Written in 1985, Blood Music by Greg Bear has recently been
republished. Initially, it is the story of Vergil Ulam who has developed
intelligent lymphocytes (Noocytes) by converting DNA into read/write
memory. In an attempt to preserve his work from destruction, he injects
them into himself. As a result the Noocytes start to convert his body into
something less human, but far more practical.
Of course, the Noocytes escape and start tinkering with the majority of
the population of America. At this point, the plot becomes seriously
strange as we see the exterior of some alien creature / group-mind doing
incomprehensible things. In the middle of the book, the Noocytes have
changed from being almost the heroes at the start into a weird alien
villain. However, by the end of the book, through clever examples, we are
given an insight into the potential of the Noocytes. The book has an
encouraging end and illustrates a possible evolution of the human race
into something far more benign and positive than our current standing.
Blood Music has an interesting storyline, with has not been tackled very
often. The closest I can think of is Theodore Thomas & Kate Wilhelm's The
Clone written in 1965, but this book is much more positive. |