The Terminal Experiment
| The Terminal Experiment | |
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.jpg) Cover of first edition (paperback) |
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| Author(s) | Robert J. Sawyer |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Harper Prism |
| Publication date | May 1995 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 333 pp |
| ISBN | 0-06-105310-4 |
| OCLC Number | 32448141 |
The Terminal Experiment is a science fiction novel by Canadian novelist Robert J. Sawyer. The book won the 1995 Nebula Award for Best Novel,[1] and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1996.[2]
The story was first serialised in Analog magazine in the mid-December 1994 to March 1995 issues, under the name Hobson's Choice, before its first novel publication in May, 1995. A Hobson's choice is an apparently free choice that is really no choice at all. In this book it is a play on the main character's name and describes the choice between immortality and provable life after death.
[edit] Plot introduction
Dr. Peter Hobson invents a machine that detects a brain pattern that leaves the body after death, a pattern many believe is a soul. In order to test his theories on immortality and life after death, Dr. Peter Hobson, with his friend Sarkar Muhammed, create three electronic simulations of Hobson's own personality. When people Hobson had a grudge against begin to die, he and Sarkar must try to find out which is responsible. But all three, two modified, one a "control", escape Sarkar's computer, into a worldwide electronic matrix.
Many references are made in the book to Star Trek. At many times in the book, Net News Digest issues are "reprinted", similar to the news alert that many news organizations now offer. Though published in 1995, the novel is set in 2011 and one of these news alerts even refers to a statement made in 2011 by "Pope Benedict XVI."
[edit] References
- ^ "1995 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1995. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
- ^ "1996 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1996. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
[edit] External links
- The Terminal Experiment at SFWriter.com
- The Terminal Experiment at Worlds Without End
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