Customer Reviews

Factoring Humanity

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I read this book in one night. I could not put it down, nor sleep. Every chapter drew me into the next and I was hopelessly lost to the real world for a fabulous evening. I felt that the family issues added a level of realism that often sci-fi lacks in its concern for high minded ideals and ultra big pictures.

My only qualm with this book was that Heather (the main character) seemed to have an unrealistically uncanny ability to make intuitive discovery after discovery that no single human likely would be capable of making by themselves, let alone in a matter of mere hours or days. In that sense it seemed forced, although if one is willing to forgive Mr Sawyer that one transgression, this book can easily be included amongst the best of the genre.

Something I found particularly satisfying was the breadth of future hard-scientific inquiry touched on. Everything from Quantum theory, Jungian overmind concepts, the nature of morality and god, defining characteristics of humanity, the future of AI's, and many other topics are addressed and add well to the plot. I heartily recommend this book to all sci-fi fans!

Sawyer seems to like writing about the near future --- say, 10 to 20 years down the road. The effect is to ground his work in the everyday, in settings people can easily grasp. The setting of this novel, at the University of Toronto, should be familiar to anyone who has ever attended (or taught!) at a big city university. The details of academic life ring true ... but even more so do the details of Sawyer's characters personal lives, despite the horrific things that happen to them. Of course, this is SCIENCE fiction, and there's plenty of science, too: quantum computing, artificial intelligence, SETI (indeed, the SETI subplot, really relatively minor, is quite wonderful, especially for any fan of Alan Turing), and more. And the ending has that "sense of wonder" that is the hallmark of the best SF from the classic age. I've also read Sawyer's FLASHFORWARD, and gave that five stars, too, but between the two, this is my favourite, although both are excellent novels. Enjoy!

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 not so complex as to require more concentration than is possible on an airplane. As an alternative to the usual Clancy/Steele/Grisham airplane fare it was first-rate, as a Great Novel of Science Fiction, it was OK.

First, the bad news. The characterizations are flat and thin, with more revealed in internal dialogue than in actions. For example, our protagonist has his wife and two children ripped from him in different ways, but we are only told of his anguish. His actions in the story do not show it, although I did enjoy the scene when he asked his AI for moral comfort and support.

On the other hand, good science fiction rarely seems to also be great literature. Sawyer plays with cool ideas: quantum computers, the fourth dimension, artificial intelligence, the nature of "mind", recovered memories, and teenage angst (I find teenage angst the most difficult to understand). With so much deep thinking go on there is not much time left for finely detailed characterization.

"Factoring Humanity" seems to be a tribute to the great themes of science fiction. You get thinking machines with conscience ("I, Robot" and the other Asimov "Robot" stories, "With Folded Hands", "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress"), fun with tesseracts ("A Wrinkle in Time", "He Built a Crooked House"), and alien first contact (and sending construction plans via radio, as in "Contact").

First and foremost, it was a good read with lots of page-flipping interest. Recommended.

This is the third R.J. Sawyer book I've read recently (the others were Calculating God and End of an Era). Obviously I liked the others enough to keep going. And this was my favorite of the lot. I rated them all at 3 stars, but this one is really more like 3.5 or 3.75, but the rating scale is of limited resolution.

So too is the science in his fiction. Sawyer does not write "hard SF". It's more like hard SF-lite. This one borrowed heavily from Sagan's "Contact" (which was hard SF, par exemplar, and also had great character development and deep philosophical implications on several levels, but I digress..) and dabbles a bit in 4 dimensional geometry, quantum computing and cosmic consciousness. The characters are sort of ill-defined (except for the AI who seemed deeper and more human than the homo sapiens), which seems a hallmark of the 3 Sawyer books I have read, but the plot keeps things moving, also a Sawyer hallmark. I think if you expect Sawyer to be the next great writer in hard SF you are in for a disappointment. But if you want an enjoyable light read that has just a bit of science in the fiction, Sawyer is your guy for plot-driven page-turners. I will try at least a few more of his.

