Darwin's Children, Greg Bear's follow-up to Darwin's Radio, is top-shelf science fiction, thrilling and intellectually charged. It's no standalone, though. The plot and characters are certainly independent of the previous novel, but the background in Darwin's Radio is essential to nonbiologists trying to understand what's going on. The next stage of human evolution has arrived, announced by the birth of bizarre "virus children." Now the children with the hypersenses and odd faces are growing up, and the world has to figure out what to do with them. The answer is evil and all too human, as governments put the kids in camps to protect regular folks from imagined dangers. Mitch and Kaye, scientists whose daughter Stella is swept up in the fray, become unwillingly involved in the politics that erupt around the issue of the new humans. Harrowing chases, gun battles, epidemics, and tense meetings about civil rights ensue, all brilliantly narrated. But just when you think you've got the book figured out, Bear throws a massive curveball by introducing... religion. That's right, a good old-fashioned epiphany, plopped down in the middle of a hard science fiction novel. But even skeptical readers will be swept along with Kaye as she tries to deal with what's happening to her and how it relates to the fate of her daughter's species. Keep reading past the words that make you uncomfortable--the hot science, the cool spirituality--and you'll be rewarded with a story of complete and moving humanity. --Therese Littleton


From Publishers Weekly
In this masterful sequel to his Nebula Award-winning Darwin's Radio, Bear takes us into a near future forever changed by the birth of millions of genetically enhanced babies to mothers infected with the SHEVA virus. These children may represent the next great evolutionary leap, but some fear their appearance rings a death knell for traditional humanity. Geneticist Kaye Lang, archeologist Mitch Rafelson and their daughter, Stella Nova, have been hiding from an increasingly repressive U.S. government that wants to put the so-called "virus children" in what are essentially concentration camps. Eventually, the family is captured, and when Mitch resists he's arrested on a trumped-up charge of assaulting a federal officer. In later years, Kaye returns to genetics and Mitch, once he's out of jail, to archeology, but neither gives up hope of finding and freeing their daughter. Meanwhile, Stella, imprisoned but surrounded by her own kind, begins to explore the full significance of what it means to be post-human. Though cast in a thriller mode, like much of Bear's recent work, this novel may contain too much complex discussion of evolutionary genetics to appeal to Michael Crichton or Robin Cook fans. Nonetheless, Bear's sure sense of character, his fluid prose style and the fascinating culture his "Shevite" children begin to develop all make for serious SF of the highest order.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-In Darwin's Radio (Ballantine, 1999), a long-dormant retrovirus triggered an evolutionary leap. One of the resultant "virus children" was Stella Nova, the daughter of Mitch, an anthropologist, and Kaye, a molecular biologist. As this sequel begins 12 years later, the three are hiding out to escape an increasingly powerful "emergency" government agency set up to "protect" the public from the strange new children. With the complicity of politicians and the news media, EMAC has incited and exploited public fear, violating traditional American rights and isolating the youngsters in inhumane "schools." Stella is caught and placed in one of these institutions while her parents and several other characters studying the new evolutionary development endure their own privations in a country gone terribly wrong. As the adults struggle to carry on their work, Stella and the other virus children grow to maturity, covertly exploring their talents and inventing a new culture that transcends human limitations in several significant ways. Grounded in the cutting-edge science of genetics, this compelling story also explores the seemingly paradoxical question of spirituality. Bear's chilling portrait of America under the heel of EMAC is a cautionary tale worthy of George Orwell or Sinclair Lewis, yet his protagonists shine with humanity, courage, and, in the end, the hope that different species can share the world in peace. This outstanding novel can be read independently, but would best be enjoyed by those who read the first book.Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VACopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
The Nebula Award-wining Darwin's Radio saw the appearance of new, improved human beings called Homo sapiens novus. Now lots of Homo sapiens are out to get them. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
This sequel to DARWIN'S RADIO resembles one of the big-screen X-Men yarns, but at its center is the story of a family. Scientists Kaye Lang and Mitch Rafelson are shielding their daughter, Stella, one of the children who have mutated due to a retrovirus in human DNA, from a government that views the children as a threat. Stella's desire to meet others like her puts the mutated children at risk. Jeff McCarthy gives a low-key performance that doesn't get in the way of the action and captures the story's purpose--to depict human reactions to an unusual situation. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Genetics and evolution are fascinating subjects for speculation, especially in Bear's capable hands. A decade ago (see Darwin's Radio, 1999), human evolution took a leap when children genetically different from the rest of humanity were born around the world, thanks to the actions of retrovirus fragments in the human genome. Darwin's Children begins as the virus children are sent away to schools, often situated in old prisons, to keep them segregated from the rest of the world, which largely fears them. A new disease has emerged among the children, and it takes a great toll, in part because there simply isn't enough medicine to combat it, thanks to corruption in the bureaucracy. Stella Nova, the daughter of two eminent scientists who were at the forefront of predicting and understanding the malady, is one of its survivors. The rest of the book follows Stella's and the other remaining new children's struggle to understand their place in a world that wants to suppress them. Bear handles the interaction between science and plot with practiced aplomb. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"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 formed 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 the escalating war to preserve "humankind" at any cost.

