Artfully Believable

Darwin's Children
Greg Bear
Del Rey (April, 2003)
Hardcover: 400 pages
Rating: 5 stars of 5 possible

Darwin's Children by Greg Bear is a hard science fiction novel that explores the controversial science of genetics, the ability to alter the genetic pattern of humans, and the struggle for survival of the genetically enhanced people.

Besides being a compelling novel that I found hard to put aside, the volume also contains some very helpful addenda at the end, including a short Glossary Of Scientific Terms and a short Biological Primer that helped with understanding the science in this story.  It was very thoughtful of the author and publisher to include those items.

I like both the characters and the rhythm of Darwin's Children, a fairly fast-paced, enjoyable story that included some action as well as some scenes that make the reader stop and think.  This novel stands alone well. I did not read Darwin's Radio, the initial volume in this series, and I don't feel that I need to do that to understand this one.

In short, I recommend this book to those who enjoy reading science fiction, and if you have stayed away from hard science fiction because the science was not well explained, you may change your mind after reading this novel and studying the addenda that were so thoughtfully included.