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Blood Music

Greg Bear

3.81 · Rating details · 10,165 ratings · 503 reviews

The book that launched the career of Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Greg Bear--and earned him an avalanche of praise from the SF world--Blood Music offers a dazzling flight of disciplined imagination. (It's) one of the most interesting stories to come along in years (Poul Anderson).

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Paperback, 256 pages

Published July 1st 1996 by Ace Trade (first published April 1st 1985)

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Feb 28, 2011 karen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: the-end, thanks-for-prezzies

I HAVE BEEN TOLD THIS REVIEW IS SPOILERY!! BEWARE!!

(dude, you seriously want an audio version of this??)

so i read this because bird-brian told me to.

i don't know that i am the best person to review sci-fi books. i have zero background in the genre, but for whatever reason, brian thought it would be amusing if i reviewed this.

so i will try.

soooo - okay - quick plot for you plotty folks out there - genius bad boy scientist gets fired from job for meddling with mammalian cells and conducting ...more

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Apr 19, 2019 Kevin Kuhn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

I believe the only other Greg Bear books I’ve read are “Eon” and “Eternity”. I read both a very long time ago. I enjoyed both, especially Eon, but I remember having a few problems with the stories and was disappointed in the overall ending. Well, my neighbor picks up sci-fi at a used book story on occasion and passes on ones that he liked, as we have similar tastes. So, despite this being first published in 1985, I decided to give it a read.

Overall, it was a similar experience to “Eon” and “ I believe the only other Greg Bear books I’ve read are “Eon” and “Eternity”. I read both a very long time ago. I enjoyed both, especially Eon, but I remember having a few problems with the stories and was disappointed in the overall ending. Well, my neighbor picks up sci-fi at a used book story on occasion and passes on ones that he liked, as we have similar tastes. So, despite this being first published in 1985, I decided to give it a read.

Overall, it was a similar experience to “Eon” and “Eternity”, I enjoyed the read, but found myself let down at the end. The story starts with Vergil Ulam, a slightly overweight, nerdy, goalless, but brilliant scientist. He works at a biochip company where he is secretly performing research on his own. He’s building intelligent cells, highly intelligent cells. I mean they can navigate mazes better than lab rats. Well, he’s found out, and rashly decides to preserve his creations the only way he can get them out of the lab – by injecting them into his bloodstream. This kicks off a series of events, beginning with positive improvements to his body (improved eyesight, weight loss, increased strength, etc.) but leading to much more disturbing and ultimately cataclysmic events.

I found the book to be a page turner, as I was intrigued, first by what would happen to Vergil, and then by the broader events. Along the way, I experienced some disappointments, such as wondering who the main character was, and finding frustration that we never seemed to stay with a character enough to development an interest in them. But it’s not really a character driven story, it’s a series of transformations that are well described and fascinating. Bear occasionally dips deeply into biochemistry and later physics adding support to the events. There were some interesting ideas about the make-up of the universe in the final third of the book. If those ideas were used at the end as a climatic ending with some characters we cared about, I think this could have been excellent. But in all honest, by the end, I didn’t really care about the remaining characters and the thought-provoking ideas had already been spent as we approached the final ending. I was left feeling like some very cool ideas and creative scenes were wasted.

A borderline hard sci-fi novel, which contains an escalating series of creepy, captivating, and skillfully described events, that disappoints due to a lack of strong characters and an anti-climactic finale. ...more

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Sep 25, 2007 Paul Bryant rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-novels-aaargh

MOULD, FRANKENSCIENCE AND MIRTH

In Greg Bear's funny and creepy and REALLY insane story, the rogue scientist invents a virus which... goes viral! Ha ha, that's funny right there, ain't it? Well, what did he expect? That it would stay where he told it and just watch tv? No sir. It develops intelligence. Learns the art of conversation. Says stuff like

WORDS communicate with *share body structure external* is this like *wholeness WITHIN* *totality* is EXTERNAL alike COULD DO WITH A BEER

Okay okay, I ...more

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Sep 09, 2011 Apatt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

“Vergil Ulam had become a god. Within his flesh he carried hundreds of billions of intelligent beings.”

