Hard SF writers are often castigated for lack of attention to characterization. Sawyer himself admits to being guilty of this shortcoming in the earlier stages of his SF career because his focus was more on the science and the ideas he was explicating. Some critics have taken him to task for inadequately developing his characters, while others have lauded his ability to create engaging and interesting humans and aliens.
A watershed event in Sawyer’s evolution as an SF writer occurred in his conscious determination in conceiving The Terminal Experiment to “produce a blockbuster, doing the most complex, sophisticated story I could manage, with the most subtle and realistic human characters possible.”3 In my opinion, RJS is continuing to grow in his skill of delineating multi-faceted characters, both human and alien, as witnessed particularly in his last four novels, Calculating God and The Neanderthal Parallax.
A contemporary of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke is Sawyer’s favorite science fiction writer. He was first introduced to him in 1968 when he was eight years old and saw the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey,” not once but 25 times! Many years later Sawyer wrote Golden Fleece, which is certainly reminiscent of Clarke in its depiction of a starship voyage and a homicidal onboard computer, but, as critic David Ketterer asserts, Sawyer resolves the story in “a thoroughly satisfying manner that is all his own.”4
I can also see reflections of another of Clarke’s themes in a number of Sawyer’s writings. In Childhood’s End the novel concludes with the collectivity of Earth’s children mutating into a new species that is capable of leaving their human bodies behind and joining with the cosmic Overmind, which makes one think of Teilhard de Chardin’s concept of the noosphere. RJS likewise seems to be fascinated with the possibility that advances in computer and AI technology might make it possible for human beings as well as aliens to separate their minds from their bodies so that their consciousness dwells in cyberspace. He explores the positive and negative implications of such an outcome both on the personal and collective level in such works as Factoring Humanity, Calculating God, “Where the Heart Is,” and “Kata Bindu.”
The fact that Robert Sawyer is a Canadian has also had considerable impact on the kind of SF he writes. As he mentions in his web site autobiography, the fact that he lived in Toronto as a child made it possible for him to watch the programs in the Search series twice, first on a Canadian channel and then on an American one. Viewing each of the programs twice was teaching him lessons about plotting and especially about how to create dramatic cliffhangers, all of which would stand him in good stead in writing exciting SF stories. Hominids and Hybrids are excellent examples of just how apt a pupil he was in learning the latter technique.
Sawyer credits watching the classic Star Trek series and reading the book The Making of Star Trek for assisting him in developing expertise in world building. The multi-ethnic, multi-racial Enterprise crew and Sawyer’s living in the most multicultural city in the world have influenced him to include characters of diverse races and ethnicities on a regular basis in his science fiction.
Ignoring the advice of others about not allowing his stories to have unhappy or ambiguous endings and not using Canadian locales in his science fiction, if he were to be successful in U.S. publishing circles, he has blatantly done both of these things, while winning many awards internationally and earning a six-figure income in the process. More than once his scientist heroes die by the end of the book, as in Frameshift and Calculating God, and Toronto and Sudbury, Ontario, are frequently-used sites in his stories. Two of Sawyer’s short stories consist totally of Canadian content. “Ours to Discover” features Toronto as a steel-domed city of the future outside of whose confines a boy and an adult rediscover the meaning of the maple leaf. “The Stanley Cup Caper” is set in Toronto in 2031 and involves the theft of the Stanley Cup by Quebec separatists.
Although gender issues per se are not a predominant concern in his writing, feminist SF writers would probably be pleased to note that equality of the sexes appears to be a given in Sawyer’s stories. Women scientists, professors, astronauts, and even a Pope and a female captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team abound in RJS’s pages. Furthermore, the women belong to a variety of ethnic groups and races. The delineation of the character of Canadian geneticist Mary Vaughan in The Neanderthal Parallax trilogy is particularly well done, and Sawyer explores the impact that being raped has on her personally and on her nascent romantic relationship with the Neanderthal physicist Ponter Boddit.
