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Darwin's Radio [Audio Cassette]

Greg Bear (Author), Stefan Rudnicki (Narrator)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (220 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: August 1999
A 2000 HUGO AWARD NOMINEE

Ancient diseases encoded in the DNA of humans wait like sleeping dragons to wake and infect again--or so molecular biologist Kaye Lang believes. And now it looks as if her controversial theory is in fact chilling reality. For Christopher Dicken, a "virus hunter" at the Epidemic Intelligence Service, has pursued an elusive flu-like disease that strikes down expectant mothers and their offspring. Then a major discovery high in the Alps --the preserved bodies of a prehistoric family--reveals a shocking link: something that has slept in our genes for millions of years is waking up.

Now, as the outbreak of this terrifying disease threatens to become a deadly epidemic, Dicken and Lang must race against time to assemble the pieces of a puzzle only they are equipped to solve--an evolutionary puzzle that will determine the future of the human race . . . if a future exists at all.
--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Product Description

From Amazon

All the best thrillers contain the solution to a mystery, and the mystery in this intellectually sparkling scientific thriller is more crucial and stranger than most. Why are people turning against their neighbors and their newborn children? And what is causing an epidemic of still births? A disgraced paleontologist and a genetic engineer both come across evidence of cover-ups in which the government is clearly up to no good. But no one knows what's really going on, and the government is covering up because that is what, in thrillers as in life, governments do. And what has any of this to do with the discovery of a Neanderthal family whose mummified faces show signs of a strange peeling?

Greg Bear has spent much of his recent career evoking awe in the deep reaches of space, but he made his name with Blood Music, a novel of nanotechnology that crackled with intelligence. His new book is a workout for the mind and a stunning read; human malignancy has its role in his thriller plot, but its real villain, as well as its last best hope, is the endless ingenious cruelty of the natural world and evolution. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In the medical/SF tradition of Robin Cook, Bear (Blood Music) spins an outlandish tale of evolutionary apocalypse. In an ice cave in the Swiss Alps, Mitch Rafelson, a renegade paleontologist, discovers a frozen Neanderthal family, including an oddly evolved infant. Meantime, in Soviet Georgia, Kaye Lang, a microbiologist, is investigating a massacre site, where pregnant women were exterminated. These events relateAby way of elliptical scientific reasoningAto a retrovirus being hunted by U.S. government scientist Christopher Dicken. Called SHEVA, it causes genetic mutations in embryos and may also be an agent of evolution, ushering into being a new race of humans. Is it a sexually transmitted disease? Or, more sinister, is it a God-sent means of delivering up a new Adam for the millennium? When Mitch and Kaye fall in love, then decide to bring their own SHEVA baby to full term, they are about to find out the truth firsthand. This complicated tale is read somberly by the deep-voiced Rudnicki, who works hard to keep the sense of drama high through all the mumbo jumbo. Simultaneous release with the Ballantine hardcover. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Simplistic and Irritating: Reads like a bad first novel. Feb 16 2013
By CalltheDoctor
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Over the past few years I've devoured most of the writings of Isaac Asimov, Octavia E. Butler, Kim Stanley Robinson, Arthur C. Clarke, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kurt Vonnegut, Margaret Atwood, Neal Stephenson, and William Gibson (along with one or two works by many many other excellent writers). I love science/speculative fiction, and I'm always looking for new authors to read.

My search for new great authors and series led me to this book. The premise sounded exciting, and I was optimistic that I would have another huge body of work to read.

That optimism lasted until I was around 4 or 5 pages in. For an interesting story, I can overlook quite a lot, but the lack of craft in this novel is far too obvious. As stated above, it reads like a first attempt at a novel, and not a particularly successful one. The writing style is choppy; the descriptions vary from over-long and obvious to vague and lazy. Attempts at characterization are incredibly unsuccessful, with Bear leaning heavily on gender stereotypes and characters speaking exposition to each-other.

If you enjoy Harlequin romance novels or watching pornography for the story, then this book may be the right choice for you. Otherwise, I'd skip it.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars An evolutionary threat or a bold leap forward? July 17 2004
By Brian
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio was an intriguing look at humanity's grappling with a virus which apparently causes women to have an abortion, but a month after this abortion takes place, the women find they're pregnant again, often without even having had sex. In response to this, riots break out all over the world as people fear these strange occurences and a possible end to modern society as we know it. In the midst of all this is Dr. Kaye Lang, a molecular biologist who has some interesting theories on this supposed virus and its real purpose, and Mitch Rafelson, a palentologist who's discovered the remains of a man, woman and baby from thousands of years ago who may have been experiencing a similar evolutionary process.

