Thoughts on books and other assorted topics.
See also: http://goppf.wikidot.com/swstart
My name: Brian Martin
An ancient virus turns out to be the triggering mechanism for a worldwide speciation event, signaling the next stage in human evolution. Against a backdrop of official denial and misinterpretation, a handful of scientists work to bring the truth to light. This literary disaster won the 2000 Nebula Award for Best Novel. Must have been the year that pretension was in. Or camp. Peopled with absurd characters whose incessant soul-searching is as shallow (and self-pitying) as it is unbelievable. Worse, it’s all chaff, spewed out by author Greg Bear in a transparent effort to conceal a severely under-written plot. Rarely have characters been so comically divorced from their circumstances. In a world in which tens of thousands of people (in America alone) have been murdered for fear of what they believe is a disease, one self-involved woman gushes that she’s never been happier. No wonder mankind is being replaced.