I'm not sure what "hard sf" is but its what Greg Bear is pigeonholed for. A couple of these stories are all scifi, but the rest run the gamut from none to just a little. If these stories are any indication, Bear is more than capable of writing any sort of story he cares to. That said, while pretty good, this Akham House collection didn't grab me like some of the others I have read recently. I liked it but the longer stories dragged a little for me. I still gave it four stars because the stories demonstrated such a range of ideas and were so well executed, you would be hard pressed to find many collections by a single author this good. ( )

Really good stuff. ( )

Wild title!

Hardfought - (1993 Nebula Award Winner Hard Scifi (but not too extreme) very confusing, but still pretty cool. But I still don't really get it.)

Mandala - (Cool. Small penis story. Walking cities. Plot fairly original. Good surprise.)

Petra - (Really cool, nuns mating with statues of saints and gargoyles, a stone Christ. Not enough explanation of what the hell's going on. Plot not that big of a deal.)

Scattershot - (Cool aliens (lots-o-different ones). Cool indian (east) dude. Cool idea. Disruptor weapon throws people into alternate reality where everyone is trying to get back.)

The Wind from a Burning Woman - (Good but not great. Chick threatens to crash giant asteroid habitat into planet if big wigs don't confess to sabotaging it.) ( )