Rating: 
Summary: A neat premise and a decent execution
Review: Not having read any of Greg Bear's books, I didn't know what to expect with Darwin's Radio. The premise was so intriguing, however, that I just had to read it. A mysterious plague - which strikes pregnant women - is sweeping the world. The culprit comes from within, and scientists do not agree about what to do. While the storyline itself is satisfying, Bear's writing is a bit inconsistent. At times I was engrossed with the pseudo-technical details of retroviruses and neural networks, and at other times I was turned off by the sheer unlikelihood of the situations. Yes, I realize that this is science fiction, but it is portrayed successfully as possible truth. Had Bear taken a few less liberties, it could have been even more affective. Others have criticized the "technical" writing that pervades the plot. This is a matter of taste. It is all right if you don't get it - you will figure out what is going on very quickly. However, if you do follow it, you can appreciate the difficulty of the positions the characters take, both personally and politically. In my humble opinion, it enhances the book. This one is well worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: Darwin's Radio - I couldn't put this book down.
Review: This book engaged me in two ways. First I got to care for the characters and what happened to them. There is a tension throughout the entire book. I never knew what would happen to them until the very last page. Some die, some don't. But what really grabbed me are Bear's thoughts and theories on evolutionary probability. A totally new look at human's development that diverges from Darwin's Theories. Very believable. My wife (who also read the book) and I have had many great conversations on the topic since, thanks to Greg Bear. I highly recommend this book and hope that the story will be continued.
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of his best.
Review: Do you remember those really old sf stories where men in white coats endlessly lecture each other about the improbable results of their peculiar experiments? Large indigestible helpings of pseudo-scientific guff, but not much else? This is one of those.
Rating:
Summary: One of Bear's Best Yet!
Review: I have been a fan of Greg Bear's for several years now, and whether he's writing epic, grand-scale science fiction (Foundation and Chaos, Eon, Eternity, Moving Mars), or deep character drama tinged with hard s-f concepts (Slant, Darwin's Radio), I am always entranced by his ideas and enthralled by the way he executes them. Darwin's Radio is no exception. While it is not as gripping as Slant nor as magnificent in scope as Moving Mars, Darwin's Radio is still prime Bear. His fascinating idea, that viruses exist encoded in human DNA, and trigger evolutionary changes, has of course been approached before (notably by Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash -- see my review), but Bear takes an entirely fresh approach, linking his virus to racism, fascism, and to the horrific examples of ethnic cleansing that keep cropping up in central and eastern europe. Humanity, the most basic paradigm of what it is to be human, is changing, Bear suggests in this novel -- and as always, the new and different frightens those who don't understand it. Bear's depiction of an aftermath of a village's massacre in the early goings is a sure sign, not only of where he is going, but that he has a sure grasp of what he wants to say and how he is going to say it. He carefully sets up a marvelous set of ambiguities with this early scene; we are in immediate sympathy with the victims of the killing, as we have been taught to be all our lives. But, as the narrative progresses and we learn why these poor souls were murdered, and why the emergence of the Sheva virus has thrown the world into fearful chaos, we grow more and more uncomfortable. What if, we think, this were happening to us, or to someone we know? Would we want to risk our health, and the growing enmity of our friends, neighbors and family, for a Sheva pregnancy? How fearful would we become about the product of such a birth? Would we, in the end, want such births to happen, if it meant the end of what it means to be human right now? How willing are we to look to the future, rather than to think only of the short term? These are hard questions to ask of oneself, and they become harder to answer as the book goes on -- and therein lies Bear's triumph. For while I sympathized with the protagonists, running from a supposedly benevolent government which, as it reacts in fear instead of acting in hope, becomes more and more of a police state -- nevertheless, I found I was also able to understand the point of view of the hunters as well. Again, ask yourself: What would you do, if faced with the ultimate end of everything you knew, and were given what you saw as the slimmest hope possible, that this destruction would lead to a newer, better definition of humanity. Could you make that leap of faith? I have been trying to answer that question for weeks, and that fact that I'm still thinking about it, while other recently-read books have faded from my memory, indicate that Darwin's Radio is going to hold a special place in my collection for a long time to come.
Rating:
Summary: Has some good qualities, just not there...
