Strength of Stones

by Greg Bear

In a theocratic world far into the future, cities control their own movements and organization. Constantly moving, growing and decaying, taking care of every need their inhabitants might think of, the cities have decided that humans are no longer a necessary part of their architecture, casting them out to wander in the wilderness and eke out a meager subsistence. To the exiled humans, the cities represent a paradisiacal Eden, a reminder of all they cannot attain due to their sinful and unworthy natures. But things are beginning to change. People are no longer willing to allow the cities to keep them out, choosing instead to force an entry and plunder at will. The cities are starting to crumble and die because they have no purpose or reason to continue living without citizens. One woman, called mad by some and wise by others, is the only human allowed to inhabit a city. From her lonely and precarious position at the heart of one of the greatest cities ever, she must decide the fate of the relationship between human society and the ancient strongholds of knowledge, while making one last desperate attempt to save the living cities.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Dystopia, Religion, Collections, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adult

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Greg Bear was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict (Forge of God books), parallel universes (The Way series), consciousness and cultural practices (Queen of Angels), and accelerated evolution (Blood Music, Darwin’s Radio, and Darwin’s Children). His last work was the 2021 novel The Unfinished Land. Greg Bear wrote over 50 books in total.

(For a more complete biography, see Wikipedia.)

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I love the writings of Greg Bear but, I must admit, I am unclear as to what he is trying to say in Strength of Stones.

After horrific religious wars at the end of the twentieth century, religions fall out of favor on Earth. A group of “the children of Abraham” - Jews, Christians, and Moslems - make peace, pool their resources, and emigrate to a new planet. They hire the world’s greatest architect to build several artificial intelligence, self-running cities for them to live in on the new planet. All goes well in paradise until the cities decide the human inhabitants are not living according to the rules of their religions and kick them out. By the year 3451 humans have regressed to a preindustrial age living with the knowledge that they have sinned and been kicked out of the garden of Eden once again.

The story begins with Jeshua, a likable, large, strong man who is being challenged for the hand of his betrothed by another villager. The challenge is due to the fact that Jeshua “cannot consummate a marriage” because his genitals have not developed. Jeshua decides to try to sneak back into one of the cities so that the medical units there could fix him. I can truthfully say that I have never read a book based upon ED before.

Overall this is a very interesting book. We have some great and detailed characters, many of whom are humanoid rather than human. There are sections that focus on the best and worse aspects of humanity. There are some satirical pokes at religious orthodoxy. And there are battles between good and evil in many different forms.

The problem for me with this book is that I am not entirely clear with what Bear is trying to say in the ending. Are we forever doomed? Have we evolved? Is there a new form of life in the universe? Perhaps the end of this book is meant to pose these questions to the reader. I enjoyed reading Strength of Stones but I cannot say it is anywhere near my favorite Greg Bear book.

[Jordanel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great concept, as far as these migrating self sustained cities go. But the story and characters in this had very little personality. Everything that happened to every person seemed fundamentally inconsequential. And their reactions to things were flat. I didn’t feel anything for any of these people because they barely reacted to anything.

I don’t know what the chasers said in this entire book. No idea what they were talking about at any point. Their language is basically just really garbled english. For no apparent reason they devolved to speaking a shitty version of english. I don’t understand how this would happen with a nomadic people who trade regularly with every town they pass.

Maybe It’s a simple matter of me not understanding. I just didn’t enjoy this.

[Tomislav · Rating 3 out of 5]

This early Greg Bear novel is actually a fix-up of three novellas. "Mandala" was published in 1978 and substantially modified here. "Resurrection" was published alone in 1981. And "The Revenant" was first published only in this 1981 novel. Because of the cover blurb, I thought it might be an exploration of theocracy, but that is not much what it is about.

A thousand years ago, God-Does-Battle was settled by human exiles from Earth, following Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths, who hired Robert Kahn to design self-maintaining cities for them to inhabit. His designs used highly advanced technology but somewhat misguided sociology. After only the first century of settlement, all humans were exiled from the cities, and they barely survived. The society which developed over the centuries leading up to the setting of the story treats the cities as mysterious and magical manifestations of the religions of their poorly remembered forebears. Humans are sinners who have been banished from a real and visible heaven. In this world then, we have three stories of some people and machines who try to understand the nature of their reality.

I found the events of the plot to be somewhat random, never being sure what rational or magical actions the cities, parts-of-cities, simulacrums, and artificial mimics were capable of. There are numerous references to actual religious names or artifacts - but either I am not familiar enough with the mythology to see how they relate to one another, beyond a simple cultural devolution in the future setting - or Bear was merely cherry-picking. In the end, this is a message about advanced technology that has run in a different direction than was originally intended.

