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
Be Specific About 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 |
Narrative In Favor Of 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...
Rating Regarding Books Darwin's Radio (Darwin's Radio #1)
Ratings: 3.7 From 12976 Users | 745 ReviewsCritique Regarding 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 mysteryIf I could give half stars, this would be a 2 1/2. Its ok. The premise is interesting, but the story itself is disjointed and unclear. There doesnt seem to be any cohesive story. There are interesting ideas strewn about, but this could have been handled in a lot fewer pages. Ill still read the sequel. Id like to know where Bear was headed.
Nicely done hard SciFi. It went a big heavy on the data dumps regarding the behaviors of genes and other aspects of inherited traits, disease, and evolution but the plot and characters were strong enough to keep the pages turning.
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
Wrong book at a very wrong time for me, but given the bit about mass miscarriages and deformed fetuses and etc. I doubt I would want to stomach this during even a good time.
I've been trying to figure out if I've read this one before, or if it just seems familiar because I've read the second book in the series. I think I remember the second book being a lot more engaging, perhaps because there are a lot of very smart children in it, and who doesn't enjoy little kids showing up adults?This start is a little drier, and it's very science heavy, so if you're not into DNA and genetics, you might want to skip this one. I have a passing interest, and I was decently able to
0 Comments