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Summary: Transposons Made Fun
Review: If you like science fiction novels that are based on more realistic science - as opposed to Star Trekkian gibberish science - than maybe this might be for you. I say "might be" because there is good news, and there is bad news here. I am a layman who has a strong interest in the field of evolution, so I was immediately caught up in this novel about what would happen if genetic elements decided on their own that something needed to be changed in order for homo sapiens to cope in an overly stressful world. There is a fascinating idea here, but the bad news is that a significant part of the book reads like an abstract of a group of scientific conferences. Yes, sci-fi fans, much of this book involves not only scientific discussions between individuals, but involves that bane of our existence: The Committee Meeting. Pages full of meeting discussions. What happens after hours? Why our heroine climbs into bed with her new friend and they discuss large protein complexes and human endogenous retroviruses. Yikes. Once while reading Darwin's Radio I decided I needed to put the book down for awhile and pick up some lighter reading, like Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe. The last third of the book shows more interesting human activity, and makes the book worthwhile. In this part of the novel we see how people cope with the new biology. This definitely is not a book for space opera enthusiasts, or the non-science oriented individual.
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Summary: Darwin's Radio: A Really Good Read
Review: This book was so interesting, I had a hard time putting it down. The characters seemed real, were sympathetic, and approached solutions to their problems in a realistic way. The science was detailed, but not so much that it was boring. The explanations of the science were clear; I learned a few things, or Bear made it seem that I learned a few things. I would have liked a little more upbeat ending, but Bear's ending was not all that bad. Read the book!
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Summary: Strong
Review: Although there is a lot of science to sort through in this book, it is extremely well written and gets more and more engaging as it progresses. It is thought-provoking and a good read.
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Summary: A "thriller" that reads like a textbook
Review: Critics often praise a good nonfiction book by saying, "It reads like a novel." Well, here's a novel that reads like a textbook -- and a bad one at that. The book is full of arcane science, with few definitions or explanations. Bear assumes that every reader is an expert in microbiology. Moreover, his ending stinks. Don't waste your time.
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Summary: Intriguing material handled in typical Bear fashion
Review: This is an interesting book with an interesting theory behind it, but I can see why the last third disappointed many of the readers below. If you want "scientific gimmickry" throughout your read, this isn't for you. Bear establishes the idea of sudden evolution with alot of science early on (whether the science is accurate or not is difficult to tell), then chooses to pursue the social consequences of such a change rather than explain every last detail of it. Thus, as with other novels of his, there are some scienctific loose ends--things not learned about the "science" within the timeline of the book. Personally, I think this is a good decision and I think his take on how society would react is depressingly accurate. However, you have to be prepared for a radical shift in perspective as he pushes a number of storylines aside to focus on two specific characters. Several below have also suggested that the ending pretty much requires a sequel. I'm not so sure. Bear does a good job of suggesting the future by highlighting what happened in the distant past. One could construct a socio/political sequel to this book (which fills in the remaining science), but I doubt that many hard-core science fiction fans would want to read it. All in all, a good novel that gets one thinking about the human animal and his place in the world genome. Thoughtful rather than action/science oriented, but there's a place for that in the genre.
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Summary: Absolute SCIENCE Fiction
Review: I've read nearly all of Greg Bears books beginning with Blood Music, his first biotech thriller, and spent a wonderful (short) day in this rich complex world woven by a literary as well as scientific Master. Darwins Radio is so complex I had to reread previous chapters to keep up, though slightly frustrating, satisfying as well. Good solid SF is getting hard to find but I can always count on bear to provide! Nothing like getting educated and entertained!
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Summary: A molecular genetics thriller is hard to pull off.
Review: I think Greg Bear has written an excellent book that is probably not for everyone. I have always wondered why biology is not found more often in sci fi. I think this book answers part of the question for me: the learning curve of technical molecular genetics (and its lingo) is tough for some of the audience. That said, this is a good read in the tradition of "Heart of the Comet" by Brin & Benford and "Camelot-30K" by Forward. In the "older" sci fi literature there is Donald Moffitt's "Genesis Quest" and "Second Genesis," both about the human genome and its fate. Bear's book starts slowly because its themes start in several places. You just have to be patient with the Austrian Alps, Georgian graves and the politics of American science in the private interest. Whether or not you like "puctuated equilibrium" or "gradualism" as evolution, there is technical evidence in the scientific literature for both. Brin makes you think - agreeing with him or with a prevailing scientific view is not a precondition for enjoying the book. It has a place of distinction among my other "hard core science" sci fi volumes.
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Summary: It talks the talk but it doesnt do the walk
Review: Greg Bear is an excellent writer, with a fascina ting subject. And he's fluent in the lingo of modern biology, Unfortunately, he comes up short in understanding evolutionary theory. Hey it's supposed to be science fiction, and we all like an ambience of authenticity in our reads. But the problem is that when you lay on the authentic molecular biology lingo so thick and detailed, then outlandish but interesting plot handles become just plain silly. Greg Bear makes enough errors in his supposedly sophisticated appreciation of the biotechnology revolution that someone tra plausible scenariined in evolutionary biology haad to shake his head. Better to keep the theorizing less linked to real science than end up with a supposedly plasible scenario that upon closer examination is plain silly and is NOT supported by such theories as "punctuated equilibrium".
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Summary: Very solid science but too much baggage in it.
Review: The reason most why people who enjoy techno thillers do so is because of the "science" in the story,not in character bulding or overemphasis in non science topics. The book has an awesome scientific theory behind it which could have been developed and worked in and decscribed in much more detail to entertain the science lover. However 2/3 of the book is concerned with character building and poetic lines and describing a scenery. I just couldnt finish reading it and found myself skipping paragraphs just looking for interesting parts. If you are truly into scientific thrillers forget this book it will only frustrate you. There is a great deal of teasing going on as well,but an author can only keep the reader on the edge for so long they might risk losing them alltogether. If you just want to read a well structured book its fine other than that ,look for something else.
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Summary: Great concept woven into a disappointing story.....
Review: This is the first Greg Bear book I've read and I'll probably read more. I thought his premise was very interesting - evolution occurring as a "flash cut" rather than gradually. However, I found the story quite disappointing. I agree with the previous review that a sequel is in order. Numerous characters were introduced throughout the story. We began to care about them only to have them simply disappear from the book without further word. I also think many of the plot lines could have been better developed. All the important events just seemed to be very convenient and very unprobable coincidents. This a really a shame since it could have been so much more.
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