Some of Sawyer’s SF has also invited comparisons to two recent writers, one deceased and the other very much alive and kicking. Similarities can be observed between Sawyer’s Factoring Humanity and the late Carl Sagan’s novel and movie Contact. Sawyer has also been called the Canadian Michael Crichton by virtue of the thriller quality of some of his novels and the fact that his dinosaur novels and Crichton’s Jurassic Park appeared around the same time.
So ultimately how would Robert Sawyer describe the function and mission of science fiction in terms of his own contribution to the field? As someone always interested in the big questions of life whose first story, written when he was 17, dealt with proof that we inhabit a God-created universe, he regards SF as a literature of ideas that tackles the deep cosmological and meaning of life issues. In addition, it engages with Heinlein and Asimov’s “What if?” and “If this goes on…” approach of trend extrapolation applied to real world issues. Far from regarding science fiction as escapist and juvenile in nature, Sawyer thinks it is the conscience of the technological age with an obligation to be controversial and to shake up people’s complacency and preconceptions.
In terms of SF being controversial and challenging, Calculating God is a prime example. One of Sawyer’s purposes in writing this novel was to confront “fundamentalist evolutionists” with their own unwillingness to look at the holes in the theory of evolution. Within a week Calculating God was co-opted by creationist apologists.5 Later Barry Seidman in The Skeptical Inquirer accused Sawyer of promoting creationism and using his fiction “more as a weapon of anti-science propaganda rather than entertainment.”6 Ironies multiply when one considers how pro-science Sawyer is and the fact that several religious fundamentalists excoriated Sawyer, while also insisting that they would never read the book!7
Real life, in the form of the events of 9/11, Sawyer says, has affected him profoundly and changed what he planned to write in the second and third books of his Neanderthal trilogy and will color everything that he will write in the future.8 He thinks that belief in God and the afterlife facilitates war and terrorism. This viewpoint is reflected in the carnage and chaos that ensue near the end of Hybrids when a collapse of the Earth’s magnetic field causes the “God part” of everyone’s brain to be stimulated simultaneously.
In my opinion, one of Robert Sawyer’s greatest legacies as a science fiction writer will be his sustained, nuanced, and multi-perspectival treatment of the science versus religion dialogue, which deserves to have as wide a mainstream audience as possible. As Robert Price has pointed out,9 Sawyer’s tips for new writers on his massive web site and his new science-fiction imprint Robert J. Sawyer Books, under the aegis of Red Deer Press of Calgary, are contributing to the improvement of the literary and intellectual quality of the science fiction genre. The more science fiction books that make the Canadian bestseller list, as did Calculating God, the better the prospects of SF achieving greater acceptance into mainstream fiction, which is one of Sawyer’s cherished goals. The kind of complex, thought-provoking writing that Sawyer does at his best and encourages others to do as well can serve an even deeper purpose than pushing the boundaries of science fiction. Like world philosopher Ken Wilber, Robert J. Sawyer may be helping his readers achieve a higher state of consciousness—something which our troubled world needs desperately of all of us.
Valerie Broege
Vanier College
St. Laurent, Quebec
Footnotes
1 Brooks Landon, Science Fiction
After 1900: From the Steam Man To the Stars (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997), 32.
2 For example, see “Mr. Concept Pulls It Off Again; Thornhill’s Robert Sawyer Fashions Another Intriguing Point of Departure—What If Everyone in the World Blacked Out for Two Minutes, Only to Wake with a Clear-eyed Vision of Their Futures Exactly 21 Years Hence?,” Toronto Star, 4 July 1999, 1, and Tom Flynn, “Science Fiction Goes Anthropic,” Free Inquiry, Buffalo, 22.1 (Winter 2001/2002): 62.
3 The Robert J. Sawyer Site, “Robert J. Sawyer Autobiography,” 2003, 16 April 2004
4 David Ketterer, Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1992), 136.
5 Chris Krejlgaard, “Sci-fi Author Dares to Challenge Readers’ Views,” Sudbury Star, 30 September 2000, B9.
6 Barry Seidman, “Using Science Fiction to Promote Creationism,” The Skeptical Inquirer, Buffalo, 26.2 (March/April 2002): 53.
