Coalescent by Stephen Baxter

What if human society were organized like ant colonies or hives of bees? I occasionally read speculative fiction just for plots that turn our accepted notions of society upside down. Baxter proposes not only that a small colony of humans developed a hive type society, but that it began about 400A.D. and survived secretly, gaining in power, until present day. Baxter tells his story simultaneously in the past and present. I actually found the parts describing the origin of the society during the fall of Rome more interesting than the parts in present day. The characters in the past are fairly vividly drawn, while the present day characters are largely stereotypes. So, a few interesting concepts, but the execution was only fair. 485 p.