Foreigner: Book Three of the Quintaglio Ascension [Paperback]

Robert J. Sawyer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Quintaglio Ascension | Publication Date: July 14, 2005

In Far-Seer and Fossil Hunter, we met the Quintaglios, a race of intelligent dinosaurs from Earth and learned of the threat to their very existence. Now they must quickly advance from a culture equivalent to our Renaissance to the point where they can leave their planet.
While the Quintaglios rush to develop space travel, the discovery of a second species of intelligent dinosaur rocks their most fundamental beliefs. Meanwhile, blind Afsan -- the dinosaurian Galileo -- undergoes the newfangled treatment of psychoanalysis, throwing everything he thought he knew about his violent people into a startling new light.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The final episode in Sawyer's popular chronicle of the Quintaglio race, an evolved dinosaur species occupying the moon of a gas giant known as the Face of God, reveals some surprising secrets about the race's origins and brings the trilogy to a suspenseful close. Still suffering the punishment of blindness for declaring the Face of God a planet and the Quintaglio world doomed to destruction in 100 years, the famed astronomer Afsan undergoes a revelatory new therapy for restoring vision to his regrown eyes. Meanwhile, on an ocean voyage, Afsan's son discovers another intelligent saurian race, which provokes violence from the Quintaglios that leads to an interspecies war, and the exploration of a ruined alien spacecraft by Afsan's ex-mate Novato triggers the automated construction of an awe-inspiring space tower that may provide the Quintaglios the means of escaping their world before it breaks apart. Sawyer deftly combines well-reasoned hard-science speculation with psychology, imaginative alien anthropology, and even linguistics (the book includes a Quintaglio glossary) to produce a fascinating and memorable adventure that's not just for dinosaur lovers. Carl Hays --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Praise for Foreigner:

A fine end to a brilliant series."--Quill & Quire

"Sawyer deserves a round of vigorous applause."--Analog

"A rousing conclusion to a dynamic and inspiring trilogy. Highly recommended."--The Toronto Star

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (July 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765309726
• ISBN-13: 978-0765309723
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #720,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert J. Sawyer -- called "the dean of Canadian science fiction" by the OTTAWA CITIZEN and "just about the best science-fiction writer out there" by the Denver ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS -- is one of eight authors in history to win all three of the science-fiction field's highest honors for best novel of the year: the Hugo Award (which he won for HOMINIDS), the Nebula Award (which he won for THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT); and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award (which he won for MINDSCAN).

Rob has won Japan's Seiun Award for best foreign novel three times (for END OF AN ERA, FRAMESHIFT, and ILLEGAL ALIEN), and he's also won the world's largest cash-prize for SF writing -- the Polytechnic University of Catalonia's 6,000-euro Premio UPC de Ciencia Ficcion -- an unprecedented three times.

In 2007, he received China's Galaxy Award for most favorite foreign author. He's also won eleven Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards ("Auroras"), an Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada, ANALOG magazine's Analytical Laboratory Award for Best Short Story of the Year, and the SCIENCE FICTION CHRONICLE Reader Award for Best Short Story of the Year.

Rob's novels have been top-ten national mainstream bestsellers in Canada, appearing on the GLOBE AND MAIL and MACLEAN'S bestsellers' lists, and they've hit number one on the bestsellers' list published by LOCUS, the U.S. trade journal of the SF field.

Rob is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences, teaches SF writing occasionally, and edits his own line of Canadian science-fiction novels for Red Deer Press.

His novel FLASHFORWARD (Tor Books) was the basis for the ABC TV series of the same name. He enjoyed spending time on the set and wrote the script for episode 19 "Course Correction."

His new WWW trilogy, WAKE, WATCH, and WONDER (Ace Books), is all about the World Wide Web gaining consciousness.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the conclusion!, September 14, 2005

By 

James T. Hart (Boston, MA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Foreigner: Book Three of the Quintaglio Ascension (Paperback)

I've waited years for this, and it was worth the wait. Some people perhaps didn't read Sawyer's Quintaglio series when it first came out, because all they saw were the dinosaurs on the covers. But the fact that his characters are intelligent saurians is almost incidental. This whole series is really a discussion of science and faith, and an examination of what breakthroughs in science would be like if they were really crucially important (what if it was a matter of life and death how the solar system was arranged -- not just for Galileo, but for EVERYONE [the plot of FAR-SEER]; what if the truth of evolution over creationism was the key to a species' survial [that's FOSSIL HUNTER]; and what if a breakthrough along the lines of psychoanalysis was the only thing that would stop a genocide [the current volume, FOREIGNER].) All three are wonderfully told, but FOREIGNER holds the most surprises and twists, not to mention packing the biggest emotional whallop. Bonus: a comprehensive "Quintaglio Concordance," drawn from all three books, at the end. As the cover quote from a Canadian newspaper says, "A fine end to a brilliant series."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A quest for understanding, January 18, 2006

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Foreigner: Book Three of the Quintaglio Ascension (Paperback)

As the concluding work in the Quintaglio series of planetary destruction, this book draws together many elements introduced earlier. Although ostensibly a dinosaur, Afsan's character grows more human with each volume. As a reflection of current Euro-North American society, Foreigner is hard to beat. That reflection may be too vivid for some. Sawyer has a fine talent for portraying reality, whether on an imaginary planet or right next door. This series remains a challenging read.

A trilogy of sub-plots keeps your interest alive through the main theme. The saurians are learning about their own world while striving for the means to escape it. Sawyer depicts the violent mental disruptions of racism with talent. Although dinosaurs mate for reproductive ends, he manages to introduce a new feature of their lives, jealousy versus loyalty. While the accounts of Novato, Afsan's mate and his son Toroca are compelling, it's the relationship of Afsan, the continuing primary character in this series, that renders this book worthy of note. His association with the practitioner of the new therapy of psychology makes hilarious reading. Mokleb, the 'therapist,' is a marvelous rendition of the money-grubbing cockroaches that infest Earth's cities today. She's a Freudian, of course, with all the fanciful ideas of conscious and subconscious ['high' and 'low' mind] and dream interpretation that has bled many a bank account dry during the past century. Her negotiation with Afsan over payment for the therapy sessions is too vividly real to be missed.

If you are new to Sawyer, by all means start the trilogy at the beginning and follow it through this volume. You will learn much about your own world as Sawyer reflects it in Afsan's. The series is a good addition to any library of speculative fiction. The only truly speculative part of Sawyer's works is the 'people' portrayed and their location in the cosmos. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Justice must be blind, April 23, 2007

By 

Prof Zoe (rural North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Foreigner: Book Three of the Quintaglio Ascension (Paperback)

Foreigner is a satisfying conclusion to the Quintaglio series. How to get off the moon before certain destruction? How to deal with a newly discovered dinosaur species? Why do the gest Quintaglios have such rage and then contrition when seening those new dinosaurs? It's not just dinosaurs, it's pyschology and family and thinking outside the egg. Loads of fun and lots of thought in this terrific read.