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Summary: Lost World meets Lovecraft ??
Review: I'm not sure how to even approach a review of this book. It starts out very interesting -- part of the world has been replaced with what appears to be a section of an alternate Earth with similar topology but which developed differently. But then everything sort of warps around and we're really in a 'computer' simulated Earth inside a galactic archive that has what sounds like sentient computer bugs that want a life of their own even though nothings real anyway.There's still a lot of interesting ideas and characters thoughout the book and it held my interest enough that I didn't give up reading it. I found the characters richly drawn but unbelievable in their actions and reactions and the plot so unconnected to my world and my concerns that I didn't care. Now science fiction is usually removed from my life and cares but there is a core area of humanity or relatedness that even so I care about what happens. So what if the bugs won -- none of it was going to make a difference anyway. The real Earth didn't exist and neither did any of these 'people' who were already dead in the simulation and only existed because of a malfunction caused by the 'bugs'. So what was in the balance? Why should we care? What did we learn about ourselves or our relationship with our planet? Not much. But we could have. There was a lot here that was interesting and thought provoking but for some reason it just didn't gel.
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Summary: The best Science Fiction novel of 1998
Review: Ignore the negative reviews. If you don't mind a book that deserves careful reading, that will make you think and give the ole under-used imagination a real workout ... get this book. I guarantee you have never read anything like it! Robert Charles Wilson writes the best science fiction today. Period. The only problem is most of his books are out of print. But they're worth tracking down if you want unique sf. I especially recommend "Gypsies" (a fantastic alternate worlds tale) and "A Bridge of Years" (perhaps the most unique novel of time travel ever).
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Summary: A strange and fabulous read.
Review: Wilson is a lithe and subtle writer who is not afraid to grapple with large ideas. And he tells a fascinating story. Yes, the cover is great, but the cover is only the beginning. Highly recommended.
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Summary: A Must Read
Review: This was a great book!! The plot was very interesting, something I would never in a million years come up with. I highly recommend it!!!
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Summary: Best SF novel yet based on Tipler
Review: Frank Tipler has provided fodder for lots of SF writers, but no one has used him as cleverly as Wilson. This is a very inventive book that is true hard science fiction, even though at times it doesn't appear to be SF at all. Really well done, by someone who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors (see also his MYSTERIUM for another good read).
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Summary: Wilson on drugs
Review: Back when Ellison was compiling the First Dangerous Visions, rumor has it he asked Phillip K. Dick to write a story for the volume while under the influence of LSD. Robert Charles Wilson must have decided to do the same thing. There are basically two novels here, a turn-of-the-century adventure novel into an alternate Europe, and a cyberpunk "Good AI vs. Bad AI" SF book. While each would have been interesting in its own right, the two together never really seem to mesh well. Several characters (Vale, for example.) are virtually pointless, and the whole "dead soldiers from WW1" bit seemed totally tacked on. Personally, I could have easily accepted never knowing why Darwinia appears. The alternate world had some wonderful possibilities, yet they go sadly unrealized. All that said, it's not a _bad_ book. I didn't have to force myself to finish it. There are enough good ideas to keep you interested, but overall the book is a bit of a mess.
Rating: 
Summary: OK read, but.....Aaargh!!
Review: I liked many of the ideas in this book even if it all seems a bit muddled, but get so annoyed on behalf of my gender that I hardly get to enjoy the bits I otherwise would have liked. Everyone inhabitet by a "god", be it a good or bad one, are men. The few women are wives, unfaithful or dead, and a daugther working as a secretary(!) for one of the villains. So....Aaargh!!
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Summary: A recommended read
Review: Robert Wilson weaves an interesting tale. One of the better books I've read in a while.
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Summary: a refreshingly intelligent book
Review: Okay, I'll admit it. I bought this book because I liked the cover. For the first 20-30 pages or so, I was really kicking myself for it too, it starts off as a pretty strait foward lets-go-into-the- unknown-and-blow-stuff-up story, but once it gets to the heart of the tale, hold on to your hats. The plot sucked me in to the point that I literally called in sick to work to finish it. The writing style is fairly lacking, but when was the last time a book with a good plot was well written? A must read.
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Summary: Good but not as good as it could have been
Review: Darwinia? A book based on a good idea that I think was not totally developed and exploited like it should have been. I did like the premise of a new and uncharted "world" within out own world. The thing is that I could not get the real point of the book. I thought when I first started to read that I would be attempting to understand human nature. I really hoped that I would see a discusion and visualazation of humankind trying to cope with a major world changing event over which they had no control. To a point I got that. Then about half way through we started talking about insect men and computer generated worlds. At that point I gave up. I read purely to say that I finished the book. To put it simply it was a great idea for a book that became ruined and muddled by the need for some out of this world technological crap plot. I was looking for an examination of human nature and a commentary on his faith in a higher power in the face of disaster. Instead I got a commentary on bug men and furry six legged animal.
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