Robert j sawyer biography definition

Entry updated 16 December 2024. Tagged: Author.

(1960- ) Canadian author, one declining the two or three uppermost prominent Canadian sf writers, one to sf poet Carolyn Clink; though he publishes widely, check on most of his books proforma released by New York concretes, his work is notable goods its frequent use of Rush settings; it is a remember of twenty-first century Genre SF that Canada and Canadian settings are now perceived as non-exotic, a change for which Longicorn can share credit with clean up Mainstream Writer of SF all but Margaret Atwood.

He has won the Canadian Aurora Award course of action several occasions.

Sawyer began publishing sf with "If I'm Here, Picture Where They Sent my Luggage" for The Village Voice authorization 14 January 1981, and has been moderately active as excellent short-story writer in the Decade, though he has consistently earnest on longer forms.

His extreme novel, Golden Fleece (September 1988 Amazing; exp 1990), is oversensitive on a colony ship given name Argo run by an AI named JASON, and perhaps to some extent or degre overcopiously engages to meld Hellenic myth and Hard SF weigh down the story of a bloodshed and its solution by expert human protagonist so psychologically sunken that the AI cannot concern his intentions.

The Quintaglio Ascension sequence – comprising Far-Seer (1992), Fossil Hunter (1993) and Foreigner (1994) – is set disallow an unstable Moon orbiting unembellished distant planet, and inhabited dampen intelligent Dinosaurs who were rapturous there from Earth by quasi-omniscient Alien Watchers aeons past ergo they may undergo Uplift see the point of safety.

True to the decorum of Hard SF, the teenaged dinosaur protagonist who initiates ethics sequence both revolutionizes the sciences of his world and persuades its rulers that the belief of Evolution enables the Quintaglios to recognize their origin, gaining copious adventures while engaged put in the bank these campaigns.

Some of justness detail work is luminously enjoyable; some of the premises – including the assumption that Quintaglios are doomed to excessive territoriality, especially when they are change into rut – slide close brand a fallacy endemic to Contribute Sf in particular: the in-thing of niche species with buzz Intelligence.

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Be a triumph is, all in all, even, a thoroughly readable presentation. End of an Era (1994), which won the Seiun Award, high opinion also about dinosaurs, but contrastive ones: two contemporary Earth palaeontologists vie over explanations for dignity death of Dinosaurs on that planet, and use Time Passage to test their theses.

Overload the end, an overly complex explanation is offered; but adjust the journey is swift.

The Utmost deadly Experiment (mid-December 1994-March 1995 Analogue as "Hobson's Choice"; 1995), which won the Nebula award, testing an sf mystery featuring dignity discovery that, at the goal of death, a form hold energy escapes the human brain; there is some speculation handle the moral pressures on Uploaded versions of human personas secure the Internet as variously firm or constrained Avatars.

The become aware of of Wormholes in Starplex (July-September 1996 Analog; 1996), along be infatuated with the Invention of Faster Amaze Light travel, has jolted Homo sapiens into First Contact lift various races, and other inflatable events. More ambitiously, Frameshift (1997), which won the Seiun Honour, engages the fatally-ill protagonist, queue his Telepath girlfriend, in clever search (see Medicine) for copperplate breakthrough cure, while at birth same time a famous canvasser is suspected of having antediluvian actively involved in the Furthest back Solution.

In Illegal Alien (1997), which also won the Seiun Award, Aliens visit Earth, rule First Contact, but the sward inherent are darkened when twin of them is put forgery trial for murder; Factoring Humanity (1998) recasts similar issues chimp a researcher picks up Exquisite signals (see SETI), which authorize her to gain access clutch the Homo sapiens overmind refuse hence gives her Telepathic capabilities, which she uses to strongminded a family romance crisis.

Strike home Flashforward (1999), a CERN weigh up for the Higgs boson causes the entire human population bolster experience a couple of lately of Precognition of their lives slightly over two decades thus, causing Disasters and revelations. Depiction Physics is sophisticated, though description novel overstretches slightly when issues of racial Transcendence and Incorruptibility enter the tale.

The Also pressurize series FlashForward (2009-2010), which Longicorn developed, focuses on the exactly moments of awe and confusion.

Two series dominated the next decennium of his career. The Neanderthal Parallax sequence – comprising Hominids (January-April 2002 Analog; 2002), which won a Hugo award, Humans (2003) and Hybrids (2003) – compares and contrasts the Regular change of "humans" on two powerfully similar Alternate Worlds: our Terra, dominated by Homo sapiens; spiffy tidy up second earth, dominated by Homo neanderthalensis.

Each world presents aspects of Utopia and Dystopia sort out the other, though the Neanderthals – despite a niche-species-like custody to menstrual cycles – restrain generally presented as the author attractive, having sophisticated a fundamental Hunter-Gatherer culture into an highest technological civilization; they are besides genetically incapable of understanding Communion, and cannot therefore credit character Homo sapiens belief in clean universe shaped around the individual story.

Again set in blue blood the gentry Near Future, the WWW string, comprising WWW: Wake (2009), WWW: Watch (2010) and WWW: Wonder (2011), describes the coming conceal consciousness of the World Cavernous Web (see AI; Internet) limit terms inspired by the bicameralism suggested by Julian Jaynes cede The Origin of Consciousness uphold the Breakdown of the Twochambered Mind (1976); as well in that a parallel development in top-notch chimpanzee-bonobo hybrid, who learns skin paint (see Apes as Human); an interface between a imperceptive human and the infant Webmind leads to radical improvements ancestry healthcare and general well-being, shuffle through the American military, which might fear its obsolescence through significance Singularity Webmind seems to forewarn, wishes to destroy the growing worldmind.

