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Fiction General

Mindscan

by (author) Robert J. Sawyer

Publisher
Tor/Forge
Initial publish date
Dec 2011
Category
General, Cyberpunk, Alien Contact
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780765349750
    Publish Date
    Dec 2005
    List Price
    $9.99
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780765329905
    Publish Date
    Dec 2011
    List Price
    $29.99
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780765311078
    Publish Date
    Apr 2005
    List Price
    $34.95
  • CD-Audio

    ISBN
    9781522608257
    Publish Date
    May 2016
    List Price
    $14.99

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Hugo Award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer is back with Mindscan, 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.

About the author

Robert J. Sawyer,
a Member of the Order of Canada and a Globe and Mail and Maclean's bestseller, is the author of 23 previous novels, including FlashForward, the basis for the ABC TV series. His most recent novel, Quantum Night, was long-listed for CBC's Canada Reads

Praise for Robert J. Sawyer

"A new Robert J. Sawyer book is always cause for celebration."
Analog Science Fiction and Fact

"Robert J. Sawyer is a writer of boundless confidence and bold scientific extrapolation."
The New York Times

"Sawyer not only has an irresistibly engaging narrative voice but also a gift for confronting thorny philosophical conundrums. At every opportunity, he forces his readers to think while holding their attention with ingenious premises and superlative craftsmanship."
Booklist

"Robert J. Sawyer is by any measure one of the world's leading (and most interesting) science-fiction writers. His fiction is a fascinating blend of intellectually compelling big ideas and humane, enduring characters."
The Globe and Mail

"Sawyer, an articulate fountain of ideas, is the genre's northern star—in fact, one of the hottest SF writers anywhere. By any reckoning Sawyer is among the most successful Canadian authors ever."
Maclean's: Canada's Weekly News Magazine

"A polished, exciting writer. Sawyer writes with the scientific panache and grandeur of Arthur C. Clarke and the human touch of Isaac Asimov."
Quill & Quire

Robert J. Sawyer's profile page

Awards

  • Winner, John W. Campbell Memorial Award - Winner

Editorial Reviews

“Sawyer lucidly explores fascinating philosophical conundrums.” —Entertainment Weekly
“A tale involving courtroom drama, powerful human emotion and challenging SF mystery. Sawyer juggles it all with intelligence and far-reaching vision worthy of Isaac Asimov.” —Starlog
“Sawyer deftly examines what a future might be like in two neighboring countries that have become polar opposites. And he focuses on the legal and moral ramifications involved in various definitions of humanity in an intriguing and stylistically fine story. Grade: A.” —Rocky Mountain News
"“Sawyer's most ambitious work to date; a brilliant and innovative novel that positively sings with humor, insight, and depth.” —SF Site
“With his customary flair for combining hard science with first-rate storytelling, Sawyer imagines a future of all-too-real possibilities.” —Library Journal
“This tightly plotted hard-SF novel offers plenty of philosophical speculation on the ethics of bio-technology and the nature of consciousness.” —Publishers Weekly
“A delightful read that grips the reader with engaging characters and cosmic ideas.” —Winnipeg Free Press"

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