Evolution (Baxter Novel)
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''Evolution'' is a collection of short stories that work together to form an episodic
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
novel by author Stephen Baxter. It follows 565 million years of human evolution, from shrewlike mammals 65 million years in the past to the ultimate fate of humanity and its descendants, both biological and non-biological, 500 million years in the future.


Plot


Protagonists in the Purga–human line

Characters listed below descend from Purga and are either ancestral to or descended from humans. Purga (65 Mya,
Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
). A female ''
Purgatorius ''Purgatorius'' is a genus of seven extinct eutherian species typically believed to be the earliest example of a primate or protoprimate, a primatomorph precursor to the Plesiadapiformes, dating to as old as 66 million years ago. The first remai ...
''. Despite being a shrew-like insectivore and barely self-aware, she is ancestral to all primates. After losing two mates and their litters to a ''
Troodon ''Troodon'' ( ; ''Troödon'' in older sources) is a controversial genus of relatively small, bird-like theropod dinosaurs definitively known from the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period (about 77 million years ago). It includes at l ...
'' attack and cannibalism, she manages to bear two pups. They witness the
Chicxulub impact The Chicxulub crater is an impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is offshore, but the crater is named after the onshore community of Chicxulub Pueblo (not the larger coastal town of Chicxulub Puerto). I ...
, although one of the pups is cooked alive and her mate succumbs to
hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...
. Purga and her surviving pup eventually arrive at a shore, where other ''Purgatorius'' are feeding on a dying ''
Ankylosaurus ''Ankylosaurus'' is a genus of Thyreophora, armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in western North America, m ...
''. Her pup joins them but Purga, now elderly and satisfied that her offspring will survive, retreats and dies in her burrow. Her fossilized tooth is discovered by Joan Useb in 2010. Plesi (63 Mya, North America). A female plesiadapid. Although Earth is lush again, her species still looks very similar to ''Purgatorius''. She has two pups and one of them is killed by an '' Oxyclaenus''. Noth (51 Mya,
Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island (; ) is Canada's northernmost and List of Canadian islands by area, third largest island, and the List of islands by area, tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of , slightly smaller than Great Britain, and the total ...
). A 2-year-old '' Notharctus'' male living with its herd in the Arctic forests. His species is lemur-looking, matriarchal and far more social, but still lacks a
theory of mind In psychology and philosophy, theory of mind (often abbreviated to ToM) refers to the capacity to understand other individuals by ascribing mental states to them. A theory of mind includes the understanding that others' beliefs, desires, intent ...
. Noth wanders for weeks with his sister, surviving an attack on their family by a
sociopathic Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality construct characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with bold, disinhibited, and egocentric traits. These traits are often masked by superficial charm and immunity to st ...
fellow, Solo. They eventually find another herd, whose leader accepts Noth and his sister for defeating Solo and allows them to mate with the rest of the herd. Capo (5 Mya, North African coast). A 40-year-old
australopithecine The australopithecines (), formally Australopithecina or Hominina, are generally any species in the related genera of ''Australopithecus'' and ''Paranthropus''. It may also include members of '' Kenyanthropus'', ''Ardipithecus'', and '' Praeant ...
dominant male living in the dry Mediterranean basin. His species has occasional consciousness, basic
bipedalism Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an animal moves by means of its two rear (or lower) Limb (anatomy), limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from ...
, instinctive toolmaking and a theory of mind, but is incapable of teaching. As his forest is shrinking, Capo leads part of his group to a larger one, despite being ill-suited to cross the plains in between. However, it is already claimed by a bigger clan of their species and they are forced to live in the open plains and feed on carcasses. Far (1.5 Mya,
Rift Valley A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges produced by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear ...
). A 9-year-old female
hominid The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); '' Gorilla'' (the ...
living with her tribe in the savannah. Her species is now fully bipedal and omnivorous, as well as surviving past their reproductive age to take important social roles. Forced by a grassland fire to take refuge in a jungle, she survives an attack by pithecines and eventually joins another hominid tribe, who use axes much to her amazement. She invents body painting while playing with
ocher Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the col ...
, allowing her to court a young male and be accepted by the group. Pebble (127 kya,
Central Kenya Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
). An 8-year-old
neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
male. After his tribe is attacked, he leads the survivors and settle in the Mediterranean coast years later. There he meets Harpoon, a female modern human (''
Homo sapiens sapiens Human taxonomy is the classification of the human species within zoological taxonomy. The systematic genus, ''Homo'', is designed to include both anatomically modern humans and extinct varieties of archaic humans. Current humans are classified ...
''). Her tribe has more sophisticated huts and tools, as well as clothing and domesticated wolves. Trading seafood for tools, both tribes come together and Pebble and Harpoon mate. After swimming afloat logs to a nearby island, they exterminate the last ''
Homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' ( ) is an extinction, extinct species of Homo, archaic human from the Pleistocene, spanning nearly 2 million years. It is the first human species to evolve a humanlike body plan and human gait, gait, to early expansions of h ...
'' there. Mother or Ja-ahn (60 kya,
Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
). A 30-year-old woman living in the savannah.
Schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
allows her to understand causality, invent the
spear-thrower A spear-thrower, spear-throwing lever, or ''atlatl'' (pronounced or ; Classical Nahuatl, Nahuatl ''ahtlatl'' ) is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in Dart (missile), dart or javelin-throwing, and includes a Plain bearing, b ...
and form simple sentences, which are quickly learned by the rest of her tribe. When her son dies, Mother murders her aunt believing that she was responsible through unseen means. The incident originates
superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...
and Mother is regarded as a sage. Two more members are sacrificed due to Mother's superstitions about blood and rain in an attempt to solve the drought. She eventually dies of cancer and is named Ja-ahn after their language's word for "mother", becoming the first human with a proper name, as well becoming mythicized. Ejan (52 kya,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
). A 20-year-old man. His people are the most ancient characters in the novel that speak normally. He lives with his ill mother in an increasingly crowded village. Ejan carves a canoe with his sister to sail to the southern landmass, becoming the first humans to set foot in Australia. Over the next millennium, people migrate there and the siblings become mythicized. Jana (51 kya,
Northwestern Australia The North West, North West Coast, North Western Australia and North West Australia, are usually informal names for the northern regions of the State of Western Australia. However, some conceptions of "North West Australia" have included adjoi ...
). A 21-year-old man. He tries to court a girl but is not allowed to by her brothers due to his polio-struck leg. To hunt large game, he invents setting forests on fire and manages to trap a ''
Genyornis ''Genyornis newtoni'' is an extinct species of large, flightless bird that lived in Australia during the Pleistocene Epoch until around 50,000 years ago. Over two metres in height, they were likely herbivorous. Many other species of Austral ...
''. He returns with its head, impressing the village. Jo'on (47 kya,
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
). A 40-year-old man partnered with Leda, a 39-year-old woman. As Leda's brother uses
flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
to hunt better than with spears, she asks Jo'on to go the coast to obtain some. Jahna (31 kya, Western France). A girl living in a settlement during the
Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
. Her people's village, cognitive capacity and culture are more sophisticated than those of neanderthals, which they often abuse and exploit. While hunting, Jahna and her brother get lost when an ice storm breaks. Days later, they take shelter in the cave of a massive, 40-year-old neanderthal male, "Old Man". Though superficially dangerous and unable to speak, Old Man takes care of them. However, a team led by their father eventually finds them and bludgeons Old Man in his sleep, amidst the children's protests. Juna (9.6 kya,
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
). A pregnant 15-year-old girl living in a famine-struck hunter-gatherer village. She accepts to become the slave of Cahl, the beer trader, to save her unborn child from being killed at birth. At Cahl's hometown, Juna learns about agriculture and is put to work in the fields. Although food is plenty,
monoculture In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monocultures increase ease and efficiency in planting, managing, and harvesting crops short-term, often with the help of machinery. However, monocultur ...
means that the villagers' diet and health are poorer than those of hunter-gatherers. When tribute-collector Keram arrives, Juna learns about the city of Cata Huuk, and convinces him that she was kidnapped from there long ago. In part due to her healthier appearance, Keram takes her with him, despite Cahl's protests. Cata Huuk is Earth's first city, and its leader, the Potus, the first king. Juna is made to dance naked for the Potus, and eventually partners up with Keram. He gives birth to her child and then Keram's. After four years of plenitude, famine-caused revolts force the family to flee Cata Huuk. Along the way, Keram brings Juna to the ruins of her original and now measles-struck village, where she finds her sister as the sole survivor. Athalaric (482 CE,
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
). The son of a
barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...
slave, under the tutelage and in charge of the protection of Honorius, a venerable Roman bone collector. Visiting a decaying Rome, the Persian trader Papak convinces them to join a Scythian collector in
Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...
. There, Honorius becomes so excited after acquiring a ''Homo erectus'' skull that he invites the entire group to a museum in Rome, where they misidentify a ''
Protoceratops ''Protoceratops'' (; ) is a genus of small protoceratopsid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous, around 75 to 71 million years ago. The genus ''Protoceratops'' includes two species: ''P. andrewsi'' and the larger ''P. hellenik ...
'' as a
griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...
. Honorius is confident that the remains prove that living beings were radically different in the past. Away on a cave expedition, Athalaric asks Honorius to become a priest on his father's request, to lead Rome away from decay. Honorius however is not interested and is murdered by the henchmen of Athalaric's father. His remains are buried next to Old Man's. Joan Useb (21st century). A paleontologist of San and European ancestry. In 2031, she is pregnant and flying to a conference in
Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...
on global warming, where she meets primatologist Alyce Sigurdardottir and Bex Scott, the genetically enhanced daughter of celebrity scientist Alison Scott. As protesters from the "Fourth World" disrupt the conference, the Rabaul caldera erupts, setting the sequence of events that collapse civilization. In the epilogue, set in 2049, a 52-year-old Joan and her 18-year-old daughter Lucy rescue
feral children A feral child (also called wild child) is a young individual who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, with little or no experience of human care, social behavior, or language. Such children lack the basics of primary and ...
left behind in the
Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...
due to the ensuing wars and toxic rain. Reflecting on humanity's bleak future, Lucy asks Joan whether she has been happy and she responds affirmatively, based on the fact that unlike their ancestors, they have a glimpse into the past and can be certain that some form of life will survive into the far future. Robert Wayne "Snowy" Snow (millennia from now,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
). A 31-year-old male military officer, genetically modified to facilitate cryogenic sleep. During the post-Rabaul wars, the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
deploys military officers in suspended animation worldwide to deter international invasions. Centuries later, officers Snowy, Ahmed, Sidewise, Bonner and Moon awaken and soon realize that human civilization has long collapsed. Ahmed, the leader, attempts to rebuild civilization, but with Moon being the only female, crops being long extinct and not knowing how to recreate even the most basic technology, Sidewise and Bonner agree that Ahmed's plan is completely unrealistic. A month later, Snowy discovers that there actually are humans, now feral and without language. Internal conflicts distance Sidewise and Bonner, Moon disappears, Ahmed succumbs to
mercury poisoning Mercury poisoning is a type of metal poisoning due to exposure to mercury. Symptoms depend upon the type, dose, method, and duration of exposure. They may include muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet, skin rashe ...
from fish, and Snowy chooses to spend the rest of his life following the feral people. As Snowy arrives to the coast of
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
, he reflects on how everything humans ever made has vanished. Remembrance (30 My from now, Western Africa). A monkey-like post-human female. The descendants of
feral children A feral child (also called wild child) is a young individual who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, with little or no experience of human care, social behavior, or language. Such children lack the basics of primary and ...
have diversified into many non-sapient species, from everything resembling arboreal primates (Remembrance's kind),
eusocial Eusociality ( Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations wit ...
moles, and elephants, the latter being "farmed" by rodents. They inhabit a lush forest, still having some artificial remains like bits of glass,
bitumen Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American Engl ...
and copper. Avoiding rodent and avian predators, Remembrance falls into a mole-folk pit, where she survives for several days. She eventually returns to the canopy, but soon the impact of
Eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...
unleashes a
mass extinction An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp fall in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It occ ...
. Ultimate (500 My from now, Montana). A capuchin-like post-human female inhabiting the deserts of Pangaea Ultima. Her species is closely symbiotic with borametz trees, which grow pods to sleep and nurse their young. Due to the harsh climate, the tree begins consuming Ultimate's child, and she takes her to the desert, accompanied with her friend, Cactus. They encounter descendants of beetles, rats, lizards and toads, and Cactus is hunted by a huge, transparent salamander. A few days later, Ultimate arrives to the shores of a drying inland sea, where she finds the hardened footprints of one of her kind, both of them being the last "human" explorers. After returning and giving her child to the tree, Ultimate becomes the last primate to reproduce, and soon her herd and tree die. In the following eons Earth is consumed by the Sun, but hibernating bacteria are hurled into space and end up on the seas of a habitable
exoplanet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first confirmed detection of an exoplanet was in 1992 around a pulsar, and the first detection around a main-sequence star was in 1995. A different planet, first det ...
, starting evolution again.


Protagonists outside the Purga–human line

Characters listed below are not ancestral to or descend from humans, although some are primates and thus descend from Purga. Listener (145 Mya,
Pangaea Pangaea or Pangea ( ) was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous period approximately 335 mi ...
). A female ''
Ornitholestes ''Ornitholestes'' (meaning "bird robber") is a small theropod dinosaur of the late Jurassic ( Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, middle Kimmeridgian age, about 154 million years agoTurner, C.E. and Peterson, F., (1999). "Biostratigrap ...
'' living with Stego, her mate. Unlike most animals in the book, they are fully sapient, with complex language, leather belts, whips, and a culture that revolves around ''
Diplodocus ''Diplodocus'' (, , or ) is an extinct genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs known from the Late Jurassic of North America. The first fossils of ''Diplodocus'' were discovered in 1877 by S. W. Williston. The generic name, coined by Othnie ...
'' hunting. Stego is killed by an ''
Allosaurus ''Allosaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period ( Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian ages). The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to th ...
'' during a hunt, and Listener swears to kill the ''Diplodocus'' matriarch that indirectly caused his death. Ten years later, she and her three sons manage to hunt the matriarch, which dooms the herd as well as the ''Ornitholestes'' settlement. They become extinct and humans never discover that another sapient species preceded them. Roamer (32 Mya, North Africa). A female of a capuchin-like primate species unknown to paleontology. After a flood destroys her home, she finds herself and other members of her species on a haphazard raft on the Atlantic. Starvation and thirst nearly kill them, but Roamer and two other survivors eventually land on the rainforests of
Yucatán Yucatán, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. ...
and their descendants give rise to a new line of monkeys. Dig (10 Mya,
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
). A female of a lemming-like primate species. The Antarctica she inhabits still has forests inhabited by the descendants of ''
Velociraptor ''Velociraptor'' (; ) is a genus of small dromaeosaurid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 75 million to 71 million years ago. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in th ...
'', ''
Allosaurus ''Allosaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period ( Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian ages). The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to th ...
'' and ''
Muttaburrasaurus ''Muttaburrasaurus'' was a genus of herbivorous iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now northeastern Australia sometime between 112 and 103 million years agoHoltz, Thomas R. Jr. (2012) ''Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to ...
''. Though more temperate than today, the Antarctic forests are becoming progressively colder and more inhospitable. Ice caps completely bury the remains of Dig's ecosystem and humans never discover that non-avian dinosaurs survived 55 million years longer than previously thought. Johnnie (21st century,
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
). Humanity's first self-replicating robot, which lands on Mars during Joan's conference. Although its original purpose is to construct bases for human habitation, it stops receiving orders due to the chaos unleashed by Rabaul's eruption on Earth and continues replicating itself unhindered. Within a few centuries, Johnnie's descendants have consumed the planet entirely and leave the Solar System. As the self-replication process is imperfect, they begin undergoing a process akin to biological evolution. About 500 million years later, a self-aware probe arrives on Earth to investigate the origins of its kind. Although it encounters evidence of past intelligent activity, and even Ultimate —its creators' descendant— it considers its mission a failure and leaves.


Reception

Peter Cannon reviewing for ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' stated "here is a rigorously constructed hard SF novel where the question is not whether humanity will reach the stars but how it will survive its own worst tendencies." ''
Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...
'' called this novel "glum, dyspeptic, and depressing." Jackie Cassada said in her review for ''
Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...
'' that "spanning more than 165 million years and encompassing the entire planet, Baxter's ambitious saga provides both an exercise in painless paleontology and superb storytelling." ''Evolution'' has been compared to
Olaf Stapledon William Olaf Stapledon (10 May 1886 – 6 September 1950) was an English philosopher and author of science fiction.Andy Sawyer, " illiamOlaf Stapledon (1886-1950)", in Bould, Mark, et al, eds. ''Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction''. New York ...
's ''
Last and First Men ''Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future'' is a "future history" science fiction novel written in 1930 by the British author Olaf Stapledon. A work of unprecedented scale in the genre, it describes the history of humanity from t ...
''. Baxter has acknowledged Stapledon's influence.


References


External links

* * Lengthy review at http://www.indymedia.ie/article/74240 {{DEFAULTSORT:Evolution (Novel) 2002 British novels Novels by Stephen Baxter British post-apocalyptic novels Novels about impact events Novels about dinosaurs 2002 science fiction novels 2002 short story collections Books about evolution Evolution in popular culture Evolutionary biology literature Speculative evolution Fiction about Neanderthals Fiction about dinosaurs Novels about robots Novels set on Mars Apocalyptic novels Novels set in prehistory Orion Books books Çatalhöyük Future history