Darwin's Children

by Greg Bear

Book Overview

Greg Bear's Nebula Award-winning novel, Darwin's Radio , painted a chilling portrait of humankind on the threshold of a radical leap in evolution--one that would alter our species forever. Now Bear continues his provocative tale of the human race confronted by an uncertain future, where "survival of the fittest" takes on astonishing and controversial new dimensions. Eleven years have passed since SHEVA, an ancient retrovirus, was discovered in human...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345448367
• ISBN13: 9780345448361
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.2" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

In "Odd John's" best tradition.

"Darwin's Radio" was Greg Bear's first novel I've read and I was delighted with it, so it is not strange I continue reading this second installment. IMHO this second part is better than the original. Why? Well here are some reasons. Human conflicts are deeper and shown with keen perception by the author: prejudice, intolerance, altruism and civic boldness are voiced thru different characters. The emergence of new humankind, in the best tradition of Stapledon's "Odd John", is presented full of subtleties. Anguish of new children born in turmoil of near social panic. Fear in human establishment and harsh ineffectual measures adopted and bold resistance from parents and supporters. All these presented in a very articulate and convincing way are major traits of the novel. Bear's powerful imagination device several new qualities in these offspring: two oral communication levels, pheromones emitted purposefully, facial complex signs amongst other. The kids are as baffled as human adults. They try to establish new relationships with different levels of success. The story starts several years after the ending of the first one. Families of the new children are persecuted, children interned in the best totalitarian traditions. At the same time evolution of the "sheva" kids starts chain reactions in general public and decision makers. Some of the brass realize their initial errors and try to mend them; others try to use power ruthlessly no matter at which price. Social, economic, religious and political forces collide and produce an electrifying scenario. With all these elements Bear has written an unforgettable novel, gripping and entertaining. I wholeheartedly recommend this novel to all sci-fi buffs! Reviewed by Max Yofre.

An excellant near-future thriller

I'm writing this review of Darwin's Children, but it actually applies to both that work, and the one preceeding it, Darwin's Radio. Both are great science fiction stories that go beyond the genre, and would interest fans of human-interest fiction as well. The novels deal with an iconoclastic evolutionary theory (turning out to be right in the story, of course) which challenges the neo-Darwinian scenario of a slow process of natural selection taking place over eons. In the new theory, very briefly, portions of the "junk DNA" in organisms, including humans, can respond to sufficient stresses in the environment to bring about a new genotype in the off-spring of a species at a very rapid rate. The story deals with the effects on society and the individuals involved, when increasing numbers of these upgrade humans are born. The trauma faced by society as a whole, who's leaders mistakenly believe that these children pose a disease risk to the society, is exceeded by that of the parents, who find their children forcibly taken away from them, often without any follow-up word on where they are, or what their condition is. And the new children themselves have to deal with a world that seems to resent their existance, forced into concentration camp type "schools", and kept there even after evidence clearly indicates there is no danger, for reasons of political expediency. The two main characters, Kaye and Mitch, and their daughter Stella, one of the Homo Sapiens Novus, contend with forces seemingly beyond their control, trying to keep their family together, and to help bring about a more humane response to the new type of human being in our midst. The story,again including both books, is genetically informative, suspensful, and very moving. Get both books and read them as a single work. I highly recommend both of them!

Bear continues to evolve

Darwin's Children is the sequel to the Nebula winner and Hugo nominee Darwin's Radio, and like its predecessor, it is a dense, demanding, disturbing, fascinating novel. It's not an easy read, however: it's crammed with acronyms and scientific jargon, and the SHEVA children, with their enhanced senses, often speak in their own language. A scientific glossary, a short biological primer, and a non-fiction reading list are hidden at the back of the book (and I mean that; I didn't discover them until after I'd finished reading the story), but you may find that referring to these punctuates your equilibrium.Bear also shifts viewpoint characters so frequently that it's sometimes difficult to keep track, especially if you haven't read Darwin's Radio. If you're expecting X-men, you may be disappointed; there is some violence, but little in the way of pyrotechnic action. The tone is more reminiscent of The Hot Zone, gene-spliced with political thriller.Darwin's Children doesn't pull its punches when it comes to politics: a horrible disease is compared to House Republicans and vice versa, and the only out-and-out villains who appear in the book are a senator and a television commentator. Bear is also scathing in his depiction of religious fanatics, bureaucrats, talk radio, and the capacity of Americans en masse (though not usually as individuals) to be intolerant, gullible, complacent or savage to the point of attempting genocide. His scientists are more sympathetic, though never flawless - even Augustine, skilled as he is at the underhanded political games that help him gain power, believes that what he is doing is necessary for the greater good. All the major characters are well realised, and all change slowly but believably: some even evolve.Darwin's Children is demanding, but it's also gripping, sometimes frightening, often thought-provoking, and well worth the effort of reading.