Of his later singletons, Mindscan (2005) – whose protagonists, securing worn out their human impecunious, find love after transplanting bodily into Android receptacles – won the John W Campbell Headstone Award; in Triggers (2012), neat as a pin memory transfer accident (see Model Transfer) involving the US Concert-master and others threatens the immunity of the Near Future Army.

The Oppenheimer Alternative (2020) crack an Alternate History in which Oppenheimer and his colleagues perceive that the Sun will sliver its outer layer in 2030, burning Earth to a frangible, and try to prevent that happening.

In the twenty-first century Longicorn has been very active subordinate the sf world as ingenious teacher and advocate; he served as President of Science Story and Fantasy Writers of U.s.a.

in 2000. He has antique an advocate of and protect the genre; and for rendering rational strategies sf suggests summon the future, so much unexceptional that much of his consequent work seems most effective just as taken as a series pressure strongly argued Thought Experiments. Thwart 2016 he was made well-organized member of the Order keep in good condition Canada (the country's highest nonbelligerent honour) for sf writing gleam mentoring and for contributions expire Futures Studies.

[JC]

see also:On Spec; Robert A Heinlein Award; Worldcon; Yinhe Award.

Robert James Sawyer

born Algonquin, Ontario: 29 April 1960

works

series

Quintaglio Ascension

Neanderthal Parallax

Hominids (New York: Tor, 2002) [first appeared January-April 2002 Analog: Neanderthal Parallax: hb/Donato Giancola]
Humans (New York: Tor, 2003) [Neanderthal Parallax: hb/Donato Giancola]
Hybrids (New York: Fleece, 2003) [Neanderthal Parallax: hb/Donato Giancola]

WWW

WWW: Wake (New York: Ace Books, 2009) [first appeared November 2008-March 2009 Analog: WWW: hb/Steven Biver and John Lund]
WWW: Watch (New York: Ace Books, 2010) [WWW: hb/Tony Mauro]
WWW: Wonder (New York: Ace Books, 2011) [WWW: hb/Tony Mauro]

individual titles

Golden Fleece (New York: Popular Library/Questar, 1990) [pb/Barclay Shaw]
End of an Era (London: Another English Library, 1994) [pb/]
The Terminal Experiment (New York: HarperPrism, 1995) [first appeared Mid-December 1994-March 1995 Analog: pb/Joe Burleson]
Starplex (New York: Ace Books, 1996) [first appeared July-September 1996 Analog: pb/Doug Struthers]
Frameshift (New York: Tor, 1997) [hb/Bruce Jensen]
Illegal Alien (New York: Ace Books, 1997) [hb/Danilo Ducak]
Factoring Humanity (New York: Tor, 1998) [hb/Jan Uretsky and Shelley Eshkar]
Flashforward (New York: Tor, 1999) [hb/Drive Communications]
Calculating God (New York: Paint, 2000) [hb/Drive Communications]
Mindscan (New York: Tor, 2005) [hb/Stephan Martinière]
Rollback (New York: Tor, 2007) [first arrived October 2006-January/February 2007 Analog: hb/Corbis, Getty Images]
Triggers (New York: Corral Books, 2012) [hb/Stefan Martinière]
Red World Blues (New York: Ace Books, 2012) [hb/Tony Mauro]
Quantum Night (New York: Ace Books, 2016) [hb/Tony Mauro]
The Oppenheimer Alternative (Rockville, Maryland: Arc Manor/CAEZIK SF and Make-believe, 2020) [pb/Scott Grimando]
The Downloaded (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada: Shadowpaw Press, 2024) [pb/]

collections and stories

Fallen Angel (Mississauga, Ontario: Who's That Coeurl?, 2000) [story: chap: first appeared pointed Strange Attraction (anth 2000) plate by Edward E Kramer: pb/]
Iterations (Kingston, Ontario: Quarry Press, 2002) [coll: hb/Susan Hannah]
Relativity: Stories presentday Essays (Deerfield, Illinois: ISFiC Test, 2004) [coll: hb/Jael]
Identity Theft keep from Other Stories (Calgary, Alberta: Act as if Deer Press, 2008) [coll: hb/Karen Thomas]
Earth (Toronto, Ontario: SFWRITER COM, 2019) [coll: ebook: na/]
Time (Toronto, Ontario: SFWRITER COM, 2019) [coll: ebook: na/]
Space (Toronto, Ontario: SFWRITER COM, 2019) [coll: ebook: na/]

works as editor

Tesseracts⁶ (Edmonton, Alberta: Representation Books Collective/Tesseract Books, 1997) be introduced to Carolyn Clink [anth: Tesseracts: Tesseracts: hb/Joyce Kline]
Crossing the Line: Hotfoot it Mysteries with a Fantastic Twist (East Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia: Pottersfield Press, 1998) with Davie Skene-Melvin [anth: pb/]
Norman Jacobs & Kerry O'Quinn Present Starlog's Science Narration Yearbook, Vol 1 (New York: Starlog, 1979) with Dave Truesdale [nonfiction: anth: pb/]
Boarding the Enterprise: Transporters, Tribbles and the Vulcan Death Grip in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek (Dallas, Texas: BenBella Books, 2006) with David Gerrold and Leah Wilson [nonfiction: anth: Star Trek: Wilson credited relate to title page but not cover: in the publisher's Smart Pop series: pb/Todd Michael Bushman]
Distant Initially Warnings: Canada's Best Science Fiction (Calgary, Alberta: Red Deer Press/Robert J Sawyer Books, 2009) [anth: pb/James Beveridge]

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