h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Joan Useb, a primatologist, attends a conference in mid 21-st Century Australia; one that could change the future of humankind. However, she is only the middle link in a chain of beings that stretches far into the past and future. As she prepares to make her stand for what she believes, the book delves into the line of primates from which Useb has sprung, and then travels into the future to see what consequences, if any, her actions will have on humanity in the millennia to come.

I always find it a cause for reconsideration when something is described as 'epic'. What 'epic' usually translates as, in modern times, is 'long'. Epics also tend to be packed with detail, a richness of imagination that extends to a full realisation of the world being described - in other words, 'long and full of pointless, dull bits'. Shame on me for thinking such a thing. Now you know I'm a philistine, and we can move past that.

Stephen Baxter is a man of preoccupations, which crop up time and again in his work. Here, his fascination for the history of life on Earth, and the possible stories of our ancestors resurfaces. It feels like Baxter's last novel, 'Origin', was a forerunner for this tome - a testing of ideas to be more fully explored here. Indeed, this is a tremendous undertaking - trying to dramatise the history of the primates from beginning to end. Unfortunately, the end result is best described as an impressive achievement, rather than a gripping novel.

Feeling more like a collection of short stories rather than one long narrative, this is a book primarily about animals, and thus almost void of dialogue, which can take some getting used to. The separate story-bubbles floating down the river of time are linked together by the theme of cause and effect, which struggles to the surface throughout - Baxter portrays man's intellectual development almost as a quest to fully comprehend the chains of cause and effect that can save us or doom us. A turning point for the book is contained in the chapter 'Mother's People', portraying one of the first humans to understand that actions have consequences, and her actions themselves reverberate through the rest of the novel.

Whilst impressive, it is difficult to truly immerse yourself in this book. Too much of it is too similar - there is too much primate in-fighting, head-smashing, and unsolicited love-making. The time in the light with cognisant humankind is too brief. All in all, the effort that has gone into writing 'Evolution' is all but wasted on people like me, who can't help but see it as almost 800 pages about nothing but monkeys.

R25968 13:16 28/11/04

I am shocked at how well read I seem to be. I have actually read this one. It was, as you said, highly impressive, but lacking in some pull that would draw the average reader into never putting it down. I found it intriguing, however.