The Terminal Experiment

Author - Robert J. Sawyer ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Mass Market Paperback Book item from Eos was reviewed on 3-Sep-2008.

Search ISBN:0061053104 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. The Terminal Experiment Reference Book. Classifications : Contemporary Literature & Fiction Subjects Books Sawyer, Robert J. ( S ) Authors, A-Z Science Fiction & Fantasy Subjects Books General Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Subjects Books Mass Mar . Click the following link to view the cover of The Terminal Experiment.

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1) Mass Market Paperback Book The Terminal Experiment by Eos. Diskettes in 2011? This book would probably have been 4-stars back in 95´ when it won the Nebula. Unfortunately, this book does not stand the test of time. I almost put this down 2/3 of the way through for being too cheesy, but I´m glad I finished it. The story is kind of cool, but it could have been so much better. The main character is too perfect, aside from his judgemental snootiness. And his life is just too convenient, I mean, you´re in another city, call an old friend who just happens to have nothing better to do than join you for lunch? And that´s not the only thing...the world really does revolve around Peter Hobson, everything is so easy for him. Scientific inventions that go right the first time? POOF, it´s like magic isn´t it? Nope. Just in this book. Cookie cutter cops, lame dialogue, ancient Web technologies. This book did make me think though...about how much better it could´ve been.¤

2) Mass Market Paperback Book The Terminal Experiment by Eos. Going back through time, I just finished Terminal Experiment, winner of the prestigious science fiction Nebula Award in 1995, after having read all of Robert Sawyer´s book since his "Calculating God" (2000) in sequence. The subject matter, how technological advances can extend life beyond the usual lifespan has been a major topic in his most recent books, "Mindscan" and "Rollback". Terminal Experiment, Sawyer stated at the time, was "an exercise in determining what a human mind might be like if it were aware either that it would live forever or that it was already dead."

"Hobson´s Choice", named with a touch of irony after the primary protagonist, Dr. Peter Hobson, and the title of the novel´s serialization in Analog magazine, "is the choice between immortality or a scientifically verified life after death." Hobson´s fascination with AI reaches new levels when he discovers an electromagnetic pulse that can be monitored as it escapes from the brain at time of death. He calls it a "soul-wave". Does that mean that a "soul" can be scientifically identified? Where does it lead and how long does it survive outside the body? Does it apply to everybody or was it a fluke? What about animals? Sawyer explores these topics with his usual sharp, investigative mind both from the technological angle as well as the spiritual.

Hobson´s friend and partner in AI experiments is Sakar Muhammed. Together, they dream up a scheme that should provide new insights into brain functions after death. They do this by developing sophisticated computer models of Peter´s complete brain map. The three models are not identical so that they can monitor the different behaviour patterns in the virtual environment. But then the virtual and the actual realities collide with consequences the two scientists have not foreseen... Are they in the end faced with a real "Hobson´s Choice"?

As in the recent novels, brilliant to my mind, this novel combines the human aspects of what artificial intelligence (AI) can provide through advanced technology. He embeds pertinent questions of life after death and the morality resulting from the application of the technological advances into a full-fledged detective and mystery story. At times the story moves a bit slowly and there are unnecessary repetitions. His protagonists´ characters are well drawn, their personal lives complicated by events and strong emotions. Other players, in particular, Sandra, Peter´s wife are less convincing and rather shallow despite her role in the personal drama. While the reader may have more insights in what is going on than the protagonists, the unravelling of events is as creative as it is unique. Sawyer´s knowledge of the latest science is, as usual, spot on and the realization of some of his fictional developments are within reach just a few years later. It makes the reading or rereading of Terminal Experiment years after publication particularly interesting and stimulating. [Friederike Knabe]
¤

3) Mass Market Paperback Book The Terminal Experiment by Eos. I am usually not a sci-fi reader, but picked this up at the library. I have heard a little about AI but dont understand it very well. I found this book to have an interesting story about what could happen with AI. It definatley held my interest. Coming from a biblical background, the life/death issues went way south of what I believe. I gave it 3stars because even if you dont like sci-fi its worth reading. The story was good, the characters were good, and the idea plausible.¤

4) Mass Market Paperback Book The Terminal Experiment by Eos. Robert J Sawyer has never been an author to think small and he certainly didn´t start in "The Terminal Experiment"! Soul-searching (literally) provocative discussions on the nature and the very definition of death, immortality, spirituality, morality, love, compassion, hatred, infidelity and more are what elevates Sawyer´s novel from the realm of a mere hard sci-fi murder mystery into the class of a Nebula Award winner! He even goes so far as to touch upon the existence of a soul and its effect upon religious beliefs and global events.

Dr Peter Hobson, a successful businessman and bio-technology engineer, has created an EEG orders of magnitude more sensitive than all of the machines currently available. When he uses his scanner to detect an electrical field leaving the body after death, which he calls the "soul wave", he then collaborates with his best friend, an AI specialist, to create three computer simulations of his own brain - one modified to represent the spirit, or life after death; a second, modified to have no concept of death or aging, representing immortality; and the third left untouched as a scientific control. The self-determining simulations escape from the confines of the AI lab´s computers into the world wide net and the murders begin. One of them is a murderer but the question, of course, is which one, why and how to stop it?

Sawyer´s clever literary device of using snippets from newscasts and magazine or newspaper articles is not only entertaining but it places the issues he has chosen to address in his novel into a global context and hypothesizes on the effects that these types of discoveries would have on a worldwide scale ... at once thought provoking, amusing, sobering and educational!

On a complete aside, I was also grateful to Sawyer for using his story as an example of what Charles Dickens was trying to convey in his famous opening paragraph in "The Tale of Two Cities" - you know the one, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times ...". Until Sawyer illustrated the idea using his own story, I was always foggy about this ambiguous juxtaposition of complete opposites. But Sawyer switched on the light bulb for me.

Highly recommended!

Paul Weiss¤

5) Mass Market Paperback Book The Terminal Experiment by Eos. This here´s another solid work by a really good SciFi writer. Tho, 12 years after publication it could use an revised edition. Seems funny to be reading about VCRs still being used in the year 2011 and Donahue and Geraldo as leading TV newscasters. Solid SciFi thriller that´s thought provoking; abortion, AI, nanotech figuring in the nifty plot.¤

6) Mass Market Paperback Book The Terminal Experiment by Eos. To test his theories of immortality, Dr. Peter Hobson creates three electronic clones of himself, who escape from his computer into the international electronic matrix, where one of them begins to kill.¤

7) Mass Market Paperback Book The Terminal Experiment by Eos. The Terminal Experiment has propelled Robert J. Sawyer into the limelight as one of science fiction´s hot new writers, earning him the prestigious Nebula Award in the process. In this fast-paced thriller, Dr. Peter Hobson´s investigations into death and afterlife lead him to create three separate electronic versions of himself: one has no memory of physical existence and represents life after death; one has no knowledge of death or aging and represents immortality; and the third is left unaltered as a control. But all three have escaped into the worldwide matrix...and one of them is a killer.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 1-Oct-2008, 00610531049780061053108, 040-290-260-620-440-880-N0B-8

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