If Blood Music is ever adapted into a movie, the above quote would be ideal for the movie’s slogan. It sums up the central conceit of the novel very nicely. So Vergil Ulam, a not entirely sane scientist working for a biotechnology lab, experiments with lymphocyte (a form of white blood cell) to turn them into smart cells*. This is very far from his employer’s purview so they summarily dismiss ...more

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Aug 10, 2008 Stephen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, to-re-read, award-nominee-british-sf, award-nominee-campbell, award-nominee-hugo, award-nominee-nebula, award-nominee-locus, multiple-award-nominee, easton-press, audiobook

3.5 stars. Classic SF novel dealing with biotechnology, nanotechnology (including the grey goo hypothesis), the nature of consciousness and artificial intelligence. On my list to re-read in the near future as it has been some time since I first read this.

Nominee: British Science Fiction Award for Best Novel
Nominee: John W. Campbell Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
Nominee: Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (the original short story WON the award for Best Short Story)
Nominee: Nebula ...more

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Sep 29, 2018 Trish rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This week I started and finished reading a trilogy by this author. My first encounter with Greg Bear (see what I did there? *lol*). I wasn't overly impressed although I liked the writing style. According to my buddy-reader and constant volunteller, Brad, the trilogy was NOT the author's best work, not by far, and I should read this short story.

So I did.

The story is about a scientist experimenting with biochips (computer chips that can be put in a human body). In the tradition of scientific This week I started and finished reading a trilogy by this author. My first encounter with Greg Bear (see what I did there? *lol*). I wasn't overly impressed although I liked the writing style. According to my buddy-reader and constant volunteller, Brad, the trilogy was NOT the author's best work, not by far, and I should read this short story.

So I did.

The story is about a scientist experimenting with biochips (computer chips that can be put in a human body). In the tradition of scientific horror stories, he takes it too far, even by the standards of the biotech company he's working for, and therefore gets fired. Panicking, he injects himself with his invention (of course) and that is where the fun begins.
As William Blake said: To see a World in a Grain of Sand...

I really liked the story and the creepy crawly feeling it invoked. Imagine knowing that intelligent biochips are inside you but you have no control over them and no knowledge of what they are going to do. Will they be trying to conquer, take over? Will they worship the body they live in as a deity? Just how intelligent can they become? Was that just a normal itch or some change the things have initiated?

I was wondering (view spoiler) but it doesn't really matter for the overall atmosphere and message or the progression of the story. (view spoiler)
The characters were relatively flat (much like in the trilogy) so I'm left also wondering if characterisations are a weak point of this author or if it was deliberate here because it was supposed to be all about the science and the (view spoiler) individuals didn't matter.

Anyway, nice and creepy story that marks the perfect transition from September to Spooktober. ;) ...more

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Aug 21, 2007 Lasairfiona Smith rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Those that love horrible writing. I mean bad.

Shelves: dontbother

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 08, 2017 Mike rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Far and away Bear's best novel.It made my skin crawl and kept my eyes glued to the pages.Modern classic.

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Jul 15, 2013 Yoshiboy13 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

book *awesome-on-verge-of-omfg* greg bear MUST SPEND MORE TIME STUDYING AUTHOR
Could you make that slightly more readable for the nice people out there?
*negative* understand. possible mean EXTERNAL GROUPING
Yeah, pretty much.
VERGIL translate CLUSTERS *can-not-translate*
I think they mean that it's a good book.
pause . . . . . . . . EXTERNAL GROUPING nice? nice from *city-nice-in-country-france*? nice *friendly*? QUERY
Nice friendly.
CLUSTERS need learn MORE
Yes, quite right.
- - End transmission. - -

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May 05, 2010 Christina rated it did not like it · review of another edition

This novel really irked me, for several reasons. I think my primary complaint is in the characters - they were undeveloped, unrealistic, and clearly vessels for the science and story rather than dynamic individuals. I didn't care about any of them, except for maybe the intelligent cells themselves.

