The premise of this novel certainly is unique: a semi-omniscient narrator one million years in the future looks back at the chain of events (in 1986) leading to the next chapter in human evolution, becoming seal-like creatures on the Galápagos Islands. For me the book was slow to get going, but the second half really shines. It's nominally sci-fi, the only such element being a computer, while dated by today's standards, provides much interest to the narrative by injecting pithy quotes periodically. The novel suffers a bit from some gimmicks, such as the asterisks by about-to-die characters' names, repetitiveness, and maybe some points are overwrought, but overall it's a good read.