Rating: 
Summary: First contact done with a Canadian twist...
Review: I can't help but think that Robert J. Sawyer has a really tight grip on humankind's foibles. In "Factoring Humanity," we step into a world where, in 2007, a signal has finally been coming back from the stars. This signal, which has been coming for years, has become so commonplace, and is still undeciphered after so long, therefore humanity is pretty much bored with it. How very human. Strong view of humanity's short attention span aside, in "Factoring Humanity" the signal is finally deciphered by one Heather Davis, whose family life is falling to pieces (one of her daughters has committed suicide, and her marriage is nearly destroyed). When she discovers what this signal means, she is left with a knowledge that allows her to do some extraordinary thigns - and yet, in a very human way, this heroine doesn't go save the world, she takes a step inward to try and save her family. This is Sawyer at his best: his usual multiple-level story, with an exceptional character base, some good philosophy (Carl Jung's collective unconscious features in "Factoring Humanity" quite centrally), a potential murder, the troubles of advanced technology, and above it all, looming, the notion that we're not alone after all - and are we about to meet friends, or enemies? I reccommend Sawyer regardless of which title you pick up, but if one of those titles happens to be "Factoring Humanity," "Flashforward" or "Calculating God," then you're in the top-three of his calibre. Whatever few foibles are in this particular novel, they're just that: few, and not enough to derail the story. There's some great in-character exploration of the alien knowledge, and the story itself makes one think. 'Nathan
Rating: 
Summary: A feminist's dream!
Review: ....A woman academic psychologist single- handedly unravels amysterious message from another world. Her husband, an ArtificialIntelligence Engineer, has no time for something as exotic as alienlife. Worse, he's been accused by his daughter of molestingher. With the accusation voiced, the relationship ofwife-husband-daughter becomes the book's focus. The alien signal isalmost shunted aside until Heather stumbles on the key to themessages. Although not versed in mathematics, she works out thestructure of the signal and acts on the results. And who provides theclue allowing her to unlock the incomprehensible signal? Star Trek'sMr Spock! For all the research Sawyer puts into his work, it seems abit strange that he's ignored biological drives. Heather's resentmentof Kyle's finding a young student attractive seems a bit overdone.Especially given that she's a trained psychologist. This lapse mightbe forgiven if the book didn't condemn the Parisian rapist whileexonerating a woman 'therapist' who's had a long career warping theminds of young women. How many men reside in jail, have had careerssmashed or families disrupted over similar false accusations? Theseelements induce suspicion that the moving force behind this book isCarolyn Clink, not Robert Sawyer [Clink is Sawyer's wife]. Only awoman could seriously suggest penile amputation of a rapist whiledisparaging her husband over an openly provocativestudent. Reviewers disparaging Sawyer's persona in this book aremistaken. His people are staggeringly real! Only a woman such asHeather Davis would be selfish enough to use the most advancedtechnology encountered to determine her husband's guilt or innocenceof the abuse charge. Most fiction would have Kyle instantly shed hisanger over the recanted accusation. That it lingers in him from sucha monumental injustice is truly a human characteristic. Sawyer is tobe congratulated on the qualities of all his characters - none arefalse or misleading. They are simply human, not superhuman. Nevermind the humans and their frailties. The real star of this book isCheetah, a personal computer giving new meaning to the word'personal'. Striving, with a backward look at Lt Cdr Data, to become'human' and aware of the futility of his ambition. Cheetah'sresolution of his dilemma is unique. Comments on Sawyer's researcheffort would be redundant here. Either he spends enormous amounts oftime reading in many fields, or he has an outstanding support team.You'll learn a lot about many things in Sawyer's books. One mighthope he'd put a bibliography at the back in future writings.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic Sawyer, just not one of his best
Review: This book is classic Robert Sawyer. It has his quirky way of looking at things which certainly isn't the conventional high tech, sci-fi view. I struggled a little with all the old TV shows mentioned in the book. Sawyer talks about shows that were on when I was young (back in the dark ages) and I really couldn't believe that a character in the future would know those shows well enough to have them be the center of his life. The incest plot in the book was somewhat disturbing but that was the effect Sawyer was trying for. I also felt that Sawyer didn't have a real grasp on the collective unconsciousness and found his use of it as a plot device contrived. (another review here alleged that the little data nodes of memories existed solely to allow the hero to clear himself of the incest charges, but I don't know if I'd go quite that far). The soul wave was an interesting element of the story that gets almost lost in the shuffle. Strangely by the end of the book I was left wondering how this same story line would have played as an x-file plot. Sawyer would have done better to have created a lead character with some of Maulder's quirkiness to have really made it all come together.
Rating:
Summary: Read In Paperback
Review: This is my least liked book by Mr. Sawyer. The general story line was a good one and I enjoyed the physics involved. I thought the husband and wife team was to contrived for the story and wished the two characters had not been married. I felt the abuse part of the story not even germane to the over all story and felt it was added as filler. The book is worth reading but not at the hard back price!