It didn't help that the plot was slow-moving and required a lot of suspension of disbelief. I don't know enough about hard science to judge the likelihood of any of this novel's events, but from a ...more

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Jul 15, 2016 Bryan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction-read

Greg Bear once said "science fiction works best when it stimulates debate" and I couldn't agree more. Before this Frankensteinian adventure, I'd never read a book by him and I'm feeling like I am definitely missing out. I seriously enjoyed the language he uses.

My interest waned about 70% in but I stuck in there and ended up loving the last 10 or so pages. Overall, I'd say it had a strong finish and in the end it made me think. Sure, there were a few outdated pieces. A majority of one ...more

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May 14, 2013 Travis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This novel was suggested to me by a sadistic prick who I thought was my friend. Turns out he wanted to see if the concept would bother me. Joke's on him. Loved the book. The story itself was original and unlike anything I'd read before. The concept of a man-made apocalypse where the end of the human race comes in the form of an intelligent virus that ultimately rebuilds the likes of humanity is so far out of the box it's no wonder many light readers are thrown into abysmal attacks on sentence ...more

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Jul 31, 2015 Chris rated it liked it · review of another edition

At a certain point, I had to admit that Blood Music ceased to be about science-y horror stuff, and just became a wild, sci-fi horror novel. And while I liked that, I sort of missed the science part. And the aspects that actually related to being human, and why that's important. A lot of that appears to just drop away in the end (which is fairly abrupt).

For some reason (gee - the cover? the synopsis?), I'd had this impression that the book was going to be about crazy Cthulu monsters. What a let ...more

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Apr 01, 2011 Sesana rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, audiobook

Blood Music is built around a great science fiction concept: a man-made virus becomes sentient and starts rebuilding the world to their own specifications. (Yes, I know that they're technically lymphocytes, but they act and are treated much like a virus throughout.) And to start with, that concept is indeed very promising. The first half or so of the book seemed to be fairly hard SF to me. There are some issues dragging down the book as a whole, though.

The most immediately obvious thing is that ...more

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Jul 02, 2016 Banner rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

I had no idea this book was going to be so weird! I guess the name and cover should have given me a hint, but I try to practice the "Don't judge a book by its cover" rule.

The protagonist is an interesting fellow, a sloppy research doctor. Working in the area of microbiology. Aspersions of greater things and a drive to achieve but he just isn't that careful in the lab.

A germ with intelligence....

That's all I'm saying; it just gets weirder after that. It is a good, imaginative science fiction ...more

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Sep 25, 2014 Ben Loory rated it liked it · review of another edition

starts out a pretty run-of-the-mill Michael Crichton-type thriller, then segues into a cronenbergian fly-like body-horror thing and then ends as a stephen king The Stand-type situation, with a bunch of characters wandering around in a post-apocalyptic wasteland (only the characters are really flat and none of them were there at the start and you don't care about any of them and... whatever).

BUT! right in the middle, there's this one amazing chapter! narrated by a news reporter in a plane flying ...more

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Jan 31, 2009 Robert rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This novel surprised me with how enjoyable it actually was. The title and cover conspired to give me the distinct impression of "generic SF."

A more up-to-date look at the worries of genetic engineering, "Blood Music" moves from an "Andromeda Strain" bio-thriller into speculation of physics and the nature of reality. It manages to do so smoothly, and without invoking any mystical hand waving, which adds greatly to its effect.

A solid read, and one that would sit well with anyone who enjoys near ...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Adam rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi

Vergil Ulam is a brilliant biotechnology researcher who takes matters into his own hands when his company threatens to shuit his work down. Vergil's noocytes are like nano-techonlogy living organisms that begin to evolve and multiply rapidly. Greg Bear knows his science and comes up with some big ideas and concepts while exploring what it means to be human.

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Feb 13, 2012 David Nichols rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, sci-fi

Unfortunately, this book does not improve the short story upon which it is based; the main characters are either unsympathetic or two-dimensional, and Bear doesn't provide more than a glimpse of the world created by the Blood Musicians (so to speak). Also, the book's title just doesn't work with the "In My Pants" game.

