Triggers [Hardcover]

Robert J. Sawyer (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 3, 2012

On the eve of a secret military operation, an assassin's bullet strikes President Seth Jerrison. He is rushed to the hospital, where surgeons struggle to save his life.

At the same hospital, researcher Dr. Ranjip Singh is experimenting with a device that can erase traumatic memories.

Then a terrorist bomb detonates. In the operating room, the president suffers cardiac arrest. He has a near-death experience-but the memories that flash through Jerrison's mind are not his memories.

It quickly becomes clear that the electromagnetic pulse generated by the bomb amplified and scrambled Dr. Singh's equipment, allowing a random group of people to access one another's minds.

And now one of those people has access to the president's memories- including classified information regarding the upcoming military mission, which, if revealed, could cost countless lives. But the task of determining who has switched memories with whom is a daunting one- particularly when some of the people involved have reason to lie...

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Triggers is constantly gripping on the surface and seriously provocative deep down.”—Wall Street Journal

“Enthralling. Despite the near-dystopian setting, Triggers is haunting in its optimism. It was a joy to read.” —San Francisco Book Review

“Triggers has the hard-core military/political insights of Robert A. Heinlein, and the compassion of Theodore Sturgeon.”—Jonathan Vos Post

“No one digs into a sci-fi thought experiment with quite the zest that Robert J. Sawyer does. Sawyer doesn’t stint the thriller framework, but the story’s real joy is the care he takes in exploring the details of the memory-sharing.”—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

 

“First and foremost, Robert J. Sawyer is a rip-roaring good storyteller...There are few authors writing today that bring such a strong combination of literate storytelling and complex ideas to the page. Robert J. Sawyer is one of the best in the business right now, and Triggers is him at his finest.”—The Maine Edge (Bangor, Maine)

 

“Robert J. Sawyer pulls together elements of a gripping political thriller with cutting-edge psychological insights to create a story that works on many levels. Triggers has the pacing of an episode of 24 and the philosophical sensibilities of an Isaac Asimov novel, so any readers who were introduced to Sawyer through his television series FlashForward will find it particularly interesting.”—Black Gate

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

Robert J. Sawyer has been called “the dean of Canadian science fiction” by The Ottawa Citizen.

He is one of only seven writers in history—and the only Canadian—to win all three of the world’s top awards for best science-fiction novel of the year: the Hugo (which he won in 2003 for Hominids), the Nebula (which he won in 1995 for The Terminal Experiment), and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award (which he won in 2005 for Mindscan).

In total, Rob has authored over 18 science-fiction novels and won forty-one national and international awards for his fiction, including a record-setting ten Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards (“Auroras”) and the Toronto Public Library Celebrates Reading Award, one of Canada’s most significant literary honors. In 2008, he received his tenth Hugo Award nomination for his novel Rollback.

His novels have been translated into 14 languages. They are top-ten national mainstream bestsellers in Canada and have hit number one on the Locus bestsellers’ list.

Born in Ottawa in 1960, Rob grew up in Toronto and now lives in Mississauga (just west of Toronto), with poet Carolyn Clink, his wife of twenty-four years.

He was the first science-fiction writer to have a website, and that site now contains more than one million words of material.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Ace Hardcover; 1 edition (April 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1937007162
• ISBN-13: 978-1937007164
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #877,663 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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A thought-provoking, compelling read full of suspense and intriguing characters July 25, 2012

By Sherry Peters

Format:Hardcover

"Triggers" is a thought-provoking, compelling read full of suspense and intriguing characters. Robert J. Sawyer's latest meets and exceeds his standard of excellence in writing and story-telling.

In the midst of home-grown terror and a major national defensive initiative, there is an assassination attempt on the American President. At the same time the President is the operating room, Doctor Singh is attempting a new proceedure to treat the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder of an Iraq War Vet by altering his memories. The White House is bombed and the electro-magnetic pulse affects Dr. Sighn's treatment process. Minds and memories are linked, including the Iraq War Vet and the President.

Set against the backdrop of a political thriller, Sawyer masterfully weaves in discussion of racism, abuse, the affects of war on our soldiers, and political responsibility. And once again, in true Sawyer fashion, he shows us that there is an acceptable, preferred alternative to what we know and the direction society is going.

