stoutfellow | Bear again

I finished reading Vitals this evening, and I have to say it left a bad taste in my mouth. Of all of his long fiction that I've read, I think this is the first that's been so relentlessly downbeat. Yes, The Forge of God was sad, but there was some bittersweetness to it - more melancholy than anything else. The worlds Bear has depicted in the past have been wonderful, in the literal sense of that word; this one was just nasty. Bah. If I want to be depressed, I'll read something by Joe Haldeman. I expect something else from Bear.