Sawyer, Robert J.

Average customer rating:

A huge disappointment
pretty good
Scifi with some moral dilemas
balding was never cured?
Rollback by Robert Sawyer

Rollback (Sci Fi Essential Books)
Robert J. Sawyer
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0765311089
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Book Description

Dr. Sarah Halifax decoded the first-ever radio transmission received from aliens. Thirty-eight years later, a second message is received and Sarah, now eighty-seven, may hold the key to deciphering this one, tooif she lives long enough. A wealthy industrialist offers to pay for Sarah to have a rollback a hugely expensive experimental rejuvenation procedure. She accepts on condition that Don, her husband of sixty years, gets a rollback, too. The process works for Don, making him physically twenty-five again. But in a tragic twist, the rollback fails for Sarah, leaving her in her eighties as the second message arrives. While Don tries to deal with his newfound youth and the suddenly vast age gap between him and his wife, Sarah struggles to do again what shed done once before: figure out what a signal from the stars contains. Exploring morals and ethics on both human and cosmic scales, Rollback is the big new SF novel by Hugo and Nebula Award-winner Robert J. Sawyer.

Customer Reviews:

A huge disappointment.......2007-06-06

I found this book to be a huge disappointment. I had never read Sawyer before, but after hearing him interviewed on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and reading about all the awards he has won, I expected much more. My appetite was also whetted by the intrinsically interesting themes -- rejuvenation, alien encounters, and ethics.

But Sawyer doesn't deliver. His characters that are drawn so shallowly that it's hard to develop any interest in them. And what we do find, especially in the person of Don Halifax, is a curious inconsistency. On the one hand we're supposed to believe sympathetically that he is at heart a nice guy, a good man, a human being who makes forgivable mistakes. But in fact most of the time he behaves like a jerk. He snaps at people; he cheats on his wife; he's dishonest; he's self-centered. This is a great guy?

Also annoying are the numerous little speeches that the characters make. Few people talk like that in real life. It's especially unnatural when Don and his wife, Sarah, converse about big ideas. They sound like two people in a panel discussion rather than a husband and wife chatting. This is symptomatic of a larger problem with the book: it's sprinkled with mini-essays on a variety of topics. Some readers may find these digressions interesting, but in most cases they do little to advance the story. Their chief purpose seems to be to demonstrate the author's broad command of factoids.

A few minor quibbles: There are several plot points that I expected would lead to a twist or turn, but no, they're left undeveloped. The Atkins diet is promoted shamelessly. The sex scenes are laughably flat and two-dimensional -- obviously not Sawyer's forte. Similarly, in an attempt to infuse some feeling, he throws in a little poetry here and there, but it just doesn't work.

On the positive side, I do give Sawyer credit for a simple, easy-to-read prose style. Except for the intrusive little essays, readers will find that the narrative moves along very well. If you want a light read, enjoy tangential topics, and aren't concerned about character depth, you may find this book worthwhile.

pretty good.......2007-06-03

I'm a big Sawyer fan, but I have to say that I was slightly dissappointed with his latest effort. I think what bothered me most is that the story seemed to occasionally bog down in Sawyer's musings on linguistics, ethics, etc. I expect a certain amount of that sort of thing, but it got a little tedious.

I may also have been affected by the fact that at the same time I was reading this novel, one major theme of which is first contact, I was also reading Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow" which just blows this book away.

I will say that I did appreciate Sawyer's realistic approach to first contact via radio communication. It was refreshing.

Scifi with some moral dilemas.......2007-05-17

Sawyer is a master of weaving moral quandaries into science fiction tales. In this one an elderly Don Halifax is faced with being given his youth back due to a process called Rollback and seeing all the people that mean anything to him die off including his children while he relives his life. His wife, Sara Halifax was the person who had deciphered a message from an alien race several years prior. The story begins with a new alien message being received and an aged Sara is asked to decipher it again. To allow her to continue the process, a wealthy entrepreneur pays for her and Don to have the Rollback performed so that she will be around each time a message is received. Unfortunately for her, her Rollback fails so we are left with a "25" year old Don married to "87" year old Sara. Don is torn between his love for Sara and the raging hormones that have now been awakened in his body.

The book is a very fast read and the author does a good job of presenting a really significant alien message, once it is deciphered. Sawyer along with Orson Scott Card continues to be my favorite Scifi author.

balding was never cured?.......2007-05-15

Sawyer's recent Rollback is a quiet and contemplative read. What is slightly unusual is that it was very recently serialised in Analog over several months, ending in early 2007. Rare for a book to then come out scarcely 3 months later. Which also meant that given the realities of printing, the book was actually sent to the galleys around the time that the last episode came out in Analog. Typically, a contract between a magazine and an author gives the magazine exclusive rights for at least a year after publication.

Anyhow, the book does provide one view of the future that differs from the technological singularity espoused by others like Vinge and Kurzweil. In Rollback, the narrative explicitly states that no such singularity was encountered. There are robots, on somewhat of a par with those that Asimov postulated in the 1950s and 60s.

But there is one jarring note. All the cancers and AIDS have been defeated. Treatments for these were made available to everyone by the time the book begins. While a central theme is that a full age reversal treatment does exist, but costs billions. However, the protagonist is in his 70s or 80s and is balding. Somehow, there was no treatment for this. Very unlikely. Even now, we are probably within 20 years of a comprehensive cure for balding. And this is a far smaller, simpler extrapolation than defeating cancers or AIDS.

This is compounded by the hero undergoing a successful rejuvenation. Then, some 10-15 years later, he is described as again balding. Even though by now, rejuvenation has fallen sharply in price, balding is still undefeated?

This sounds like those SF stores from the 1930s-50s, of spaceships, where the crew were using slide rules.

Rollback by Robert Sawyer.......2007-05-13

Another great one from Robert Sawyer. Problem is, I devour them much faster than he can write them. If this is your first Sawyer book, go back and read the rest of them, especially the two trilogies. You won't be disappointed. His style of writing keeps those pages turning.

