Customer Reviews

Darwinia: A Novel of a Very Different Twentieth Century

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This novel has great movie pitch appeal. Its premise can be summed up in one sentence but is so unique and fresh and startling that it just jumps up and grabs you. The basic plot can be sold simply by stating: "In 1912, the world discovers that all of the civilizations and people of Europe have been replaced overnight by a primeval wilderness."

This bizarre transformation fuels the action of the first half of the book, as explorers from the United States and other unaffected areas begin to probe the mysteries of the vast and unpopulated depths of Darwinina, as the transformed Europe is now called. Needless to say, the balance of international power has been changed by the disappearance of most of the great nations, and the global economy has been sent into a depression. Because of its overseas empire, which remained unchanged, the English are able to re-establish a tenuous foothold in New London, which draws immigrants from Canada, Australia, India, and South Africa. Other countries, such as Germany, Italy, and France, are less fortunate due to their lack of colonies, and hence are easily bullied by the Americans.

The description of the events of one American expedition sent to probe the Darwinian hinterlands is fairly engrossing. This is Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs territory, vigorous pulp fiction with heroic explorers and uncharted depths and fantastic events, and even the mandatory lost city. But the reader's expectations are abruptly upset when Wilson pulls the curtain aside and reveals the truth behind the Darwinian miracle.

At this point, the novel becomes a weird fusion of "The Lost World" and "The Matrix", and the intimate human scale is lost. It becomes quite evident that the apparent conflicts in Darwinia are but the vaguest echoes of a far greater war which is beyond all contemporary human comprehension. Wilson should be given credit for his boldness, but unfortunately, this sudden change in tone plays quite poorly and the reader's connection to characters and events becomes singularly detached.

However, this is a noteworthy book simply for the sheer audacity and playful brilliance of the first half. The cover art is also gorgeous.

Darwinia is a flawed masterpiece. In March 1912, half the world disappears. Great Britain and Europe and all the people who live there vanish into nothingness and are replaced by a land that is geographically similar to the old land but which is covered in forests of plants and trees unknown to science. The forests are inhabited by birds, animals and insects the like of which have never been seen before on the Earth.

Expeditions are mounted to explore and exploit the new lands and speculation as to the cause of the catastrophe run wild. The story follows one such expedition deep into the heart of what was once Europe. One by one the members of the expedition die. Only two survive to return to the outside world and these two, for their own reasons, remain silent about what they found.

Up to this point the book held me enthralled. An exciting adventure, an eerie mystery, what more could anyone want? But then there was a brief interlude in the middle of the book that completely destroyed the spell. The interlude explained all the mysteries - but only to the reader, not to the characters in the book. They don't discover any of these secrets until much later on. Such a massive spoiler in the middle of the story completely destroyed its momentum. I didn't like possessing information that was unknown to the characters and while the book did eventually pick up again, there was a long dry patch where it simply stopped working.

It's an ingenious book with a carefully worked out plot and the reasons for the strange thing that has happened to the Earth are beautifully original. The sheer detail of the new lands and their flora and fauna are exquisitely presented and the hardships of travelling through them are excellently dramatised. All this is high praise indeed and the book deserves it. But the structure is very badly flawed - I really did hate that massive spoiler in the middle.

'Darwinia' is really a tale of two halves. The book as which it begins is charming, mysterious, and deeply entertaining. Somewhere near the novel's midpoint, a plot pivot appears which transforms the novel into something *entirely* different. To say it was 'unsettling' to this unsuspecting reader is an understatement; however, sticking with it proved to be rewarding nonetheless. The reviewer who described 'Darwinia' as Edgar Rice Burroughs meets 'The Matrix' is dead on target, with maybe a sprinkling of Lovecraft's Old Gods thrown in for good measure. 'Darwinia' has a strange disequilibrium to it, and it is definitely difficult to categorize - but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's not a five-star book , in my humble opinion, but it is still a thoroughly enjoyable novel. It's a smart, interesting read unlike anything I've seen before.

'Darwinia' is the first writing by Robert Charles Wilson I've read. He definitely impressed me as an author worth seeking out, and will appear on my reading list again soon.

Darwinia is one of the types of SF novels that I hate most; it starts out with a great premise but then turns into a sloppy, forgettable mess by the end.

Here's the idea: In 1912, all of the people and signs of civilization on the continent of Europe vanish and are replaced by alien plants and animals. A few years latter, an expedition is sent up the Rhine River to explore the new continent. The main character of the book is a photographer named Guillford Law who joins the expedition in hopes of becoming famous. After the expedition is attacked, he is one of the few survivors and becomes caught up in a battle to save the world. Two other storylines follow Guillford's wife in London and a psychic from the United States.

