Greg Bear is the author of more than thirty books of science fiction and fantasy, including BLOOD MUSIC, THE FORGE OF GOD, DARWIN'S RADIO, and QUANTICO. He is married to Astrid Anderson Bear and is the father of Erik and Alexandra. Awarded two Hugos and five Nebulas for his fiction, one of two authors to win a Nebula in every category, Bear has been called the "Best working writer of hard science fiction" by "The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction." DARWIN'S RADIO and DARWIN'S CHILDREN (1999, 2003) form a sequence about viruses and human evolution and are published by Del Rey and HarperCollins UK. His stories have been collected into an omnibus volume by Tor Books. Bear has served on political and scientific action committees and has advised Microsoft Corporation, the U.S. Army, the CIA, Sandia National Laboratories, Callison Architecture, Inc., and other groups and agencies. His novels THE FORGE OF GOD and ANVIL OF STARS have been optioned by Warner Brothers, and DARWIN'S RADIO and DARWIN'S CHILDREN have been optioned by Michael DeLuca and Howard Braunstein." His novel QUANTICO is a near-future examination of law enforcement, politics, and terror both domestic and religious.



Hello Greg, and welcome back on the Uchronicles. What was the fundamental idea behind your writing Quantico?


A combination of visiting the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, in 2000--and the suspicion that we were ignoring some real possibilities as to who could be responsible for the American Anthrax letters following the World Trade Center attack in 2001. For some years now--going back to at least 1997--I've anticipated that developments in biology, and public access to new and very sophisticated laboratory equipment, might lead to at least some incidents of "bio-hacking"--one individual, or a small group, not associated with any government, creating, modifying, and releasing powerful disease-causing organisms.

Biological warfare seem to be nowadays one of our worst nightmare. Why is it, on your opinion, that nobody has ever really tried to start firing this horrible weapon?

Actually, biological warfare has a long, dark history--going back at least to medieval times. Cities under siege were subjected to catapults lobbing corpses over their walls--corpses that had died of plague. Smallpox helped Spanish conquistadores change the balance of power in the New World. Later, smallpox-infected blankets might have been passed along to American Indians... And of course, biological warfare agents have been released both accidentally and, during tests, deliberately.

Are the USA in your opinion really ready for such an emergency?

There are plans in place, but a large-scale release of pathogens--causing thousands to become ill--is still a tough scenario to prepare for. Long ago, most nations decided that biological warfare was simply not tenable--the chances of cross-contamination were just too great. For individuals in cultures with a long history of suicide terrorism, those considerations may not matter.

You write also of the dispute between Muslims and the Western World. Why have we come to this point, on your opinion?

Islam swept over much of the world shortly after its birth, conquering many countries, and reaching across Europe all the way to Spain. By the twelfth century, that surge was being pushed back by Christian rulers--who all too often brutally repressed Jews and other Christians, as well as Muslims. The collapse of the Ottoman empire, and the defeat of the Axis powers during WWI, put an end to any real possibility of Islamic domination. Conflicts in Europe and the Middle East have left a maze of unresolved grievances and complaints in the Muslim world--at the same time that demand for oil has increased. Under those circumstances--and because of some fundamental cultural, political, educational, and economic problems--Muslims in many parts of the world feel like underdogs. They're proud, they don't like being dictated to by those not of their religion, and they'd like to get back on top.

Do you feel or think the USA soldiers should leave Iraq?

This war was very poorly planned, staged, and executed. The arrogance and ignorance of our leaders became apparent early on, when they failed to provide honest explanations to the very public that had to support them through a long and difficult conflict. Soldiers in Iraq are working very hard--but whatever their success, I suspect the American public will keep putting pressure on leaders to get them home as soon as possible, perhaps before the job is properly done. Many have doubts that because of initial screw-ups, anything other than a mixed result is ever going to be impossible.



Back to the book. You've been born as a sf author. How did you feel in the shoes of a thriller writer.

With a book like QUANTICO--or DARWIN'S RADIO--I don't distinguish between sf or techno-thrillers. Those categories have been artificially separated. Anything that speculates about the future--near or far--is sf, as far as I'm concerned.

Is there any difference in between writing a sf book and a thriller?

There are always differences between writing individual novels--but one is no more or less easy than another.

Your characters in Quantico seem to have many faces. In a thriller often happens the opposite, the authors prefer the story. How did you succeed in avoiding stereotypes?


It's always my intent to let characters come to life in their own way, and speak with their own voices. I think this is necessary to any good book. Sometimes, we put up with less than adequate characterization for the sake of a quick read or a good story--but every story has to rise or fall on the strength of its people.

Female characters in Greg Bear's writing. How do you feel with them? Is it true that many male authors prefer creating very strong female characters?


I certainly favor strong female characters. I just like those voices. Most of the women I know are strong--and underrated in their abilities.

Tell us something about what we will read of yours next.


CITY AT THE END OF TIME is a philosophical-physics adventure story about the death of the universe--which happens in a quite unexpected way.




home