Average customer rating:

Excellent Parallel Universe Story
For fans of Neanderthals.
An interesting "what if" universe with Neanderthals...
Too brainy, not smart enough
Worse than Oleanna... almost

Hominids (Neanderthal Parallax)
Robert J. Sawyer
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0765345005

Book Description

Hominids examines two unique species of people. We are one of those species; the other is the Neanderthals of a parallel world where they became the dominant intelligence. The Neanderthal civilization has reached heights of culture and science comparable to our own, but with radically different history, society and philosophy. Ponter Boddit, a Neanderthal physicist, accidentally pierces the barrier between worlds and is transferred to our universe. Almost immediately recognized as a Neanderthal, but only much later as a scientist, he is quarantined and studied, alone and bewildered, a stranger in a strange land. But Ponter is also befriended-by a doctor and a physicist who share his questing intelligence, and especially by Canadian geneticist Mary Vaughan, a woman with whom he develops a special rapport. Ponter's partner, Adikor Huld, finds himself with a messy lab, a missing body, suspicious people all around and an explosive murder trial. How can he possibly prove his innocence when he has no idea what actually happened to Ponter?

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Parallel Universe Story.......2007-06-16

I recently discovered Mr. Sawyer's work. Undoubtedly, he is a great hard Sci-Fi writer, I think one of the best among the newcomers. Hominids is not up the quality of "Calculating God", but still a good novel, and his setting of the Neanderthal World is really excellent. The rape story I considered unnecessary and really a distraction on the main plot, but I guess Mr. Sawyer wanted to put an emphasis on the social differences between the two parallel Earths. Also the trial for the supposed murder is hardly credible, as it is driven by feelings and circunstancial evidence only. Overall, once again Mr. Sawyer did his research and came up with a very interesting story based on hard scientific facts and plenty of his imagination.

A good read for hard Sci-Fi fans, and I still wondering if it is worthy to read the whole trillogy.

For fans of Neanderthals. .......2007-03-14

Hominids is about two Earths, one which is ours and one which is a parallel world full of Neanderthals. Or maybe we're the parallel Earth? Anyway, Ponter Boddit ends up trapping himself in our universe as a result of a failed experiment with a quantum computer. On the other hand, he invented a perfect way to travel between universes.
But while he is on our side of the barrier, being hounded by reporters, picking up germs his immune system can't handle and having a great time his male-partner is being put on trial for murder.
That's right. Without a body, or even any solid idea of what happened, Adikor Huld is being put on trial for Boddit's death. All he has is a messy computer lab, a history of violence and a missing partner.
A great sci-fi book and a book for anybody who enjoys Neanderthal related books.

An interesting "what if" universe with Neanderthals..........2007-02-16

Sawyer shows great imagination in detailing an alternate quantum reality in which humans die out and neanderthal humans are the dominant lifeform. Ponter the neanderthal's trip to our own reality highlights the many positive qualities and shortcomings of humans and how far we have to go towards "scientific enlightenment." While it may not be realistic to think that Neanderthals would have developed into a peaceful, scientific species unlike humans, it still makes interesting reading. There is plenty of physics in here for the hard science fiction fan and plenty of story and drama for the soft science fiction fan. I am looking forward to reading the other two books of this series.

Too brainy, not smart enough.......2007-01-08

I found this series very engaging, much as a car wreck on beltway is very engaging. I read all three books, hoping in vain, that by the end, the characters would be as smart as they were supposed to be. Each of the supposedly super-intelligent characters, people who were written to be of larger than life intelligence, showed only a cursory understanding of the things they were discussing, almost as if they had only read the books in the author's bibliography. Simple errors were made all over the place.

Scientific errors can usually be handled with the magic of Handwavium - but the author felt it necessary to explain too much in great detail, for him to then ignore the inconsistancies with physics, logic, or mathematics. The problem with trying to write a book that's this brainy is that you have to either be able to back it up, or have readers who aren't educated enough to know the difference. While some readers may just skim over the problems, crediting suspension of disbelief, it's hard to do that when all the book has to offer is its brains.

Worse than Oleanna... almost.......2007-01-07

Hello there! I'm here to inform you all that Hominids is the worst thing I've ever read in my entire life, barring the play Oleanna. I actually found myself laughing out loud at the ridiculous, snobby neaderthal guy who traveled to our world. Basicly the whole book is about a bisexual perfect cave man who wanders around, crying-indian style, amazed and horrified at all mans blunders. Oh no, humans killed the mammoth! *shakes head sadly as a tear rolls down cheek*

Average customer rating:

More a romance novel than science fiction
All right, having read the previous ones...
Excellent continuation, have to read if you've read the others in this series.
Lease favorite of the trilogy
Weakest of the series

Hybrids (Neanderthal Parallax)
Robert J. Sawyer
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 076534906X
Release Date: 2004-11-02

Book Description

In the Hugo-Award winning Hominids, Robert J. Sawyer introduced a character readers will never forget: Ponter Boddit, a Neanderthal physicist from a parallel Earth who was whisked from his reality into ours by a quantum-computing experiment gone awry - making him the ultimate stranger in a strange land.In that book and in its sequel, Humans, Sawyer showed us the Neanderthal version of Earth in loving detail - a tour de force of world-building; a masterpiece of alternate history.Now, in Hybrids, Ponter Boddit and his Homo sapiens lover, geneticist Mary Vaughan, are torn between two worlds, struggling to find a way to make their star-crossed relationship work. Aided by banned Neanderthal technology, they plan to conceive the first hybrid child, a symbol of hope for the joining of their two versions of reality. But after an experiment shows that Mary's religious faith - something completely absent in Neanderthals - is a quirk of the neurological wiring of Homo sapiens brains, Ponter and Mary must decide whether their child should be predisposed to atheism or belief. Meanwhile, as Mary's Earth is dealing with a collapse of its planetary magnetic field, her boss, the enigmatic Jock Krieger, has turned envious eyes on the unspoiled Eden that is the Neanderthal world . . . Hybrids is filled to bursting with Sawyer's signature speculations about alternative ways of being human, exploding our preconceptions of morality and gender, of faith and love. His Neanderthal Parallax trilogy is a classic in the making, and here he brings it to a stunning, thought-provoking conclusion that's sure to make Hybrids one of the most controversial books of the year.

Customer Reviews:

More a romance novel than science fiction.......2007-04-27

I thought long and hard over how many stars to give this book and eventually opted for two because it's just not quite good enough for three but it is a fairly strong two.

Without going into too much detail about the story, the three books cover what happens when a link to an alternate universe where Neanderthals supplanted humanity as the dominant hominid race opens up. Ponter Boddit, a Neanderthal physicist, is transported to our universe and Mary Vaughan, a genetic expert, is appointed to study him and over time, falls in love. As humanity learns more about the Neanderthals, dark forces plot to take their universe over for the human race. Of course everything turns out okay in the end.

