Rating: 
Summary: Rushed Finish to a good start
Review: This book has, at its core, one of the greatest premises for a plot I've seen in ages. The prospect of evolution alonside our species. The characters are pretty well defined, with a good pace to keep you reading through the night. However, 3/4s of the way through, the pace drops and the plot starts to lose its grip. The author has sped the ending up to an almost farcical close that has no value compared to the earlier chapters. On the whole however, I'd recommend this to someone who wants to read about what could, eventually, happen to humans on this planet. A must read? No. But a good read nevertheless!
Rating:
Summary: Well done, but no bullseye
Review: I own a complete Greg Bear bookshelf, and was looking forward to read this book. The title is clever and the plot is good. However, coming from the mind that created the world of EON, I was disappointed. Yes, there are some excellent ideas here, but somehow I had the feeling that this was a made-for-movie book.The story has some nice twists, and there are definitely some very interesting thoughts behind the evolution solution Bear offers. The scale of things is huge, but Bear doesn't manage to create such grand visions as in FORGE OF GOD and EON. I have this gut feeling that he wrote this book to be ahead of some biology trend and not miss out like he did with Dinosaur Summer (considering it was out years before the Jurassic Park era). That said, it is a page-turner, and I have no problems recommending this book to others. I just hope Greg Bear returns with heavy sci-fi thrillers like LEGACY in the near :) future.
Rating: 
Summary: Will reality mimic science fiction ?
Review: Not having read a Greg Bear novel before I was delighted with his easy style that quickly drew you in to the story. I spent a few very late nights absorbed in the story. While the story does go into quite a bit of medical and biological detial, that sometimes lost me, I still felt able to follow the general theme of that section. Greg Bear's novel offers an interesting view of evolution, whether you are a creationist or believe in evolution. By the end of the novel I was wondering whether it was possible, and if so how humanity would react.
Rating:
Summary: Greg Bear boldly ventures into Robin Cook territory
Review: (Note that this is substantially the same review as I wrote for the hardcover edition of the novel) Greg Bear is a SF writer with an excellent range. While his novels uniformly show a joy in describing unusual and exotic extensions of science as we know it, from the nanotechnology of Blood Music to the unusual physics of Moving Mars, he has always kept the human element front and center in his writings. We care about the people who inhabit his worlds. Darwin's Radio is a story about people and differences. A story about the prejudice of being different, being ostracized, being demonized, being hated and feared. A story of how resistant people are to change, be it changes in scientific theories, changes in what they look like. It much resembles the medical thrillers of Robin Cook. Interestingly enough, there is even a reference to a character reading one of his novels.The plot itself is straightforward enough. SHEVA, an agent lying dormant in our very cells, in our very genes for millions of years, has started to act of its own accord and begun to infect women and men, causing strange pregnancies. Is it a virus? A mutagenic agent? A sign of the end of humanity? Or the mechanism by which the next step in evolution will take place? Several well drawn viewpoint characters, from a discredited anthropologist, to a scientist critical to the discovery of the agent are our windows into this near future world. Perhaps focused on as much as the science of SHEVA is how the scientists and ordinary people react to its seemingly implacable onslaught. All too plausible to me, as a graduate student of Biology, is the reluctance of academics and ordinary people alike to see the truth for what it is for the mere reason that it contradicts beliefs they hold dear. The blinders worn by many of the characters are all too real. The reaction to the fact that SHEVA evidently overturns formerly accepted ideas in Biology, Anthropology and Evolution is dealt with in realistic manner. In many science fiction novels, such paradigm breaking discoveries would be accepted meekly, without protest, without debate. n Darwin's Radio, Bear's scientists are much more human and much more self interested. The power grabbing by one character, using the crisis of SHEVA as a means to political power, is another fine touch. The chaotic and often irrational reaction of the general public to the crisis is also gripping, scary and page-turning. Darwin's Radio is indeed science fiction, but it is science fiction which does not spend so much time on the science that the rest of the novel suffers by comparison. As a matter of fact, the book could be effectively marketed as a general fiction novel. It's a science fiction novel for people who would not be caught dead reading a science fiction novel, yet shows clearly Bear's strengths at keeping the science plausible to satisfy even the most devout SF fan. This book deserves its Hugo Award Nomination, although I do not feel it was the best of the five nominated novels.
