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Robert J. Sawyer
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Calculating Godby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0312867131 (0-312-86713-1)
Hardcover, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Calculating God'Book summary:Creationists rarely find sympathy in the ranks of science fiction authors--or fans, for that matter. And while Robert J. Sawyer doesn't exactly make peace with evangelicals on the issue, Calculating God has to be one of the more thoughtful and sympathetic SF portrayals you'll find of religion and intelligent design. But that should come as no surprise from this crafty Canadian: in the Nebula Award-winning Terminal Experiment, Sawyer speculated on what would happen if hard evidence were ever found for the human soul; in Calculating God, he turns science on its head again when earth is invaded by theists from outer space.
The book starts out like the setup for some punny science fiction joke: An alien walks into a museum and asks if he can see a paleontologist. But the arachnid ET hasn't come aboard a rowboat with the Pope and Stephen Hawking (although His Holiness does request an audience later). Landing at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the spacefarer (named Hollus) asks to compare notes on mass extinctions with resident dino-scientist Thomas Jericho. A shocked Jericho finds that not only does life exist on other planets, but that every civilization in the galaxy has experienced extinction events at precisely the same time. Armed with that disconcerting information (and a little help from a grand unifying theory), the alien informs Jericho, almost dismissively, that "the primary goal of modern science is to discover why God has behaved as he has and to determine his methods."
Inventive, fast-paced, and alternately funny and touching, Calculating God sneaks in a well-researched survey of evolution science, exobiology, and philosophy amidst the banter between Hollus and Jericho. But the book also proves to be very moving and character-driven SF, as Jericho--in the face of Hollus's convincing arguments--grapples with his own bitter reasons for not believing in God. --Paul Hughes [via]
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End of an Eraby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0312876939 (0-312-87693-9)
Softcover, St Martins Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'End of an Era'Book summary:Don't pick up End of an Era unless you're prepared to have a good time. Robert J. Sawyer's novel is a lively mix of time travel, dinosaurs, and a classic love triangle. It's a lot of fun, a bit like listening to a musician who you know is playing for the sheer joy of it. End of an Era pays tribute to those old time-travelling dinosaur-hunter stories where one misstep changes the course of history. Sawyer updates the science, both physics and paleontology, and adds an old-fashioned career/romance rivalry between the two time travellers. When he throws in a mystery regarding the gravity of Earth in the distant past, along with some fairly strange Martians, the whole thing becomes the SF equivalent of a new roller-coaster ride, made up of familiar parts but shinier and more thrilling than the old one. End of an Era is the kind of book with pleasures for both the new and experienced SF reader. The story on its own terms is entertainingly written, and for the reader of the classics can enjoy spotting the references and tributes to stories past. --Greg L. Johnson [via]
Factoring Humanityby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0006511864 (0-00-651186-4)
Softcover, HarperCollins Publishers Limited
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Factoring Humanity'Book summary:Factoring Humanity will undoubtedly satisfy Sawyer fans, as well as those looking for positive-future scenarios à la Carl Sagan's Contact. Rather than a galactic vision of war and peace, this novel is localized in the extreme: the plot revolves around Heather, a psychology professor struggling to decipher extraterrestrial messages, and her estranged husband, Kyle, on the brink of the biggest computer science breakthrough of all time. What makes Factoring Humanity work is that Sawyer deals with vast ideas such as alien contact, quantum mechanics, and the human overmind, but does so to a deeply personal effect.
Sawyer, like many writers of near-future science fiction, has an unfortunate tendency to be too rooted in today, to make so many casual references to our present that they draw undue attention to themselves, making it difficult for the reader to suspend disbelief. This fascination with 20th-century pop culture crowds the real story and real details into a corner and underscores an apparent lack of creativity in painting future landscapes. Otherwise, and forgiving Sawyer's breathtakingly myopic view of Native Canadians and rather bland prose, this is exciting, readable science fiction that will take you where no one has gone before--and you'll never forget the ending. --Jhana Bach [via]
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Far-Seerby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0340618027 (0-340-61802-7)
Softcover, Hodder General Publishing Division
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Far-Seer'Book summary:The first paperback title in a new series of adventure and discovery on a world where intelligent dinosaurs rule. By the author of END OF AN EAR. [via]
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Flashforwardby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0312867123 (0-312-86712-3)
Hardcover, St Martins Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Flashforward'Book summary:What would you do if you got a glimpse of your own personal future and it looked bleak? Try to change things, or accept that the future is unchangeable and make the best of it? In Flashforward, Nobel-hungry physicists conducting an unimaginably high-energy experiment accidentally induce a global consciousness shift. In an instant, everyone on Earth is "flashed forward" 21 years, experiencing several minutes of the future. But while everyone is, literally, out of their minds, their bodies drop unconscious; when the world reawakens, car wrecks, botched surgeries, falls, and other mishaps add up to massive death and destruction.
