Iterations [Hardcover]

Robert J. Sawyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002

Robert J. Sawyer - called "the dean of Canadian science fiction" by the Ottawa Citizen and "just about the best science fiction writer out there these days" by the Rocky Mountain News - won the World Science Fiction Society's Hugo Award for his novel Hominids and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Nebula Award for his novel The Terminal Experiment.

Iterations is Sawyer's first short story collection, gathering 22 fantastic tales from such diverse places as Amazing Stories, the Village Voice, the Globe & Mail, and Nature.

Among them, these stories have:

• Won the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Award ("the Aurora")
• Won the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award,
• Been nominated for the Hugo,
• Nominated for and the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award,
• Been performed on CBC Radio, and
• Appeared in best-of-the-year collections.

In Iterations, you'll:

• See Sherlock Holmes solve the problem of the missing aliens,
• Find out what really happened to the bones of Peking Man,
• Learn the truth about the alligators in the sewers of New York,
• Visit a future Toronto sealed inside a steel dome,
• Encounter pure evil aboard the Russian space station Mir,
• Follow a serial killer as his consciousness is transferred into a Tyrannosaurus rex, and
• Meet a man doomed to commit murder over and over again because of the pressures of Canadian publishing.

Each story is accompanied by Sawyer's own commentary, and the collection is introduced by award-winning SF author James Alan Gardner.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From Booklist
Canada's leading sci-fi author has been penning acclaimed novels and editing anthologies since the early 1980s. Here is a single sample from a larger collection of his superlative, often award-winning, short stories. In "Iterations," a publisher finds a doorway to parallel universes that allows him to systematically eliminate murderous versions of himself, though at the risk of becoming his own victim. Sawyer has a gift for casting jarringly original ideas in lucid, sharp-edged prose that mainstream-fiction as well as sf readers should appreciate.
Carl Hays Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

From Booklist

Canada's leading sf author has been penning acclaimed novels and editing anthologies since the early 1980s, but not until now has he produced a collection of his superlative, often award-winning, short stories. His fans will be gratified to find many of his favorite themes amply represented here, from evolution gone awry to sentient dinosaurs to the perilous loopholes created by quantum physics. In "Peking Man," the real reason for the mysterious disappearance of Peking Man's fossil remains is revealed: some Peking people were vampires. In "Gator," Sawyer spins a wry variation on the familiar urban legend of alligators running loose in New York's sewer system. In "Iterations," a publisher finds a doorway to parallel universes that allows him to systematically eliminate murderous versions of himself, though at the risk of becoming his own victim. Sawyer has a gift for casting jarringly original ideas in lucid, sharp-edged prose that mainstream-fiction as well as sf readers should appreciate. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Quarry Press (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550822950
• ISBN-13: 978-1550822953
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,464,685 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 twelve 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 WWW trilogy, WAKE, WATCH, and WONDER (Ace Books), is all about the World Wide Web gaining consciousness.

Next up is TRIGGERS, April 2012. Set in Washington D.C., TRIGGERS is a science fiction political thriller about the nature of memory.

For more information about Rob and his award-winning books, check out his web page: http://sfwriter.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imagination, innovation and stimulation, November 27, 2003

By 

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

This review is from: Iterations (Hardcover)

Reading Robert Sawyer is always a heady experience. Those who know his work will be prepared for innovative thinking, excellent prose style and realistic characters. Underlying those skills will be his insistence that the scientific and technical base of his stories will be solid. This collection, covering several years of short story publication, is vivid testimony to his abilities. Nearly two dozen sterling pieces demonstrate why Sawyer is at the top rank among speculative fiction writers. Each is introduced by a commentary on about the story's inspiration or publication history. He has his own favourites, but ranking them is strictly a reader's pleasant task.

The title piece, "Iterations" is illustrative of Sawyer's conceptual reach. The issue of "alternative" universes is a topic of active debate among physicists. It's one Sawyer has dealt with elsewhere. Beyond the question of how they can come about, there are social issues that arise. If we learn to detect alternative spheres of existence, what human judgments are likely to follow. This story enters that murky realm with vivid imagination and solid logic. What decisions might you have to make if you discovered there were other versions of you?

Even deeper social issues are considered in "Just Like Old Times". As lifespans extend through better health services and a larger work force retires early, what decisions will have to be made to protect depleting resources. While this question seems a departure from the normal run of "speculative fiction" [and Sawyer rarely strays into the arena of "space opera"] he uses this to raise some disturbing questions. In this story of justice, time travel [except not really] and a disturbed human psyche, Sawyer demonstrates how the unanticipated can result in the best intentions running wild. In some respects, this tale could fit just as easily in the "horror" genre due to its conclusion.

Rather than draw you through a turgid exposition of Sawyer's imagination, pick up this book and find out for yourself. Those who still feel "SF" is a minority genre could learn much from this collection. Speculative fiction offers opportunities to stimulate thinking about many questions in many ways. Even better, if offers some fresh questions to consider. Sawyer is a master at getting at the heart of issues considered but fleetingly by most. Read him and find out why so many readers pick up his works on release dates. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Have for any Robert J. Sawyer Fan, August 7, 2005

By 

Donald J. Bingle "orphyte" (Saint Charles, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iterations (Paperback)

Like the other reviewers, I confess to being a Robert J. Sawyer fan. Fortunately, this collection gives plenty of insight into the breadth and quality of Rob's fiction for both the uninitiated and those who have only read Rob's novel-length works, such as Calculating God and The Neanderthal Parallax Trilogy. Since many of Rob's stories were not written on spec, but for themed anthologies, you also get a good sense of what an imaginative mind can do in a variety of genres--from hard scifi, to near-future earth, to horror, to mystery. An enjoyable read all around. Those wanting yet more should also consider picking up Relativity, a collection of stories, essays, speeches, and writing tips by Robert J. Sawyer, published by ISFIC Press. Although a few stories from Iterations are duplicated and the writing tips can be picked up from Rob's excellent website, www.sfwriter.com, Relativity is highly recommended, just like Iterations. Enjoy. Donald J. Bingle, Author of Forced Conversion.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unfortunately, Robert J. Sawyer is a genius., March 2, 2007

By 

John Brook Monroe "Tech guy and home cook" (DeLand, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Iterations (Paperback)

Sawyer in short-story form is as engaging as he is in novel form. There isn't one story in the book that didn't hook me, and I'm a pretty tough audience. First of all, Sawyer simply knows how to lay down words. I'm sure he gets as much editing as the next guy, but edits can't save a bad story. Sawyer doesn't write bad stories.

Secondly, Sawyer has a unique talent for going where others have gone, and finding the new twist that no one has thought of. In the eponymous story, the author tackles the old "parallel universe" theme and turns it 90 degrees from the path everyone else has taken. Every story has something just as fresh to offer, which I imagine is getting harder and harder to do as memes are explored and exhausted by other writers.

The book is a worthy addition to Sawyer's body of work, and a worthy addition to any science-fiction fan's bookcase.