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Aug 17, 2009 Jen rated it liked it · review of another edition

I'd given this book 2.5 if I had had the option to do so. Closer to "mediocre" than to "multiple-award-winner".

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Aug 07, 2007 Abe rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

My first of many (and still my favorite) Greg Bear book. This guy is good!

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Apr 13, 2017 prcardi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, pg-13, medical, hard-science-fiction, horror, hugo-finalist, nebula-nominee

Storyline: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Writing Style: 3/5
World: 3/5

The last epidemilogical hard science fiction book I read was......also written by Greg Bear! Blood Music shared a lot with the Darwin's Radio duology. And when I say, "a lot" I mean the same subgenre, the same general plot structure, more or less the same problem to understand and respond to, and mostly the same types of characters. I did wonder though if I was being too critical. Perhaps some who read military space science fiction novels Storyline: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Writing Style: 3/5
World: 3/5

The last epidemilogical hard science fiction book I read was......also written by Greg Bear! Blood Music shared a lot with the Darwin's Radio duology. And when I say, "a lot" I mean the same subgenre, the same general plot structure, more or less the same problem to understand and respond to, and mostly the same types of characters. I did wonder though if I was being too critical. Perhaps some who read military space science fiction novels think they're all the same: space ships, weapons, challenges of vacuum and trajectories, etc. I was able to enjoy Blood Music a little more while making an effort to appreciate the differences between it and Darwin's Radio. The latter was concerned with public health agencies, political responses, socio-ideological hopes and fears, and evolution. Blood Music, instead, took on bio-entrepreneurs, research ethics, cascading repercussions, and ontology. Darwin's Radio was much more of a political thriller where Blood Music developed into a solid science fiction work.

I had trouble with this book for reasons other than its similarity to Bear's other medical thriller. For most of the book I could only visualize the happenings in 1980s made-for-television cinematic style. A young Jeff Goldbloom was even my picture of the protagonist. I skimmed back through the book, and Bear had actually done a pretty good job of avoiding now-obsolete technology. It was not a vision of an analog future, and there were few (if any) references to floppy disks or MS-DOS. Still, the first three-quarters of the book were tainted by the poor 1980s sheen my mind added to it. It didn't help that for most of the book, it could easily have been filmed as a 1980s straight-to-television movie. There was little in those sections that couldn't have been adapted to the screen. One of the bonuses to reading is that you are supposed to glean images, tones, and voices that cannot be captured or coherently related through cinema. For most of this story, Blood Music failed to add anything substantive to the reading experience. Everything that happened could easily have been filmed and told through a straightforward narrative and with few effects. Additionally, I did not find the story that thrilling or intriguing. I realized upon putting it down one night that I really had no worries or cares about how it would end. There was nothing particularly bad about the book, but there was no resolution or answer that I was looking forward to.

Something changed in the last quarter of the book. Instead of 1980s tv it became thoughtful science fiction. I was finally convinced that the premise was plausible. I finally understood the stakes. I was finally intrigued and cared about how it would end. What was written there couldn't have been adapted to television. Bear wrote an ending, and he wrote well. This last quarter was the real heart of the book, and I wished that the balance had been transposed: 25% preparation and 75% exploration of deeper themes and significance instead of the 3:1 that was here. Better, though, to begin slow and end well than the other way around.

This was originally published as a short story in Analog and went on to be an award winning novelette before it was an award winning book. I looked at the original Analog story and believe the book would have been better had it started where that original short story began. That would have cut the first eight chapters (and admittedly, the best parts of my favorite character in the story). I'm not sure which direction the novelette took, but overall Bear did a great job developing the short, original idea into a longer more substantive tale. I also think that I would have liked this more had I read it before I read Darwin's Radio (which was published 14 years later) and in the 1980s. This was another genre-changing book, popularizing scientific concepts that had yet to fully escape the academy and become part of pop-culture knowledge. By this point, however, in 2017, the ideas are not as fresh and have been taken on by other science fiction writers in the intervening thirty two years. As far as I know, Bear still presents a unique take on the ideas here, though, and I will put this book in that category of "Worth Reading." ...more

