Rating: 
Summary: Has been done better by others
Review: Intriguing premise, strong characters, weak conclusion. The best books have multiple climaxes throughout the story with interludes to develop character and build wonder. Unfortunately, this book doesn't create any tension or excitement in the reader.While there is a reasonable message built into the story . . . what it means to be human, the value of life and why it's worth living, etc., there isn't much support for that message during the book. It makes sense given what the main character has gone through but it isn't particularly powerful. If you want a book that combines a powerful concept, an interesting, sustainable alternate world and terrific suspense, try Holdstock's Mythago Wood.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Darwinia is one of the types of SF novels that I hate most; it starts out with a great premise but then turns into a sloppy, forgettable mess by the end. Here's the idea: In 1912, all of the people and signs of civilization on the continent of Europe vanish and are replaced by alien plants and animals. A few years latter, an expedition is sent up the Rhine River to explore the new continent. The main character of the book is a photographer named Guillford Law who joins the expedition in hopes of becoming famous. After the expedition is attacked, he is one of the few survivors and becomes caught up in a battle to save the world. Two other storylines follow Guillford's wife in London and a psychic from the United States. The biggest problem with the book, as others have mentioned, is that the author decides to give away the secret about the disappearance of Europe after just 100 pages. From there on, the rest of the book grows very confusing. Wilson tries to wrap all of the diverging plot lines together, but there were so many of them, and the writing was so vague that I couldn't keet track of who was doing what and how each character related to the central storyline.
Rating: 
Summary: A remarkable tour de force
Review: "Darwinia" establishes Robert Charles Wilson as one of the outstanding writers in contemporary SF. The Europe of 1912 is replaced by a strange, alien wilderness containing previously unknown forms of plants and animals and no sign of civilization. Religious fundamentalism bubbles to the forefront in the wake of the "Miracle" as most people believe that God sweep the old center of Western civilization out of existence because of its iniquity. Some people see inconsistencies in the theological explanation and seek alternate explanations based on science and logic. Guilford Law, the protagonist of the novel, is drawn into the latter camp and ultimately reaches a stunning explanation of the true nature of the "Miracle". Wilson's technical writing skills are excellent. He draws a haunting picture of this strange world that was Europe. Wilson creates appealing characters with depth using a mature and well-crafted writing style. The characters behave rationally in this irrational world. Most importantly, Wilson thoroughly understands contemporary history and creates a series of events in the post-"Miracle" world that are both logical and reasonable. For instance, the obliteration of the British home islands leads Lord Kitchener to set up a rump government operating out of Ottawa that seeks to retain the claims of the British Empire. This is precisely what Kitchener, the hero of Khartoum and victor of the Boer War, would have done. A brief naval war erupts between the US and the British rump government that the Americans easily win. This fits with the deployment of the major forces of the Royal Navy in British home waters in 1912 to counter the growing threat of the German navy. With these forces gone, the American navy would have been easily superior. As the story unfolds, Wilson's tale is not one of a peculiar 20th century Earth history. Darwinia is a story of the history of the universe. Wilson uses some very imaginative speculation in creating an original and daring story. Darwinia is far from the usual alternate history tales common to SF. [reader's reference- my personal five star novels: Dune, Hyperion, Ender's Game]
Rating: 
Summary: A little disjointed
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of this book. I won't rehash the basic plot - you can read the synopsis above and many of the other reviews for that. I was completely enthralled by the mystery of what had happened to the old Europe. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. And then, the first of several "interludes" jolted me from the alternate 1920 to the millions-of-years-from-now far future. It was a bit disorienting and didn't really seem to connect to the story thus far except for a few hints that didn't make sense until they were explained much later on. Don't get me wrong, I finished the book and did enjoy it. Guilford Law is a very likeable character and if the plot requires a more-than-average amount of suspension of disbelief, it is still worth reading. But the story doesn't flow smoothly, the transitions are awkward, and the reality of what is happening, when revealed, is a bit cheesy. Take it out of the library, but I wouldn't spend the money. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars if I could.