Rating:
Summary: Science and humanity
Review: This is one of the best SF books I have ever read. The book is one of the contenders for the 2000 Hugo Award, and it deserves to win. The scientific concept in the book is fascinating. Most of us are familiar with the concept of evolution occurring as a result of slow changes - a mutation of a gene here, a gene there, and finally a new species emerges. This book is based on a different concept unlikely to be familiar - that in at least some cases, a new species can emerge all at once, with numerous genetic changes occurring nearly instantaneously. There is a solid scientific foundation for such an idea, and through the course of the book the author describes one means by which this could occur - in humans. It has been established that there are genes which are turned on and off - i.e., whose protein manufacture is regulated - by various means. Medical tests that determine symptoms of disease by measuring the levels of a protein rely on regulation of protein production in our bodies, and the action of hormones is usually to affect the production of one or many proteins. "Darwin's Radio" supposes that social stress on a species can be one of the regulating factors of protein production. It is known that the external environment does regulate the production of some proteins, and in some species, changes in the environment can quickly trigger production of a whole group of new proteins. In humans, the "fight or flight" syndrome - production of adrenaline - is immediately tied to psychological stress. It is a small jump of logic to propose that psychological stress of a certain kind stemming from social pressures could cause production of several new proteins which in turn could regulate nearly any process in our bodies. The human genome is huge, and one surprising thing is that about half the DNA is apparently useless. That is, it does not code for any protein that is ever produced. An even more surprising fact is that mutations in this useless DNA are not significantly more frequent than in the rest of our DNA. Why is this surprising? Well, mutations in most of the genes in our DNA will cause changes to the proteins that are produced, and these mutated proteins generally would produce a non-viable or handicapped life. Most of the non-contagious diseases we may suffer from are due to such mutations. Genes for important proteins are protected from mutation by the fact that a mutation gives life to a person who will likely not have any progeny to carry the mutation forward. If this is the means for protection of genes, and half of our genome does not code for proteins that are important to our lives (because the proteins are never produced), then what is protecting this part of the genome from mutations? "Darwin's Radio" attempts to answer this question. And the science goes even further in the most fascinating of ways - which you will need to read for yourself. I should add that the author's afterward states the ideas contained in the book are the end product of conversations with many, many biological scientists. None of the science is unsupportable. Another interesting aspect of the book is the description of "scientific politics." Even as a graduate student in a university lab, I was not exposed to much of the politics. "Darwin's Radio" makes clear the importance of politics in scientific research. As someone who places some value on our knowledge of our world, it was fascinating to see the means by which our knowledge can be directed to one area or another by factors having nothing to do with scientific merit or importance. But these things alone would not make a great book for me. When I read fiction, I need to have real people to read about. And the author creates wonderfully real people, people with real feelings and real problems and real ambitions. It is rare to read an SF book with such well-formed and completely believable characters. More of this review is devoted to the science than to the characterizations, but the author did equally well with both aspects. One of the most poignant aspects of "Darwin's Radio" is a story within the story. At the beginning of the book, three mummies are found. Neanderthal? Well, one of them is definitely a modern Homo sapiens - a baby. What is their story? Their story is told with great compassion. Through them and through the story of the more modern characters, one can understand the personal aspect of the upheaval to society that an evolution to the human species would likely bring. This is a marvelous book. The science might possibly be difficult to someone without any knowledge of molecular genetics; I don't know. If the author had turned the book into a textbook, it would have become boring, but it seemed like he did try to explain the science. Aside from that potential drawback, I would recommend "Darwin's Radio" without reservation to anyone. (Except possibly to an antievolutionist - :-) ) Read it.
