Present Books As Darwin's Radio (Darwin's Radio #1)
| Original Title: | Darwin's Radio |
| ISBN: | 0345459814 (ISBN13: 9780345459817) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Darwin's Radio #1 |
| Characters: | Kaye Lang, Christopher Dickens, Mitch Rafelson |
| Literary Awards: | Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel (2000), Nebula Award for Best Novel (2000), Locus Award Nominee for Best Science Fiction Novel (2000), John W. Campbell Memorial Award Nominee for Best Science Fiction Novel (2000), Endeavour Award (2000) |
Greg Bear
Paperback | Pages: 448 pages Rating: 3.7 | 12976 Users | 745 Reviews
Interpretation To Books Darwin's Radio (Darwin's Radio #1)
So I keep on reading Bear novels, feeling disappointed, waiting a while, then rinse and repeat. This time I've clarified why I am so ambivalent about this guy: he has fascinating ideas then writes dull books about them. The premise here is an extreme example. Our "junk" DNA turns out to be a collection of emergency rapid-response evolutionary accelerators - and the emergency response has just been triggered. Cue mysterious pregnancies, peculiar facial mutations and a really big scientific mystery that turns very political very fast. The detail is very convincing - Bear did a heap of research. But here's the problem: almost every event of a dramatic nature happens off-stage and the middle part of the book, between the initial scientific drama and the political nightmare at the end bogs down severely. (view spoiler)[Then, to add insult to injury, the book closes before the new generation of evolved humans reaches their teens, so the social consequences are not fully explored (but there is a sequel). It looks like things are heading into X-Men territory, but of course more seriously treated, or, more precisely, in the vein of Nancy Kress's Sleepless books. (hide spoiler)] There is a theme of the disaster that occurs when science gets forced into the political arena; you only have to look at the climate change debate to know how that goes. It is very realistically handled but develops too slowly. I am reminded of Kim Stanley Robinson. Several of his works deal with science and internal and external politics and how real science is done and I can't help thinking a more interesting novel would have resulted if he had started with the same material. I acquired Darwin's Children without realising that it was a sequel and then picked up this book subsequently. I will probably read Darwin's Children at some point, since it is lying around and because it really ought to cut to the chase, with the background already painted in with excessive attention to detail but I shall try to resist the urge to buy any more Bear novels regardless of how interesting the premise sounds...
Specify Regarding Books Darwin's Radio (Darwin's Radio #1)
| Title | : | Darwin's Radio (Darwin's Radio #1) |
| Author | : | Greg Bear |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 448 pages |
| Published | : | March 4th 2003 by Ballantine Books (first published May 4th 1999) |
| Categories | : | Science Fiction. Fiction |
Rating Regarding Books Darwin's Radio (Darwin's Radio #1)
Ratings: 3.7 From 12976 Users | 745 ReviewsEvaluation Regarding Books Darwin's Radio (Darwin's Radio #1)
4* for this audiobook edition, 3½* for the book itself. It probably deserves better than that but the politics, while scarily believable, formed too much of the book for me without giving me the feeling of a complete picture.A fast-paced, page-turning sci-fi/medical thriller, with an acknowledged nod to Robin Cook's "Outbreak." However, the interesting (although improbable) scientific ideas in the book lift it above the run-of the-mill bestseller.An unusual discovery is made - two Neandertal mummies, with a seemingly normal, Homo Sapiens infant. Is the child theirs?Meanwhile, a new transmissible retrovirus is discovered - although it might seem to be nothing more than a cold, one of its side effects in pregnant
I did not enjoy this book in the slightest. I probably should have seen it coming, what with the very first sentence of the very first chapter likening the color of the sky backdrop of the alps to 'a dog's pale crazy eye'. Even when, on the very next page, Bear described a frozen waterfall as 'a gnome's upside-down castle' I thought oh, this won't be so bad.I was wrong. Dead wrong.First, let's talk about geek talk. I'm a big fan of Michael Crichton, and as such I expect a book's geek talk to be
So I keep on reading Bear novels, feeling disappointed, waiting a while, then rinse and repeat.This time I've clarified why I am so ambivalent about this guy: he has fascinating ideas then writes dull books about them. The premise here is an extreme example. Our "junk" DNA turns out to be a collection of emergency rapid-response evolutionary accelerators - and the emergency response has just been triggered. Cue mysterious pregnancies, peculiar facial mutations and a really big scientific mystery
I really liked this book. The author obviously researched the subject matter thoroughly, and there was a good balance of science and engaging plot line. I found it to be an easy and fun read, and I will definitely be reading more books by this author in the future.
As warned by a friend, the ideas here are pretty fascinating -- the book might be fifteen years behind in terms of science, but there's nothing inherently ridiculous about the idea based on the scientific knowledge of the time -- but the actual narrative is pretty deadly boring. Some of the writing is just... why would you let that slip past, editor? Hard SF isn't just about the cool ideas: there has to be some element of execution there as well, or there's no point in writing it as a novel --
Oh man. This was basically a DNF, as I did a lot of skimming.I picked this up expecting a sort of virus-thriller (like Contagion, or the Andromeda Strain, I imagine). And besides, it was about things hiding in our genes and I have a keen academic interest in evolution.But I could NOT get through this.Firstly, the science. Bear actually started out solidly, talking about lysogenic viruses and how our genome could contain parts of these viruses. Okay, so far so good. Suddenly they could be
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