Darwin's Children

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Ballantine Books, 2003 - Fiction - 387 pages
Greg Bear’s Nebula Award–winning novel,Darwin’s Radio, painted a chilling portrait of humankind on the threshold of a radical leap in evolution—one that would alter our species forever. Now Bear continues his provocative tale of the human race confronted by an uncertain future, where “survival of the fittest” takes on astonishing and controversial new dimensions. DARWIN’S CHILDREN 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 sprung up 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 their escalating war to preserve “humankind” at any cost.

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Contents

Section 1
3
Section 2
18
Section 3
33
Copyright

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About the author (2003)

Greg Bear was born in San Diego, California, on August 20, 1951. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Diego State University in 1973. At age 14, he began submitting pieces to magazines and at 15 he sold his first story to Robert Lowndes' Famous Science Fiction. It would be five years before he sold another piece, but by 23 he was selling stories regularly. He wrote more than 30 science fiction and fantasy books and has won numerous awards for his work. In 1984, Hardfought and Blood Music won the Nebula Awards for best novella and novelette; Blood Music went on to win the Hugo Award. The novel version of that story, also called Blood Music, won the Prix Apollo in France. In 1987, Tangents won the Hugo and Nebula awards for best short story. He also won a Nebula in 1994 for Moving Mars and in 2001 for Darwin's Radio. Both Dinosaur Summer and Darwin's Radio have been awarded the Endeavour for best novel published by a Northwest science fiction author. He is also an illustrator, and his work has appeared in Galaxy, Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Vertex, and in both hardcover and paperback books. He was a founding member of ASFA, the Association of Science Fiction Artists. His works include City at the End of Time, Hull Zero Three, The Mongoliad, Mariposa, Halo: Cryptum, Halo: Primordium and Halo: Silentium. His most recent works included Take back the Sky, and The Unfinished Land, published in February 2021. Greg Bear died on November 19, 2022, from a series of strokes, caused by clots. His wife, Astrid, was by his side. He was 71.

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