Growing Up Shevite

Darwin's Children is the second novel in the Darwin series, following Darwin's Radio. In the previous novel, the CDC discovered a viral disease that caused miscarriages followed by another pregnancy without the introduction of any male sperm. Called Herod's flu by the CDC, researchers soon discovered that it originated as an HERV (Human Endogenous Retrovirus); that is, the virus was produced by each male's own cells and then passed to their mates. Renamed SHEVA (Scattered Human Endogenous Viral Activation) and soon vulgarized to "shiver", this disease also caused a few women who had xenotransplants to continually produce a variety of deadly viruses. The deaths from these cases triggered an intense fear reaction among certain xenophobic segments of society, which lead to the formation of EMAC (Emergency Action) to handle the situation. Kaye Lang had played a primary role in the identification of the virus and the discovery of the shedding mechanism. Mitch Rafelson had made the archaeological discovery that SHEVA had been active in ancient times, producing Homo sapiens sapiens from Homo sapiens neandertalis. Their work brought them together and resulted in Kaye becoming pregnant with Stella, a SHEVA child. When public reaction became hostile to these children, Mark, Kaye and Stella went underground like many other families with SHEVA children. Others, however, turned over their SHEVA children to the care of EMAC, who put them in special "schools". One such "school" was attacked and the children slaughtered by nearby residents, so the other schools were fortified to protect the children. Mark Augustine was the former director of EMAC, but has been re-assigned after the slaughter and is now the director of all federally operated SHEVA "schools". The incidence has haunted his conscience, for he was one of the politicians that had fanned the flames of fear and so has to share the blame for the deaths. Christopher Dicken is still a virus hunter for the CDC, but now he walks with a limp and has only has one eye due to a bomb planted in the White House by a fanatic. He regularly visits Mrs. Carla Rhine, whose body produces mutated, and often deadly, viruses as the result of an interaction of SHEVA with her pig kidney transplant, and who is now held in maximum isolation. Dicken is ordered by HHS to meet with his former boss, Mark Augustine, to consult on a new virus which is killing SHEVA children. Normally, SHEVA children are very healthy and are never infected by normal childhood illnesses; consequently, some state-controlled SHEVA "schools" have had most of their medical supplies transferred to other agencies. Now the children are becoming sick and some have died in various "schools" across the country. At the Joseph Goldberger School in Ohio, many of the staff have fled, the National Guard has encircled the grounds and are keeping the public out, hundreds of children are dead, and the medical supplies are scant. Augustine and D

Growing Up Shevite

Darwin's Children is the second novel in the Darwin series, following Darwin's Radio. In the previous novel, the CDC discovered a viral disease that caused miscarriages followed by another pregnancy without the introduction of any male sperm. Called Herod's flu by the CDC, researchers soon discovered that it originated as an HERV (Human Endogenous Retrovirus); that is, the virus was produced by each male's own cells and then passed to their mates. Renamed SHEVA (Scattered Human Endogenous Viral Activation) and soon vulgarized to "shiver", this disease also caused a few women who had xenotransplants to continually produce a variety of deadly viruses. The deaths from these cases triggered an intense fear reaction among certain xenophobic segments of society, which lead to the formation of EMAC (Emergency Action) to handle the situation. Kaye Lang had played a primary role in the identification of the virus and the discovery of the shedding mechanism. Mitch Rafelson had made the archaeological discovery that SHEVA had been active in ancient times, producing Homo sapiens sapiens from Homo sapiens neandertalis. Their work brought them together and resulted in Kaye becoming pregnant with Stella, a SHEVA child. When public reaction became hostile to these children, Mark, Kaye and Stella went underground like many other families with SHEVA children. Others, however, turned over their SHEVA children to the care of EMAC, who put them in special "schools". One such "school" was attacked and the children slaughtered by nearby residents, so the other schools were fortified to protect the children.Mark Augustine was the former director of EMAC, but has been re-assigned after the slaughter and is now the director of all federally operated SHEVA "schools". The incidence has haunted his conscience, for he was one of the politicians that had fanned the flames of fear and so has to share the blame for the deaths.Christopher Dicken is still a virus hunter for the CDC, but now he walks with a limp and has only has one eye due to a bomb planted in the White House by a fanatic. He regularly visits Mrs. Carla Rhine, whose body produces mutated, and often deadly, viruses as the result of an interaction of SHEVA with her pig kidney transplant, and who is now held in maximum isolation. Dicken is ordered by HHS to meet with his former boss, Mark Augustine, to consult on a new virus which is killing SHEVA children. Normally, SHEVA children are very healthy and are never infected by normal childhood illnesses; consequently, some state-controlled SHEVA "schools" have had most of their medical supplies transferred to other agencies. Now the children are becoming sick and some have died in various "schools" across the country. At the Joseph Goldberger School in Ohio, many of the staff have fled, the National Guard has encircled the grounds and are keeping the public out, hundreds of children are dead, and the medical supplies are scant. Augustine and Dicken go