Sawyer paints an interesting picture of how different the science and culture in the Neanderthal universe is compared to ours but spends too much time on religion. Apparently the Neanderthal brain is structured in such a way that religious experience is beyond their understanding. What irritated me the most though was the concentration on the love story. At times I thought I was reading a Mills and Boon romantic novel and some of the romantic interaction later in the book came over as just plain silly.

I think that the Neanderthal Parallax could just as well have been fitted into two books. This book has its occasional moments but isn't a real winner as far as I'm concerned.

All right, having read the previous ones..........2006-07-31

Reviews of this book seem to belong to two categories:
A. very negative ones, usually written by ultra-religious folks and
B. very positive ones,written by non-religious folks who had read the other two instalments.
It is my belief one should be somehow more considerate in reviewing this book.
Obviously, it has not got the inventiveness and the fast pace of the first, or of the second.
It does, nonetheless, ask uncomfortable questions and provides also some food for thoughts.
It therefore should not be dragged down.
You need to read the two other volumes first, but once you do, if you are not from a ultra-strict religious upbringing, you are most likely to enjoy this book, which is, inter alia, about tolerance, something in very short supply these days...
After reading all the negative reviews, I first hesitated about buying it and then I expected it to bomb.
I was actually wrong. I quite liked it for the reasons I mentioned above.
Thank you, Mr Sawyer.

Excellent continuation, have to read if you've read the others in this series........2006-07-27

If you read one of this series, you have to read them all. They're very well writte, flow smoothly and provide such a relaxing, quick, and upbeat read (for the most part)at the end of the day.

Lease favorite of the trilogy .......2006-07-14

The first and second book were marvelously entertaining and fun. The third one is unfortunately not as captivating as the others. I believe the author was unsure how to proceed with the storyline -- he had many choices, but somehow decide to take a less provocative option. Too many predicable events and far too few surprises or twists, and the ending was a disappointment ... perhaps this wasn't not the ending?

Weakest of the series.......2006-06-24

I was not as happy with book two in this series but I enjoyed reading it; I was disappointed by book three. The book was overtly preachy and the characterizations were hampered by unidimensional, exaggerated and tired stereotypes. Characters did not behave in ways consistent with their historie (or pathologies).

Average customer rating:

Across the Mind
Good Insight into a Great Writer and Interesting Guy

Relativity
Robert J. Sawyer
Manufacturer: Isfic Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0975915606

Customer Reviews:

Across the Mind.......2005-12-13

'Relativity' collects up 8 short stories, and a lot of Sawyer's non-fiction. Some of the stories are minor, but most of them are important stories proving Sawyer is among the field's top authors at any length.

But the non-fiction is also a treat. It is occasionally a little repetitive due to the nature of having been collected over many sources, and over some years. But all of it is thoughtful, interesting, and full of ideas.

In fact, the book is so full of ideas, it's best read over a few weeks rather than in one sitting. It's one to be savored.

Good Insight into a Great Writer and Interesting Guy.......2005-01-02

Given his sales, I'm sure a lot of people have read Robert J. Sawyer's novels, but unless you spend time surfing his website at www.sfwriter.com or listening to him at one of the many scifi cons he attends, you don't really get the full picture. Rather than pushing an agenda or scare-mongering, Rob is, I think, most interested in getting people to think intelligently about serious issues concerning science, humanity, and the future. This collection of stories, speeches, and articles illustrates his creativity, his impact on science fiction, his dedication to the craft of writing, and his willingness to help aspiring authors (including me: Rob provided a quote for my first scifi novel, Forced Conversion). Relativity is a worthy addition to the collection of any Sawyer fan and any aspiring scifi writer. As the first offering of ISFiC Press, there is even more reason to get your copy now.

Humans (Volume Two of The Neanderthal Parallax)

Average customer rating:

Not as good as the first one
Candide gets on his soapbox
Good continuation of Volume One
Not as good as the first book in the series!
Very enjoyable read

Humans (Volume Two of The Neanderthal Parallax)
Robert J. Sawyer
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0765346753

Book Description

Robert J. Sawyer, the award-winning and bestselling writer, hits the peak of his powers in Humans, the second book of The Neanderthal Parallax, his trilogy about our world and parallel one in which it was the Homo sapiens who died out and the Neanderthals who became the dominant intelligent species. This powerful idea allows Sawyer to examine some of the deeply rooted assumptions of contemporary human civilization dramatically, by confronting us with another civilization, just as morally valid, that has made other choices. In Humans, Neanderthal physicist Ponter Boddit, a character you will never forget, returns to our world and to his relationship with geneticist Mary Vaughan, as cultural exchanges between the two Earths begin.As we see daily life in another present-day world, radically different from ours, in the course of Sawyer's fast-moving story, we experience the bursts of wonder and enlightenment that are the finest pleasures of science fiction. Humans is one of the best SF novels of the year, and The Neanderthal Parallax is an SF classic in the making.

Customer Reviews:

Not as good as the first one.......2007-02-23

Humans is not as good as the first book in this trilogy, Hominids. However, much of the book still takes place in the intelligent and imaginative alternate universe populated with neanderthals created by Sawyer. This book focuses on the developing relationship between Ponter and Mary and the obstacles of their separate worlds and cultures, as well as Mary's past sexual assault. The ending alone makes this book worth reading.

Candide gets on his soapbox.......2006-10-15

After the excellent Hominids, Humans is somewhat of a let down. The series remains above the average SF fare, both in terms of contents and execution. But Humans wouldn't win any awards on its own though (PC award excepted).

Rather than exploring new ground, Mr. Sawyer has Ponter (the main Neanderthal character) repeatedly asking questions that highlight how we humans are so unpleasant to each other. This is not a bad thing in itself, but it is not a substitute for a plot either. By the time Ponter asks his 4th or 5th such question, with Mary providing an uninspired pro forma defense, the trick is as stale as my hiking socks. I especially "liked" the cocktail discussion with Mary's colleagues, with verbatim quotes from Jared Diamond's excellent Guns, Germs and Steel.

The Neanderthals' policy of castrating criminals and their immediate relatives smacks of eugenics, despite recent statistical research on the hereditary component of criminality. How did they avoid judicial errors, before the oh-so-convenient alibi machines? Is that policy ever defended? Nope, no need to, they are perfect after all.

Like others, I wonder how the Neanderthals can have such advanced technology, without our population base, our manufacturing base, or indeed our wars. I see several possibilities, and I would have welcomed more insight from the book.

a) Not having civilization collapses is more efficient in the long term (tortoise vs. hare).

b) The Neanderthals are smarter as they have bigger brains. What is Ponter doing with Mary then?

c) Technological research has been long been driven by the military, though nowadays, consumer/business oriented research seems to be more important. But pure science may be less influenced by military spending.

d) Having one language/civilization might speed up the transfer of ideas. More likely, it would introduce serious groupthink.

e) The Neanderthals' socialism implies universal access to education which could maximize the potential of gifted individuals.

All in all, the author rests on his laurels and Humans doesn't add anything fresh to Hominids' storyline. Instead, he falls back into his usual habit of throwing "subtle" barbs at our southern neighbours. Gee, Mr. Sawyer, you live in Canada and prefer it to the US. Living in Canada, I sympathize, to an extent. But, need we be reminded, at length, in _all_ your books??? Hominids was much the better for being unusually subtle on that matter.

Good continuation of Volume One.......2006-07-27

I love this series, it's got just enough science fiction mixed in with reality to make it a very quick and enjoyable read. I recommend this series to anyone from 12 to 112.

Not as good as the first book in the series!.......2006-06-24

I enjoyed reading this, but it was not on par with the first book in the series. Characters were not as believable and the story was not as solid. I'd rate this as average.

Very enjoyable read.......2006-05-21

This is the second book of the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, and I enjoyed it almost as much as the first book, Hominids. This one is as suspenseful and unpredictable as the first book, and I fully recommend it to anyone who has any interested in Sci-Fi or adventure.

Average customer rating:

Excellent hard Sci-Fi and great philosophical discussion on God Existence
Likeable SciFi
Light and entertaining, but could annoy some hardcore sci-fi readers
Alien who believes in God
Hooked on Sawyer

Calculating God
Robert J. Sawyer
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0812580354

Amazon.com

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

Book Description

Calculating God is the new near-future SF thriller from the popular and award-winning Robert J. Sawyer. An alien shuttle craft lands outside the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. A six-legged, two-armed alien emerges, who says, in perfect English, "Take me to a paleontologist." It seems that Earth, and the alien's home planet, and the home planet of another alien species traveling on the alien mother ship, all experienced the same five cataclysmic events at about the same time (one example of these "cataclysmic events" would be the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs). Both alien races believe this proves the existence of God: i.e. he's obviously been playing with the evolution of life on each of these planets.From this provocative launch point, Sawyer tells a fast-paced, and morally and intellectually challenging, SF story that just grows larger and larger in scope. The evidence of God's universal existence is not universally well received on Earth, nor even immediately believed. And it reveals nothing of God's nature. In fact. it poses more questions than it answers.When a supernova explodes out in the galaxy but close enough to wipe out life on all three home-worlds, the big question is, Will God intervene or is this the sixth cataclysm:?Calculating God is SF on the grand scale.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent hard Sci-Fi and great philosophical discussion on God Existence.......2007-06-04

Sawyer is a great hard Sci-Fi writer, finally we have someone who has the style of the good old masters. He is as good as Arthur Clarke in extrapolating science at his best times, as interesting in exploring the consequences of new scientific discoveries as Michael Crichton, but with better characters, and his philosophical discussion regarding God's existence rivals with Richard Dawkins's "The God Delusion".

In fact, Sawyer's novel explores more objectively every issue about the existence of God in a throughout manner, considering the latest knowledge in biology, genetics, evolution and cosmology, and without offending or criticizing modern religions, as Dawkins did. For those who read Dawkins's "The God Delusion", this novel will clarify why some consider that Dawkins' weakest argument has to do with the origin of life and the Big Bang. Despite of the fact this is just a sci-fi novel, through the discussion between Holus (the alien who believes in God as a matter of scientific truth) and Dr. Jericho (the Canadian scientist who is a hard atheist, Dawkins style), Mr. Sawyer present us with a fair and balanced argumentation for each position (deist -not to be confused as creationist- vs. atheist). The final is a brilliant, just a shame it is only a brilliant speculation, but based on hard scientific possibilities.

A book highly recommended for hard sci-fi fans, and also for those who enjoyed reading Carl Sagan, Paul Davies, Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking. I am looking forward to read Sawyer's other books, and I am just sad I didn't discover him earlier, since I haven't read a good hard science fiction novel from a new author since the 20th century.

Likeable SciFi.......2007-05-12

Entertaining, thought provoking SciFi, with some laughs along the way, good ploting, great charactors and accessable to mainstream readers. Sawyer is one of the better SciFi writers and deserves your attention, tho I'd recommend starting with "Mindscan" which I like a whole lot more. :)

Light and entertaining, but could annoy some hardcore sci-fi readers.......2007-04-27

I got mixed feelings about this book. In one hand I enjoyed the "what if" exercise proposed by Robert J. Sawyer, after all we would never expect some advanced alien civilizations to be creationists.

On the other hand, the author tries too hard to give more credibility to some of the most commons creationist arguments, such as irreducible complexity and the anthropic principle, and I would expect the main character (a senior paleontologist at a large museum, and by his own account experienced debating creationism) to refute those arguments, instead of being stumped. The book will also age quickly because it is very centered on the current debate, mentioning real characters, books and events, which will probably be less and less relevant as the years go by.

It is also a bit hard to believe that the arrival of not only one but two alien species to Earth would cause so little controversy. I am not sure if the author deliberately decided to keep those details out, but it feels as if the humanity accepted and got used to such bombastic news in a couple of days, "and now to our next story...".

If I didn't know Robert Sawyer's work I would dismiss as bad creationist literature. But the last 30 pages had an interesting, moving twist that made the book deserve a 3rd star...but probably 2 1/2 would be more fitting.

Alien who believes in God.......2007-04-19

Sawyer takes on a hot topic in the news -materialism vs intelligent design- and gives a fair treatment of both sides in an interesting tale of a spider-like alien who lands at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and asks to see a paleontologist. The alien is shocked to discover that the paleontologist doesn't believe in God since says he "the fact that we live in a created universe is apparent to anyone with sufficient intelligence and information." I found it puzzling that Sawyer has the alien stating that irreducibly complex features of living things convince him of a designer, but that he believes that God himself arose by chance in the universe. Not a very defensible argument to make in my opinion. Overall the book was well written and kept my interest.

Hooked on Sawyer.......2007-03-19

Sawyer is a good story-teller and jumps right in. Two different alien species from two different solar systems are jointly investigating earth. They need more paleotological information (fossils) than they could glean from earth's TV broadcasts. Their goal? - to find God. It is their science that leads them to believe in God's existence and they are astounded that many of earth's scientists don't. This leads to a discussion of the Anthropic Principle - that the finely-tuned physics of the existing universe is extremely unlikely without help, especially since it favors the improbable development of intelligent life. Conclusion? The universe must have had a designer - thus the name, "Calculating God."

Some of the chapters could have come directly from ID literature - but ID advocates should curb their initial optimism. Only a select few will like Sawyer's concept of The Designer.

I disagree with those reviewers who criticize Sawyer's science. For those who want complete accuracy, read a textbook. His overall accuracy over a wide variety of scientific disciplines is better than acceptable for SciFi, and is a healthy challenge for the non-science reader. Sawyer's books are a good way to be exposed to some solid science.

Complaints: Character development is average, at best - a Jane Austen, Sawyer is not. The climax event is a little weak, and undoubtedly could have been improved with more work - Sawyer is incredibly inventive and is easily up to the task. A personal theological objection - he's a little too chummy with the ID crowd.

Despite the objections, this is my fourth Sawyer book and I'm hooked. Highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

Breathtaking in its scope!
Good, pulpy SF
A great start for someone who is new to science fiction
Contact-lite
Sawyer at his best!

Factoring Humanity
Robert J. Sawyer
Manufacturer: Orb Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0765309033

Amazon.com

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

Book Description

In the near future, a signal is detected coming from Alpha Centauri. Unintelligible data streams in for ten years. Heather Davis, a professor at the University of Toronto, has devoted her career to deciphering the message. Her estranged husband, Kyle, is working on artificial intelligence systems utilizing quantum effects. When Heather achieves a breakthrough, the message reveals a startling new technology that rips the barriers of space and time, holding the promise of a new stage of human evolution. In concert with Kyle's discoveries of the nature of consciousness, the key to limitless exploration-or the end of the human race-appears close at hand. Sawyer has created a gripping thriller, a pulse-pounding tour of the farthest reaches of technology.

Customer Reviews:

Breathtaking in its scope!.......2006-11-05

You have to hand it to Sawyer! He certainly isn't one to think small! Why deal with mere cutting edge esoteric research when one can create "Factoring Humanity", a novel that folds that research into a gutsy thought experiment encompassing all of humanity, the nature of consciousness, extra-terrestrial communication and the manifold structure of the universe?

Heather Davis, a professor in the psychology faculty at the University of Toronto, has spent a significant part of her career attempting to decode a ten year long stream of obviously structured radio signals that clearly emanate from an intelligent source in Alpha Centauri. Her estranged husband, Kyle, puts in his scientific day on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence research and the development of quantum computer technology. (His pet project "Cheetah" is an APE, a computer designed to Approximate Psychological Experiences. With startlingly realistic responses, Cheetah comes very close but doesn't quite clear Turing's bar of deceiving a human interrogator.) In one of those serendipitous "Eureka" moments, Heather achieves a complete breakthrough decoding the alien signal stream and realizes that the decoded data comprise a blueprint to build an amazing new technology. As she and Kyle stumble through the learning curve associated with manipulating this new alien machine, it becomes clear that humanity's understanding of communication, consciousness and the very structure of the universe will never be the same again! Life and our perceptions of reality will be fundamentally altered as soon as knowledge of this technology enters the public domain.

"Factoring Humanity" contains a parallel sub-plot line in which Heather and Kyle's daughter, under psychological counseling, re-discovers suppressed memories of sexual abuse at the hands of her father, Kyle. Issues such as sexual abuse of children, sexual harassment, Jungian theories of "false" or "suppressed" memories and the myriad social outcomes of accusations of sexual misconduct are dealt with warmly, sensitively and realistically. But, unfortunately, this whole more human part of Sawyer's novel to me seemed artificially contrived and awkwardly shoehorned into the science in order to provide a canvas on which to paint his fascinating hypothesis about the possible nature of human consciousness and communication! The two stories were individually compelling and well-crafted but their integration into a whole was less than seamless.

On the other hand, Kyle's relationship with Cheetah and Cheetah's burgeoning intelligence and unique character provide an absolutely fascinating third facet to Sawyer's wonderful tale that flows much more smoothly into the story as a whole. In a manner reminiscent of Star Trek's Data, Cheetah's ruminations comprise a thought-provoking essay on the nature of sentience and humanity which is at once warm, gripping, humorous and intelligent.

A magnificent four-star combination of the outer reaches of hard and soft sci-fi from Canada's premier author of contemporary science fiction.

Paul Weiss

Good, pulpy SF.......2006-08-11

Previously, I've read Sawyer's "Calculating God" and "The Terminal Experiment", and "Factoring Humanity" is rather similar. The characters are a bit flat and the plot is sometimes ill-executed, but the read is fast-paced and decently entertaining.

The fictional science in the book is rather inconsistent. Sometimes it seems plausible, while still being fantastic enough to illuminate (very) interesting questions. Other times it seems to fall into the uncanny valley of sci-fi, _almost_ (but not quite) plausible, making it somewhat difficult to suspend disbelief.

I do like Sawyer's way of putting a soft sci-fi twist on traditional elements of hard sci-fi.

A great start for someone who is new to science fiction.......2006-06-23

My interest in reading science fiction just began last May, but I only had the chance to read sci-fi three days ago. The first ever sci-fi book that I read was Factoring Humanity, and really, I would consider it as a great opening to the world of sci-fi reading.

Reading would usually take me two and a half days (especially now that school has already started), but I was able to finish this one in a day. I could say that I really had fun reading it, because I didn't notice the pages turning anymore. Even when I was in the company of some friends, I couldn't put it down. I'd rather stay quiet and read about Heather Davis and Kyle Graves than talk. I was so engrossed about their lives that I didn't want to miss them even for a minute.

Of course, in spite of me getting hooked up, I began to see some faults in this work. I was consequently looking for the climax until I read the last page. I knew there was a climax somewhere in there, but I didn't think it was enough to make me see the whole point and where the happenings would all lead. When I was reaching the final 60 pages or so I was preparing myself for the great turning point but I wonder where the corner had gone? It was not as exciting as I thought it would be. I thought the story would show how it affected all of humanity but the "factoring humanity" part only involved Heather, Kyle, and their daughter Becky. And the ending, well... I hate to say this but it was a bit corny. It's not really how I expected it to end. And I hate what happened to Cheetah. Even though he (or rather, "it") was just a program, you would feel "its" pain... if such thing ever existed in "its life".

