Robert Sawyer
Flashforward (1999)
Author: Robert Sawyer
Genre: Science Fiction (Philosophical)
Plot Summary: In an experiment to produce the Higgs boson, a theoretical subatomic particle, the consciousness of the entire human race is thrown forward twenty-one years for two minutes. While the world must deal with immediate consequences--many people were killed and injured as every single person's body was left unconscious in 2009--the far-reaching repercussions of insight into the future take longer to surface. SPOILER: The future is proven to be changeable, when one man who experienced a vision of the future takes his own life. However, the majority of people who experienced a glimpse of the future dramatically alter the course of their life to conform to their life to their vision.
Geographical Setting: CERN research facility in Switzerland
Time Period: 2009 and two minutes in 2030
Appeal Characteristics: This character-driven novel reads at a roller coaster pace, with long, detailed discussions of particle physics and the nature of the world interspersed with scenes of exciting action. The long discussions are generally written through dialogue; normally, two characters hold alternate viewpoints and debate the merits of both sides, which makes these passages easier to read. Each character must grapple with how their vision of their future affects them in the here and now, and because of this, Sawyer spends a lot of time describing his main and secondary characters to give them a realistic air. To provide this realism, the tone is neither light nor dark, but both at the same time, although the end provides the reader with a bleak look at the future of the human race. One of the main characters, Theo Procopides, did not experience a vision, because he was murdered two days before the Flashforward event took place. He spends the next twenty years of his life obsessed with his own death. The other characters are thrown into other scenarios; for example, Llyod Simcoe, the other main character, found out that in the future, he is no longer married to his current partner. Being able to hypothetically place yourself into these same situations is one of the most enjoyable aspects of this novel. While the book needed to be set in a research facility, the fact that the characters were placed in one in Switzerland was not important. The research facility was an island, an unimportant backdrop where the characters were placed. While a Flashforward event is unlikely to ever occur, Sawyer backs up his story with believable science, and his creative look at the nature of the universe, fate and free will is an overall enjoyable read.
Read-alikes: Anyone who enjoyed Flashforward will want to pick up The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells, because it is obvious that Sawyer used The Time Machine as inspiration for his more modern tale. Wells' story of the Victorian scientist who travels 800,000 years into the future provides a bleak look at what the future of the planet will be. The end of Flashforward provides the reader with this same Wellian vision of the future of the planet and the human race. Readers also should try other books by Robert Sawyer, starting with Hugo award winner Hominids. The book is first in a series of three books, and features the plight of a physicist from another dimension trapped on Earth in the present day. Just like in Flashforward, in Hominids, the physicist must deal with issues such as the nature of the world, fate and free will, and rather than being action-driven, Hominids is another story that is driven by its characters, focusing on how they would react in improbable situations. Timeline, by Michael Crichton, also would be a good suggestion. In the book, a group of young scientists must travel to medieval times to rescue their professor. Timeline is much more action-packed than Flashforward, but both books share similar themes and feature characters placed in disturbing situations through the unintended consequences of science. Readers who enjoyed Sawyer's use of dialogue will be well-satisfied with Crichton's use of extended dialogue in this look at time travel. Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio would be another book to try. A Nebula award winner, this book features female protagonist who must work against the clock to identify an ancient disease that has started surfacing in expectant mothers. Just as in Timeline, this book is more action-driven than character-driven, but Darwin's Radio also features intellectual speculation with emphasis on ideas. Darwin's Radio is like Flashforward, in that its characters are presented with realism, and the science is believable. Einstein's Bridge, by John Cramer, is a different take on how particle physics can change the world, and should be recommended to anyone who enjoyed Flashforward's emphasis on physics research. The end is not immediate evident in Einstein's Bridge, as the plot experiences several twists and turns, which is similar to Flashforward. Although the characters in Flashforward see their futures, this future is changeable and the reader does not know what to expect next.
Red Flags: Some violence, and several extremely detailed discussions of particle physics that might put off the more casual science fiction reader.
Rollback (2007)
Author: Robert J. Sawyer
Genre: Science Fiction (Storyteller)
Plot Summary:
In 2009 scientist Sarah Halifax deciphered a message received from outer space. Specifically, she deciphered a radio transmission from the inhabitants of the planet Sigma Draconis. Sarah’s translation of the message shows it to be a survey on ethics and the Dracons request 1,000 replies from random respondents. One of the responses beamed back to Draconis is Sarah’s own, which she alters at the last minute without telling any of the other members of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) team. Forty years later, an encrypted reply is received from Draconis. A rich industrialist asks Sarah, to break the code but time is against her. Sarah is now 87 years old and may not live long enough to find the key to the encryption. The wealthy Cody McGavin offers Sarah a costly procedure called a rollback to reverse the aging process and return her to the age of 25. Sarah agrees to the procedure with the condition that her husband Don receives it too. Don’s rollback is successful but Sarah’s is not. The story deals not only with communication with beings in outer space but also with Don's moral dilemmas stemming from his becoming a 25 year old man married to an 87 year old woman.
