Darwin's Radio

[charlesp]

By Greg Bear

This is the first book by Greg Bear I've ever read, and I enjoyed it greatly. It is NOT an easy read and is very heavy on the science part of sci-fi. The level of research done for this book must of have been staggering. While I may not believe his evolutionary conclusions, I think that the book is a great read and some very heady material.

The basic plot outline is that there is some information in our DNA that has not been used up till now and is now releasing a "virus" of sorts which looks like it will cause great trouble. The effect is some mild cold symptoms and certain miscarriage in women, with men as carriers. I find this interesting as the men as carriers women as sufferers is a theme in White Plague by Frank Herbert.

Bear does a good job of mixing the science into the plot, though there are times that he's a bit overly scientific when it doesn't seem to really help the plot all that much. His characters are pretty well developed, though I admit that there were several of the beurocrats I had much trouble telling apart in my mind. The politics and big business aspect of the story is one of the best parts, with a great look into how politics would play out in a situation like this.

I won't give away the major punchlines and such, but Bear's look at "improved" humans is interesting. I think the editor should have put in either a table of contents, or the biology primer at the beginning of the book, as it would probably have helped the book flow quicker if it had been easy to find and hence read. It's not a book for younger kids, but probably ok for teenagers, there is some adult content, and a few choice words, but overall not too graphic.

This is a book I've been meaning to read for a while and I'm quite glad I did.
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"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C Clarke
"Coffee is sufficiently advanced technology" - Merlin Mann
One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee." - Wally (Dilbert)

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