Slowly, as recovery efforts continue, people realize that during the Flashforward (as it comes to be called) they experienced a vision of the future. The range of visions is astounding--those who would be asleep in the future saw psychedelic dream landscapes, while others saw nothing at all (presumably they'd be dead). But those who saw everyday life 20 years hence have to come to grips with evidence of dreams forsaken (or realized). Soon, the physicists who caused the Flashforward are struggling to help the world decide whether the future is changeable--and whether the experiment is worth repeating. Robert J. Sawyer has captured a truly compelling idea with Flashforward, and he fully explores what such an event might mean to humanity. Fans will find this to be his best work to date, although the ending seems rushed after a detailed buildup. --Therese Littleton [via]
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Foreigner: Book Three of the Quintaglio Ascensionby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0340618043 (0-340-61804-3)
Softcover, Hodder General Publishing Division
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Fossil Hunter : Book Two of the Quintaglio Ascensionby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0340618035 (0-340-61803-5)
Softcover, Hodder General Publishing Division
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Frameshiftby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0006483208 (0-00-648320-8)
Softcover, HarperCollins Publishers Limited
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Frameshift'Book summary:There is a 50 percent chance that geneticist Pierre Tardivel is carrying the gene for Huntington's Disease, a fatal disorder. That knowledge drives Pierre in his work on the Human Genome Project, an attempt by scientists to map human genes. But a strange set of circumstances--including a knife attack, the in vitro fertilization of his wife, and an insurance company plot to use DNA samples to weed out clients predisposed to early deaths--draw Tardivel into a story that will ultimately involve the hunt for a Nazi death camp doctor. Frameshift shows why the New York Times calls Robert J. Sawyer "a writer of boundless confidence." [via]
Golden Fleeceby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0312868650 (0-312-86865-0)
Softcover, St Martins Pr
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Harold Bloom's Shakespeareby Robert J. Sawyer , Christy DesmetISBN 0312239556 (0-312-23955-6)
Hardcover, Palgrave Macmillan
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Hominidsby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0312876920 (0-312-87692-0)
Hardcover, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Hominids'Book summary:Robert J. Sawyer's Hominids introduces a new world, a parallel historical universe in which Neanderthals, not Homo sapiens, survived to explore the world and build a civilization. It also tells the story of a man from his own world and the people who try to understand and help him. Ponter Boddit is a Neanderthal physicist working on quantum computing. While running an experiment, he suddenly disappears from his own universe, leaving a puddle of heavy water behind him. Just as suddenly, he appears in our universe, in a container of heavy water at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. Trying to understand how a Neanderthal arrived in the laboratory, and how to introduce him to human culture, poses a major problem for Louise Benoit, a physics student, and Mary Vaughan, a geneticist with expertise on Neanderthal DNA.
A parallel story of the Neanderthal world follows Adikor Huld and his attempt to explain why he should not be charged with murder in the disappearance of his partner Ponter. The book nicely contrasts Neanderthal society with our own: Ponter's descriptions of a society where violence is almost unknown and pollution non-existent paint an idyllic picture of his home universe. But Adikor's experiences show a more balanced view: Neanderthals sin, too. The first volume in Sawyer's new Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, Hominids is a self-contained story that combines fully drawn characters in both worlds with provocative ideas about physics, history, and evolution. --Greg L. Johnson [via]
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Humansby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0312876912 (0-312-87691-2)
Hardcover, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Humans'Book summary:The background to Humans has Ponter Boddit happy to be back in his own world of Neanderthals. He has reunited with friends and family and returned to his life as a physicist. Yet he can't help but feel that there remains unfinished business from his trip to the parallel world inhabited by the strange, possibly dangerous people who call themselves homo sapiens. And he would like to see Mary Vaughan again.
Humans, the second volume in Robert J Sawyer's Parallax trilogy, tells the story of Ponter's second trip to our world and the opening of the portal between worlds to a few other travellers. It is for the most part a quiet story of the deepening relationship between Ponter and Mary as Ponter continues his investigation of the human world and develops a growing interest in the preoccupation of its residents with religion. Meanwhile, intercut scenes of Ponter in therapy on his homeworld contribute to a growing tension in the story, as the reason for Ponter's feelings of guilt is slowly revealed. At the same time, scientists are beginning to notice that there is something odd happening with the magnetic fields of both Earths.
Although it's the middle volume of a trilogy that began with Hominids, the main story in Humans stands alone. Sawyer's enjoyable prose is sprinkled with sly comments on the mutual foibles of Canadians and Americans and Ponter in particular is given several good lines. Set firmly in our present, Humans relies on hard science for its set-up, but the heart of the novel is Mary and Ponter's acceptance of their love for each other. It's a hard-science-fiction romance and Sawyer tells this story of love across boundaries very well. --Greg L. Johnson, Amazon.ca [via]
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Hybridsby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0312876904 (0-312-87690-4)
Hardcover, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom
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Illegal Alienby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0006483194 (0-00-648319-4)
Softcover, HarperCollins Publishers Limited
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Illegal Alien'Book summary:Aliens, Tosoks, have finally made contact with Earth, but there are only seven of them, and they've arrived in a disabled spaceship. The Tosoks are intelligent and surprisingly easy to communicate with, and are happy to tour Earth and see what humans have to offer. But during a stop in Los Angeles, one of the human scientists traveling with the Tosoks is gruesomely murdered, and all evidence points to the alien Hask. The Los Angeles Police Department is determined to indict Hask for the crime, even though the aliens have little concept of laws or crime as we understand them. The only thing the U.S. government can do is secretly procure the services of Dale Rice, a leading civil rights lawyer, and hope he can clear Hask of the charges. But as the trial progresses, evidence indicates a cover-up by one or more of the aliens. Humanity's survival--not just Hask's fate--might hinge on the jury's verdict. [via]
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The Terminal Experimentby Robert J. SawyerISBN 0061053104 (0-06-105310-4)
Softcover, HarperCollins Canada, Limited
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