(Drivebycuriosity) - Maybe in a far future humans will explore planets that are light years away. The science fiction novel "Bios" by Robert Charles Wilson narrates such an exploration ( amazon). Humans try to exploid an extra-planet and are confronted with a very different fauna & flora. Soon the plot turns into a nail-biting action thriller and then into horror (this is a spoiler free blog).
The name tells it already, the plot is based on biochemistry, but also on evolution & quantum physics. Wilson has the gift to turn science into exciting stories. He describes and explains how intelligent life developed under conditions that are different from earth. Because of the far harsher environments cells, the bricks of organic life, are much better defended, more efficient, far more complex. They synthesize a staggering array of organic chemicals and are highly dangerous for humans, who´s immunity systems are not prepared for the alien environment.
"Bios" is also spiced with some romantics and has even some explicit sex, very different from the usually timid scifi genre that often caters young adults. Reading "Bios" was not only a pleasure, it refreshed my knowledge and I learned a lot new things.
"Bios" is on the same level like Tchaikovsky`s "Shroud" or Stanislaw Lem´s classic "Solaris". A must read for any scifi connoisseur.
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