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This is NOT a conventional "horrific plague" novel, although it appears to be so at the beginning.
I do agree that there are problems with characterization. The logic of his idea leads Bear to introduce and kill off (sort of) a series of main characters, so they don't have much chance to develop. Despite this problem, characterization is one of the stronger points in Blood Music's first half, although it gives way in the second half to development of a visionary idea. I DID feel sufficient sympathy with the characters to feel them as real and to care about what happened to them.
The power of Blood Music is that it starts off as a "plague" novel and by novel's end has brilliantly turned this premise on its head.
Over the past decades, I haven't read much science fiction, including several sci fi novels with good reputations that I started but didn't see any reason to finish. Blood Musicis my first intro to Greg Bear, and based on its quality and the grudging respect that even some of its carping critics have for Bear's other novels, I plan to read more of his stuff.
Recapping, the first half of this book is tightly written and powerful, with a strong central protagonist whose motivations and character are carefully delineated.
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