A 2000 HUGO AWARD NOMINEE

Ancient diseases encoded in the DNA of humans wait like sleeping dragons to wake and infect again--or so molecular biologist Kaye Lang believes. And now it looks as if her controversial theory is in fact chilling reality. For Christopher Dicken, a "virus hunter" at the Epidemic Intelligence Service, has pursued an elusive flu-like disease that strikes down expectant mothers and their offspring. Then a major discovery high in the Alps --the preserved bodies of a prehistoric family--reveals a shocking link: something that has slept in our genes for millions of years is waking up.

Now, as the outbreak of this terrifying disease threatens to become a deadly epidemic, Dicken and Lang must race against time to assemble the pieces of a puzzle only they are equipped to solve--an evolutionary puzzle that will determine the future of the human race . . . if a future exists at all.

格里格·拜尔是当今美国最著名的科幻作家之一。他从16岁的时候开始发表科幻小说。1983年发表的短中篇小说《血的音乐》（Blood　Music）获得当年的星云奖及1984的雨果奖并使他赢得世界性的声誉。他同年所发表的《艰苦战斗》（Hard fought）也获得当年的长中篇小说星云奖。他的短篇小说《切线》（Tangents）获得1987年的星云奖及1988年的雨果奖。他的长篇小说《移动火星》（Moving　Mars）获得1994年的星云奖。他的其它著名长篇小说包括《天使女王》（Queen　of　Angels）以及“永世三部曲”《永世》（Eon），《永恒》（Etemity）。