an early version of the reference bookStar Trek Concordance and covers for periodicalsGalaxy andF&SF.[9] He sold his first story, "Destroyers", toFamous Science Fiction in 1967.[9]
In his fiction, Bear often addresses major questions in contemporary science and culture and proposes solutions. For example,The Forge of God offers an explanation for theFermi paradox, supposing that the galaxy is filled with potentially predatory intelligences and that young civilizations that survive are those that do not attract their attention but stay quiet. InQueen of Angels, Bear examines crime, guilt, and punishment in society. He frames these questions around an examination of consciousness and awareness, including theemergent self-awareness of highly advanced computers in communication with humans. InDarwin's Radio andDarwin's Children, he addresses the problem ofoverpopulation with a mutation in the human genome making, basically, a new series of humans. The question of cultural acceptance of something new and unavoidable is also indicated.
One of Bear's favorite themes is reality as a function ofobservation. InBlood Music, reality becomes unstable as the number of observers (trillions of intelligent single-cell organisms) spirals higher and higher.Anvil of Stars (sequel toThe Forge of God) andMoving Mars postulate a physics based on information exchange between particles, capable of being altered at the "bit level."[a] InMoving Mars, that knowledge is used to remove Mars from the Solar System and transfer it to an orbit around a distant star.
Blood Music was first published as a short story (1983) and then expanded to a novel (1985) features nanotechnology. In later works, beginning withQueen of Angels and continuing with its sequel,Slant, Bear gives a detailed description of a near-future nanotechnological society. This historical sequence continues withHeads—which may contain the first description of a so-called "quantum logic computer"—and withMoving Mars. The sequence also charts the historical development ofself-awareness inartificial intelligence. Its continuing character Jill was inspired in part byRobert A. Heinlein's self-aware computer Mycroft HOLMES inThe Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966).
Bear,Gregory Benford, andDavid Brin wrote a trilogy of prequel novels toIsaac Asimov'sFoundation trilogy. Bear wrote the middle book namedFoundation and Chaos.
While most of Bear's work is science fiction, he has written in other fiction genres. Examples includeSongs of Earth and Power (fantasy) andPsychlone (horror). Bear has described hisDead Lines, which straddles the line between science fiction and fantasy, as a "high-techghost story".[10] He has received many accolades, including fiveNebula Awards and twoHugo Awards.[11]
Bear citedRay Bradbury as the most influential writer in his life. He met Bradbury in 1967 and had a lifelong correspondence. As a teenager, Bear attended Bradbury lectures and events in Southern California.[12]
He also served on the Board of Advisors for theMuseum of Science Fiction.[13] Bear was also one of the five co-founders ofSan Diego Comic-Con.[6]
In 1975, Bear married Christina M. Nielson; they divorced in 1981. In 1983, he married Astrid Anderson, the daughter of the science fiction and fantasy authorsPoul andKaren Anderson. They had two children, Chloe and Alexandra, and resided nearSeattle, Washington.[14]
Bear died on November 19, 2022, at the age of 71, from multiple strokes, caused by clots that had been hiding in a falselumen of the anterior artery to the brain since a surgery in 2014.[15] After he had been on life support for two days and was not expected to recover, per hisadvance healthcare directive, life support was withdrawn.[16][17]
| Work | Year & Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Venging | 1976Locus Award | Novelette | Nominated | [18] |
| Schrödinger's Plague | 1982 Analog Award | Short Story | 4th Place | [19] |
| Petra | 1983 Locus Award | Short Story | Nominated | |
| 1983World Fantasy Award | Short Fiction | Nominated | ||
| 1983Nebula Award | Short Story | Nominated | ||
| 1983 SF Chronicle Award | Short Story | Won | [20] | |
| Blood Music | 1984 Locus Award | Novelette | Nominated | |
| 1984Hugo Award | Novelette | Won | ||
| 1984 Nebula Award | Novelette | Won | ||
| 1986 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | ||
| 1986 Hugo Award | Novel | Nominated | ||
| 1986John W. Campbell Memorial Award | Science Fiction Novel | Nominated | ||
| 1986Prix Apollo Award | - | Won | ||
| 1986BSFA Award | Novel | Nominated | ||
| 1986 Nebula Award | Novel | Nominated | ||
| 1988Tähtivaeltaja Award | - | Won | ||
| Tangents | 1987 Locus Award | Short Story | Nominated | |
| 1987 Hugo Award | Short Story | Won | ||
| 1987 Nebula Award | Short Story | Won | ||
| 1987 SF Chronicle Award | Short Story | Nominated | [21] | |
| 1990 Locus Award | Collection | Nominated | ||
| 1994Seiun Award | Best Translated Short Story | Won | ||
| 1998Kurd Laßwitz Award | Foreign Work | Nominated | [22] | |
| Hardfought | 1984 Locus Award | Novella | Nominated | |
| 1984 Hugo Award | Novella | Nominated | ||
| 1984 SF Chronicle Award | Novella | Nominated | [23] | |
| 1984 Nebula Award | Novella | Won | ||
| Eon | 1986 Locus | SF Novel | Nominated | |
| 1987Arthur C. Clarke Award | - | Finalist | ||
