Heads by Greg Bear

I just finished the Novella "Heads" by Greg Bear.

It was pretty good, the characterization could have been better and the end was sort of predictable but it had me worrying there for a while.

You see, it's been a while since I picked it up from the bookstore. Even then all I knew about it was that it was a Hugo winner. If I knew anything more than that about it, I'd forgotten it so it was a blank slate to me.

As I was headed into the last few pages (*cough*) I couldn't tell if it was going to be a ringing endorsement of Scientology or a scathing denouncement.

It is definitely about Scientology though. It's so thinly veiled that it's beyond gauzy and into the realm of body paint. Thierry is Hubbard.

I don't know much about Greg Bear. He could have been a convert, for all I know. He could have had some other reason to want to ingratiate himself with the Church or want to support them.

But he didn't. Instead, he shows in a novella why Hubbard should be disregarded. It might be a fictional work, but so's Dianetics.