Rating: 
Summary: "Hello, Mitch"
Review: Hard science, not hard science - the point is it's fiction, and it's entertaining.
I think the book will be perceived as better when taken in conjunction with the sequel. By itself, you don't really get to read much about "the next stage in evolution" beings because the majority of the book is about how the changing surfaces, and the political and social drama surrounding it.
I liked it enough to buy the sequel.
Rating: 
Summary: Clever Title. Story a little uneven
Review: This was my first Greg Bear book, and I had some mixed feelings about it. First of all the premise of the book was excellent! I appreciated the fact that Mr. Bear had done his research for the book. Because of the many biology terms used in the book, I found myself going back to the glossary many times. Right or wrong, Mr. Bear chose to use the biology terms in his book. At times during reading the book, I wondered to myself is Mr. Bear writing for biologists, or for the general public? The first half of the book was intersting, then the last half was a bit boring and kind of dragged. I felt he spent too much time writing about the political side of things, explaining the political ramifications on the effects of SHEVA. He did write on some of the effects SHEVA had on society, but not enough. I was really surprised when one of the main characters kind of dropped off until the end. I wished the Stella character appeared a little earlier, she was very interesting, and could have added another twist to the plot. Just my 0.02. This is not a typical science fiction bang-bang shoot'em up type of novels. But a thought provoking story about man kind, his past and his future.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Not a scientist myself, I can't comment on whether what is discussed in this book is plausible scientifically. But as a fan of intelligent SF, this one is worth reading. Great, well-structured plot, complex characters, important social commentary. A good read that will stay with you.
Rating: 
Summary: Laughably ridiculous "science"
Review: I must say, I was absolutely relishing reading this one because it sounded great. But be warned, if you know anything about retroviruses/retrotransposons, you will be sorely disappointed. The scientific premises are pathetic beyond belief. And its all interwoven with some sort of pseudomystical crap that does not belong in hard science fiction. How this got rated "hard science" is totally beyond me. To make matters worse, the characters, sexy bits and literate aspects are all sorely wanting. I ended up reading this because I had to for my work, but I had to force myself to get through it. It took me 3/4 of my vacation. In the other 1/4 of the vacation I zoomed through 3 books. This one just does not add up.
Rating: 
Summary: The Sheva Virus: disease or evolutionary event?
Review: When an apparent virus begins hitting pregnant women and destroying their unborn fetuses, panic ensues. But discoveries made in the Alps, and the Republic of Georgia, show it's happened before; right before a major evolutionary advance in the human species. Soon, healthy children with unusual characteristics are born in increasing numbers. Some insist that they are diseased with retroviruses that threaten all of humanity. Others fight to get the truth accepted: homo sapiens sapiens is not the final word in human evolution.
Darwin's Radio is entertaining and thought-provoking. His homo sapiens novus, the new children whose genomes are shaped by the Sheva virus, are not the usual pat "advanced humans" you find in pulp sf, with big heads and telepathic abilities. They are more realistic than that, tho endowed with unusual abitities from the perspective of society as a whole. The novel in many respects goes beyond its genre, and would interest people not generally into science-fiction.
As the government reacts with political calculation and brutality to the Sheva children, more enlightened minds must find a way to convince the world to live in harmony with them. Read this book, then Darwin's Children. Bear has also talked about writing a third book in the group. A great job; in my opinion the two novels are his best work to date.
Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic New Look at Human Evolution
Review: Mitch Rafelson is an anthropologist with a bad name. He's been accused of raiding burial sites by Native Americans and now he's in the Alps and finds three Neanderthals in an ice cave, amazingly preserved. One of the corpses is a baby, too! But not a Neanderthal baby. This one looks more Cro-magnun. What's up with that? Kaye Lang is in the Republic of Georgia working on a business deal for her genetics company when she is summoned to the site of a mass grave. Bullet riddled bodies are strewn everywhere. But this site isn't that old, maybe 30 years or so. And many (or most) of the victims appeared to be pregnant women! What has and is happening again, is evolution. As humans now understand the theory of evolution, changes in our DNA and other genetic codes take place over millions of years. But what if it didn't happen that way? What if --- tucked inside some random stretch of genetic material --- an evolutionary time-bomb ticked and suddenly went off? What if radical changes in human evolution came in one or two generations? In DARWIN'S RADIO, author Greg Bear shows us the terror this might instill in the general public. As women catch a 'disease' known as Herod's Flu (or SHEVA by it's technical name), they miscarry a normal baby. But then become impregnated by another fetus instantly; almost a type of asexual reproduction. Husbands and boyfriends at first accuse their partners of infidelity. Later, women believe that men are the carriers of Herod's Flu and reject men as partners. Riots erupt. Hospitals are quarantined. And soon, a new species is born from many mothers . . . including Kaye Lang (who becomes romantically involved with Mitch). The human response to the science is what drew me into this story. Although this novel is considered Hard SF, I didn't have any trouble following Mr. Bear's line of thinking. He pulled me along and I came willingly. VERY WILLINGLY. Even when he had to delve into the genetic code and how SHEVA interacted with it (us). The story ends on a near cliff hanger, meaning that I'll HAVE TO buy the next book (DARWIN'S CHILDREN). Oh well. Add another book to the pile! B rating.