Rating:
Summary: Good Enough to Read
Review: I read this book on a flight from Atlanta to Seattle, and it was perfect for the environment: short enough to finish in six hours, engaging enough to keep the pages flipping, and not so complex as to require more concentration than is possible on an airplane. As an alternative to the usual Clancy/Steele/Grisham airplane fare it was first-rate, as a Great Novel of Science Fiction, it was OK. First, the bad news. The characterizations are flat and thin, with more revealed in internal dialogue than in actions. For example, our protagonist has his wife and two children ripped from him in different ways, but we are only told of his anguish. His actions in the story do not show it, although I did enjoy the scene when he asked his AI for moral comfort and support. On the other hand, good science fiction rarely seems to also be great literature. Sawyer plays with cool ideas: quantum computers, the fourth dimension, artificial intelligence, the nature of "mind", recovered memories, and teenage angst (I find teenage angst the most difficult to understand). With so much deep thinking go on there is not much time left for finely detailed characterization. "Factoring Humanity" seems to be a tribute to the great themes of science fiction. You get thinking machines with conscience ("I, Robot" and the other Asimov "Robot" stories, "With Folded Hands", "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"), fun with tesseracts ("A Wrinkle in Time", "He Built a Crooked House"), and alien first contact (and sending construction plans via radio, as in "Contact"). First and foremost, it was a good read with lots of page-flipping interest. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Pure, complex, and absolutely facsinating SF!
Review: This is the first Sawyer SF I've ever read and I know that I'll read many more of his work! I read the better part of the book in one night and the end the next morning! This is one of a few true page-turners that keeps you wondering what will be discovered next! The underlying structure of the character's outside lives is tied perfectly and flawlessly! Much of this book is based on actual science and mathematical theories...but even if you aren't 'up with' quantum mechanics and computer science, you'll still fully understand and follow this story! The plot and plot mechanisms are absolutely brilliant, and this is one of the greatest SF books I have ever read! Very much recommended! Robert J. Sawyer definetely deserves every single one of the many, many prestigious SF awards in the world! This book is well-written, well-structured, the characters have many dimensions, and the story is absolutely intruiging and fascinating! I know you'll love it!
Rating:
Summary: Meeting The Collective Unconscious of Them and Us!
Review: What an imagination Sawyer has! He grabbed me on the first chapter of this book and never let go. His solution for two married professors at the University of Toronto who are facing a terrible accusation from their surviving daughter, is the most unique I've ever read in a novel. Better than a psychiatrist, better than the legal system--it's, well, it is out-of-this-world! This book has continued to linger a very long time in my memory which is always a good sign.
Rating:
Summary: I rather liked the human interests part...
Review: You know, sci-fi is ment to uplift the human soul, as one of the previous reveiwers has stated. I found the human interest parts in balance, even if slightly less interesting. The point of this book was, humans are nothing but animals , if they didn't have a soul. The main character is plunged into self-doubt, as is his estranged wife, when their youngest daughter reveles that she belives he raped her as a child. This gives the book a slightly dark tone in the beginning, which is lost, I beleve, in the middle of the book. I found the character Cheetah stupid, and only in the end, when he commited sucicide, did I really care for him. The only major problem I had with this book is the aliens. Right away you start to wonder what they are like, yet only a paragraph or two at the very end is spent on them. And also, during the inital discovery of the Tessaract (that was what is was called, right?) confusing, until she began to nekker around in the Japanese man's mind. Overall, I thought this was a decent book, with a lot of interesting points about faith, family and love in it. Buy a paperbacked version, or rent it from your local library.
Rating:
Summary: A good read, but not earth-shattering
Review: My second Sawyer book, I enjoyed it but it was not spectacular. (I'd give it 3 1/2 if I could) The book lacks hard science and focuses more on some transcendental ideas. Well, I don't subscribe to those things, but I at least found them tolerable. As for the characterizations, they are good, Sawyer seems to do a good job at that. I found myself really caring about those people and the dilemnas facing them.
Rating: 
Summary: Dreck....no, wait, Really Bad Dreck!
Review: This is the first time I have become acquianted with Mr. Sawyer's writing and I picked this book because it got such good reviews. Good grief, just who is reviewing scifi books these days... Ricki Lake? Here was a perfectly good first contact story with a little intrigue to add spice completely ruined by a bunch of spoiled academics airing out their dirty little soap opera of family incest while matters of great import and weight are ignored. The only character in the book I really liked was the AI called Cheetah and I shed a tear when he erased himself. I also liked the plea for animal intelligence and empathy for their suffering. This could have been a great scifi novel. But excuse me, Mr. Sawyer, what happened to the big picture here (ie, soft verses strong AI, hyperspace, nonhuman intelligence and the reason for death and suffering in this universe, etc.)? I felt reading your book was like channel surfing between the Discovery Channel and daytime trash television. I read scifi to ennoble my spirit, to uplift myself with great ideas, and to challenge my mind. I somehow have come to believe that the human race is better than this sorry group of individuals but maybe you should read Olaf Stapledon sometime. I do not wish to read stories fit only for people whose imagination and intelligence is limited to the bedroom and their sperm counts. If I were the aliens in this book, I would have passed the human race over as the petty, peurile group of primates obsessed with their sexual behavior (which we are!). Give me Epison Eridani any day (see the book to find out).
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