[Ethan Lamb · Rating 4 out of 5]

While heavy handed with its metaphors, I don’t think it was clumsy with them either. Fantastical in all the right ways, with an awesome setting. Hints exist at an unimaginably broader universe beyond the land of God-Does-Battle, yet the story on this one planet maintains its gravitas. Even if the universe keeps spinning, the lives of these people are just as important as anyone else’s.
This was my first Greg Bear novel, and I will for sure be looking out for more.

[Jonathan Harbour · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up at the 3\4 mark. Incoherent plot, boring characters, pointless words filling space. I tried to hang on to the end but the entire 2nd half was forced. Very dull narrative with nothing happening.

[Raj · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it difficult to engage with this book at all, I'm afraid. I loved the idea of mobile cities (long before Mortal Engines), who had kicked out their inhabitants, and yet yearned for citizens to fill their streets and be lived in. I found the characters not hugely engaging, but most of all I found the end unsatisfying.

With the final of the three linked novellas pulling together threads and characters from the previous stories, and the appearance of (a simulacrum of) the architect Robert Khan, who had created the cities, I felt like there would be change. Instead, we're left with stasis. Nothing changes at the end; entropy wins. The living cities all die, religious zealotry prevents the improvement of the lot of the people of God-Does-Battle, and the city part Jeshua is left completely alone on Earth.

I didn't entirely understand the whole thing with the multiple versions of Khan, but it seemed like his plan was to create matter transportation bridges to move the entire population (along with possibly the rest of the human race?) to a giant sphere, where they'll exist in energy form. Or something? But the fanatic Matthew decided that God had decreed that everyone had to stay where they were, so he destroyed two of the cities that were to take part. And what was up with Thule? I still don't understand that at all. Is the moral that gnosticism is bad...?

So some good ideas, but a muddy and disappointing (not to mention pretty bleak) ending.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Religious fundamentalists of Christian, Jewish and Muslim sects have settled the planet God-Does-Battle where the famous city architect Robert Kahn designed mobile cities for them that periodically broke apart and moved. But a thousand years ago the city minds decided humans weren't worthy of residencv and kicked humans out of the cities. Left outside the formed bands of strugalina people like
the Chasers - who follow cities scavenging leftovers - and a succession of pious settlements and warlords (Founders) - all keen to get back into the cities, somehow. Greg Bear has fashioned an intriguing society from three linked novellas in this fix-up novel, as a crazy Muslim woman, a
ruthless warlord, human mimics from the cities and a simulacrum of Robert Kahn cross paths with the aim of salvaging the now-senescent cities.

[Ceri Sambrook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually 3 short(ish) stories set upon a consistent world, with links between them, rather than a single novel. The world of God-Does-Battle is an interesting one- religious groups buy a planet, build AI governed mobile cities from advanced tech, but are then expelled from the cities for reasons expplained as part of the narrative. The events of the book center on the warring, competing remnants of the disparate religions, struggling to survive in a sort of post-apocalypse some 1,000 years after the expulsion. The hostile cities are starting to die and humans try to find a way in to recover tech, resources and a meaning to their lost histories. Not the greatest sci-fi work I've read, but an interesting side trip into a novel world. Not bad at all.

[Marco · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Die Macht der Steine" von Greg Bear ist kein Roman sondern eine Sammlung von drei Novellen.

Die Prämisse ist spannend und die Idee der fahrenden Stätte kombiniert mit religiösen Themen ist sehr kreativ.
So ziehen die drei Novellen ihren Lesereiz aus dieser übergeordneten Idee und den Mysterien.
Warum gibt es diese Städte? Was ist darin enthalten? Warum wurden alle Menschen verbannt?

Leider können die Charaktere nicht ganz mithalten und bleiben wechselhaft.

Ebenfalls lesenswert sind die vielen religiösen Anspielungen.

Als Frühwerk ist "die Mach der Steine" gute Ideen Science Fiction und als solche lesenswert.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I docked a star from my rating on this one because of spelling/proofreading errors. Yes, I know some of the text was in devolved English. There were quite a few errors in standard English sections that a good proofreader should have caught.

The plot was interesting and kept me wondering where it was going. The ending left a number of threads outstanding so I wonder about a equal or another book expanding on other events in the universe.

Other then the above issues, this was a fun read with some new angles on planetary colonization/religion that was fun to read through.

