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Mindscan

By Robert J. Sawyer

(9)

| Hardcover | 9780765311078

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Book Description

Robert J. Sawyer's Hominids, the first volume of his bestselling Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, won the 2003 Hugo Award, and its sequel, Human, was a 2004 Hugo nominee. Now he's back with a pulse-pounding, mind-expanding standalone novel, rich with his signature philosophical and ethical speculations, all grounded in cutting-edge science. Jake Sullivan has cheated death: he's discarded his doomed biological body and copied his consciousness into an android form. The new Jake soon finds love, something that eluded him when he was encased in flesh: he falls for the android version of Karen, a woman rediscovering all the joys of life now that she's no longer constrained by a worn-out body either. But suddenly Karen's son sues her, claiming that by uploading into an immortal body, she has done him out of his inheritance. Even worse, the original version of Jake, consigned to die on the far side of the moon, has taken hostages there, demanding the return of his rights of personhood. In the courtroom and on the lunar surface, the future of uploaded humanity hangs in the balance. Mindscan is vintage Sawyer -- a feast for the mind and the heart. "Mindscan is both a love story and a parable about the possibility of fixed beliefs in a world of constantly shifting morality and ethics. Sawyer keeps his very readable tale moving by rooting it all in characters who have just enough humanity to have conflicted and occasionally contradictory reactions to the new realities." -- Quill & Quire This is Sawyer at his best: compelling characters, an intriguing and involving plot, and deep philosophic themes backed by credible scientific reasoning. Mindscan will resonate in your thoughts for a long time after you have closed the book. -- The Record A fascinating look into our collective tomorrow, Mindscan takes us on a witty and wise fast-forward to the year 2045Much like the socially aware science fiction of Vancouvers Spider Robinson, Sawyer works hard to bring a Canadian flavour to the sci-fi universe. -- Monday Magazine

Critics

Mindscan

Science Fiction -- at least the very best kind of Science Fiction -- isn't really about technology, or alien beings, or futuristic possibilities. No, beneath the surface elements of starships, robots and intergalactic entities, the heart of Science F ... (read full critics)

sfsite published on Fri, 3 Sep 2010

2 Reviews

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

This was a great book, although I could have done without the hostage thing at the end. Couldn't there be a better way for him to die? I understand that he had to but at least the author could have put in something that didn't make you feel bad for him.

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makeawishserena said on May 1, 2008 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Brilliant thought provoking work

What makes me, me. This book explores the issues associated with mind versus body in a scientific and philosophical way. If you do not like thinking about difficult questions, stay away, but if you like to ponder the imponderable this book id for you -- whoever you are.

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kensington said on Jan 11, 2008 | 1 feedback