Rating: 
Summary: The ending of this book begs a sequel.
Review: I definitely would have given this book five stars if the ending hadn't been such a letdown. For Greg Bear (one of my favorite sci-fi authors) to take something as momentous as a "human upgrade" and end his story with such a huge questionmark was pretty frustrating. Mr. Bear, a sequel is definitely in order. Still, I found this book quite enjoyable: It began at a rather plodding, deliberate pace, but gradually picked up steam until it was a genuine page-turner. But readers without at least some rudimentary knowledge of genetics or cell biology might be put-off, because the science and terminology here is pretty esoteric. The idea of evolution though "punctuated equilibrium" intrigues me, and I hope scientists come closer to solving this puzzle in my lifetime.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely enthralling
Review: What an excellent book! It's got an issue that touches everyone on Earth, great characters, fascinating science, and such an exciting story that I really just couldn't put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Good middle third of a book
Review: Darwin's Radio is a solid middle third of a book. Acutely drawn characters with realistic interactions, flashes of heroism, and aching humanism (I especially liked Saul); well-plotted storyline; provocative scientific ideas; frustratingly realistic politics of Big Science. What's missing is some development of the initial trigger for the events of the book - author Greg Bear alludes to "stresses" and chemical communication, but I couldn't figure out why all this would be happening. A second missing element relates to the first: why are Stella Nova and the other 100,000 better than their parents?Read Darwin's Radio for a fast-paced and frighteningly plausible story of the "How" of modern science and politics, but be prepared to speculate on the "Why" of it all.
Rating:
Summary: Heard about this book in a radio interview on NPR...
Review: Amazing...! This has to be one of the best researched books I have ever had the pleasure to read. Excellent detail and a plot and characters that make you want to hurry on to the next page. A biomedical research thriller. Who would of thought...?
Rating:
Summary: Darwin's Radio
Review: A book I could not put down. While very techically oriented at first, it is a facinating posit into how mother nature will deal with man in all of his supposed glory. One of the best science fiction books since -Ender's Game.-
Rating: 
Summary: Really Bad Science
Review: I normally enjoy Bear's work, but I was dissapointed in Darwin's Radio. Though his character development and writing style are good (if a little longwinded), his use of evolutionary biology is not. He obviously did a great deal of research into molecular biology and immunology and I am surprised that he didn't work harder to achieve a better understanding of evolution. The idea's presented as "tomorrow's headlines" are not just silly, they're pretty much impossible. Speciation is not a mystery and Bear's use of goal directed evolution is completely at odd's with real science. He throws in terms like punctuated equilibrium and adaptationism, but I don't think he really understands them. Read the book if you want but keep in mind it has a lot more in common with fantasy than sci-fi.
Rating:
Summary: In the tradition of Isaac Asimov...
Review: Science fiction at it's best is about ideas & extrapolating future scenarios from them. In the tradition of the best classic sf, "Darwin's Radio" does that in a thought provoking, can't-put-it-down manner. However, also in the tradition of classic sf (especially Isaac Asimov), Greg Bear's characters are simply formulaic mouthpieces used to express the authors ideas. There are so many good things to say about this book, that I really hate to quibble, but a good editor could have improved this book greatly. For instance, a whole early sub-plot involving the main female character & her first marriage is simply unnecessary. I understand Bear probably thought it would help in character definition & motivations, but there are other ways those could have been handled. Minor characters are introduced & given major plot devices to handle, then simply disappear. Other characters suddenly have thoughts & actions at complete variance with what has come before. There are a number of ideas Bear uses in this book that I personally would question him on. I am especially curious as to what he thought the dreams of Mitch Rafelson & Dr. Brock signified, as well as both the Neanderthal couple & modern Herod's carriers having "the mask" which seems quite unnecessary in the case of the earlier evolutionary "jump". However, these are minor quibbles at best. To sum up: if you enjoy classic "hard" science fiction, stories that deal in ideas rather than character development, & appreciate having a novel make you seriously ponder your own deep held convictions, then "Darwin's Radio" should definitely appear on your bookshelf!
Rating:
Summary: Good ideas, poor story and ending
Review: There were a lot of intruiging ideas presented in this book. The best hard sf books wrap a good story around the interesting ideas, but unfortunately this book doesn't have a good wrapper. Many things happened that seemed disjoint -- never fully utilized or integrated into the story. And the ending was a total disappointment -- the author, and the protagonists, just walked away from the story.
Rating:
Summary: can't put it down - a great read
Review: Very few story lines are as intriguing as this one! I found it difficult to put down and even though it had a lot of medical/science terminology that most are unfamiliar with, I found it easy to follow and compelling.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting concepts; plot feels unfinished.
Review: I'm normally a pretty big Greg Bear fan, but I'm going middle-of-the-road on this one. It's got some very cool concepts, develops some interesting tensions & plotlines, but the ending is pretty darn unsatisfying, feels like it leaves too many things up in the air w/ no real reason. Towards the end of the book I found myself skimming more quickly, thinking "yes, yes, I know all that, can we hurry up and get to the cool resolution of all this..." and then suddenly there I was at the end w/ nothing particularly cool happening. Everything that -did- happen at the end had already been described in rumors & foreshadowing, so there was nothing unexpected left for him to end on. That said, I'll probably buy the sequel if there is one (surely he has to do a sequel to this, what with pretty much everything left unfinished), because I definitely enjoy a good Greg Bear book all griping aside. If you're a read-everything-by-Greg-Bear person like me, get this. If you're new to Greg Bear or just looking for some really cool SF to read, go get Anvil of Stars (also by Bear).
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