Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: A solid idea with no meat to fill out the 500 pages. The entire plot becomes blatantly obvious early on in the book, and the journey of fulfilling that plot was far from entertaining. What a bore.
Rating: 
Summary: Well researched and well written
Review: I don't read a lot of science fiction anymore because so much of what is written today is all fiction, and very little science. I doubt if many modern sci-fi writers could pass a final exam in an introductory science class. Bear has a unique talent for combining the two -- creating an interesting story that is based (for the most part) on scientific facts. Darwin's Radio not only entertains but it educates. Even though it's one of the better sci-fi books I've read lately, I was tempted to give it four stars because the story trys to build to a climatic conclusion but fails. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I feel that the book kind of fizzled in the end. When taken as a whole however the book is worth the five star rating.
Rating: 
Summary: Darwins Radio had too much static
Review: Greg Bear is one of the best and most talented science fiction writers of today, but I guess even the greats bomb out occasionally. The concept behind the book is clever and thought provoking. The author thoroughly did his homework. The problem was in the writing. The book was so filled with distracting drivel and unnecessary social dialog that it could have been written by a computer. I felt embarrassment for the author when I read the first sentence -->"The flat afternoon sky spread over the black and gray mountains like a stage backdrop, the color of a dog's pale crazy eye." The book reminds me of the movie Stargate; so much unrealized potential. Darwin's Radio wasn't all bad. I gave it two stars. After the the story begins, on page 493, the reader sees the real talent that Mr. Bear was hiding. By skimming over the superfluous dialogs, the reader is introduced to an eye opening view of a bright future.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong start, weak finish
Review: Thought provoking story of a disease/evolutionary step and its effects on society and the reactions it brings. Character development is very good other than the quickly intense personal relationship of two main characters, which seemed forced to move the story along from a macro perspective to a micro one. Throughout the book, the passing of time between events was difficult to sense despite a month or specific date listed at the beginning of most sections (no years are referenced). This made it harder to accept changes in the public's reaction from one moment to the next - and some reactions can only be accepted with a better sense of time passing as the public's concerns and fears kept growing. What started out as a tightly wrapped story told from the big-picture viewpoint ultimately unravels as the micro perspective keeps twirling around until there are no more words on the page.
Rating:
Summary: A book that causes you to question things...
Review: What sets this wonderful book apart from others of the genre more than any other factor is the fact that it carefully explores the social implications, even the long-term ones, of a biological crisis. I look forward with high anticipation to other titles by this author.
Rating: 
Summary: "Darwin's Radio" a thinking man's adventure
Review: "Darwin's Radio" is an intriguing thriller populated by realistic characters and based on a scary premise: what if our DNA carries the code for an ancient disease that can affect the world today with horrific results. You'll root for the characters, and you'll be intrigued by the mystery of the Neanderthal family in this book! -- John Cullen (John Argo) author of "The Generals of October" (Clocktower Books)
Rating:
Summary: Novel doesn't live up to its beginning
Review: Molecular biologist Kaye Lang, a specialist in retroviruses, works in an obscure corner of her field, so she is utterly unprepared for the tidal wave of fame that strikes when her work becomes the lynchpin of a battle against a devastating new disease. Pregnant women around the world are contracting "Herod's flu," a mysterious illness that severely deforms and kills fetuses. As public pressure and hysteria grow, the U.S. government enlists biotech companies and universities in a race to find a cure, with a reluctant Kaye recruited as their figurehead scientist. While efforts focus on finding a vaccine, Kaye becomes more and more convinced that researchers are chasing a dead end. The key, unexpectedly, lies with Mitch Rafelson, a maverick anthropologist who discovered a mummified Neanderthal family. Mitch believes the Neanderthal DNA may contain evidence to prove that the retrovirus "SHEVA" is not a disease, but rather the next step in human evolution. But nobody is willing to listen to him. DARWIN'S RADIO starts out as an engrossing, fast-paced scientific detective story with well drawn characters. As usual in Bear's novels, the science is strong and extremely detailed (and I REALLY could have used that glossary that I didn't find until I got to the end of the book). The near future settings are vivid, and Bear does an especially excellent job of depicting the biotech industry and its relationship with the American government. Unfortunately, the end of this novel doesn't live up to its beginning, and Bear's problem is structural. Fundamentally this is two different types of stories sandwiched awkwardly together. What begins as a scientific suspense tale about the race to cure a disease, shifts suddenly to a different problem in new settings, narrated at a slower pace. Plot threads developed in the first half of the book are dropped or receive only perfunctory attention, and most characters, including one of the three protagonists, are virtually abandoned. I can't comment in greater detail on DARWIN'S RADIO without including spoilers, so I'll just say that I found both my suspension of disbelief and my patience wearing very thin in the concluding chapters of this book. And it was frustrating. Bear is an excellent writer. With a stronger ending, this would have been one hell of a book.
Rating:
Summary: Not Greg Bear's best!
Review: Writing as a fan of Greg Bear and many of his previous books, I have to say that this is not one of his best. The premise of an evolutionarily important retrovirus embedded in our genes that drives a sort of punctutated evolution is interesting, but Bear does not pull it off. His book struggles as an unsuccessful mix of a hard science fiction story about a possible new revelation in biology and a story of a relationship between two of the principal characters in the plot. Furthermore, the decidedly anticlimactic ending left me cold, with only a superficial description of the supposed next stage in human evolution, which didn't even seem that remarkable given the long build-up. Disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Bear is out of his depth in biology...
Review: I say that with regret, because I loved his short novel Blood Music. That novel is about nanotechnology, which takes over our cells, builds tiny computers, evolves, and eventually creates a universe of pure thought. Outrageous but full of fun.
I know little about nanotechnology, but a lot about biology, and I found Bear's explanation of SHEVA, the evolutionary retrovirus simply not credible. I mean, this is supposed to be HARD science fiction; it should at least seem in some way possibly true. Although the story is told in a reality-oriented manner, it fails by this judgement of being credible. Evolution can't create superbeings out of thin air... WE could do that by manipulating the genome in a few years, perhaps, but it won't happen by chance. I had to put the book down half way through. Some of the details are very well done, like the competition between scientists, the manipulation by politicians, and the discussion of junk DNA (which does contain the carcases of thousands of endogenous retro virus-transposons). All in all, a nice stew, but too many ingredients and flavors and no real backbone.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the Beef?
Review: This book *did* take a lot to get going. It was exciting in the middle, yet I felt the ending left the reader somewhat lacking closure. It almost feels as if a door has been left open for a sequel. Hopefully, the author will resist the urge.
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