The book does a very good job of giving the main characters proper attention. Each character is well defined and their complexities are explored. But, I have to say that the book may have went a little too far in this pursuit. I often found that I wanted more discussion of the attempts at studying and dealing with the virus, but instead much of the book focused on the personal lives of Kaye and Mitch. Although I must admit that the developments between them weren't completely immaterial, the description of the book on the back cover is rather misleading. I would hardly say that Kaye Lang and Christopher Dicken race to solve an evolutionary puzzle.

Despite the fact that the novel headed in a rather different direction than I had anticipated, it was fairly entertaining. The premise was really rather interesting and I liked the questions which were raised by the unfolding events. This novel really had much to do with human nature and questions concerning our own origins. Plus, I hadn't ever read a science fiction novel dealing with evolution so it was a nice change. Overall, I would say read this book if you're really interested. It may not be exactly what you expect, but that doesn't mean you won't like it.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Sheva Virus: disease or evolutionary event? Mar 21 2004
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
When an apparent virus begins hitting pregnant women and destroying their unborn fetuses, panic ensues. But discoveries made in the Alps, and the Republic of Georgia, show it's happened before; right before a major evolutionary advance in the human species. Soon, healthy children with unusual characteristics are born in increasing numbers. Some insist that they are diseased with retroviruses that threaten all of humanity. Others fight to get the truth accepted: homo sapiens sapiens is not the final word in human evolution.
Darwin's Radio is entertaining and thought-provoking. His homo sapiens novus, the new children whose genomes are shaped by the Sheva virus, are not the usual pat "advanced humans" you find in pulp sf, with big heads and telepathic abilities. They are more realistic than that, tho endowed with unusual abitities from the perspective of society as a whole. The novel in many respects goes beyond its genre, and would interest people not generally into science-fiction.
As the government reacts with political calculation and brutality to the Sheva children, more enlightened minds must find a way to convince the world to live in harmony with them. Read this book, then Darwin's Children. Bear has also talked about writing a third book in the group. A great job; in my opinion the two novels are his best work to date.
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Most recent customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Poor story line
I'm going to keep this review short. Just wanted to give a rating so that system is fair, meaning the ratings are not filled with all 5 star people telling you to buy it. Read more
Published on Jun 8 2004
3.0 out of 5 stars Great, great idea but a little bad in the execution
Why you should read this:

If you like virus thrillers like Preston's The Hot Zone or Crichton's The Andromeda Strain then you will really like this book. Read more

Published on Jun 5 2004 by Inchoatus.com
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent hard-core scifi!
Having loved scifi when young, I've become jaded over the years with the gendre. I guess it's because I love science, and so much of scifi strays pretty far from science and into... Read more
Published on May 29 2004 by Dennis S.
4.0 out of 5 stars "Hello, Mitch"
Hard science, not hard science - the point is it's fiction, and it's entertaining.
I think the book will be perceived as better when taken in conjunction with the sequel. Read more
Published on May 17 2004 by owookiee
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't know much biology, but I do know I love (this book)
I used to try to convince myself that I was smart enough to read Greg Bear's books AND completely understand them. I was, of course, 16, so I knew everything. Read more
Published on April 23 2004 by Kelly Donaldson
3.0 out of 5 stars Clever Title. Story a little uneven
This was my first Greg Bear book, and I had some mixed feelings about it.

First of all the premise of the book was excellent! I appreciated the fact that Mr. Read more

Published on April 13 2004 by Richard King
4.0 out of 5 stars Great!
Not a scientist myself, I can't comment on whether what is discussed in this book is plausible scientifically. But as a fan of intelligent SF, this one is worth reading. Read more
Published on April 6 2004 by Jill Elaine Hughes
1.0 out of 5 stars Laughably ridiculous "science"
I must say, I was absolutely relishing reading this one because it sounded great. But be warned, if you know anything about retroviruses/retrotransposons, you will be sorely... Read more
Published on Mar 27 2004
3.0 out of 5 stars Stellar! Well, almost.
It's an enjoyable read, but the science is definitely rubbery. Only humans have these evolutionary retroviruses? Wouldn't that provide absolute proof of the non-existence of God? Read more
Published on Mar 6 2004 by Dr. Carstairs
4.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic New Look at Human Evolution
Mitch Rafelson is an anthropologist with a bad name. He's been accused of raiding burial sites by Native Americans and now he's in the Alps and finds three Neanderthals in an ice... Read more
Published on Jan 6 2004 by B. Merritt
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