Rating:
Summary: Unusual
Review: "Darwinia" is one of the most unusual books I have read. It starts out in 1912 with the complete and mysterious disappearance of Europe and the British Isles. In place of the Old Europe is a new Europe which is shaped similarly but which is unpopulated by humans and contains an alien flora and fauna. Guilford Law is a boy when this event takes place and is fascinated by it. By 1922, the US is in the throes of a religious revival, the world is in an economic depression, and what to do with the "new" Europe is a subject of politcal controversy. Law, now a young man, joins an expedition to explore the interior of the new continent, leaving his wife and daughter in "New" London. What follows is a pretty good adventure as Law and his companions trek through the alien wilderness while his wife stumbles into a relationship with a soldier in "New" London. Suddenly, about a third of the way through, the scene shifts and the reader is confronted with a galaxy "collapsed into its own singularity" where "noospheres" meet "in million-year cycles to exchange knowledge and to create hybrid offspring, metacultures embedded in infant noospheres dense as neutron stars." The upshot of this is that all sentient history/experiece has been accumulated into an "Archive" of incomprehensible magnitude. The purpose of the Archive is to preserve all knowledge, but it is under attack from what can perhaps best be described as computer viruses blindly attempting to alter or destroy the stored data. Much of this aspect of the story is dense and obscure. Subsequent to this revelation, the story changes dramatically, taking on a bizarre nature. Law meets his alter ego, who actually died in France in WW I on the original earth. This alter ego tries to enlist Law in the "war" against the "evil" virus entities. This is a very odd story. The latter part is much different from the first part, and the connection between Earth and the Archive, as well as the nature of the Archive and the war going on in it, are never adequately explained. Indeed, much of the story struck me as very dark, and it reads like a horror story. It was relatively fast-paced and I got through it pretty quickly, but I was less than satisfied with where it had taken me by the time I got to the end. I can't honestly recommend it to other readers, even though some parts were entertaining enough. I'm sure some folks will like it, but proceed at your own risk.
Rating:
Summary: interesting premise, but ultimately too head-scratching
Review: At the beginning of the twentieth century, the continent of Europe is replaced (yes, replaced) by a wild, uninhabited version complete with un-Earthly flora and fauna. This is the jumping off point for a twisting, "What is reality?" story that aspires to be a cross between Philip K. Dick and William Gibson. Unfortunately, it's just a bit too head-scratching.
Rating:
Summary: Good start but goes downhill
Review: This novel did start as a clasic Edgar Rice Burroughs or Jules Verne type novel - as stated on the back cover by the Toronto Globe reviewer. However, that reviewer must not have read past the middle of the book because it then turns into a garbled story-line about the changed continent of Europe is due to a computer virus attempting to rewrite the archieved history of the universe. While interesting to read to its conclusion once started, I would not recommend it to others and won't keep it on my bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Premise with a Fatal Flaw
Review: This novel has great movie pitch appeal. Its premise can be summed up in one sentence but is so unique and fresh and startling that it just jumps up and grabs you. The basic plot can be sold simply by stating: "In 1912, the world discovers that all of the civilizations and people of Europe have been replaced overnight by a primeval wilderness." This bizarre transformation fuels the action of the first half of the book, as explorers from the United States and other unaffected areas begin to probe the mysteries of the vast and unpopulated depths of Darwinina, as the transformed Europe is now called. Needless to say, the balance of international power has been changed by the disappearance of most of the great nations, and the global economy has been sent into a depression. Because of its overseas empire, which remained unchanged, the English are able to re-establish a tenuous foothold in New London, which draws immigrants from Canada, Australia, India, and South Africa. Other countries, such as Germany, Italy, and France, are less fortunate due to their lack of colonies, and hence are easily bullied by the Americans. The description of the events of one American expedition sent to probe the Darwinian hinterlands is fairly engrossing. This is Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs territory, vigorous pulp fiction with heroic explorers and uncharted depths and fantastic events, and even the mandatory lost city. But the reader's expectations are abruptly upset when Wilson pulls the curtain aside and reveals the truth behind the Darwinian miracle. At this point, the novel becomes a weird fusion of "The Lost World" and "The Matrix", and the intimate human scale is lost. It becomes quite evident that the apparent conflicts in Darwinia are but the vaguest echoes of a far greater war which is beyond all contemporary human comprehension. Wilson should be given credit for his boldness, but unfortunately, this sudden change in tone plays quite poorly and the reader's connection to characters and events becomes singularly detached. However, this is a noteworthy book simply for the sheer audacity and playful brilliance of the first half. The cover art is also gorgeous.
Rating:
Summary: Like so many others.......
Review: I felt this book started strong, it had captured my imagination and felt it was leading to exciting discoveries. When more is revealed I was dissappointed but thought after a strong start Mr. Wilson would take it to more interesting heights. He just didn't appear to know where is was going with it and it wandered and floundered, the characters weakened and it fell apart. Very inconsistent in parts...I don't ask for everything to make sense in Sci-fi but you have the responsibility for making it plausible in the plot/setting. DCS
Rating:
Summary: Half is fantastic, half is mediocre
Review: Robert Charles Wilson is one of my favorite authors so I was a little disappointed with this book. The first half of the book detailing the metamorphasis of Europe is interesting and exciting but the second half where you discover the cause of the change is less interesting. I liked the adventurousness of the first half, but I found the second half to be plodding in some places. Still, Wilson is a great author and this book is better than most of the science fiction being published today.
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