Rating:
Summary: Full of facts with a great storyline
Review: This book is loaded with science fact. Period. However, the scientifically faint of heart should not be discouraged. Bear does an exceptional job of explaining complex concepts and applying them to the story's plot. In my opinion, this is the book's greatest strength. Those interested in speculative fiction and evolution will be particularly pleased. The innovative plot and suspenseful presentation of the storyline more than make up for some some characters lack of depth. This is an excellent read.
Rating: 
Summary: More radical science text book than fiction
Review: Darwin's Radio is an enjoyable read, but it would probably help if you spent every waking hour of your life learning about those fascinating DNA structures before attempting to read it. As a technologically impaired arts student I certainly found the more scientific dialogue rather wearisome and complicated. Such detail is arguably necessary but it drastically reduces the pace of what is an otherwise excellent plot. On a more positive note, Greg Bear does deserve credit for the way in which he manage to link in a number of other sociological issues with his ideas on evolution. The concept of mob rule is effectively dealt with, and the politically motivated actions of scientists and senate alike are perfectly plausible. In fact, I have no doubt that most present day governments would be utilitarian, draconian and stupid enough to enact the panic stricken policies that occur in Greg Bear's novel (e.g. segregation of the sexes). Finally, the ending is entirely appropriate for a book concerned with the progress of science in that the future is left open to the imagination.
Rating:
Summary: 90% science fact, 10% science fiction
Review: A colleague saw that I was reading Matt Ridley's "Genome" and recommended that I follow science fact with good science fiction by reading "Darwin's Radio". Reading "Genome" turned out to be a perfect primer for "Darwin's Radio" since it covers most if not all of the esoteric biological concepts that lend to Greg Bear's brilliant story of how the next "human upgrade" might occur. It's fascinating to know that Human Endogenous Retro-Viruses (HERV) really do exist. The ending to "Darwin's Radio" seemed to be about three chapters too early or perhaps Mr. Bear plans a sequel. Nonetheless, "Darwin's Radio" was a very good read.
Rating:
Summary: A neat premise, but . . .
Review: Well, it's a neat premise, anyway. Man "jumped" from Neanderthal to Homo sapiens, and now evolution is about "lurch" forward again, but we see this as a threat (in fact, a virus). The problem is that Bear tries to pull too much "taut suspense" from this concept. In the end, this breathless approach does nothing to suspend the reader's disbelief and actually hinders it. Better writing would have earned this another star, but Bear is seasoned enough, and the idea is still compelling enough, to earn it a solid "three".
Rating:
Summary: Great Science Fiction writing!
Review: I read mostly Fantasy Books or Popular Science books [Roger Penrose, Kip Thorne, Stephan Hawking , people in that vain]. This is the first Science Fiction book based on today's science that I have read, and I am glad that I did. Greg Bear's writing is very well-researched or appears to be. The science is very plausible and realistic. The plot itself is very good and kept at a good pace. I didn't give it 5 stars because of the characters. I feel that he either should have kept the pace fast and not worry to much about character development or spent a little more time developing the characters. While I like the characters, I did not feel that I knew them very well. The idea of how the virus spread and how the population reacted was very intriguing and frightening to think that it could happen in just that way [as in the book] if a biological catastrophe like this were to occur. So, the science writing part of it is worth commending and why I recommend this book. However, do not expect the characters to do all that much, they seem to be along for the ride, just as much as the reader is. But since the ride itself is quite interesting it manages to make up somewhat for the lack of character involvement. The ending seemed to go by to quickly. He could very well end it as he did with no sequel in which case, I would be dissapointed at the ending as I want to know what happens to Kay and her fanily. However, I would hope that the sequel would be a little more involved with the characters or at least more so than this book. If they can't control their environment or what happens to them, it would be nice to get into their heads a little more and share their feelings. Recommended!
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