Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson

Darwinia is a surprising book. Reading descriptions and reviews did not prepare me for the strangeness of this book. The basic concept is described simply enough--one night in 1912 the world changes radically--the European continent is overnight replaced by a strange new continent of roughly the same contours, but with no sentient beings and wholly strange animals.

Wilson tells the story of Darwinia through the eyes of a group of explorers of the "new continent", particularly a young man who is a photographer on the expedition, Guilford Law. Intercut with the story of the expedition are chapters about Guilford Law's wife and child, left waiting for him in the new London, which is a frontier outpost. Also intercutting the expedition chapters are chapters about a man who exhibits medium-like channeling of a "God".

It was hard for me to get involved in the world of Darwinia. At first the concept was so outlandish as to seem ridiculous--I didn't see how Wilson could carry off the concept as a reasonable science fiction novel, instead of an illogical fantasy. But, Wilson does manage the feat, although I won't say this book is nearly so successful as The Spin, in being both involving and fascinating. Still, Wilson creates in Darwinia a compelling group of characters and lays out a challenging and unusual story.