Greg Bear's sequel to the hugely successful Darwin's Radio takes us
into the future of the SHEVA (Scattered Human Endogenous Viral
Activation)- precipitated 'second wave' of human evolution.
Transposons, recombinant DNA and the historically redundant viruses
found in so-called junk DNA (a glossary is provided, though it may
be advisable to read the first novel in order to get a grip on the
second) have created a new breed of human, shunned, feared and
persecuted by the unaffected. 'Virus children' proliferate and are
herded into containment facilities by frightened governments intent
on maintaining the status quo in the face of the incomprehensible.
Political commentary of Huxleyan proportions combines with
rock-hard science and captivating human interest as Bear pulls the
strands of this massive tale together: like M John Harrison in
Light, he has pulled off the near-impossible trick of evoking not
just the idea of a science, but the experience of it - and there
can be no science more immediately human than the biology of our
own destiny. The tremendous impact of this novel lies precisely in
its strict adherence to the truth - the science on which it is
based is all current, front-line evolutionary biology - and its
deeply human responses to it: the folklorish mysticism professed by
some of the characters closest to the children themselves provokes
an air almost of magic, yet this is a tale built on serious
learning. This is a fairy tale; a work of science; a political
novel; a simple and immediate story of broken relationships. It is
little microcosmic moments of wonderfully well-written human life
juxtaposed with immense conceptual fiction; a sense of theory
building in short bursts of understanding surrounded by the static
of fear and political manipulation. Read this and although you may
not understand the science, you will undoubtedly feel it. (Kirkus
UK)
Evolution is no longer just a theory - and nature is more of a
bitch goddess than a kindly mother - in this tense science thriller
from the author of the Nebula Award-winning Darwin's Radio Stella
Nova is one of the 'virus children', a generation of genetically
enhanced babies born a dozen years before to mothers infected with
the SHEVA virus. In fact, the children represent the next great
evolutionary leap and a new species of human, Homo sapiens novus,
but this is officially denied. They're gentle, charming and
persuasive, possessed of remarkable traits. Nevertheless, they are
locked up in special schools, quarantined from society, feared and
reviled. 'Survival of the fittest' takes on a new dimension as the
children reach puberty. Stella is one of the first to find herself
attracted to another 'virus child', but the authorities are
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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