I'm not going to say that this is a bad book, because it's really not. If you're new into the science fiction genre, this is a great start. It would really keep you interested in the field of science, and it would also make you think about the possibilities of extra-terrestrial beings living in this universe, which for me is really worth thinking about. And of course, I really liked how this book showed the complexity of the human mind. It's not just about science, it's also about considering other people's thoughts. It's really nice because it's entertaining and thought-provoking at the same time.

Contact-lite.......2005-01-05

This is the third R.J. Sawyer book I've read recently (the others were Calculating God and End of an Era). Obviously I liked the others enough to keep going. And this was my favorite of the lot. I rated them all at 3 stars, but this one is really more like 3.5 or 3.75, but the rating scale is of limited resolution.

So too is the science in his fiction. Sawyer does not write "hard SF". It's more like hard SF-lite. This one borrowed heavily from Sagan's "Contact" (which was hard SF, par exemplar, and also had great character development and deep philosophical implications on several levels, but I digress..) and dabbles a bit in 4 dimensional geometry, quantum computing and cosmic consciousness. The characters are sort of ill-defined (except for the AI who seemed deeper and more human than the homo sapiens), which seems a hallmark of the 3 Sawyer books I have read, but the plot keeps things moving, also a Sawyer hallmark. I think if you expect Sawyer to be the next great writer in hard SF you are in for a disappointment. But if you want an enjoyable light read that has just a bit of science in the fiction, Sawyer is your guy for plot-driven page-turners. I will try at least a few more of his.

Sawyer at his best!.......2004-10-07

Each Sawyer book I have read seems to outdo the previous one. This is no exception. It has a little of everything including family drama, unethical medical practices, alien messages, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, the collective human "overmind," with a few consortiums of individuals that are trying to "buy off" scientific discoveries, being thrown into the mix. . Sawyer has a talent for presenting complex scientific theories in an interesting fashion. Each book seems to hint at answers to the most perplexing human questions such as what is the meaning of life, do we have a soul, how did the universe start, and are there extraterrestrials?

I remember the Arthur C. Clarke book "Light of Other Days" in which humans are able to view any event in history, therefore eliminating secrecy and privacy. This book shows another way of accomplishing the same thing. However, Sawyer's tale seems a lot more probable.

The book begins a little bit slow, but once you have read about 50 pages you will read the last 300 in possibly one sitting. Sawyer is starting to convince me that he is the best scifi writer out there!

Average customer rating:

Great Concept Poor Execution
What if you could live 2 minutes in your own future?
A challenging thought experiment!
Weird....but not bad
Fundamentally flawed

Flashforward
Robert J. Sawyer
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0812580346

Amazon.com

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

Book Description

A scientific experiment begins, and as the button is pressed, the unexpected occurs: everyone in the world goes to sleep for a few moments while everyone's consciousness is catapulted more than twenty years into the future. At the end of those moments, when the world reawakens, all human life is transformed by foreknowledge.

Customer Reviews:

Great Concept Poor Execution.......2007-06-13

Great concept, but not a great execution. The characters are all unlikeable and behave in illogical manners. Worse, Sawyer has the tendency to tell, not show, and has an unfortunate taste for melodrama. He also has a strange view of what humanity will be like in 2020. Floating cars and androids. Well. We'll see. I'm still waiting on my rocket car promised to me by 1980 in old Bugs Bunny cartoons.

I started the book and liked the concept (being able to sneak a peek at the future). Then I finished the book and just felt vaguely unpleasant about it afterwards.

I'm reading this at the same time as Tipler's The Physics of Christianity, which turned out to be amusing, since one of the characters in the novel quotes Tipler, though not very well. Both books have a fascination with the Higgs Boson, so it was kind of interesting to read them in parallel.

What if you could live 2 minutes in your own future?.......2006-07-21

Flashforward starts with a whoppingly large temporal anomaly - the entire human race lives 2 minutes in their future selves, that future being roughly 20 years from now. When the anomaly is over, chaos ensues: planes and cars have crashed, security cameras have gone haywire, and no one knows what caused the event. No one, that is, except the heroes of the story, who are a group of scientists performing an experiment to produce the highest-energy conditions ever created by man. Theo Procopides and Lloyd Simcoe are particle physicists working at the particle accelerator in Switzerland. As they initiate their experiment, Lloyd has a vision of his future wife (a woman he'd not yet met), while Theo sees nothing. Theo later learns that he's been murdered by the time of the visions, and so had no future self to jump into. The mystery is on - both the Big Question mystery of what caused the event (and how to interpret the future visions), as well as the smaller mystery of who will kill Theo.

Naturally, the look into the future brings forth the debate about the nature of space-time and whether the multi-universe model or the fixed universe model is more accurate. Sawyer does well in negotiating and explaining the science behind the models, although as a chemist I can see a few holes in his science. No matter, the story is well written and avoids some obvious pitfalls (which plagued his earlier "Terminal Experiment"), such as trying to explain too much and trying to jab too many theories at the reader. Oddly, religion plays little role in the debate, which is a mainstay of other Sawyer works. I find this odd - surely a few billion people would interpret their vision as a divine work, rather than the result of an experiment.

I have to admit to a certain level of scientific frustration, however. It's not so much that Sawyer doesn't understand the science thoroughly (perhaps he does, and decided to gloss over certain points in the interest of the story). Rather, Sawyer makes the mistake of giving his arguments to the wrong characters. Surely Lloyd Simcoe, the particle physicist, would not be so cavalier about dismissing quantum theory. He works in the realm of quantum mechanics, and would surely be biased towards a quantum worldview rather than a relativistic one! Again, this is likely only to bother those of us (chemists and physicists) who are more comfortable with quantum theory.

Overall, on the scale of Sawyer offerings, this one is quite strong. It is not as good as "Calculating God", but certainly better than the second "Hominids" book, and better than "Terminal Experiment" as well.

A challenging thought experiment!.......2006-03-30

Like Schr?dinger's Cat, Flashforward is a confounding, challenging, magnificent thought experiment that is, at once, breathtakingly simply and yet staggering in its possible scope and ramifications.

Lloyd Simcoe and Theo Procopides (a pair of brilliant Canadian particle physicists ... hip, hip hooray!) are hot on the trail of the elusive Higgs Boson and the Nobel Prize that would almost certainly follow in the wake of success. To say that their experimental set up at CERN, Switzerland's Large Hadron Collider, producing over eleven hundred and fifty trillion electron volts - energy levels that haven't been seen since less than one billionth of a second after the Big Bang - went off the rails is an understatement of epic proportions. In fact, the experiment resulted in a complete shut down of humanity's collective consciousness and every single person in the world, awake or asleep, experienced a full two minute blackout. But what they also saw was, apparently, a crystal clear vision of a two minute segment of their own future twenty years ahead.