[SBC]

After really enjoying Bear's Songs of Earth and Power, I knew I had tried another Greg Bear book but it took a bit of hunting to figure out which one. When I dredged through my memory all I recalled was something about a man in a desert setting with no penis. Thank you, Google - I never would have picked it was this book from the plot description, but there you are. I remember finding it a bit weird and losing interest. I was probably a bit young to tackle this book, then. Looking at the plot now it's intriguing so I may try again one day.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a message in Strength of Stones, I'm sure of it. It's written as if the final chapters should leave you pondering some great philosophical conclusion.

Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea what the message was supposed to be. Maybe something about leaving people to their own devices?

Much like Bear's Beyond Heavens River, this book consists of several intruiging ideas that never really go anywhere, leaving you feeling that you've not quite wasted your time, but probably should have spent it doing something else instead.

[Lonnie Veal · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Tatu Saloranta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book: shows the potential author has -- a lot of great big ideas. Three parts are slightly disjoint (first one came out of stand-alone novelette I think) but not too badly so.

As usual I am not a big fan of the way book ends; this, too, seems to be MO of GB. :)

So: not his best work but not worst either; worth reading if you are Bear fan at least.

[Adrik Kemp · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is definitely a common theme of ascendence through Greg Bear's works, but that aside, this was a beautiful, brutal world and story, and the best name of a planet I've seen so far, God-Does-Battle.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Religious fanatics leave earth and create perfect cities for themselves, cities that are sentient--however the city "minds" decide the humans are imperfect and exiles them to survive on their on on an inhospitable planet.

[Rob Markley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early Bear book. Still learning the craft of scifi

[Jaq · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a series of short stories, it worked okay, I did have some issues with the dated gender politics.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid tale. Not too bad. =)

[Chris Aldridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading a review I realised I’ve read and remember this book. No idea when but several scenes have remained embedded in my memory as if from a film. So it must have been worth 4 stars.

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This triad of linked novellas by Greg Bear is another example of the wonderful *strangeness* that I think it the most important aspect of his work. For someone who seems as a writer of hard SF I find that he is far more interested in the technological uncanny.

[Roddy Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘They were built to hold the hopes of Mankind. They exposed only his folly…

In the deserts of God-Does-Battle the Cities stand alone, as beleaguered as the aspirations of Mankind. Those still alive are silent, like stars in a dying universe they await dust and decay. Yet within the living plasm of their fragmented structures an ancient programme works still, implanted by the human creators they cast out a thousand years ago. Before long, it is clear, the some of the Cities will fight extinction. And many of them will do battle in a quite unexpected way…’

Blurb from 1988 VGSF paperback edition

Bear’s early work shows much of the promise he was later to show in more accomplished work, and certainly in some of the themes.
Religion is a thread which runs through much of Bear’s work either as a minor theme or right upfront as in ‘Strength of Stones’
The planet God-Does-Battle was set up as a world where fundamentalist members of various faiths could exist apart from the sinners of the rest of the galaxy. Pearson, the founder, commissioned architect Robert Khan to design ‘living’ cities in which the colonists could pursue their individual religious callings. Khan, it appears, designed too well and the cities, sentient and programmed with the religious rules of their inhabitants, came to the conclusion that all their inhabitants were sinners and exiled them to the cruel surface of the world.
A thousand years or so later, the cities, which are capable of breaking themselves apart and moving, have become unstable are breaking down. Chasers – nomadic groups which follow the cities – cannibalise what they can of weaker cities while they are in motion.
The novel comprises of three sections, set in three different time periods although Jeshua and Thinner, who are cyborg mimics created by the city Mandala to observe human society, appear in the opening and closing sections.
From a modern perspective it seems a little naive that fundamentalist Muslims and Jews would choose to share the same planet with each other, let alone the Baptists, Gnostics and whatever else. However, it is a measure of Bear’s strength as a writer that he makes this rather far-fetched notion seem perfectly plausible.
It would appear that two sections of the novel were published separately as short stories and certainly the 1988 version has been revised.
It does, sadly, have the disjointed feel of a fix-up.

[David Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating premise

I read this book about twenty years ago, and decided to re-read it because I didn’t remember it that well. The book is mainly memorable for its setting.

The premise of the book is very intriguing. (This is all on the first page, so it’s not a spoiler.) In short, many/most of the world’s Jews, Christians, and Muslims join together in the 21st or 22nd century to purchase a new world for themselves. They leave Earth and go to their new home, the awesomely-named planet God-Does-Battle. There, an architect has designed living cities that will allow them to live in harmony with their faith.

Now things get mildly spoiler-y, but only a little. At some point, the cities’ AIs, programmed to maintain religious harmony, realize that all humans are sinners. So they kick everybody out. The story of the book begins about 1,000 years after this event, known as the Exiling.

