Rating: 
Summary: Almost a thriller
Review: This is my first Dan Simmons novel and, while not disappointed, I expected more based on the jacket notes. My biggest complaint is the excessive technical detail used in the description of the accident investigations. In places it read like a physics text book. I liked the characters, and the plot moved along nicely for the most part. I do believe there were some technical errors regarding the firearms used in the novel. I have never heard of an MP10 sub-machine gun. Overall, I thought this was a good story that could have been better.
Rating: 
Summary: Simmons at his worst.
Review: I can't believe this is the same person who wrote Carrion Comfort and Hyperion. It's simplistic, full of cliches. It is like reading a rejected script for a Julia Roberts/William Hurt movie. It's clear Dan Simmons did his research -- too clear, in fact, because I couldn't help but feel that he laid in a lot of technical tidbits about accident reconstruction clumsily amongst a poorly executed action novel. The only reason I didn't give it one star is that it did make me laugh at a few points. Very disappointing, considering that (excluding Fires of Eden) I have loved everything else he has written.
Rating: 
Summary: Romance and danger in an action-packed adventure
Review: Darwin is a specialist in accident reconstruction, but despite the emotional nature of his job his life runs smoothly until his involvement with one accident - an attempt on his life. His probe into a possible conspiracy brings him both romance and danger in this action-packed adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Simplistic novel from a master of fiction
Review: Although it pains me, I must admit that this book is not destined to enter the pantheon of Dan Simmons' great works. The talented and award winning author of such great novels as the Hyperion saga and Carrion Comfort has created his most pedestrian and simplistic work to date. The novel centers around an accident investigator name Darwin Minor. He is the quintessential renassaince man: he has a razor sharp mind, photographic memory, incredible powers of deduction, and untold wealth; he is an excellent car driver and pilot of gliders (sailplanes), a veritable uberman who can go for days without sleep, who has better than 20/20 vision, and is an excellent sniper as well. Although Darwin is an interesting character, he is simply too good, and therein lies the problem. In creating such a super man as a protagonist, Mr. Simmons paints himself into a corner, whereby most problems that face our hero are handled with cool and professional ease and leaves little suspense. To further aggravate the problem, Mr. Simmons failed to create an equally compelling and able antagonist, and thus we have superman again mere mortals. The novel pits Darwin against a web of criminal activity that involves the Russian mob and other unsavory characters in a complex plan to milk millions from the insurance companies. Reluctantly at first, Darwin is recruited to help the authorities solve the problem by a female investigator named Sydney. She is the only other character in the book who can keep up with Darwin, and I'm not revealing any crucial plot secrets in declaring that they will be attracted to one another. She is erudite, intelligent, calm under pressure, a great marksman(woman?), and has wit and charm as well. Obviously they were meant for one another. In writing this novel, it becomes extremely apparent to the reader that Mr. Simmons has devoted a lot of time researching for this book. However, the research sometimes gets in the way because Mr. Simmons chose to include too much of it into the novel. For example, if Darwin Minor is driving his NSX, the reader is exposed to all the nuances and capabilities of the car; Darwin is flying his glider? Then we must know the make, the model, the flight characteristics, the geography of the area where he is flying, etc. I'm not disparaging Mr. Simmons work, and I will gladly admit that a lot of the information was enlightening and interesting, but the meat and bones of the novel should not be these technical details, no matter how well they are exposed and interwoven into the narrative. Without a doubt, Mr. Simmons is a talented wordsmith, and this book is a page turner. However, the plot is pedestrian at best, with the supporting cast barely being developed; the situation is not gripping or compelling. The only thing that keeps the book moving along is Mr. Simmons skill with words and his ability to entertain the reader. But beyond that, the book has little value and comes as a disappointment, specially since Mr. Simmons has shown time and again that he can weave words around great ideas and plots to create true masterpieces.
Rating: 
Summary: Someone kidnapped Dan Simmons!
Review: This book is just plain Boooorrriiiiiing! Dan, Please, if you are reading, start another deep space opera. Go where your strengths are. Don't be one of those writers who wastes years trying to delve into new genre's. Your strength is in SF and several future Hugo's have your name on them, you just have to seize them by returning to large scale Sci-Fi.
Rating:
Summary: Simmons Produces yet another spellbinding read!
Review: This book was delightfull to read, I found myself putting it down at the intial scene of an accident and trying to figure out what happened before I read on. Once again Mr Simmons educates the reader, in an engrossing and fascinating style. Darwin's blade also scared me half to death, I'm driving much more carefully now, and the first thing I did after finishing it was to hand it to my newly driving teenage son. If you read LoveDeath and liked Entropy's Bed at Midnight you will love this Novel.
Rating:
Summary: SHARP AND WITTY
Review: I think our fellow reviewers are being a little too harsh on Dan's "Darwin's Blade." One key factor to remember in any book is the entertainment factor. Did the book entertain me? And I would be hard pressed to think that they weren't entertained by this whimsical, different thriller. Darwin Minor and Syndey Olsen are great characters, and even if Simmons pulled some of the accidents off the net, who cares? They are pretty funny. The bizarre killings are also imaginative and quite interesting to those of us who have never imagined the life of an accident reconstructionist. If there are plot holes, inaccuracies (legally or whatever), the average reader doesn't care as long as he is entertained. And I found this to be one of Simmons' most entertaining novels. Maybe he'll even start a Darwin Minor series; why not? Every one else is into the series mode these days. If you haven't read the book, don't let the negative reviews deter you. If you want to have a fun read, enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but nowhere near his best
Review: I hate to write a less-than-five-star review for any book by Dan Simmons, because he is such an excellent, perceptive, versatile writer, but I'm going to have to do just that right now. Darwin's Blade ranks down with Fires of Eden as among my least favorite of Simmons' efforts. It's not a bad book, it's just a bad Simmons book, and there is a huge difference. Darwin's Blade is entertaining and pretty fun to read. If the name Dan Simmons hadn't been on the cover, I don't think I wouldn't have been disappointed at all. It's just that it pales in the rather substantial shadow of his other great books. Darwin's Blade reads like an episodic, slightly-smarter-than-average buddy cop movie with a fairly predictable love story to top it off. As another reviewer commented, it's hard to tell how much of this is a parody, or if it's supposed to be a parody at all. At moments it feels like it is, but at others, it reads straight. All I can say is that I cried when I read the section towards the end of Simmons' The Fall of Endyimon where Endymion learns to free-cast to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. That was one of the most beautiful, moving pieces of writing I had read in a long time.
Rating:
Summary: Not For Simmons Fans
Review: Like most of the other reviewers, I found this book to be an enormous disappointment. I am a huge Dan Simmons fan, and couldn't believe he actually authored this ridiculous, contrived and thoroughly hackneyed book. The characters and the story line were so overtly cliched that I thought I was reading a satire of a screenplay for a really bad action/adventure movie. The factual inaccuracies in the book were too numerous and blatant to list - anyone who has ever been in law enforcement or the military will gag. This book is only for those who have run out of comic books to read - anyone looking for the usually brilliant Dan Simmons should look elswhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Darwin's Blade
Review: What J.G.Ballard's CRASH did in the 60s, Simmons takes to the next terrifying level for 21st century. DARWIN'S BLADE is a pedal-to-the-metal, seat belts off, tour-de-force of inteeligent hairpin suspense of an all-too-real problem growing within our society today, and only one Dan Simmons could write about with insight, dark comedy, intrigue, and the innovativeness of a master storyteller... Gary S.Potter Author/Poet
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