| The Infinity Concerto | 1985 Locus Award | Fantasy Novel | Nominated | |
| The Wind from a Burning Woman | 1983 Locus Award | Collection | Nominated | |
| The Serpent Mage | 1987 Locus Award | Fantasy Novel | Nominated | |
| The Forge of God | 1988 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | |
| 1988 Hugo Award | Novel | Nominated | ||
| 1988 Nebula Award | Novel | Nominated | ||
| Eternity | 1989 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | |
| Sisters | 1990 Locus Award | Novelette | Nominated | |
| 1990 Nebula Award | Novelette | Nominated | ||
| Sleepside Story | 1990 Locus Award | Novelette | Nominated | |
| Heads | 1991 Interzone Readers Poll | Fiction | 4th Place | [24] |
| 1991 Locus Award | Novella | Nominated | ||
| 1996Hayakawa's S-F Magazine Reader's Award | Foreign Short Story | Won | ||
| 1996 Kurd Laßwitz Award | Foreign Work | Nominated | [25] | |
| 1997 Seiun Award | Translated Short Story | Won | ||
| Queen of Angels | 1991 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | |
| 1991John W. Campbell Memorial Award | Science Fiction Novel | Nominated | ||
| 1991 Hugo Award | Novel | Nominated | ||
| Bear's Fantasies | 1993 World Fantasy Award]] | Collection | Nominated | |
| Anvil of Stars | 1993 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | |
| Moving Mars | 1994 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | |
| 1994 Hugo Award | Novel | Nominated | ||
| 1994John W. Campbell Memorial Award | Science Fiction Novel | Nominated | ||
| 1994 SF Chronicle Award | Novel | Won | [26] | |
| 1995 Nebula Award | Novel | Won | ||
| 1996Premio Ignotus | Foreign Novel | Won | ||
| 1998 Seiun Award | Translated Long Work | Nominated | ||
| Judgement Engine | 1996 Locus Award | Novelette | Nominated | |
| Legacy | 1996 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | |
| 1998Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire | Foreign Novel | Nominated | [27] | |
| New Legends | 1996 Locus Award | Anthology | Nominated | |
| Strength of Stones | 1997 Kurd Laßwitz Award | Foreign Work | Nominated | [28] |
| Slant (/) | 1998 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | |
| 1998John W. Campbell Memorial Award | Science Fiction Novel | Nominated | ||
| 1999 SF Site Readers Poll | SF/Fantasy Book | 5th Place | [29] | |
| 2000 Prix Ozone | Foreign SF Novel | Won | [30] | |
| 2002 Kurd Laßwitz Award | Foreign Work | Nominated | [31] | |
| Dinosaur Summer | 1998 Sidewise Award for Alternate History | Long Form | Nominated | [32] |
| 1999 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | ||
| 1999Endeavour Award | - | Won | ||
| Darwin's Radio | 2000 Endeavour Award | Novel or Collection | Won | |
| 2000John W. Campbell Memorial Award | Science Fiction Novel | Nominated | ||
| 2000 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | ||
| 2000 Hugo Award | Novel | Nominated | ||
| 2001 Seiun Award | Translated Long Work | Nominated | ||
| 2001 Nebula Award | Novel | Won | ||
| 2002Premio Ignotus | Foreign Novel | Nominated | ||
| The Way of All Ghosts | 2000 Locus Award | Novella | Nominated | |
| The Collected Stories of Greg Bear | 2003 Locus Award | Collection | Nominated | |
| Vitals | 2003 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | |
| 2003John W. Campbell Memorial Award | Science Fiction Novel | Finalist | ||
| Darwin's Children | 2004John W. Campbell Memorial Award | Science Fiction Novel | Finalist | |
| 2004Audie Awards | Science Fiction | Nominated | ||
| 2004 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | ||
| 2004 Arthur C. Clarke Award | - | Finalist | ||
| 2005 Kurd Laßwitz Award | Foreign Work | Nominated | [33] | |
| Dead Lines | 2005 Locus Award | Fantasy Novel | Nominated | |
| Quantico | 2006 Endeavour Award | - | Nominated | |
| City at the End of Time | 2008 Neffy Awards | Laureate Awards: SF/F Author | Won | [34] |
| 2009 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | ||
| 2009John W. Campbell Memorial Award | Science Fiction Novel | Finalist | ||
| Hull Zero Three | 2011 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | |
| 2011John W. Campbell Memorial Award | Science Fiction Novel | Finalist | ||
| 2012 Arthur C. Clarke Award | - | Nominated | ||
| 2012 Kurd Laßwitz Award | Foreign Work | Nominated | [35] | |
| War Dogs | 2015 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated | |
| The Machine Starts | 2016 Locus Award | Novelette | Nominated | |
| Take Back the Sky | 2017 Locus Award | SF Novel | Nominated |
In addition, Bear is also a singular award winner of the 1984Inkpot Award, the 2006Robert A. Heinlein Award, the 2017 "Forry Award"[36] for lifetime achievement & theScience Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association's 2022 Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award.[37]
Doris Lessing, winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in literature, wrote, "I also admire the classic sort of science fiction, likeBlood Music, by Greg Bear. He's a great writer."[38] The 2024 novelHalo: Epitaph, a continuation of Bear'sForerunner Saga, was dedicated to Bear's memory by authorKelly Gay.
Novels in internal chronology:[39]
Greg passed away peacefully yesterday, surrounded by his loving family. [...] Greg Bear 8/20/1951–11/19/2022
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
