City at the End of Time

Last updated on: October 3, 2012 at 6:56 am by Coyle Neal

City at the End of Time 2012-10-03T06:56:33-06:00 Coyle Neal

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Review of City at the End of Time by Greg Bear

By COYLE NEAL

“For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” –Hebrews 11:10

What does this verse mean to a non-Christian? That’s the question engaged by Greg Bear in City at the End of Time. Basically, if Martin Heidegger, Albert Einstein, and Karl Barth had a Buddhist baby, this is the book that baby would have written. And that sentence should tell you whether or not you’ll like the story. If you don’t know those guys, you’ll find it incomprehensible. If you do know them, then your response to their ideas should further tell you whether you’ll like the book.

This is an incredibly complicated work of science fiction. Broadly speaking, the plot is that the universe is being consumed by chaos in the past, present, and future. This is the story of the resistance to that chaos by both the one place at the end of time it has not yet swallowed up (the City) and by three people in the modern world who have the ability to shift. That is, they can see the possible outcomes that their actions might have, and choose the most beneficial one. They can shift their fate. At the same time, two of these three people are having visions of the future City (and their counterparts in the City are having visions of the past). The primary weapon of the City and of the three shifters is a combination of observation and language. Both seeing and writing build up a bulwark of reality against the encroaching chaos. Through all the ages past, books have formed a sort of defensive shield that protects existence—a barrier of reason and order against the powers of irrationality and destruction—while spoken language and the memory of the past likewise build up the walls of reality against the mindlessness of unreason. Now, however, these defensive barriers—and even reality itself—are breaking down. The question in the book is whether the “real” will be able to stand against the onslaught of chaos.

I should point out that the above summary is a massive over-simplification of the narrative of City at the End of Time, and one that is possibly inaccurate on several points. Which isn’t necessarily my fault. Because time itself is breaking down, Bear throws you into the middle of the story and gives no background to the disjointed narratives. The full picture of what is happening doesn’t emerge until well over two-thirds of the way through the book, by which point the whole thing is pretty confusing.

Despite how convoluted the story is at times, Bear has written a pretty decent piece of philosophical science fiction. This is a wonderful reflection on topics as diverse as the nature of existence; the problem of evil; the relationship between fate and free will; and the question whether the universe is naturally ordered, or chaotic, or some combination of both. The repeated theme of the book is the power of words as organizing agents in the chaos of existence. Reality is shaped and formed and maintained by words.

This is of course very close—though not identical—to the Christian doctrine of creation. While we would agree that words are the means by which order and reality are given to the cosmos, we understand that the “words” in question are not our words, but rather the Word of God: Jesus Christ. Reality is not subjective relative to our perceptions; it is rather objective relative to us because it is the result of the creative Word of an absolute and infinite Being. When God says “let there be light”, the resulting light is not manifest only when we observe it and capture it in writing; rather, it instantly is.

This is good news for us. The result of our Christian view of existence—even one based on a Word—is not fear that the universe will be consumed in some kind of cosmic chaotic uprising. Instead, we know that God has established an eternal kingdom—an eternal city—that will never be destroyed but rather shall overcome all the destructive forces sin can muster. Indeed, it already has overcome—its foundations are laid at the cross, where all the chaos and irrationality of our own rebellious natures are atoned for by that very same Word which spoke creation into existence. The result is the promise that the apocalyptic future threatened in City at the End of Time can never be more than an imaginative threat. For even when time itself reaches its teleological end, we have the promise that the City of God will endure for all eternity.

That said, this is a difficult book, but an excellent one for those interested in the various philosophical issues mentioned above. If you are interested in thinking more about these topics from a Christian perspective (time, existence, the nature of evil, etc), I recommend: Augustine’s City of God and Confessions (especially the last three books), and Jonathan Edwards’ Original Sin and The Mind.

(For a few brief notes that may help with some of the more difficult plot points in The City at the End of Time, see my blog. Though I recommend trying it on your own first.)

Coyle Neal received his Ph.D. in Political Theory from The Catholic University of America in 2012. He hopes to someday learn to use his powers for good and not for evil.

Books

Fantasy

Greg Bear

Previous Post

October 2, 2012

Longing for the Promised Land

Next Post

October 4, 2012 The Call of Cthulhu

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which prophet was sent to Nineveh to preach repentance?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Daniel Jonah Amos Joel