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Dec 22, 2009 Geoff rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sfmw-old, owned, science-fiction

The novel begins following maverick biotechnologist Vergil Ulam, and his 'after-hours' creation of lymphocytes capable of passing information between one-another. His research is considered too dangerous, but rather than destroy his work, he injects his masterpiece into his bloodstream - their only chance for survival. This leads to the evolution of intelligence in the noocytes (from the greek word for mind, 'noos'), and they begin to rapidly multiply and evolve further. Vergil begins to notice The novel begins following maverick biotechnologist Vergil Ulam, and his 'after-hours' creation of lymphocytes capable of passing information between one-another. His research is considered too dangerous, but rather than destroy his work, he injects his masterpiece into his bloodstream - their only chance for survival. This leads to the evolution of intelligence in the noocytes (from the greek word for mind, 'noos'), and they begin to rapidly multiply and evolve further. Vergil begins to notice some changes in himself, and can 'hear' the noocytes in his blood as a kind of music (thus, Blood Music). Before long, the nano-scale invaders have altered their own genetic material, can spread from one host to another, and are capable of communicating with their hosts. I won't detail any more of the story in depth to avoid spoiling it for potential readers, but in general, the rest of the novel follows a few characters on their (mostly) separate journeys through a world in metamorphosis.

This novel was originally published as a short story by Bear in 1983, winning the 1983 Nebula Award and 1984 Hugo Award for best novelette. The short story covers (approximately) the first half of the novel, and this can be seen in the story as a rather abrupt change of perspective at the halfway mark. The first part focuses on Vergil Ulam's development of the noocytes and the personal effects they have, whereas the latter focuses on several other characters - some of whom played a minor part in the first half - and examines the environmental effects of the expansion of the noocyte civilisation and their interaction with (and treatment of) humans. The latter also uses a multiple-person point of view, jumping quickly from one character to the next to tell their separate stories as time progresses. The novel is also separated into several phases - interphase, anaphase, prophase, metaphase, telophase, and interphase. These phases are based on the phases in the cell cycle, and are a metaphor for the separation of the noocyte civilisation from humanity. Themes and concepts covered are: biotechnology and nanotechnology, consciousness, the anthropic principle, evolutionary transcendence, noospheres, and genetic memory.

Some readers may find the abrupt change at the end of the first half a little off-putting, and Bear probably had no choice but to keep the development of the characters in the second half brief, in order to maintain the novel's fast pace and suspense. The use of the multiple-person point-of-view did not come across as unfocused in any way, but instead does a great job of telling of different characters' experiences in the story's changing environment.

On a scale of 1 to 10, the 'sci-fi hardness' of this novel would be around 7 (with 1 being 'very soft' and 10 being 'very hard'). I am not a biologist, but I found all aspects of the nature of the noocytes as described by Bear to be believable and convincing. I feel the novel has barely 'aged' at all since its original publication; if anything, it has become much more 'real' because the themes in the story are much more existent, and the feelings conveyed are much more palpable than they were 25 years ago. ...more

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Oct 01, 2015 D.J. Cockburn rated it liked it · review of another edition

What would happen if a socially awkward genius was to tinker with his own DNA until his immune system learned to think for itself? That's the starting point for Blood Music, which spends the rest of the novel answering the question. I don't think I'm giving away any spoilers by saying it's not pretty.

The genius in question, Vergil Ulam, is straight out of central casting. He's the brilliant loner who is much better at solving the problem in front of him than at predicting consequences. He's What would happen if a socially awkward genius was to tinker with his own DNA until his immune system learned to think for itself? That's the starting point for Blood Music, which spends the rest of the novel answering the question. I don't think I'm giving away any spoilers by saying it's not pretty.

The genius in question, Vergil Ulam, is straight out of central casting. He's the brilliant loner who is much better at solving the problem in front of him than at predicting consequences. He's depicted in a way that suggests he brings about the apocalypse out of sexual frustration. What raises this above the usual 'beware of the geek' cautionary tales is that there is some rationale given for his actions; the man who failed to stop him reflects that a certain indifference to consequences is a necessary attribute for a creator because it's impossible to predict where true innovation will lead.

