
Mindscan
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Narrated by:
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Peter Ganim
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By:
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Robert J. Sawyer
About this listen
Jake Sullivan has cheated death: he's discarded his doomed biological body and copied his consciousness into an android form. The new Jake soon finds love, something that eluded him when he was encased in flesh: he falls for the android version of Karen, a woman rediscovering all the joys of life now that she too is no longer constrained by a worn-out body. Karen's son sues her, claiming that by uploading into an immortal body, she has done him out of his inheritance. Even worse, the original version of Jake, consigned to die on the far side of the moon, has taken hostages there, demanding the return of his rights of personhood. In the courtroom and on the lunar surface, the future of uploaded humanity hangs in the balance.
Mindscan is vintage Sawyer - a feast for the mind and the heart.
©2005 Robert J. Sawyer (P)2012 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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excellent
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Critic reviews
Engaging!
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Scientific concepts
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it would have been better if ..........
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Story Was Copied
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Would you try another book from Robert J. Sawyer and/or Peter Ganim?
Robert Sawyer is a talented writer, and has a strong grasp of science. His work is definitely worth reading.Would you recommend Mindscan to your friends? Why or why not?
I can only give this book a lukewarm recommendation. Unlike other books of his, much more of Sawyer's liberal politics creep into this one. I don't have a problem with characters having liberal or conservative politics, but when the author's politics are embedded into the overall fabric of the book, I find it a turn-off. At one point in the book, there is a courtroom trial that is laughable, with both counsels and witnesses given off-topic soliloquies that would never be allowed and seem to have no other purpose than to provide the reader with information that the author wants us to know.In many ways this is the most Canadian of Sawyer's works:
*Toronto is the center of the universe
*The university of Toronto is Harvard
*Guns are bad, even to touch
*Queue jumping or getting better treatment because you have money is wrong
*Global warming is real and will make Canada uncomfortably hot in just 10-20 years.
*The collective is more important than the individual
Sawyer's favorite topics seem recycled in this book:
*Cellular Automata
*Quantum Entanglement
*Consciousness
*Turing Machines
Minor Spoiler:
The book misses many opportunities to be more interesting and relevant. For example, a character makes a decision based on information that he will die soon. He changes his mind when he finds out he'll live after all. Is it really reasonable that Sawyer treats him like a whiner who's being unreasonable? Also the way things end up seems messy with no clear theme, moral, message, etc. It's a bit like the work of Robin Cook where meaningless conflict is used to give a sense of drama which is rather hollow.It's almost as if Sawyer was on autopilot or lost interest in his story and finished it anyway. Perhaps he retouched some old story he had in a drawer.
To be clear the premise of the story is very interesting and the setup is quite good. It's after that, that the story disappoints. It does remain listenable and entertaining, but in a very insubstantial, fluffy sort of way.
What does Peter Ganim bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?
The narrator does a great job.Was Mindscan worth the listening time?
While worth listening, I would read other Sawyer titles first. It's not a 4-star read.Entertaining, but not Sawyer's Best
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Engaging
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Sawyer uses the concept of 'philosophical zombie' to explore societal reaction to such technology. Intriguingly, the notion of personhood for such a creature impinges on perspectives on abortion. In addition, legal concepts such as copyrights come into play. While the overall plot is engaging and well crafted, this tale is more cerebral than most sci-fi entries of this type.
The narration is excellent with very good character distinction with a brisk pace.
Transferring consciousness
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This book lived up to expectations – no question! Yet again he has come up with a riveting and original plot that had me glued to every word; I just can’t get enough!
Another hands down hit.
I HEART RJS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Another Masterpiece for Sawyer
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Great book as with most of sawyer's stuff
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