SYNOPSIS

Greg Bear's Nebula Award￯﾿ﾽwinning novel, Darwin's Radio, painted a chilling portrait of humankind on the threshold of a radical leap in evolution￯﾿ﾽone that would alter our species forever.

FROM THE CRITICS

The Washington Post

Readers who prefer their fiction dark and strong might like Greg Bear's Darwin's Children. Bear is best known for high-concept hard sf novels such as The Forge of God. But in this sequel to Darwin's Radio, he has combined sf and the medical thriller. — Martin Morse Wooster

Publishers Weekly

In this masterful sequel to his Nebula Award-winning Darwin's Radio, Bear takes us into a near future forever changed by the birth of millions of genetically enhanced babies to mothers infected with the SHEVA virus. These children may represent the next great evolutionary leap, but some fear their appearance rings a death knell for traditional humanity. Geneticist Kaye Lang, archeologist Mitch Rafelson and their daughter, Stella Nova, have been hiding from an increasingly repressive U.S. government that wants to put the so-called "virus children" in what are essentially concentration camps. Eventually, the family is captured, and when Mitch resists he's arrested on a trumped-up charge of assaulting a federal officer. In later years, Kaye returns to genetics and Mitch, once he's out of jail, to archeology, but neither gives up hope of finding and freeing their daughter. Meanwhile, Stella, imprisoned but surrounded by her own kind, begins to explore the full significance of what it means to be post-human. Though cast in a thriller mode, like much of Bear's recent work, this novel may contain too much complex discussion of evolutionary genetics to appeal to Michael Crichton or Robin Cook fans. Nonetheless, Bear's sure sense of character, his fluid prose style and the fascinating culture his "Shevite" children begin to develop all make for serious SF of the highest order. (Apr. 1) Forecast: An eight-city author tour, plus national print advertising in both mainstream and SF/fantasy publications, should launch this into bestseller territory. Look for further award nominations for Bear, as well as the forthcoming Warner Bros. movie based on his novel The Forge of God. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Ten years after the birth of the first generation of biologically mutated humans known as the SHEVA children (named for the virus connected with their conception), many "old-style" humans wage a campaign of covert genocide in a desperate attempt to prevent the "new humans" from achieving adulthood. Following the story of SHEVA-born Stella Nova and her parents, Kaye and Mitch Rafelson, as they struggle to protect their child and fight for the rights of the new children, Bear's sequel to Darwin's Radio combines the hard science of evolution with tough moral issues about the survival of species. Believable characters and riveting storytelling make this a priority purchase for sf collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/02.] Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School-In Darwin's Radio (Ballantine, 1999), a long-dormant retrovirus triggered an evolutionary leap. One of the resultant "virus children" was Stella Nova, the daughter of Mitch, an anthropologist, and Kaye, a molecular biologist. As this sequel begins 12 years later, the three are hiding out to escape an increasingly powerful "emergency" government agency set up to "protect" the public from the strange new children. With the complicity of politicians and the news media, EMAC has incited and exploited public fear, violating traditional American rights and isolating the youngsters in inhumane "schools." Stella is caught and placed in one of these institutions while her parents and several other characters studying the new evolutionary development endure their own privations in a country gone terribly wrong. As the adults struggle to carry on their work, Stella and the other virus children grow to maturity, covertly exploring their talents and inventing a new culture that transcends human limitations in several significant ways. Grounded in the cutting-edge science of genetics, this compelling story also explores the seemingly paradoxical question of spirituality. Bear's chilling portrait of America under the heel of EMAC is a cautionary tale worthy of George Orwell or Sinclair Lewis, yet his protagonists shine with humanity, courage, and, in the end, the hope that different species can share the world in peace. This outstanding novel can be read independently, but would best be enjoyed by those who read the first book.-Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews