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Darwinia
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Darwinia (1998) (edit title/settings)

A Novel of a Very Different Twentieth Century

by Robert Charles Wilson (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

In 1912, history was changed by the Miracle, when the old world of Europe was replaced by Darwinia, a strange land of nightmarish jungle and antedeluvian monsters. To some, the Miracle is an act of divine retribution; to others, it is an opportunity to carve out a new empire. Leaving American... read more

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In March 1912, in the event some people called the "Miracle", Europe and parts of Asia and Africa, including its inhabitants, disappear suddenly overnight, and are replaced with a slice of an alien Earth, a land mass of roughly equal outlines and terrain features, but a strange new flora and... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

In March 1912, in the event some people called the "Miracle", Europe and parts of Asia and Africa, including its inhabitants, disappear suddenly overnight, and are replaced with a slice of an alien Earth, a land mass of roughly equal outlines and terrain features, but a strange new flora and fauna which seems to have followed a different path in evolution.

Seen by some as an act of divine retribution, the "Miracle" affects the lives of people all around and transforms world history.

The book describes the life and the adventures of Guilford Law, a young American photographer. As a 14-year-old boy, Guilford Law witnessed the "Miracle" as shimmering lights moving eerily across the ocean sky. As a grown man, he is determined to travel to the strange continent of Darwinia and explore its mysteries. To that end he enlists as a photographer in the Finch expedition, which plans to travel up the river that used to be known as the Rhine and penetrate the bizarre new continent's hidden depths as far as possible. He lands in the middle of the jungle in the midst of nationalistic skirmishes, in which partisans attack and wipe out most of the party of the Finch expedition on the continent which they believe belongs to them.

The plot becomes increasingly stranger. Law has brought an unwanted companion with him, a mysterious twin who seems to have lived—and died—on an alternate Earth unchanged by the Miracle. The twin first appears to Guilford in dreams, and he brings a message that Darwinia is not what it seems to be—and Guilford is not who he seems to be.

A startling revelation soon arrives. By the end of the story, it is revealed to all the characters that it is really now the End of Time, and that the Universe, Earth and all the consciousness that ever existed are really being preserved in a computer-like simulation known as the Archive. The Archive was built by a coalition of all the sentient beings in the Universe in an effort to save consciousness from death. However, "viruses" (parasitic artificial life-forms) known as Psions have arisen in the system of the Archive. Guilford Law eventually learns that he and everything and everyone on Earth are instruments of the cosmic struggle against the Psions for the survival of all consciousness itself.
(from Wikipedia)

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First Sentence edit see section history

The men who crewed the surviving steamships had invented their own legends.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Robert Charles Wilson (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Tor
Country: U.S.A.
Publication Date: 1998
ISBN: 0-312-86038-2
Page Count: 320

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PR9199.3.W4987 D37 1998
  • Dewey: C818'.54

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