My main frustration with the book is that what I have just described is about as far as the book goes with worldbuilding. I do not expect an author to show us everything, but I did not come away with a clear idea of what the cities were actually like. They are alive, meaning that they can grow, and they can die. They can move from one location to another by disassembling themselves. Humans are barred from entry by “silicate spines.” Where I wasn’t as clear was on what the cities actually looked like. Some parts of the descriptions made them sound like single enormous structures, with guarded entrances (the cover art supports this view). Other parts made them sound more like interconnected buildings surrounded by defensive perimeters.

The book offers even less detail on human society, except to address how the Exiling drove people to a despair that became a foundational part of civilization on God-Does-Battle. The point of the book, though, is more the impact of the Exiling on the cities themselves—without citizens, they must find a reason to exist. Some just give up, while others do some interesting things.

I would say this is a good book for its ideas, and the ambition of its worldbuilding. For fans of Greg Bear, “Strength of Stones” contains themes that will appear in later works—“Eon” and “Forge of God” immediately come to mind.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros: The description and premise of "living" mechanical cities is superbly written
Cons: The book is choppy and seems hurried at parts, and the religious aspects of the world are often poorly described

It is a world of spectacular "living" cities built an age ago in an effort to provide comfort and security to all on a wayward planet. However, the cities themselves are crumbling. Why are they decaying? Bear takes the reader on a fascinating journey through a world seeped in religion and veiled in mystery. Bear is a science-fiction giant, but at the heart of his brilliant premise lie two major flaws. One: the book is supposed to represent three of Earth's greatest religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) but the description of these religions is lacking. Judaism is barely even mentioned. The reader only gets a glimpse at the surface of this culture. How have these religions changed or remained the same? How have they affected the people of this new world? Bear does not go into many specifics, and if one does not have much background in these religions, then he or she may be easily confused. The other problem with this book is that it is divided into three parts, any of which could have been made into a book of its own. As it is the story is fairly dysfunctional. It follows multiple characters in a short amount of time. I would recommend this book to Bear fans, but if one wants a more satisfying visage of religion intertwined with science-fiction then I would recommend C.S. Lewis, Orson Scott Card, or Frank Herbert.

[Bron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmm, I've read this before in paperback quite a long time ago. This time in kindle format, I found it a bit disjointed, the viewpoint changes from one character to another without anything to give you a clue there's a transition. This may be down to the kindle formatting rather than the author though! It's based on an intriguing notion that different religious groups remove themselves from the secular life that has overtaken most of humanity by buying their own planet. Unfortunately the sentient cities they build to live in decide that humans don't live by their own religion's rules and evict them. The story deals with some of the consequences, partly from the point of view of the humans and partly from the viewpoint of sentient city parts. It's quite complex, sketching out how different communities might evolve stranded on a world that's very harsh outside the cities. Towards the end a simulacrum of the city designer appears and you get the hint that there has been another plan being pursued beneath it all!

[Aura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strength of Stone is like Greg Bear light. It's not as complex or engaging as I've found his other books to be but this by no means means makes it either simple or boring. The premise is interesting and there are some really great characters.
The protagonist isn't so much any one person though as it is the human drive, especially for survival. Through the course of the book the author vividly communicates loss on a grand scale, enduring human folly, the inexorable passage of time and the loneliness inspired by a future humanity that resembles nothing we currently know or understand. It worked for me even when I found the subject to be disturbing or unpleasant.
I recommend it but be prepared for a book that takes the harder, grittier road.

[Caroline Eising · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phew, after a few of the other books this year, it was good to finally read something that flowed well. Although it touches on a number of very confusing concepts, and for such a short book describes two very different cultures (a highly advanced human culture and the more primitive human society derived from it when it fell) without becoming unreadble or too confusing. There were still a lot of concepts left unexplained, but that didn't compromise the story - it just left some mysteries to think about.

I enjoyed the story. It packed a lot in a very small space, but still allowed me to feel for the characters involved.

[Larry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm not the best Bear book. I found the religious aspect confusing and upon reaching the end I was left feeling not quite sure what happened! The big problem with this book is there's no main central character. The book is in 3 parts, 3 large chapters and after the first 'chapter' (54 pages) I got to know the main character only to find in the next part (set 10 years later) there's a new main character. Then later the original character returns but the focus has changed. Most books are about one person-not so with this book!

[Christopher Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe only for completists? I do love Greg Bear, and especially his short stories, but I found this book to be somewhat unengaging. This vision of future cities is quite compelling, and worth further study, but I feel it could have been put to better use if the author had told a single more personal story rather than covering the entire sweep of the cities' life cycle. It's certainly an admirable attempt, and I found it worth reading in order to contemplate what could have been done differently.