SPOILER: The key to the encryption is Sarah’s own answers to the original questionnaire about abortion. The message contains the instructions to build an artificial womb for the incubation of two Dracon children to be raised on earth who will communicate with their home planet.
Geographical Setting: Toronto, Canada
Time Period: 2048 and flashbacks to 2009
Appeal Characteristics:
Rollback is written in the storyteller voice and moves at a measured pace. The pacing is due in part to the extensive character development and in part to the detailed scientific information supplied. Sawyer spends a great deal of time introducing and describing the two main characters, Dr. Sarah Halifax and her husband Don in detail. Their relationship, more than the contact from outer space, is the heart of this novel. Although Sarah deciphers the messages from outer space, the story centers on Don's experience and his moral dilemma. Rollback addresses the characters’ psychological and emotional dealings with the events rather than the impact of the first alien contact. Set in 2048, with flashbacks to 2009, the story includes many references to the popular culture of the last forty years. Sawyer's mention of Jerry Seinfeld, Pizza Hut, and the Atkin's diet tie the reader to current time even though the story has many fantastic, futuristic scenarios of robots and age reversal. The reader gets more of a social, political feel of Canada than a picture of the Toronto area where the Halifax family lives. Sawyer uses the backdrop of the story to make statements on current topics like socialized medicine and public universities. The couple’s trip to Chicago for the age reversal and Don’s trip to Australia are mentioned but no detailed information is provided. Although there is an epilogue, dated 2067, that includes general information about the Dracon children, the story is left open ended. The scientific details are presented through dialogue between Sarah and Don. Since Don’s character is a broadcast professional and not a scientist, the information is expressed clearly, in layman’s terms, breaking down complicated theory into simple terms for the reader. Sawyer’s direct and unpretentious style makes this story accessible to readers who might not ordinarily read science fiction.
Read-alikes:
Readers interested in the plot line of humans with the opportunity to grow younger or replace their old or sick bodies with android ones might like an earlier book of Sawyer’s, MindScan (2005). It, like Rollback, addresses ethical dilemmas introduced with biotechnology but much of the story is played out in the courtroom. In MindScan, the protagonist, Jake Sullivan has his mind scanned and put into an android body while his original, diseased, body, is sent to the moon to live out its short life. However, a cure is found and now the Jake on the moon wants the cure and his life back on Earth.
Another title, set in the near future on Earth is Rainbow’s End by Vernor Vinge. Like Rollback, the story is more emotional than scientific, although there are plenty of technological advancements in store for the protagonist and the reader. The story takes place in 2025 and centers around Robert Gu, whose Alzheimer’s disease has been cured by modern technology after he spent twenty years in a disconnected state. Robert enrolls in remedial technology classes at the local high school because he has a lot of catching up to do. Tension arises when Robert gets involved in the politics of the day, protesting the destruction of a library and becoming an unknowing pawn in a conspiracy to develop biological weapons. Readers who enjoy the “everyman” character of Don in Rollback, the near future time frame, and the absence of intense scientific jargon might also enjoy The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman. The story centers on Matt Fuller, a normal slacker-type guy who accidentally builds a time machine while working as a lab assistant at MIT. His life is so unfettered and boring that a trip into the future seems appealing. However, time jumping serves up as much anguish as excitement and each time Matt leaps he gets further away from the safety of the world he knows. A darker tale, told in first person, Spin, number one in Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin series, is also a story of love and loyalty that might interest readers who enjoyed those elements in Rollover. A mystery also looms in Spin, larger than the encrypted message from outer space in Rollback. In Spin, Tyler Dupree and his friends Jason and Diane Lawton see the stars blink out when they are children. The next day, Earth is discovered to be wrapped in some sort of cosmic gauze and the sun is only an illusion. The story continues as the three friends grow up and each deal with the repercussions of what happened that night in their own way. Written in the storyteller voice, Gregory Benford’s Eater, also shares some elements of the Rollback storyline. It is a story of first contact and the main character, Dr. Benjamin Knowlton is also married to an astronomer, Channing, a former astronaut. Knowlton himself is a scientist who is part of a team investigating a gamma-ray burster caused by a black hole swallowing a star thought to be far away. The tension builds as the scientists realize that the black hole is closer than they think and is moving toward Earth at an amazing speed…and it might be intelligent. Knowlton and Channing race to decipher the mystery of the black hole before the earth is destroyed and before Channing succumbs to cancer.
Red Flags: Sexual Content, Extramarital affairs, Abortion discussions
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