Rating:
Summary: A tribute to John Wyndham
Review: This is a good read, full of accurate scientific detail. Not for the Buck Rogers / Space Ranger fans. The plot could be straight from John Wyndham, eotw, young love, children in danger, children threatening the future of mankind. This book however stops at what in a Wyndham novel would be the halfway point. This might make it sound as if I didn't enjoy it, quite the contrary. Whilst time may have passed JW by, this brings fresh breathe to the genre, more believable, more depth. Read and enjoy.
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Summary: greed, desperation, hatred and lust...all for science!
Review: Overall, DARWIN'S RADIO is a super smart thriller that at times gets quagmired in it's own science but whose story is riveting nonetheless. Characters are well defined, the stakes are clear, and the conflicts are layered. There's even a romance, which is woven skillfully into the main story. Though a Ph.D. in infectious diseases may be required to read the novel, the science can be boiled down to a few key, easily understandable steps that we all can grasp. This is for smart readers hungering to use their brains to decipher mysteries... and has enough sex, explosions and icky alien babies thrown in to amuse the rest of us! The story's premise is exciting: three scientists stumbling upon a virus whose mission at first appears to be to wipe mankind off the face of the earth, but it may turn out that we're being prepared for the next stage in our evolution. Bear explores the fear, excitement, greed, desperation, hatred, love, and lust for power that stems from a scientific breakthrough. Ethical, moral and religious questions are also discussed when mass abortion seems to be the solution to a deadly epidemic. Author also explores the deep divisions that arise between men and women, as each segregate, blaming the other for the onset of the phenomenon. All in all, a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Dense
Review: This is a very densely written novel. It is my first Greg Bear novel and I have to say that his writing was very, very good. But I also have to say that I needed more than just a dictionary & encyclopedia nearby to understand what I was reading. If you buy this book, and I think you should, then please go find a Biology textbook to go with it. He spends a LOT of time on cell structure and DNA behavior and it does get bogged down with a little too much hard science. However, it well deserves 4-stars because if his writing. If you can slog through the dense biology tracts in this book, you'll also be rewarded with the best writing I've read all year. Thx, Greg!
Rating:
Summary: Gripping, provocative hard sf
Review: This book is an excellent showcase of Greg Bear's greatest strengths as a writer of hard science fiction.
First off, of course, is the science. This is a novel about the next step of human evolution, or rather a sudden leap forward. The biology, and especially the evolutionary aspect of the scientific background, is explained clearly and concisely, without trying the reader's patience. There is a handy glossary, but even if you're not completely cued in to everything Bear tells you, he moves the story along and never gets stuck in details.
Bear's second outstanding talent is as a writer of believable characters. They are not deep, extraordinary literary characters you'd expect from bestseller fiction, but for the hard sf genre, they are exceptional. Kaye Lang, the heroine, is multi-layered, complex, and sympathetic. Mitch Rafelson, a controversial anthropologist, is just as complex; his motivations make him hard to grab onto right away. The closest the book comes to a villain, the head of the government department trying to prevent the spread of the "disease", is no less realistic, by no means a stereotyped mad scientist.
Bear doesn't ignore the plot, either. It starts out reminiscent of an episode of The X-Files or a Crichton thriller, with various scientists tracking and studying a mysterious plague. Halfway through things start to change, and Bear removes his characters from the official chase, and switches sides. Bear has never been partial to the "cautionary" sort of science fiction, in which we are warned not to mess with God's handiwork; in Darwin's Radio, as in Blood Music, he embraces the forward movement of humanity.
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