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As medical science and the media continue to grapple with the spreading SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus, Greg Bear's recently released DARWIN'S CHILDREN seems to read less like speculative fiction and much more like well-informed prophecy.
The emergence of a generation of children with striking new physical traits and communication techniques causes a vast negative backlash resulting in a nationwide hunt and their resulting incarceration in remote "schools" (read concentration camps) where even their parents can't track them. And when a strange new illness attacks the general population after seeming to start among these "different" children, the latter become targets of political and religious extremism that would make apartheid and ethnic cleansing look benign.
Although Bear conceived and executed his medically based plot long before SARS was even a whisper in the back corner of a Hong Kong hospital, he is one of the few science fiction writers active today to take medical research seriously and painstakingly produce material that is both good reading and competent science. He cares so much about the reality underpinning his work that the personal afterword, glossary and bibliography at the end of the volume emphatically should not be missed. Even the casually interested reader is sure to experience a few "wow, I didn't know..." moments after dipping into this fascinating and concise information.
In DARWIN'S CHILDREN, Bear eloquently combines his career-long interest in biological "otherness" --- not only as encountered in alien species, but also in the challenges of human evolution --- and weaves it into a gripping story of parental love overcoming daunting societal paranoia and discrimination. Through it all, the underlying implications of genetic engineering and near-future humanity's increasing vulnerability to catastrophic pandemics can bring you up short, for this is all hitting fearfully close to home. This is a must-read for anyone following current scientific and ethical issues in biogenetics, and a very good read even for those who aren't.
--- Reviewed by Pauline Finch (paulinefinch@rogers.com)
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