7 Ed Willett, “Sci-fi Author Sawyer Calculates God,” Leader Post, Regina, Saskatchewan, 9 September 2000, D4.
8 Robert Price, “Calculating Sawyer: Robert J. Sawyer in Conversation,” Descant 34.3 (Fall 2003): 191-193.
9 Robert Price, “Science Fiction in a Canadian Context: Robert J. Sawyer As a Case Study,” unpublished final essay for the course Conditions of Cultural Authorship at York University, 13 April 2004.
Valerie Broege’s Wonder and Mystery Cryptic Crossword Puzzle
Those of you who are aficionados of cryptic crosswords as well as Robert Sawyer’s science fiction may want to try your hand at solving this puzzle (next page). Most of the clues are related in some way to Sawyer’s life and work. If you are unfamiliar with this intriguing genre of crosswords, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] for some tips on how to solve cryptic crossword puzzles.
ACROSS
Carolyn, hesitations may lead to first-rate things in Britain. (8)
Pal, soar into the sky but use a sunshade. (7)
Going round and round is not a riot! (8)
Electrical disturbances are unchanging. (6)
and 17. Hold a letter fast—with the result of going back in time. (5, 6)
Door confuses Ponter in the means by which he figures out who Mary’s rapist is. (4)
It is illegal to give false testimony in an investigation—book him! (5)
Is this kind of piece of glass the best for 23 down by far? (6)
17 See 11.
Mode of transport’s time has come in book of final days. (5)
Where Sawyer thinks you’ll go to if you have the wrong thought at the wrong time. (4)
Send someone to a specialist for treatment of madness caused by so-called reefer. (5)
List mu as a letter in the Greek alphabet on your chemistry test. (6)
What you can get if you read RJS’ thrillers. (8)
The impact of a big lance distracted a soldier so that he only looked quickly. (7)
Is “dour” an inappropriate description of Dybo? (8)
DOWN
Where the ring is is hard to discern. (4)
Remove part of a dinosaur to make an engraving. (8)
Set of parts to be assembled precedes boss of the cop shop to create what probably is his favorite room. (7)
Situation comedy involving Greek letter and prosecutor. (5)
Bar is locale of the blue planet. (4)
See 21.
Choose Hubbard’s orbiters. (9)
“Stop,” said Jag on other frequencies. (2, 3)
Insect next to 3-dimensional image gyrates a bit to create tesseracts. (9)
One hundred, king, is the profit. (5)
Gregor initially investigates a utopian habitat. (8)
The Spanish alien swallows men to produce gold. (7)
Battle of man with cancer. (7)
and 6. Fox raid map re theory about lack of intelligent life forms. (5, 7)
See 15 across. (4)
Russian said, “Pitch around a Pole.” (4)
SOLUTION
Robert J. Sawyer Bibliography
NOVELS
Golden Fleece. Warner Books (Questar) mass-market original, December 1990. Reprint by Tor, November 1999. Signed, limited edition from SoulWave Publishers, Nashville, TN; that edition with an introduction by Orson Scott Card. A Science fiction Book Club selection. Aurora Award winner.
End of an Era. Ace mass-market original, November 1994. Reprinted in trade paperback by Tor, September 2001. Seiun Award winner.
The Terminal Experiment. HarperCollins (HarperPrism) mass-market original, May 1995. First serialized in Analog Science Fiction and Fact under the title Hobson’s Choice, Mid-December 1994 through March 1995. Signed, limited edition from SoulWave Publishers, Nashville, TN. “Collector’s Edition” from The Easton Press, Norwalk, CT; that edition with an introduction by James Gunn. A Science Fiction Book Club selection. Nebula Award winner. Aurora Award winner. Hugo Award finalist.
Starplex. Ace mass-market original, October 1996. First serialized in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July-October 1996. A Science Fiction Book Club selection. Hugo Award finalist. Nebula Award finalist. Aurora Award winner.
Frameshift. Tor hardcover, May 1997; Tor mass-market paperback, November 1998. A Science Fiction Book Club selection. Hugo Award finalist. Seiun Award winner.