Another reader, below, makes the incredible comment that he was wondering when the "sci-fi" would begin. For Pete's sake, it begins on page 1, line 1, with "The messages from space had been arriving for ten years now." By the end of chapter two, we're introduced to one of the best AI characters I've ever encountered. Not SF? Ridiculous -- this is PURE SF. New Age? Quite the contrary -- it's an ANTIDOTE to New Age thinking. This is a truly excellent read.

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

Previously, I've read Sawyer's "Calculating God" and "The Terminal Experiment", and "Factoring Humanity" is rather similar. The characters are a bit flat and the plot is sometimes ill-executed, but the read is fast-paced and decently entertaining.

The fictional science in the book is rather inconsistent. Sometimes it seems plausible, while still being fantastic enough to illuminate (very) interesting questions. Other times it seems to fall into the uncanny valley of sci-fi, _almost_ (but not quite) plausible, making it somewhat difficult to suspend disbelief.

I do like Sawyer's way of putting a soft sci-fi twist on traditional elements of hard sci-fi.

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 finally been coming back from the stars. This signal, which has been coming for years, has become so commonplace, and is still undeciphered after so long, therefore humanity is pretty much bored with it. How very human.

Strong view of humanity's short attention span aside, in "Factoring Humanity" the signal is finally deciphered by one Heather Davis, whose family life is falling to pieces (one of her daughters has committed suicide, and her marriage is nearly destroyed). When she discovers what this signal means, she is left with a knowledge that allows her to do some extraordinary thigns - and yet, in a very human way, this heroine doesn't go save the world, she takes a step inward to try and save her family.

This is Sawyer at his best: his usual multiple-level story, with an exceptional character base, some good philosophy (Carl Jung's collective unconscious features in "Factoring Humanity" quite centrally), a potential murder, the troubles of advanced technology, and above it all, looming, the notion that we're not alone after all - and are we about to meet friends, or enemies?

I reccommend Sawyer regardless of which title you pick up, but if one of those titles happens to be "Factoring Humanity," "Flashforward" or "Calculating God," then you're in the top-three of his calibre. Whatever few foibles are in this particular novel, they're just that: few, and not enough to derail the story. There's some great in-character exploration of the alien knowledge, and the story itself makes one think.

'Nathan

Mr. Sawyer does a remarkable job of communicating the basics of quantum mechanics and quantum computers in this novel. While many "experts" believe that quantum computers will always remain science fiction, there are many scientists around the world working to make the quantum computer a reality. Sawyer points out the most obvious application of such a computer - the ability to factor large numbers quickly, thus making it possible to break "hard" encryption. His "what if" scenario is worthy of serious consideration as we become ever more dependent on electronic banking and Internet commerce.

Sawyer's analogous quantum leap from quantum computer factoring to factoring the human collective consciousness using Heather's Tesseract is nothing short of brilliant. Placing the story in the near future and using allusions to late 20th century culture is actually a trademark practice of his which makes his novels much more entertaining in my opinion.

The rewards of education and entertainment - "edutainment" if you will - make this work a must read. If you only have time to read one of this year's SF novels, make sure it is FACTORING HUMANITY. It gets my vote for the best SF novel of 1998.

Words simply cannot express how much I enjoyed reading this novel. Sawyer is unbelievably talented and "Factoring Humanity" is only one of the many reasons why he is the ONLY author to have won all four of the worlds most prestigious SF awards. I can't believe some of the comments I have read about his characters being underdeveloped. Are we reviewing the same book here? Heather Davis and Kyle Graves (even Cheetah for crying out loud) could not have been more endearing and beloved. I extremely enjoyed his take on humanity and how our selfish nature is finally overturned. "Factoring Humanity" is worth 5 stars, it contains a thick, juicy plot with many themes that overlap, yet perfectly come together by the end of the story. As a result, my fingers kept turning the pages to satisfy the suspensefull nature of this sci-fi wonder.