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Darwin's Radio
Is it a lethal plague, or is the human race pregnant?
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Darwin's Radio
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By Greg Bear
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Del Rey Books
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$24.00/$34.00 Canada
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Hardcover, Sept. 1999
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ISBN 345-42333-X
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Review by A.M. Dellamonica
 aye Lang is a hard-working molecular biologist who is struggling to make a
deal that will ensure the future of her small pharmaceutical company,
Ecobacter. In the middle of a business trip to the Republic of Georgia, she
is diverted by the United Nations to the village of Gordi. Though she is
only on-site briefly before the government shoos her away, the area
she was sent to examine shows evidence of a recent massacre. The
victims were pregnant women and their male partners.
Trouble with her husband and Ecobacter's spectacular demise draw Kaye's
attention home, but the find in Gordi yanks her into the limelight. The dead
women were infected with an ancient disease called Herods Flu, which has
re-emerged and is spreading around the world. Kaye's research into human
endogenous retroviruses is closely related to the emergence of this Herods,
whose genetic information has been carried within human DNA for thousands of
years. She finds herself in the center ring of a media circus, courted by
corporations and universities, suddenly awash in job offers.
But as she moves into the politicized world of international disease
control, Kaye aligns herself with a discredited anthropologist and a loose
cannon at the Centers for Disease Control. The three of them fight to
convince governments and scientists that Herods flu may not be a
conventional disease at all. In fact, it may be the next stage in human
evolution.
Cutting-edge and controversial
In Darwin's Radio, Greg Bear tackles issues that include the abortion
pill, the nature of evolution, the role of women in science, and the
self-serving nature of the pharmaceutical industry. The Centers for Disease
Control is portrayed as being on the lookout for a nasty new disease purely
because it will increase funding. A cynical worldview pervades the
novel: politicians, business executives, doctors, and scientists are all
shown with their dark sides fully engaged. Even brilliant, industrious Kaye
is passive and often irrational.
Despite the highly political content, Bear does an admirable job of
staying off the soapbox. He also avoids casting embryos as parasites, a
common cliche in genre treatments of childbearing. What he does offer is a
close-up view of a highly unusual pregnancy. Readers may disagree with Kaye's
actions in Darwin's Radio, but they will never feel that the author
is preaching.
The science in this novel is rock-solid and up to the minute, and Bear
uses it to chilling effect. In addition to telling a fascinating story,
Darwin's Radio also offers a terrific introduction to the biomedical
industry and the newest discoveries and thinking in microbiology. Readers
interested in DNA research or virology will find this book a must-read.
The story moves both quickly and smoothly in the beginning of the book,
driven by a spy-thriller structure and a focus on international medical
politics. As the focus tightens on America, though, the pace slows down and
nearly falters. Kaye brings herself into open conflict with the U.S.
government, but somehow that government never really seems to threaten
her.
Ultimately, though, this decrease in tension has only a small effect on
the novel's payoff. Darwin's Radio will likely please die-hard Bear fans and
new readers alike.
I'm keen to see who'll be most upset by this book--creationists,
conservatives or feminists.
-- A.M.
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The Pure Product
John Kessel presents some of his finest short fiction...
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The Pure Product
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By John Kessel
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Tor Books
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$14.95/$21.00 Canada
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Trade Paperback, Aug. 1999
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ISBN: 0-312-86680-1
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Review by Clinton Lawrence
 he Pure Product collects 16 short stories, two poems, and a
short play by SF author John Kessel. Two of the stories, "Some Like It Cold"
and "The Miracle of Ivar Street," are
set in the same universe as his novel Corrupting Dr. Nice. In
"Some Like It Cold," a time traveler tries to save Marilyn Monroe. "The
Miracle of Ivar Street" centers around a detective investigating the death of
someone who appears to be the great 1940s director Preston Sturges, though
Sturges is apparently still alive. In another 1940s-Hollywood-inspired
piece, "Faustfeathers: A Comedy," Kessel retells the Faust legend as a Marx
Brothers comedy.
In three other stories, Kessel explores science fiction as an art.
"Herman Melville: Space Opera Virtuoso" contemplates the
Moby Dick author as an early science fiction writer. "Buffalo" is
a personal story about a fictional encounter between Kessel's own father
and one of his father's heroes, H.G. Wells. "Invaders" is a three-part
tale that intertwines the conquest of the Inca with a 21st-century alien
invasion and the author's writing of the story.
A number of the works in The Pure Product are satires. "Animals" and "Man" both use
satire to explore some of the less noble characteristics of human nature.
"Animals" focuses on the jealousy and displacement of a man whose alien
owners take in a stray. In "Man," an unwanted intruder takes up residence
in a couple's basement. "The Pure Product" documents a time traveler's
crime spree across the United States. In "A Clean Escape," an elderly patient in a
post-holocaust world thinks he's still 35 and the year is still 1984. "The Einstein
Express" explores the effects of relativity on a man's romantic
relationship.
Other stories include "Buddha Nostril Bird," "The Lecturer," "The
Franchise," "Hearts Do Not in Eyes Shine," "Gulliver at Home," and "Not
Responsible! Park and Lock It!"
Satire and social criticism
The Pure Product presents John Kessel at his best. Kessel is a
master of satire and social criticism, and someone who finds much of his
inspiration from recent history rather than the future. At the
same time, he often approaches his material with a sense of playfulness.
All of these traits are abundantly clear throughout The Pure
Product. Among the many satires and comedies in the collection,
"Faustfeathers" is the most hysterically funny, a play so vivid that
readers can actually hear the voices of Groucho and Chico, and see Harpo's
antics. It deserves to be filmed. "Some Like It Cold" and "The Miracle of
Ivar Street" are
more serious, exploring the idea that time travel will be used for the
commercial exploitation of the past. But they also reveal Kessel's affection for
old movies.
When in the mode of social critic, though, Kessel is often
brilliantly vicious. "The Pure Product" is a funny and poignant
satire in which he explores the randomness and irony of life through the
actions of his violent protagonist. In "Animal" and "Man," Kessel
transforms humans into pets and pests in order to explore the nature
of humanity. His humor tempers the uncomfortable situations, while at the
same time allowing him to vividly show both the resilience and the violence
of human nature. And in one of the more interesting juxtapositions in the
collection, Kessel attacks the notion of science fiction itself as an
escapist literature in "Invaders," while in "Buffalo" he is equally as
harsh with Wells for believing that art must always carry a message.
Kessel is a brilliant, complex writer, and most of the stories in The
Pure Product are simply outstanding. He is quite possibly the best
short story writer working in science fiction today, and this is a
collection that shouldn't be missed.
The more I read Kessel's work, the more I love his work. He's a unique
voice, and science fiction is a much stronger literature with him than it would be without him.
-- Clint
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