Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but pedantic
Review: Having read the Manifold novels thus far, I was looking forward to Evolution. I'm in the middle of the novel, and I hope it becomes more fast-paced toward the end. It probably will; however, I have felt a little like a first-year anthropology student in the midst of all the "lecturing" about the morphing of our species. Most of the information relating to Neandertals, etc., I found reminiscent of Jean Auel. The early primate info was different, of course, and Baxter somehow gets us to relate to the inhuman humanity of Purga and her fellow "ratlike" prehumans. So far, this novel is leaving me a little dry, but I'm sure there's a river in sight.
Rating: 
Summary: Under-whelmed
Review: I am sure Mr. Baxter is a brilliant author, but this is the first book by him I have attempted. I was under-whelmed.I managed to go 100 pages, and it is all prolog; frankly I was tired of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Fiction....or Fact?
Review: I ordered this book mainly bacause it was recommended by Robert J. Sawyer, writer of my favorites in paleoanthropological fiction: "Hominids", "Humans" and, coming soon, the third in the Neanderthal Parralox Trilogy; "Hybrids". I was not disappointed! Evolution takes you on a tour through the evolution of humans that is so realistic, its hard to believe it isn't fact. So realistic is it that you only know it isn't historical fact when you close the book. Each and every organism is given an appealing persona with anthropomorphic ties to today's Homo sapien sapiens. Instantly, the reader develops a feeling for and understanding of each character and is with them every step of the way, confronting every challenge, the characters themselves becoming woven into the fabric of the reader's humanity. To add color, throughout the entire book many of the organisms from the past chapters are often referred to, giving the book a world of continuity in human development. This book is now proudly placed right next to Sawyer's Neanderthal Parralox Trilogy, among my favorites in paleoanthropological fiction. Highly Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A gripping, visionary tale!
Review: I stayed up far too late in the night and neglected my daytime obligations to finish this book! Baxter does a wonderful job of bringing life and personality to the story and process of evolution. Because his vignettes are separated by vast spans of time -- sometimes thousands of years, sometimes millions -- he couldn't tell all the stories I might have liked. Many intriguing stories happen offstage. Still, this is a thought-provoking, thoroughly enjoyable book. One follow-up to a previous reviewer's comment -- this may be the strongest argument I've ever come across for the importance, the imperative, of human space exploration -- even though the topic is never once refered to within the novel. (Aside to those who have read the book -- wouldn't you have loved to see what alternative ending Baxter might have provided, had humans escaped the bonds of Earth in time?)
Rating: 
Summary: Thoroughly Absorbing
Review: I would like to say from the outset that even though the foraging, encountering pitfalls and dodging predators was a tad tedious, Baxter's portrayal of our evolving progenitors throughout the ages was brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Having said that, I think this book is not for everyone. I would not characterize the bulk of this novel as purely science fiction. I liken it as a thesis that offers a serious and credible account of how events most likely transpired in near and distant past and a discerning speculation into the near and distant future. However, Baxter does provide elements involving a cursory look at cryogenics, solar system changes, and robotics. If one is especially interested in anthropology, paleontology, evolution, or in my case simply having a penchant for all sorts of scientific endeavors, then most likely the book would gratify.
Rating:
Summary: Baxter is Brilliant
Review: I'll keep this short but sweet, and sweet it is. An incredibly interesting tour of human ancestry and one of the most impressive dialogues ever for the necessity of our species to stop looking down at what lies beneath our feet and start looking upward and outward. Spectacular!
Rating:
Summary: reads more like short story vignettes
Review: In 2031, the latest save the earth ecology conference is ironically being held in Darwin, Australia. The global climatic destruction threatens Homo Sapiens' domination of the planet and the nearby orbs. While forests burn out of control and pollution holds sway, the enormous Rabaul Volcano erupts. Mankind's reign seems nearly through while the Martian robots have now replicated themselves. Terrorists attack the conference as attendees discuss the battles for supremacy through the ages with the victors goes the spoils until primates evolve during the Tertiary Period. Ultimately apes leave the trees for life on the ground until they build high rises. Now in the year 2031, Earth is on the brink with the volcano being the final straw to end humanity's dominion. Mars appears as the next evolutionary step as machines that replicate establish colonies throughout the galaxy. This book reads more like short story vignettes than a novel, but fans of Stephen Baxter and anyone who relishes a deep look at evolution and devolution will want to read this epic. Mr. Baxter is at his best when he describes prehistorical winners and losers and speculates on the future devolution of the primate on earth. Though another form of evolutionary supremacy, the robot revolution seems to belong in a more science fiction realm than the speculative fiction employed throughout EVOLUTION. Another triumph for Mr. Baxter who has evolved into best-selling specie that Darwin would have enjoyed reading the author's works. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Impressive but Tedious
Review: In EVOLUTION Baxter takes the really, really long view tracing (fictionally) the human species from the first tiny mole like creature scurrying around the feet of huge dinosaurs, to the very last tiny mole like creature, a human descendant, trying to survive on a dying Earth where most living things are extinct. This is a difficult book to review because it is both very impressive but at the same time it can be very tedious. The novel is made up of vignettes describing the life of human ancestors or descendants, from pre-sentience to sentience to post-sentience. The book is tied together by snapshots of near future humanity at the beginning of the epoch where modern humans begin to de-evolve. The best parts of the novel are where we see pre-humans developing intelligence and self-awareness and the societies that coalesce. It is also very character driven which helps provide empathy in the otherwise merciless cycle of life. There are some really clever off-shoot chapters as well. Overall the book is well done, if a bit tedious at times.
