A race of aliens makes contact with Earth, encoding their knowledge in the form of a virus that, unfortunately, evolves into a deadly pandemic that forever alters the planet's character. Young's first novel blends a keen understanding of human nature with the desire to touch the utterly alien. A good choice for most sf collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Remarkable in its world-spanning scope, breathtaking in its visionary intensity, THE BRIDGE is an epic novel of human transformation and destiny that will rank in the classic tradition of Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End and Octavia E. Butler's Dawn.

Somewhere in the cosmos, inquisitive, utterly unhuman aliens reach out, seeking intelligent life, sending greetings and knowledge encrypted within microscopic packets of genetic data. Their information takes on the form of a virus designed to bridge worlds through understanding. But its creators, the alien Kasarans, do not know that their communication might kill...

For when it reaches Earth, the Kasaran virus can't completely adapt to human biology. Instead, it transforms into a plague called the Pandemic that annihilates billions of humans at random.

And when the Pandemic ends, the Earth is changed forever...

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

3.6 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A great writer., Jul 27 2002

By	Bobby R. Treat "DrMajorBob" (Round Rock, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Full of rich analogies, metaphors, and deep congruences... a great story, almost-real characters, and a poetic yet unpretentious prose style. Good science fiction, and good literature.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely recommend this book, May 23 2002

By	Jay C. Hartlove (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a beautifully written book, well-thought out and developed characters, and beautifully described surroundings - you'll think you actually are in India in a couple of the scenes. The plot is nicely developed, from a pandemnic that wipes out most of the world population, to the rebuilt society. I particularly enjoyed the character development throughout the novel, where the people started, where they were after the pandemic, and where they ended up. Fascinating from a psychological point of view! A nice, satisfying read, and not one that's so complicated you'll need a degree in astronomy or computer sciences to figure out.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

1.0 out of 5 stars It doesn't make sense, Mar 23 2002

By	Douglas De Bono - Author of No Safe Harbor (Minnetonka, mn United States) - See all my reviews

I rarely flame a book, because I know what it takes to put one together. However, The Bridge doesn't make sense for so many reasons. The characters are not real. I cannot imagine a mother committing suicide right after giving birth. It is not realistic to believe food would start flowing back to the cities after a pandemic virus wipes out 4 billion people. And who kept the power grid running during this disaster?

Yes, there is a sci-fi premise regarding first contact (sort of), but humanity tends to react a bit differently in the light of megadeath than what was depicted here.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 10 customer reviews...

Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Provoking
I was startled to see the bad reviews for this book. I read it six months ago, and the ideas are still with me. Read more

Published on Dec 10 2001 by haramis

2.0 out of 5 stars I wouldn't bother
While I found the idea of the book interesting, the execution was boring in the extreme. I'd be reading along and then find myself thinking about something else altogether (like,... Read more

Published on Dec 2 2001 by A. Webber

4.0 out of 5 stars A moving spiritual journey
The Bridge is a strangely powerful and moving literary journey; and, one that may be dificult to accept -- at first. Read more

Published on April 8 2001

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting premise, uninteresting book
While I found the basic concept of Young's "The Bridge" to be quite interesting, a distant alien race attempting to communicate by sending a message encoded in a virus,... Read more

Published on Mar 22 2001 by Hank Schwartz