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The Secret of Life
 
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The Secret of Life (Paperback)

by Paul McAuley (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 528 pages
  • Publisher: Voyager (3 Sep 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0006513301
  • ISBN-13: 978-0006513308
  • Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 10.6 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 594,521 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'Looks set to inject a welcome dose of sophistication into the sf genre and attract readers who normally wouldn't touch it with a bargepole' INDEPENDENT 'Better hard science fiction writing than any British author since Clarke' GUARDIAN 'The most exciting of Britain's new-edge writers' Michael Marshall Smith


Product Description

There is life on Mars. But could it end life on Earth? It's 2025 and the Earth is damaged. Irreparably. The quest for scientific solutions is hampered by commercial greed, political infighting and a mass fear that whatever we do, we can only make things worse. Then a miracle. Scientists at the Chinese Martian base have discovered the 'Chi' -- an active micro-organism several kilometres below the surface. Very active. Left undisturbed for 2 billion years, it has super evolved and is able to swap DNA at will, maximising its survival whatever the environment. Against all protocol the 'Chi' is brought secretly back to Earth. Where it is stolen, and accidentally plunged into the pacific Ocean. Only a few weeks later, a giant slick of plankton is found growing at an exponential rate. It is sucking the seas dry of life. And the question must be asked. Who is colonizing whom? The wonder of Arthur C. Clarke. The claustrophobic tension of Alien. The science of Richard Dawkins. All taken to the extreme!
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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars To Mars And Back Again, 29 Jul 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Secret of Life (Hardcover)
Paul J. Macauley is a fascinating writer, not only for his ideas and characters but also for a certain rough-hewn quality that allows a glimpse his book's internals. TSOL is his most polished novel so far and only really suffers from a sudden ending which could have done with an epilogue of some kind.

As I was reading I had a certain irritation with the heroine, Mariella Anders, she seemed too intelligent yet occasionally plain daft and ,dare I say this, had too much background. In fact Macauley plays a deft game of giving us interesting snippets of her past throughout the book. This can be annoying but as the book finishes it really pays off.

I also felt the sex balance was off-kilter intially but with the Firstborn Crisis taken into account and a neat plot twist at the end I realised all the characters had to be just as they were. Paul has made a tight thriller out of complex questions of scientific ethics and as ever he points the way ahead for SF. Bravo PJM.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb intelligent Sci-fi thriller!, 3 Feb 2001
By Mr. Paul J. Stephen (Leeds) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Secret of Life (Hardcover)
This is one of those books you just can't put down. A feasible premise opens this political - science fiction thriller (techo-thriller if you will)and doesn't let go until the final pages. I for one didn't 'suss' out how this story would end and I think that any reader of this book will be kept guessing until the end.

Is there life on Mars? Not the bug eyed variety but a Bacteria type that reacts on Earth after an 'accident' that leaks into the worlds oceans. A race against time to find out the source and way to stop it leads Dr Anders on a once in a lifetime trip to the red planet. I found the chapers set on mars some of the best literature based on the Red planet.

This is a great thriller - and a superb piece of modern science fiction. Intelligent, persuasive and so very readable. This deserves to be a best seller for Paul Mcauley and the publisher - much better than some of the well known 'pulp' that finds a long run at the top of the Bestseller Charts.

BUY THIS BOOK - YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!

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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars McAuley can do better than this, 16 Oct 2001
By A Customer
I expected more from mcAuley; there are passages in this book that are brilliantly written, and the central premise of earth being polluted by an alien virus is good; but long stretches of biologist-scientific jargon make hard reading, the premise isn't taken any further it sort of peters out and even so promising a set-pipece as a trip to and from Mars leaves you feeling a bit nonplussed. If this is your first Macauley then I'd say that theres much more to this fine writer than this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

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