Review: At first glance, "Darwin's Radio" looks great. It seems to have a good plot from the back of the book, it contains many good review snippets inside of it, and, of course, you know it was a nominee for the Hugo Award. It gets off to a good start, actually, and includes mystery and human beings - two factors that good novels include. The theories presented are outstanding, especially to a big sf fan. And it is quite suspensful as the scientists discuss SHEVA and Herod's and evolution. Then, after the plot is set up, it seems to drag on and on with Kaye and Mitch's relationship, the plot disappears for a while, and it gets somewhat uninteresting. Not until the end when something happens to Kaye that involves Mitch(keeping a secret) does Kaye and Mitch together really seem to matter. And, with an exception for Christopher Dicken, sometimes they were just boring. Not to say they are not fairly well written;they are. Sometimes, though, you just wanna say "get a life." Pretty good book, though, with great ideas; I would recommend it to sf fans.
Rating:
Summary: Technical, but wonderful
Review: Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear is a very technical novel. Several "cyberpunk" novels can be confusing, William Gibson's Neuromancer springs to mind, but Darwin's Radio is the most one of the most technically orientated novels I've read since my last Michael Crichton novel. While it may take some time to understand, however, it is a wonderful book and well worth the effort to read.
Set just after the turn of the millennium, Darwin's Radio focuses most of its attention on retroviruses. The retrovirus in Darwin's Radio is actually a leap in human evolution. Many profound statements about human nature are made with the help of this "human upgrade".
The technical aspects of the novel make the story very believable (at least to a non-science person), and don't detract all from the wonderfully involved character development. Darwin's Radio is defiantly a recommended read for anyone who thinks humans still have just a bit further to go. And even if you don't, you still might just learn something.
Rating:
Summary: Technobabble Really?
Review: I read it with interest and found to be quite a quick read for the most part. I have one dissenting opinion: I found the biology to be a bit of a tough go but, I WANTED MORE NOT LESS. I'm not saying that I understood it all and it took awhile to sink in but the reading and thinking about the biological content was worth the effort. Evolution is fascinating & this work took me well beyond my previous thinking. I had the usual model plus a crude "catastrophe" model of evolution. This new line of thinking of "punctuated" evolution is very tasty indeed. Thanks for that. I would suggest that the author perhaps put up a website to go witht he book where lay readers could get more science if they they are so inclined.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Idea but . . . .
Review: I have read much about Bear and the quality of his books, so I had much anticipation going into this novel as it was my first attempt at a Greg Bear book. The plot of this book sounded very interesting and I could not wait to read it. Having just finished it, I am not impressed. The development of the characters is scattered. There are a few characters that are developed brilliantly, and you really care about them. Then some characters just never seemed to materialize properly. Also, there were some sections of this book I more or less skipped over simply because I didn't understand. I am not a microbiologist or a genetic engineer or whatever, so I got lost in most of the technical jargon. I spent a lot of time trying to remember what a retrovirus did or what a HERV or virion was. I respect the use of technical terms and trying to be true to the science, but for the average reader, we could have done with less. I also felt lacking in the end. I had so many unanswered questions (which I will not pose as I might give something away). I almost expected "To be continued" to be at the bottom of the last page. Overall this is not the best book I have ever read, but it is not the worst. Give me Asimov any day!!
Rating:
Summary: calling all genetic engineers
Review: cool book, great idea. But im not a genetic engineer, nor a biologist, and to tell the truth, the jargon gets a bit too confusing. After a while, I just dindt care anymore about LPC's or HERVs or retrowhatevers, I did not get any of it. It makes an interesting story, thats why i stuck with it to the end. And I guess the jargon doenst really matter to make a good storyline, though it can be important for the nitpickers. I enjoyed it, but next time, please less technobabble.
Rating: 
Summary: Wanted to love it, but couln't
Review: When I first read about this book, it sounded fascinating. The topic is current, and interesting to both traditional SF fans as well as those interested in current fiction. I really wanted to love the book. The science seemed great, but I don't genetics and simple errors in other areas made me wonder if there were errors in the science. The one that first got me was a simple error about time difference between the US and England. With writing and editing that let that error in, my confidence was eroded. The character development was pretty good, though I found the variation a bit more flat than another reviewer. The development was certainly better than I expected in something billed as a techno-thriller. The fictional evolution of a new intelligent species puts a great burden on a writer. The very existence of the species requires one to come up with a new style of thinking and accompanying personalities. Few authors can pull this off effectively. I found Bear's effort unconvincing. This left me not believing in the resulting character development and events. I wanted to love it. Really, I did. Unfortunately in the end, I just didn't get sucked into the story enough to be truly engaged.
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