By R.J. Melby

Writer/Reporter

Written in 1983 as a short story in “Analog Science Fiction,” Greg Bear’s 1985 novel “Blood Music” is a landmark in science fiction. So why have I only recently heard of it?

I happened upon “Blood Music” in a Tale Foundry video on YouTube, and it immediately caught my attention. As someone intrigued by body and cosmic horror, the premise piqued my interest.

The book follows a scientist working at a genetic research company. He uses his spare time on a personal project, the synthesis of “smart” microorganisms capable of passing on their intelligence to other cells. Little does he know; the pet project works well beyond his wildest dreams. 

When I tasted that first chapter, lying on my living room couch, the book had already had me by the neck. Rarely does that happen with my phone, when a book pulls me in well enough that, for an hour, I don’t look at my texts or social media. And yet, I just read, fascinated by the words of the book’s initial main character Vergil Ulam.

Greg Bear’s style can be described as playfully restrained. He writes with a directness that allows the reader to interpret the facts themselves. The dialogue is the best part as there are so many playful conversations, full of nuance and innuendo, that one gets the impression of a contemporary Shakespeare at work. Does this sound like high praise? I mean, in the sense that you know something deeper is going on behind the objective words of the text, I think it’s fairly accurate. 

This book resonates now especially. After all, we are the generation that experienced (dare I say survived) a global pandemic less than a decade ago. One can see how this piece may have influenced other stories, like 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” for example. Pandemic tales are nothing new, granted, and yet, this piece moves beyond its genre. From its premise, one expects a science fiction/horror story. What one gets, however, is something beyond.

Through the time I read, I found a new appreciation for the world around me, as well as the world within. “Blood Music” is a surprisingly introspective book, and in a genre that often looks out to the stars, very rarely do we see a work delve within, into the inner cosmos. 

If you haven’t read Greg Bear’s “Blood Music,” I recommend you do so. This is a book that deserves more attention, and it should stand beside other classics of sci-fi, with the works of Philip K. Dick and Isaac Asimov. If one needs an introduction to the works of Greg Bear, this is a great jumping point.