As people blackout for two minutes, the immediate mayhem and destruction is almost beyond imagining - car crashes, botched surgeries, people falling down stairs and off ladders, burns as people collapse into their hot stoves, planes falling out of the sky, fires as people drop the lit matches that happened to be in their hands. But, as the dust of the immediate disaster settles, the magnitude of what happened sinks in and people begin to coordinate their two minute peeks into a consolidated vision of the world's future twenty years hence. Sawyer's fertile imagination simply runs riot as he presents us a with a humorous, lucid and very personal peek into his version of how the world might look twenty years from now. I howled with laughter; I nodded in agreement and I cringed in disagreement and dismay at some of the snippets he hypothesized.

Take a gander at just a few examples:

"In 2017, at the age of ninety-one, Elizabeth II, Queen of England, died. Charles, her son, at that time sixty-nine, was mad as a loon, and, with some prodding from his advisors, chose not to ascend to the throne. William, Charles' eldest son, next in line, shocked the world by renouncing the throne, leading Parliament to declare the Monarchy dissolved."

"In 2019, South Africa completed, at long last, its post-Apartheid crimes-against-humanity trials, with over five thousand people convicted. President Desmond Tutu, eighty-eight, pardoned them all, an act, he said, not just of Christian forgiveness but of closure."

"Ozone depletion was substantial; people wore hats and sunglasses, even on cloudy days."

"Despite bans on their hunting, sperm whales were extinct by 2030."

"George Lucas still hadn't finished his nine-part Star Wars epic."

"The 2029 World Series will be won by the Honolulu Volcanoes."

"The President of the United States was African-American and male; there had apparently yet to be a female American president in the interim. But the Catholic Church did indeed now ordain women."

As people ponder the ramifications of what they've seen and experienced, the world becomes a global forum for a heated debate on the issues of determinism, free will and destiny. Social pressure quickly builds for a repeat of the experiment under world-wide controlled conditions and Sawyer treats us to a realistic, shocking example of cultures clashing in the forum of the United Nations.

Sadly, it's been my experience with Sawyer's novels, and this one doesn't break the pattern, that he has difficulty resolving a plot line and providing a satisfactory ending that is up to the incredibly high standard set by the rest of the novel. In a problem that is reminiscent of Hybrids, the ending to Flashforward, while it might be perceived as thought provoking to some people, is just a little bit too over the top Hollywood and, in my opinion, reduces a potentially great novel to a good one.

Keep `em coming, Robert. I'm a fan and I'm still looking forward to the next one!

Paul Weiss

Weird....but not bad.......2005-06-22

This was the kind of book, that you had to really concentrate on to understand what is going on. I found that i had to go back every now and then to keep up with the character. Good reading and a good book to take with you on a long flight or sitting in a waiting room.

Fundamentally flawed.......2005-01-05

Flashforward aspires to be hard science fiction. Hard SF has one requirement above all others -- the science MUST be internally consistent. Sawyer's novel fails that test.

The premise is interesting. For reasons unknown (at the start of the book), everyone on Earth experiences a "flashforward" of themselves, 10 years later. Everyone, that is, except for an unlucky few people, including our protagonist, because in 10 years, they will be dead.

Or will they? The book's fundamental question is whether the future just experienced is inevitable, or subject to change. Was the world of 10 years hence a world that had, 10 years earlier, experienced a "flashforward"? Or was it a hypothetical world that would have been, if flashforward had not occurred?

In the course of the book, Sawyer squarely answers these questions. But the book's climactic scene, which deals with our protagonist's efforts to escape his inevitable(?) death, rests on a premise that cannot be reconciled with Sawyer's answer. Sawyer is guilty of sloppy thinking, or sloppy writing.

Fossil Hunter: Book Two of The Quintaglio Ascension (The Quintaglio Trilogy)

Average customer rating:

Tastes just like chicken; to me (You'll understand when you read the book).
Fascinating concepts
An admirable continuation.
Excellent installment

Fossil Hunter: Book Two of The Quintaglio Ascension (The Quintaglio Trilogy)
Robert J. Sawyer
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Foreigner: Book Three of the Quintaglio Ascension (The Quintaglio Trilogy)
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End of An Era
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ASIN: 0765309734
Release Date: 2005-02-10

Book Description

Fossil Hunter is hard SF in the tradition of Larry Niven about a world inhabited by the Quintaglios, a dinosaurian species that has evolved a human level of intelligence and culture.Toroca, a Quintaglio geologist, is under attack for his controversial new theory of evolution. But the origins of his people turn out to be more complex than even he imagined, for he soon discovers the wreckage of an ancient starship -- a relic of the aliens who transplanted Earth's dinosaurs to this solar system. Now, Toroca must convince Emperor Dybo that evolution is true; otherwise, the territorial violence the Quintaglios inherited from their tyrannosaur ancestors will destroy the last survivors of Earth's prehistoric past.

Customer Reviews:

Tastes just like chicken; to me (You'll understand when you read the book)........2007-04-29

Fossil-Hunter

Fossil-Hunter is the second book of Sawyer's Quitaglio Ascension. Sawyer brings back the fascination to Science Fiction that I haven't experienced since I was a young teenage boy reading Norton and Heinlein.

In Fossil-Hunter Sawyer borrows elements from real History to add bits and pieces to his characterizations. In this one he borrows bits and pieces from Shackleton's Antarctic exploration, a little Charles Darwin, a blind Sherlock Holmes (I realize that Holmes was fictional), and a little David and Goliath and even a little Rocky Balboa ( another fictional character). This time the characters include not only Afsan, but also, his children, Toroca,et al.

In this book, Sawyer introduces the Watcher, a character that is even more important in his book Calculating God.

Next comes Foreigner, Oh, Joy.
I strongly recommend this book and am looking forward to the next one. Can you tell?

I immediately orderred "Iterations" to see what Sawyer's Short Stories are like. You might want to,too. This guy is good!

Fascinating concepts.......2007-04-24

I never dreamt that I would read a book about intelligent dinosaurs and not only enjoy it but find it thought provoking. Robert Sawyer certainly is the best science fiction writer today. Though I often don't agree with his ideas, the concepts are compelling and make you think. Sort of like Juan Rico in Starship Troopers who said his History and Moral Philosophy professor in high school had discussions that would wake you up in the middle of the night and make you think: What did he mean by that?
The problems of leadership and acceptance of differnt ideas are central to the Fossil Hunter. Sometimes you can avoid death by standing still after studying the enemy. It is a terrific set up to the conclusion of trhe series. I highly recommend the entire Quintaglio series.