Vergil sinks into the plot device by about half way through, and the consequences he neglected take over the story. That's another point where Blood Music transcends a lot of novels that start with a flawed genius and a test tube. No lone hero steps in to save the world from Vergil's tinkering. The consequences unfold on an enormous scale, and the closest Greg Bear comes to giving us heroes are the people who retain their dignity in the face of it.

Reading it now, I had to keep reminding myself that Bear wrote it in the mid-eighties, as the science felt as up to date as anything written recently. It was one of the first novels to use genetic engineering as a plot device, making it a pioneer in the subgenre sometimes called 'biopunk'.

Strong as the premise is, it's the characters who carry the story. There is no single protagonist, but rather an ensemble who fade in and out of prominence in the course of the novel. From the doctor struggling to understand what his friend has done to himself to the teenager pursued up New York's World Trade Centre by 'grey goo', the characters must face the new world whether they can adapt to it or not.

The short story that Blood Music started as is available at Baen: http://www.baenebooks.com/chapters/97... ...more

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Jan 17, 2017 Bijan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, science-fiction, speculative-fiction

Strange, creepy, beautiful, and insane
With these four adjectives, I can somehow summarize this book.

While borrowed some elements from the classics like Frankenstein, The Time Machine, and I dare to say Solaris (plus maybe other books that I haven’t read yet), Greg Bear created a world unlike any of them. In his world, you, as the spectator, can’t stand your ground till the very end. Your emotions will be fluctuating wildly during the journey. Whenever you think that you find the solution, and ...more

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Sep 09, 2011 Chris Kelly rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Here's a perfect example of the all-too familiar phenomenon in science fiction; a writer comes up with a great and interesting concept, but has no idea how to translate into an interesting story. Greg Bear's idea of creating lymphocytes who have become sentient and evolved a human level of intelligence sounded great to me. Such an idea would have some many ramifications and would force us to reevaluate our place in the universe. Unfortunately, Bear hardly explores the wide scope of changes such ...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Neal Asher rated it really liked it · review of another edition

As expected I did very much enjoy this. I love the idea of transformations like the ones in this (telegraphed right from the start) and wasn't disappointed with them. The book went from a bit of genetic manipulation to quantum mechanics and rewriting the laws of physics, with an interesting spin on how those laws are formed. It also dealt with immortality, and I'm a sucker for that. One teensy little problem, however. This book suffers from what I'll call 'the slide rule effect'. Some of the ...more

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Apr 20, 2015 Phil rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, apocalypse

A great, timeless story about how the actions of one geeky science guy change the world after he recklessly engages in dangerous scientific research without regard for safety or consequences. I say timeless because I remember enjoying this book a long time ago, and surprisingly the science (such as it is) holds up fairly well.

Blood Music, however lofty its goals of staying in the realm of smart sci-fi, devolves purely into fantasy towards the end, with a God-like universe that can accept or ...more

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Mar 06, 2014 Jessica rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I read this because the short story (by the same author) it is based on is so great. I think it should have stayed a short story. The book was alright. The added characters were one-dimensional irritating, and obviously tacked on to fill space and make the story longer, but added very little to it, with the exception of Bernard. Bernard is the only character who became a valuable addition. The only part of the book that was missing from the story in my opinion is Bernard, who made the book ...more

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Oct 19, 2010 Doreen Dalesandro rated it liked it · review of another edition

Genre: sci-fi
Rating: 3.5
I listened to this book.

Don't quite know what to think about this book. Parts had me spellbound, and parts, bored. I enjoy bio sci-fi. Darwin's Radio is one of my very favorite books. The bio in Blood Music is great...

George Guidall does a good job narrating.

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About Greg Bear

Greg Bear

1,509 followers

Greg Bear is one of the world's leading hard SF authors. He sold his first short story, at the age of fifteen, to Robert Lowndes's Famous Science Fiction.

A full-time writer, he lives in Washington State with his family. He is married to Astrid Anderson Bear. He is the son-in-law of Poul Anderson. They are the parents of two children, Erik and Alexandra.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/gregbear