Illegal Alien. Ace hardcover, December 1997; Ace mass-market paperback, January 1999. A “Signed First Edition” selection from The Easton Press, Norwalk, CT; that edition with an introduction by James Gunn. A Science Fiction Book Club selection. Seiun Award winner.
Factoring Humanity. Tor hardcover, June 1998; Tor mass-market paperback, May 1999; Tor trade paperback, January 2004. Hugo Award finalist.
Flashforward. Tor hardcover, June 1999; Tor mass-market paperback, April 2000. Aurora Award winner.
Calculating God. Tor hardcover, June 2000; Tor mass-market, July 2001. Hugo Award finalist.
Mindscan. Tor hardcover, April 2005. Tor mass-market, forthcoming.
The Neanderthal Parallax
Hominids. Tor hardcover, May 2002; Tor mass-market, February 2003. First serialized in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, January-April 2002, Hugo Award winner.
Humans. Tor hardcover, February 2003; Tor mass-market, September 2003. Hugo Award finalist.
Hybrids. Tor hardcover, September 2003; Tor mass-market, November 2004.
The Quintaglio Ascension
Far-Seer. Ace, June 1992. A Science Fiction Book Club selection. Reprinted by Tor in trade paperback, May 2004.
Fossil Hunter. Ace, May 1993. Reprint by Tor in trade paperback forthcoming.
Foreigner. Ace, March 1994. Reprint by Tor in trade paperback forthcoming.
COLLECTIONS
Iterations (introduction by James Alan Gardner). Hardcover from Quarry Press, Kingston, Ontario, 2002. Trade paperback from Red Deer Press, Calgary, Alberta, 2004.
Relativity (introduction by Mike Resnick). Hardcover from ISFiC Press, Deerfield, IL, November 2004.
ANTHOLOGIES
Tesseracts 6 (with Carolyn Clink). Tesseract Books, Edmonton, Alberta, 1997.
Crossing the Line: Canadian Mysteries with a Fantastic Twist (with David Skene-Melvin). Pottersfield Press, Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia, 1998.
Over the Edge: The Crime Writers of Canada Anthology (with Peter Sellers). Pottersfield Press, Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia, 2000.
SHORT FICTION
* included in Iterations
“The Abdication of Pope Mary III,” Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science, July 6, 2000. *
“Above It All,” Dante’s Disciples, edited by Peter Crowther and Edward E. Kramer, White Wolf, Atlanta, February 1996. *
“Black Reflection,” In the Shadow of the Wall: Vietnam Stories That Might Have Been, edited by Byron R. Tetrick, Cumberland House, 2002. Modified and incorporated into the novel Humans (2003) as Chapter 22.
“The Blue Planet” as “Mars Reacts!”, The Globe and Ma
il: Canada’s National Newspaper, Saturday, December 11, 1999. *
“Caught in the Web,” White Wall Review 1982, edited by Denise Coney, Jennifer Harwood, J. Craig Sandy, and Robert J. Sawyer, Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, Toronto, 1982.
“Come All Ye Faithful,” Space Inc., edited by Julie E. Czerneda, DAW Books, New York, July 2003.
“The Contest,” White Wall Review 1980, edited by Lisa Coleman and Ed Greenwood, Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, Toronto, 1980; reprinted in 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories, edited by Isaac Asimov, Terry Carr, and Martin Harry Greenberg, Doubleday, New York, 1984. *
“Driving A Bargain,” Be VERY Afraid!: More Tales of Horror, edited by Edo van Belkom, Tundra Books, Toronto, 2002.
“The Eagle Has Landed,” I, Alien, edited by Mike Resnick, DAW Books, New York, forthcoming.
“Fallen Angel,” Strange Attraction, edited by Edward E. Kramer, ShadowLands Press, Centreville, VA, June 2000. *
“Flashes,” FutureShocks, edited by Lou Anders, Roc, New York, forthcoming.
“Forever,” Return of the Dinosaurs, edited by Mike Resnick and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW Books, New York, May 1997. *