An admirable continuation........2006-06-03

I love Sawyer's novels, if only because they are precisely what I've tried to write in my own novels. This one could have done without one particular point of view in the story, but otherwise is a very entertaining read, and a good follow-up to Far Seer. I am not a fan of generational fantasy, in which the children from one book or series are the stars of the next, generally because the authors often fail to make the children into adults, out of fear of making their adult heroes into old people. Sawyer doesn't indulge that fear in this novel-- Fossil Hunter is about the son of Far Seer's hero, but he's a grown person, and a fully realized character, while his father, though appearing in the book as a major character, is not the physically puissant hero he used to be.

Excellent installment.......2005-06-18

Although not as emotional gripping as the first one. Fossil Hunter does well and holds its own capitived moments. Its a defent must to read the first novel Far-Seer. If you enjoyed the first one you'll enjory this one as well.

Foreigner: Book Three of the Quintaglio Ascension (The Quintaglio Trilogy)

Average customer rating:

What is that Blue Stuff,Anyhow?
Justice must be blind
Agreeable conclusion to the trilogy
A quest for understanding
Finally, the conclusion!

Foreigner: Book Three of the Quintaglio Ascension (The Quintaglio Trilogy)
Robert J. Sawyer
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Fossil Hunter: Book Two of The Quintaglio Ascension (The Quintaglio Trilogy)
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End of An Era
Iterations
Mindscan

ASIN: 0765309726
Release Date: 2005-07-14

Book Description

A tale of aliens in the tradition of James White-but these aliens are dinosaurs! I nFar-Seer and Fossil Hunter, we met the Quintaglios, a race of intelligent dinosaurs from Earth, and learned of the threat to their very existence. Now they must quickly advance from a culture equivalent to our Renaissance to the point where they can leave their planet.

Customer Reviews:

What is that Blue Stuff,Anyhow?.......2007-05-14

Foreigner

Foreigner (1994) is the third and final book of Sawyer's Quitaglio Ascension trilogy.

In Foreigner Sawyer borrows elements from real Human History to add bits and pieces to his characterizations. In this one he borrows bits and pieces from Guy de Chaulia, Sigismund Schlomo Freud Also; there is a little Japanese Kamikazes. There that's enough clues. Go out and get this book!

If you enjoyed The Fossil-Hunter and the Far-Seer as much as I did, you'll want to read this concluding book.

Next comes... nothing. Oh, well, I'll check out his short stories in Iterations, maybe read Calculating God, again. Or possibly the Neanderthal series ,hmm.

Sawyer does let his Liberal leanings peek out at you in this book, but not terribly so. The nose of the camel does get snuck under the tent.

All in all this is a delightful ending to a very pleasant trilogy.

Justice must be blind.......2007-04-24

Foreigner is a satisfying conclusion to the Quintaglio series. How to get off the moon before certain destruction? How to deal with a newly discovered dinosaur species? Why do the gest Quintaglios have such rage and then contrition when seening those new dinosaurs? It's not just dinosaurs, it's pyschology and family and thinking outside the egg. Loads of fun and lots of thought in this terrific read.

Agreeable conclusion to the trilogy.......2007-03-31

An exciting and interesting conclusion to Robert Sawyer's trilogy about intelligent descendants of the dinosaurs. Naturally in the way that fiction often does, it wraps up the loose ends almost too well. I was interested to discover that this is some of Sawyer's earliest published work. It has been a while since I read any of his more recent work but I think there is a contrast - the protagonists in the Hominids series are not nearly as certain or guaranteed of success.

What actually happens in the book? It would be difficult to say much without giving away a lot of the plot, but from the blurb you can doubtless gather that the Quintaglios discover they are not the only intelligent species on their moon. What they find out about their neighbours leads to very difficult times indeed, and threatens the goal of escape from their doomed home.

A quest for understanding.......2006-01-18

As the concluding work in the Quintaglio series of planetary destruction, this book draws together many elements introduced earlier. Although ostensibly a dinosaur, Afsan's character grows more human with each volume. As a reflection of current Euro-North American society, Foreigner is hard to beat. That reflection may be too vivid for some. Sawyer has a fine talent for portraying reality, whether on an imaginary planet or right next door. This series remains a challenging read.

A trilogy of sub-plots keeps your interest alive through the main theme. The saurians are learning about their own world while striving for the means to escape it. Sawyer depicts the violent mental disruptions of racism with talent. Although dinosaurs mate for reproductive ends, he manages to introduce a new feature of their lives, jealousy versus loyalty. While the accounts of Novato, Afsan's mate and his son Toroca are compelling, it's the relationship of Afsan, the continuing primary character in this series, that renders this book worthy of note. His association with the practitioner of the new therapy of psychology makes hilarious reading. Mokleb, the 'therapist,' is a marvelous rendition of the money-grubbing cockroaches that infest Earth's cities today. She's a Freudian, of course, with all the fanciful ideas of conscious and subconscious ['high' and 'low' mind] and dream interpretation that has bled many a bank account dry during the past century. Her negotiation with Afsan over payment for the therapy sessions is too vividly real to be missed.

If you are new to Sawyer, by all means start the trilogy at the beginning and follow it through this volume. You will learn much about your own world as Sawyer reflects it in Afsan's. The series is a good addition to any library of speculative fiction. The only truly speculative part of Sawyer's works is the 'people' portrayed and their location in the cosmos. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Finally, the conclusion!.......2005-09-14

I've waited years for this, and it was worth the wait. Some people perhaps didn't read Sawyer's Quintaglio series when it first came out, because all they saw were the dinosaurs on the covers. But the fact that his characters are intelligent saurians is almost incidental. This whole series is really a discussion of science and faith, and an examination of what breakthroughs in science would be like if they were really crucially important (what if it was a matter of life and death how the solar system was arranged -- not just for Galileo, but for EVERYONE [the plot of FAR-SEER]; what if the truth of evolution over creationism was the key to a species' survial [that's FOSSIL HUNTER]; and what if a breakthrough along the lines of psychoanalysis was the only thing that would stop a genocide [the current volume, FOREIGNER].) All three are wonderfully told, but FOREIGNER holds the most surprises and twists, not to mention packing the biggest emotional whallop. Bonus: a comprehensive "Quintaglio Concordance," drawn from all three books, at the end. As the cover quote from a Canadian newspaper says, "A fine end to a brilliant series."

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