Sequel to Darwin’s Radio. I was disappointed in the first book, but based on Bear’s record of usually writing stuff I enjoy, I gave this one a chance. Oh well.
The primary plot mover is that the US has reacted with fear to the new species that seems to be trying to emerge. The fear is somewhat justified in that there’s a literal viral element to the conception of these new children, but with a couple of notable exceptions (in millions of cases), the new children don’t seem to pose a medical threat. The story revolves around the measures various factions take to sequester the new children and the actions other factions take to resist.
The problem I have with the book is that while there’s some degree of plausibility to the quarantine approach, it’s no fun to read about. What I was hoping to get was more about the implications of the changes Bear made in the genome. Instead it’s just another exploration of man’s inhumanity to man.