Customer Reviews

Frameshift

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just finished this book and was saddened. I have read several of Sawyers books in the past and this was a dog. The plot is simplistic and the characterizations are not well developed.

The ideas around which "Frameshift" revolves are intriguing. Unfortunately, there appear to be a few too many of them to cover in this rather short book: A scientist wrestles with a deadly genetic disease; discovers a telepathy gene in his wife; uncovers a secret Nazi death camp guard; his wife gives birth to a Neanderthal clone (although she is a PhD herself, neither notices anything "wrong" for a long time!); finds a secret code in "junk" DNA. The plot twists left me feeling abused rather than amused or intellectually challenged. A much stronger book would have taken just ONE of these story lines and developed it in greater depth. The ideas are interesting - I liked reading about Berkeley, where I was a postdoc. The writing style is spare and doesn't get in the way of the plot. Unfortunately, as it is, I felt like I was reading the script of a made for TV movie - probably the FOX channel.

Sawyer's command of the English languish leaves little to be desired; in fact, nothing even for which to hope. Grammatical errors abound in this cliche-riddled story. The characters are uniformly single- or un-faceted, especially the women. Heinlein for the 90s. We get much more detail about some areas than we could possibly want, and much less about others than we need. Save your money.

This book takes you on a rollercoaster ride that involves so many plot twists and surprises that you never know what to expect until you turn that page. And you know you MUST read on! This book has taken its rightful place with my collection of Old School sci-fi and cyberpunk: "Foundation", "Empire", "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Childhood's End", "Prey", "Snow Crash", "Neuromancer", "Cryptonomicon", and "Darkeye: Cyber Hunter".

When you think of Robert J. Sawyer and Neanderthals, you think of his Hugo Award-winning HOMINIDS and its sequels, HUMANS and HYBRIDS. But it turns out that he was writing about Neanderthals and characters who were geneticists long before those books, as this earlier Hugo Award-finalist by Sawyer demonstrates. The settings are Montreal, Canada, and Berkeley, California, and the template is that of a Robin Cook-style medical thriller (but with richer characterization than Cook ever provides). Interestingly for a science-fiction book, it's not set at all in the future. Rather, the setting is the Human Genome Project in 1997, where all is not what it seems, and people have dark secrets in their pasts. Wonderful stuff, would make a great movie.

I struggled with what rating to give Frameshift.

On the one hand, there were a number of things that felt hackneyed. I thought the nazi war criminal/eugenics thread was way too neat-- too much of a point being made. It bored me. 2-3 stars then.

On the other hand, there were a number of really excellent aspects. Sawyer has a really plausible hand with the paintbrush when it comes to depicting characters. I liked very much how he handled Molly's telepathy and Pierre as a French-Canadian. I also liked the respect for science that the book seems to have. 4 or even 5 stars taken altogether.

In the end, I'm giving it 4 stars because there are an awful lot of good elements, but if I really had to go with my gut, it would be more like a 3.

Anyhow, still a good read if you like scientific thrillers.

So much that is labeled 'science fiction' has only the very minimum of real science in it. It was this reason, in fact, that I pretty much gave up reading in this genre some years ago. But I came across Sawyer's recent 'Hominids' and was swept away. That one was about Neanderthals and was accurate in most respects. This one is about several things: the genetics of Huntington's disease (the disease that killed Woody Guthrie, to jog your memory about it), telepathy and the possibility that it could be a real condition with a genetic origin. On top of that the book is a thriller and a romance. And very well written, too.

What more could one ask? I know I'll be reading more of Robert Sawyer's books now.

Scott Morrison

I have been recently reading as many Sawyer books as I can get my hand on and have not yet been disappointed. I love the ideas he comes up with - some of them are remarkably plausible and his knowledge of scientific principles is clearly expansive.

Frameshift has several strands of plot that are neatly weaved together that make for a very entertaining and captivating read. The mix of genetics, Nazi war criminals and big-business conspiracy theories kept me up late into the night wondering what was going to happen. What is particularly fascinating is Sawyers idea that there may be something to the "junk" DNA that all humans have and what they could mean.

My only complaints are that Sawyers characterization of women does not seem quite accurate and that there are times where the plot takes some unbelievable twists. On the other hand, there is a great scene of a helicopter crashing that rivaled by description anything that I have seen in images in a movie.

Read and enjoy!

This book really weaves some very diverse elements into a single plot, and has you guessing right up to the end.

The true strength of this book is the core protagonist of Pierre Tardivel, a french-Canadian genetecist who has to battle the uncertainty of being a man who may - or may not - have inherited Huntington's Disease. His struggle with his own genetic future is centre stage in this story.

But woven into this tale is a woman who can read minds, Molly. Though a genetic quirk of fate, her ability puts her in the forefront of a potential murder, and the story picks up steam from there.

Evolution, genetics, Nazi experimentation, murder, and a whole stream of incredibly rich plotlines cumulate into one great showdown of SF writing. As always, Sawyer's strong characterizaitons and his respect for science shine through, and I was gripped right to the end.

Give this a shot, you won't regret it.

'Nathan

I thought Frameshift was a ver exciting book. It got kind of confusing at times but if you really get into it and think about what your reading it can be a very fun and exciting book to read.