Rating:
Summary: A 20 Star Book!
Review: In novel form, Baxter presents here what everyone should understand, our origins, wrote in an interesting and entertaining way, in contrast to textbooks that are often wrote in a dry, academic style. Beautifully written, Baxter traces our mammalian past, beginning with a small primate Baxter named Purga, living in the time of the dinosaurs, and then on up to the present time and into the future as well. Each chapter is a story about an animal(s), and how it has evolved and interacts with others and it's environment. These stories are fascinating indeed, little glimpses into our primate past, and how evolution has shaped us into what we are now through the relentless selection process. As millions of years pass after the great extinction event caused about 65 million years ago by a great comet (most likely), each story is about an animal or groups of animals as they become more and more human. Mammals in later times entered into group living to help ensure their survival, the corresponding social dynamics did spurr the development of larger and more complex brains, eventually giving rise to full consciousness. Baxter did a great job here, as everywhere in this novel, and his illustration of the concept of deceit as a by-product of consciousness was brilliant. At least one other reviewer speculated as to what message Stephen Baxter is trying to get across to us. One reviewer wrote that perhaps the message is that if we don't master spaceflight and get off this planet we will de-evolve into lower life forms. Well, mabe, but even though I am a supporter of our space program I think perhaps not. I believe the primary message is to dramaticize the 'fact' of evolution to the general public with a well written and informative novel, teaching the fundamentals in an entertaining way, a refreshing breath of rational thought. Indeed, in our world there are many influences pulling us this way and that, the vast majority are not worthy or rational, Baxter seems to me to be trying to counter this. We live in a society where the vast majority of people are incapable of true independent thought, lead around by our so-called 'leaders' who themselves are largely incapable of independent thought, as they were put in power by the ignorant masses in the first place. The recent movie FAHRENHEIT 9-11 is a great expose' on this. In my own community there are even people who believe that the Earth is only about 6000 years old and that the extinction of the dinosaurs was aided from hunting by humans!!! I know this sounds harsh, and it is, I believe Baxter's primary message in this novel is to get through to at least a few people with the truth about our past, that our time is but a snapshot in a vast era of billions of years, and that, if you believe Baxter to the fullest, we are just animals, however intelligent, imbedded in an ecosystem as we always have been. Baxter also covers the emergence of 'belief' systems due to evolutionary advantage, and our propensity for them, well done here also. Sometimes, after finishing a book, I am left with a feeling that I wasted my time having read it. You will not have that feeling after reading this book. This book would make a great movie, if anyone would dare to, in the conservative age in which we live.
Rating:
Summary: Deep Genetic Time
Review: In order to grasp deep time, we can change our frame of reference from human time to historical time, or for really long periods, geologic time. Stephen Baxter has gone much further than even geologic time; he has written a book in genetic time. In this frame of reference, the creation of mountain ranges, the cutting of canyons and plateaus, the movements of continents, and the formation of inland seas and oceans are merely single frames in a much longer film, and individual lives flash by too quickly to register.
Yet life is the protagonist, and Baxter is able to demonstrate a continuum of existence, from 65 million years ago through 500 million years from now, by slowing his film down periodically to focus upon individual lives, lives connected through time by their DNA. These vignettes are well crafted, demonstrating the adaptive pressures upon species and their resultant evolution, without anthropomorphizing or describing any kind of "plan" or progression toward complexity or consciousness. Evolution is random, haphazard, a simple exploitation of the current environmental niche...and a lot of luck.
Baxter's characters, sprinkled across 565 million years, seem so real and interesting that he could write entire books about each of them individually, and these books would not be boring. He is a little long-winded in places, and some of his more speculative chapters will raise eyebrows, but excess verbiage works within the scope of the story, and Baxter acknowledges his speculative leaps. In the afterword, Baxter is clear that Evolution is a work of fiction that should not be used, in any regard, as a text on this topic, however, for those who cannot get their minds around genetic time, Evolution is a valuable and entertaining tool.
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