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Factoring Humanity
 
 
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Factoring Humanity (Hardcover)

by Robert J Sawyer (Author) "HEATHER DAVIS TOOK A SIP OF HER COFFEE and looked at the brass clock on the mantelpiece ..." (more)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

Factoring Humanity will undoubtedly satisfy Sawyer fans, as well as those looking for positive-future scenarios à la Carl Sagan's Contact. Rather than a galactic vision of war and peace, this novel is localized in the extreme: the plot revolves around Heather, a psychology professor struggling to decipher extraterrestrial messages, and her estranged husband, Kyle, on the brink of the biggest computer science breakthrough of all time. What makes Factoring Humanity work is that Sawyer deals with vast ideas such as alien contact, quantum mechanics, and the human overmind, but does so to a deeply personal effect.

Sawyer, like many writers of near-future science fiction, has an unfortunate tendency to be too rooted in today, to make so many casual references to our present that they draw undue attention to themselves, making it difficult for the reader to suspend disbelief. This fascination with 20th-century pop culture crowds the real story and real details into a corner and underscores an apparent lack of creativity in painting future landscapes. Otherwise, and forgiving Sawyer's breathtakingly myopic view of Native Canadians and rather bland prose, this is exciting, readable science fiction that will take you where no one has gone before--and you'll never forget the ending. --Jhana Bach



From Publishers Weekly

It's the personal implications of first contact that Sawyer (Illegal Alien) dramatizes in his disturbing and uneven new novel. Set in Canada, circa 2017, the story focuses on Heather and her computer-scientist husband, Kyle, who have separated following the suicide of their daughter Mary. When younger daughter Rebecca confronts her parents and accuses her father of molesting her, the family starts to shake apart. Redemption comes in the unlikely form of alien altruism: the messages from Alpha Centauri that psychologist Heather has studied for years prove to be blueprints for a "psychospace" device that enables her to see into the overmind of humanity, and to know anyone's deepest thoughts. In a flash, Kyle is exonerated, Rebecca apologizesAand her nasty, manipulative therapist is blamed for the false accusation. Although the novel ends with Heather greeting the first starship from Alpha Centauri, the bulk of the plot centers around the family's own mystery, and so the conclusion comes off as anti-climactic. Sawyer also includes too many digressions about the cultural significance of Seinfeld, Star Trek bloopers and quantum physics, delivering a tale that ultimately works more as a study of the human heart than as believable story of alien encounter. (June) FYI: Sawyer, whose The Terminal Experiment won the 1995 Nebula for Best Novel, was recently elected president of the Science Fiction Writers of America.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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HEATHER DAVIS TOOK A SIP OF HER COFFEE and looked at the brass clock on the mantelpiece. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

41 Reviews
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4 star:
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3 star:
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2 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (41 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars L.A. Johnson for Midwest Book Review, Feb 3 2004
By Laurel Johnson (Kansas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Factoring Humanity (Paperback)
Sci fi writer Robert J. Sawyer has won both the Nebula and Hugo Awards, and is nominated again this year. Factoring Humanity is the fourth book I've reviewed by this author, and each one is exceptional. Sawyer excels at putting a human face on technology and breathing soul into scientific data. This sci fi thriller is a prime example.

Heather Davis is a Psychology professor at the University of Toronto. Her husband, Kyle Graves, experiments with Artificial Intelligence and quantum mechanics at the same university. Their marriage has been strained by tragedy, and shattered with their youngest daughter's allegations of sexual abuse. Both are devastated by loss and throw themselves into their work. Heather's project is particularly intriguing.

Every 31 hours and 51 minutes like clockwork, a new data message is received from space. Its origin, a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A. Heather and her colleagues around the world work at translating the messages without success, until one day she stumbles onto the key. Quantum physcs, mathematical equations, and parallel universes play a part in the mystery. First Heather and then Kyle is drawn into the conundrum with world changing results. Will the messages from space unlock the mysteries of the human mind? And will they be a path to healing or total annihilation of the human race?

As in every novel by this author, the underlying technology is first rate and the characters well defined. Long time fans of Sawyer will love Factoring Humanity, and new readers of his work will understand why he wins Hugo and Nebula Awards.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Inner space .... outer space .... psychospace!, Dec 13 2003
By Jon Jackman (Tonawanda, NY, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Factoring Humanity (Mass Market Paperback)
Sawyer won his first Hugo for Hominids, but this was one of his earlier nominees for that award .... and it's every bit as good. A stand-alone (unlike Hominids) about a married pair of researchers at the Univesity of Toronto (Sawyer lives in that city) .... one a pscychologist and the other an artificial intelligence researcher .... and the alien technology that lets them explore the truths about the universe and in their rocky marriage. Fascinating .... literarlly mind expanding .... first rate!
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4.0 out of 5 stars Science fiction with the emphasis placed on Science, May 18 2003
By J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This is my fourth Sawyer book in the past month. I stumbled on 'Hominids,' having not read any science fiction in years, and was sold. The reason I sought out more Sawyer is that he uses real science to spin his tales. And he's a good storyteller, too. His characters are a little cardboard but a heckuva lot better than those of some writers I remember.

This one is a riff on the notion of aliens contacting us via coded digitized messages from a planet circling Alpha Centauri. So there is cryptography, psychology, engineering, computer science - all written about credibly - brought into play. It makes for a fast-moving read that requires the reader to pause occasionally and really THINK about the possibility of it all.

Sawyer deserves credit for writing stories that go beyond current science in a way that remains credible and, perhaps as important, serious.

Scott Morrison

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Hokey
Robert J. Sawyer is one of those SF authors, like Robert L. Forward (what is it with these Robert guys? Read more
Published on Sep 17 2002 by Mike Treder

4.0 out of 5 stars Hard to put down!
I have not read a Robert Sawyer book before, so I took a chance and tried this out. He did an excellent job at immediately immersing the reader into the plot right from the... Read more
Published on Aug 11 2002 by Robert Knetsch

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun ride through hyperspace
After reading Hominids, I became very intrigued by Sawyer's overall writing style. The amount of research done in writing this novel is just what I expected of him. Read more
Published on Jul 6 2002 by Tom Nuculovic

3.0 out of 5 stars interesting idea, poor execution
The basic premise of the book is interesting: a signal comes to us from space, and we have no idea what it means. One day, the signal stops. Read more
Published on Dec 2 2001 by Nadyne Mielke

4.0 out of 5 stars a great read
This book I found was excellent. It seemlessly moulds psychology and sci-fi into a great novel. It is one for those enjoy science fiction, yet are willing to deviate a bit into... Read more
Published on Aug 23 2001 by Kent Carter

5.0 out of 5 stars First contact done with a Canadian twist...
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... Read more
Published on Jul 16 2001 by Jonathan Burgoine

4.0 out of 5 stars A feminist's dream!
....A woman academic psychologist single- handedly unravels amysterious message from another world. Her husband, an ArtificialIntelligence Engineer, has no time for something as... Read more
Published on Sep 25 2000 by Stephen A. Haines

3.0 out of 5 stars Classic Sawyer, just not one of his best
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. Read more
Published on Aug 17 2000 by Donna McHugh

3.0 out of 5 stars Read In Paperback
This is my least liked book by Mr. Sawyer. The general story line was a good one and I enjoyed the physics involved. Read more
Published on Jul 17 2000 by Pamela McHenry

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Enough to Read
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... Read more
Published on Jul 5 2000 by Richard Tyler

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