The biggest problem with the book, as others have mentioned, is that the author decides to give away the secret about the disappearance of Europe after just 100 pages. From there on, the rest of the book grows very confusing. Wilson tries to wrap all of the diverging plot lines together, but there were so many of them, and the writing was so vague that I couldn't keet track of who was doing what and how each character related to the central storyline.

Reviewing a book like Darwinia is very difficult. How you feel about it is very much dependent on your expectations going in. I originally picked up Darwinia because it was nominated for the 1999 Hugo award for best novel. My immediate impression was that I was reading the story of an expedition to the heart of a strange and terrifying land. This suited me just fine since I was captivated by the world Mr. Wilson created. If the story evolved into nothing more then an adventure, I would have been completely satisfied.

To his credit, Mr. Wilson has more in mind. Somewhere in the middle of the novel, the story evolves into a wonderfully written tale of duty and morality. Unfortunately, by then I was so caught up in the world of Darwinia, I found the evolution unwelcome.

Darwinia should not be underestimated. That I found the book in some way unsatisfying is my problem and not the author's. I can recommend this book simply on the strength of the prose. I hope future readers will expect more, they will not be disappointed.

This book was great the first 100 pages or so, when there was a scientific exploration that went to the new continten of the old Europe "Darwinia". Up to that point i couldn't put the book down, and then in crashed in the middle taking a turn that i wasn't expecting at all, i am actually not really sure what happened in the book, this book left me with a "WTF" happened here? Sorry, but in my opinion, it could have been so much better.

"Darwinia" establishes Robert Charles Wilson as one of the outstanding writers in contemporary SF. The Europe of 1912 is replaced by a strange, alien wilderness containing previously unknown forms of plants and animals and no sign of civilization. Religious fundamentalism bubbles to the forefront in the wake of the "Miracle" as most people believe that God sweep the old center of Western civilization out of existence because of its iniquity. Some people see inconsistencies in the theological explanation and seek alternate explanations based on science and logic. Guilford Law, the protagonist of the novel, is drawn into the latter camp and ultimately reaches a stunning explanation of the true nature of the "Miracle".

Wilson's technical writing skills are excellent. He draws a haunting picture of this strange world that was Europe. Wilson creates appealing characters with depth using a mature and well-crafted writing style. The characters behave rationally in this irrational world. Most importantly, Wilson thoroughly understands contemporary history and creates a series of events in the post-"Miracle" world that are both logical and reasonable. For instance, the obliteration of the British home islands leads Lord Kitchener to set up a rump government operating out of Ottawa that seeks to retain the claims of the British Empire. This is precisely what Kitchener, the hero of Khartoum and victor of the Boer War, would have done. A brief naval war erupts between the US and the British rump government that the Americans easily win. This fits with the deployment of the major forces of the Royal Navy in British home waters in 1912 to counter the growing threat of the German navy. With these forces gone, the American navy would have been easily superior.

As the story unfolds, Wilson's tale is not one of a peculiar 20th century Earth history. Darwinia is a story of the history of the universe. Wilson uses some very imaginative speculation in creating an original and daring story. Darwinia is far from the usual alternate history tales common to SF. [reader's reference- my personal five star novels: Dune, Hyperion, Ender's Game]

Fans of author Fred Hoyle will notice startling similarities between Darwinia and Hoyle's classic book, "October the 1st is Too Late". Both involve time-shifts that change the earth's surface and mankind's attempts to come to grips with the change. Unfortunately, Wilson isn't as capable a writer as Hoyle. Darwinia is a confused, depressing tale that is difficult to follow and unaccountably convoluted. The plot changes midway through, steering away from Darwinia's ecology into a chaotic tale of aliens, gods, and mankind's future. In writing this book, Wilson should have stuck to the theme of Darwinia and ignored the alien mumbo-jumbo. When I finished the book (with difficulty), I breathed a great sigh of relief.

One could anticipate that a fully satisfying explanation for the replacement of Europe by "Darwinia" may not eventuate, and it was not for this that I read the novel. Rather, the impetus was the occurrence of such an event within an early twentieth century setting. Unfortunately the scientific, political and other ramifications of this were not adequately explored, and using the context to simply highlight that creationist beliefs are deficient represents a lost opportunity for the novel to be of greater relevance and significance (in terms of speculative fiction). However, it is the novel's progression into shallow violence and horror that are its weakest aspects, with the few passages producing "put the book down and ponder" moments belittled by juvenile accounts of humans morphing into bug-like aliens.

I desperately wanted to like this novel more than I did. I picked it up and bought it as I was fascinated by the concept and was initially pleased. That optimisim changed about half-way through when the hard science fiction kicked in and the plot became overwhelmed by incomprehensible "time and space" rubbish. I wasn't looking for a simple "Lost World" adventure tale of daring-do, but found the explanation for the Miracle and the rushed conclusion to this story a big let down. In the end, after I laboured to the finish, I was left simply scratching my head...