Darwin's Children: 2 (Darwin's Radio) - Softcover

Bear, Greg

3.65

5,486 ratings by Goodreads

9780345448361: Darwin's Children: 2 (Darwin's Radio)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345448367 ISBN 13: 9780345448361

Publisher: Del Rey Books, 2004

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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 DNA--a retrovirus that caused mutations in the human genome and heralded the arrival of a new wave of genetically enhanced humans. Now these changed children have reached adolescence . . . and face a world that is outraged about their very existence. For these special youths, possessed of remarkable, advanced traits that mark a major turning point in human development, are also ticking time bombs harboring hosts of viruses that could exterminate the "old" human race.

Fear and hatred of the virus children have made them a persecuted underclass, quarantined by the government in special "schools," targeted by federally sanctioned bounty hunters, and demonized by hysterical segments of the population. But pockets of resistance have sprung up among those opposed to treating the children like dangerous diseases--and who fear the worst if the government's draconian measures are carried to their extreme.

Scientists Kaye Lang and Mitch Rafelson are part of this small but determined minority. Once at the forefront of the discovery and study of the SHEVA outbreak, they now live as virtual exiles in the Virginia suburbs with their daughter, Stella--a bright, inquisitive virus child who is quickly maturing, straining to break free of the protective world her parents have built around her, and eager to seek out others of her kind.

But for all their precautions, Kaye, Mitch, and Stella have not slipped below the government's radar. The agencies fanatically devoted to segregating and controlling the new-breed children monitor their every move--watching and waiting for the opportunity to strike the next blow in their escalating war to preserve "humankind" at any cost.

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Review:

'Darwin's Radio delves into crucial questions about where we humans came from and where we're going. Along the way, the book shows how much and how little we've changed from our ancestors... Bear tells a good, character-driven story.' USA Today

'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.' Amazon.com

Bear plays to his strength – cutting-edge scientific speculation – in this riveting SF thriller about possible evolutionary apocalypse. As three scientists discover a catastrophic threat within humanity's genes, Bear, a master of hard SF, explores the nature of evolution and, through well-developed characters, the nature of the species that would control it.' Publisher's Weekly

'Darwin's Radio is a tense technothriller in the Michael Crichton vein... evolutionary change, we secretly believe, isn't something that happens to us... The world collapses in panic. Gurus of scientific orthodoxy, paralysed by over-fast change, turn a blind eye to the shocking evidence. There are riots, flights to the hills, death cults, martial law, and superstitious fear... Intelligent science fiction on a colossal scale.' New Scientist

'Bear's ability to tell a good story is surpassed only by his enthusasiam for the advancing edge of molecular biology ... he might just be anticipating the next giant leap in our understanding of evolution and ourselves.' Nature

About the Author:

Greg Bear is the author of more than twenty-five books, which have been translated into seventeen languages. His most recent novel is Vitals. He has been awarded two Hugos and four Nebulas for his fiction. He is married to Astrid Anderson Bear, and they are the parents of two children, Erik and Alexandra. Visit the author's Web site at www.gregbear.com.

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