"Triggers" is filled with non-stop action and touching interpersonal moments between characters. I couldn't put it down. If you've read any of Sawyer's previous books, you will love this one. If you've only started reading Sawyer after watching "FlashForward", you will love this book. Whether you love thrillers or Science Fiction, or interpersonal drama, you will love this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars SciFi Thriller April 26, 2012

By SciFiChick TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

During a speech, President Seth Jerrison is shot by an assassin and rushed to the hospital. Meanwhile, at the same hospital, Dr. Ranjip Singh is conducting an experimental procedure to alter memories on a veteran with PTSD. But when a bomb explodes nearby, it sets off an electromagnetic pulse, causing a power surge and brief outage - and affecting Dr. Singh's equipment. Following the power outage, several people suddenly have access to strange memories that aren't their own. The President's security detail soon realizes a group of people within a certain distance to Dr. Singh's experiment were all affected by having access to someone else's memories. This means someone now knows everything the President does - on the brink of a top secret mission.

With a large cast of characters, Sawyer does a great job of giving each their own story and enough depth for the reader to easily keep them all straight. Surprisingly, the drama and how relationships are formed/affected by the memory-swapping was actually my favorite part of the story. The only other book I've read by Sawyer is FlashForward (developed into the short-lived TV show). I have found I really enjoy his writing style, and will definitely be reading his other books that I have on my shelves. Intriguing, with plenty of suspense - Triggers was fast-paced and exciting. This science fiction thriller was completely riveting from beginning to its climactic end.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars TRIGGERS: THE ULTIMATE RIDE IN SHARED CONSCIOUSNESS May 22, 2012

By Mark Shegelski

Format:Hardcover

Robert J. Sawyer's TRIGGERS is brilliant, compelling, and, as are all Sawyer's books, a guaranteed good read. Sawyer is a master of doing, simultaneously, the big three ingredients that make for good reading. As he advances the plot, he also develops his characters and maintains tension. Few writers can do all three at the same time, and none better than Sawyer. In TRIGGERS, you will always want to read the next paragraph, the next page.

Sawyer, again, has a creative new idea that is embedded in his book: people have shared memories. Person D remembers everything in person C's memory, person E totally recalls person D's memories, and on and on. When this is first discovered, the major crisis is that the President of the United States is one of the people in the chain. Someone now knows all the highly classified information that the President knows, and it is imperative to find out who this person is. As the plot develops, the ends of this memory chain get stretched, and you want to know what it will lead to. Sawyer goes further, and poses additional questions, and introduces more characters, with an expertise that allows the reader to remember and care about all the characters in the book. I can't remember a book that had so many interesting characters, much like what we have in LORD OF THE RINGS. But there are surprises in store, because Sawyer pushes the world he has created to the ultimate limit.

One additional thing that fascinated me about TRIGGERS is the idea of shared consciousness. As I read TRIGGERS, I thought many times about a story I wrote, THE ENTANGLED MAN, in my book of short stories (REMEMBERING THE FUTURE, Mark Shegelski, Scroll Press). In Sawyer's MINDSCAN, a person is copied into an artificial body, and there are two identical people right after the copying.... They are unaware of each other. As I read MINDSCAN, I could not stop wondering what it would be like if the person remained as a single person, with one mind, and fully aware of everything seen and heard by both bodies: a single consciousness. This led me to write THE ENTANGLED MAN. In TRIGGERS, Sawyer links people through the chain of memories, thereby showing us a new and fascinating concept that is integral in the story, a concept that Sawyer uses to take the reader on the ultimate ride.

I highly recommend TRIGGERS. If you haven't read Robert J. Sawyer before, you have more than twenty guaranteed good reads awaiting you. Read more ›

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner from Sawyer May 23, 2012

By BillNapoli

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I think of Robert Sawyer as one of the greatest hard science fiction writers, and in the same league as Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein. This book lives up to the high calibre of story I have come to expect from him.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars There was a little mystery in this science fiction April 27, 2012

By Tamara Gwen Nicodemus

Format:Kindle Edition

I have enjoyed and maybe even loved every Sawyer story I've read. This one was no different in that regard, but the book was much different than Sawyer's previous stories.

This story wasn't just science fiction.

As far as the science fiction part went, I had hoped for a bit more science. He had mentioned at Phoenix ComicCon 2011 that this book touched on consciousness and quantum entanglement. So naturally I read up on consciousness and quantum entanglement. That was my fault, I guess. Since he was writing a new style of book, he probably put as much science in there as he could. It was probably worth it, to broaden his audience, if it does.

I first read this in the serialized version that went out in Analog. With the number of characters, that was a difficult task. I read it again in the eBook version and it was easier to keep track of them.

The ending puzzled me a bit and I had to think on it for a while. I still haven't decided if I like the idea or not, but whether or not I liked the idea, it was still a good idea.

I liked the book and I'm giving it a 4, because when I read the serialized version I was angry each time the entry in the magazine was over and I had to wait. It evoked emotion, so it must have been good. ;)