Canadian science fiction writer (born 1960)
Robert James Sawyer
CM
OOnt
(born April 29, 1960) is a Canadian and American
science fiction
writer.
[2]
He has had 24 novels published
[3]
and his short fiction has appeared in
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
,
Amazing Stories
,
On Spec
,
Nature
, and numerous anthologies.
[4]
[5]
He has won many writing awards, including the best-novel
Nebula Award
(1995), the best-novel
Hugo Award
(2003), the
John W. Campbell Memorial Award
(2006), the
Robert A. Heinlein Award
(2017), and more
Aurora Awards
than anyone else in history.
[6]
[7]
Sawyer was born in
Ottawa
. He has lived in the
Greater Toronto Area
for most of his life and has been a resident of
Mississauga
since 2000.
Fiction
[
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]
Style and themes
[
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]
Sawyer's work frequently explores the intersection between science and religion, with
rationalism
winning out over
mysticism
[8]
(see especially
Far-Seer
,
The Terminal Experiment
,
Calculating God
, and the three volumes of the
Neanderthal Parallax
(
Hominids
,
Humans
, and
Hybrids
), plus the short story "The Abdication of Pope Mary III," originally published in
Nature
, July 6, 2000).
Sawyer often explores the notion of copied or uploaded human
consciousness
,
mind uploading
, most fully in his novel
Mindscan
, but also in
Flashforward
,
Golden Fleece
,
The Terminal Experiment
, "Identity Theft", "Biding Time", and "Shed Skin".
His interest in consciousness studies
[9]
is also apparent in
Wake
, which deals with the spontaneous emergence of consciousness in the infrastructure of the
World Wide Web
. His interest in
quantum physics
, and especially
quantum computing
, inform the short stories "You See But You Do Not Observe"
[10]
(a
Sherlock Holmes
pastiche
) and "Iterations,"
[11]
and the novels
Factoring Humanity
and
Hominids
.
SETI
, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, plays a role in the plots of
Golden Fleece
,
Factoring Humanity
,
Mindscan
,
Rollback
, the novelette "Ineluctable," and the short stories "You See But You Do Not Observe" and "Flashes." Sawyer gives cosmology a thorough discussion in his far-future
Starplex
.
[12]
Real-life science institutions are often used as settings by Sawyer, including
TRIUMF
in
End of an Era
,
CERN
in
Flashforward
, the
Royal Ontario Museum
in
Calculating God
, the
Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
in
Hominids
and its sequels, the
Arecibo Observatory
in
Rollback
, the
Canadian Light Source
in
Quantum Night
, and the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
and the
Institute for Advanced Study
in
The Oppenheimer Alternative
.
Sawyer's prose has been described by
Orson Scott Card
as near
Isaac Asimovian
in its clarity.
[13]
[14]
SF/mystery crossovers
[
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]
Sawyer has won both Canada's top SF award (the
Prix Aurora Award
) and its top mystery-fiction award (the
Arthur Ellis Award
) for his 1993 short story "Just Like Old Times".
[15]
Illegal Alien
is a courtroom drama with an extraterrestrial defendant;
Hominids
puts one Neanderthal on trial by his peers for the apparent murder of another Neanderthal;
Mindscan
has the rights of uploaded consciousnesses explored in a Michigan probate court; and
Golden Fleece
,
Fossil Hunter
,
The Terminal Experiment
,
Frameshift
,
Flashforward
, and
Red Planet Blues
are all, in part, murder mysteries. Of Sawyer's shorter SF works, the novella
Identity Theft
and the short stories "Biding Time," "Flashes," "Iterations," "Shed Skin," "The Stanley Cup Caper," "You See But You Do Not Observe," "The Hand You're Dealt," and the aforementioned "Just Like Old Times" are all also crime or mystery fiction.
Editing and scholarly work
[
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]
In addition to his own writing, Sawyer used to edit the Robert J. Sawyer Books
[16]
science-fiction imprint for
Red Deer Press
, part of Canadian publisher
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
; contributes to
The New York Review of Science Fiction
;
[17]
is
The Canadian Encyclopedia
'
s authority on science fiction;
[18]
and is a judge for L. Ron Hubbard's
Writers of the Future
[19]
contest.
Sawyer continues to use
WordStar
for DOS to write his novels.
[20]
Film and television
[
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]
In May 2009,
ABC
ordered 13 episodes of
FlashForward
(an hour-long dramatic TV series) for the 2009?2010 season. It is based on Sawyer's similarly titled novel, after successful production in February and March 2009 of a pilot episode scripted by
David S. Goyer
and
Brannon Braga
, directed by Goyer, and starring
Joseph Fiennes
and
Sonya Walger
.
[21]
After some adjustments, the first season was set to consist of 22 episodes.
[22]
Sawyer was a consultant on each episode of the series
[23]
and wrote the 19th episode, entitled "Course Correction".
[24]
Sawyer wrote the original series bible for
Charlie Jade
, an hour-long science-fiction TV series that first aired in 2005?2006, and he did conceptual work in 2003 for reviving
Robotech
. He has also written and narrated documentaries about science fiction for
CBC Radio
's
Ideas
series, and he hosted the 17-part weekly half-hour documentary series
Supernatural Investigator
for Canada's
Vision TV
, which premiered January 27, 2009.
[25]
He provided analysis of the British science fiction series
Doctor Who
for the
CBC
's online documentary
The Planet of the Doctor
,
[26]
frequently comments on science fiction movies for
TVOntario
's
Saturday Night at the Movies
, and co-edited an essay collection in honor of the fortieth anniversary of
Star Trek
with
David Gerrold
, titled
Boarding the Enterprise
.
Teaching and public speaking
[
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]
Sawyer has taught science-fiction writing at the
University of Toronto
,
Ryerson University
,
Humber College
, and the
Banff Centre
. In 2000, he served as Writer-in-Residence at the
Richmond Hill, Ontario
public library. In 2003, he was Writer-in-Residence at the Toronto Public Library's Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy (the first person to hold this post since
Judith Merril
herself in 1987).
[27]
In 2006, he was Writer-in-Residence at the
Odyssey Writing Workshop
. Also in 2006, he was the Edna Staebler Writer-in-Residence at the Kitchener public library in the
Region of Waterloo, Ontario
,
[28]
following the Region of Waterloo's choice of Sawyer's
Hominids
as the "One Book, One Community"
[29]
title that all 490,000 residents were encouraged to read in 2005. In 2007 he was the Berton House Writer-in-Residence at Berton House in Dawson City. In 2009, he was the first-ever Writer-in-Residence at the
Canadian Light Source
, Canada's national synchrotron facility in
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
.
[30]
Sawyer is a frequent keynote speaker about technology topics,
[31]
[32]
and has served as a consultant to Canada's Federal Department of Justice on the shape that future genetics laws should take.
[33]
Influence and recognition
[
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]
Canadian
[
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]
Sawyer has long been an advocate of Canadian science fiction.
[34]
He lobbied hard for the creation of the Canadian Region of the
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
[35]
. The Canadian Region was established in 1992, and Sawyer served for three years on SFWA's Board of Directors as the first Canadian Regional Director (1992?1995). He also edited the newsletter of the Canadian Region, called
Alouette
in honor of
Canada's first satellite
; the newsletter was nominated for a
Prix Aurora Award
for best
fanzine
.
Sawyer was awarded an
Honorary Doctor of Letters
from
Laurentian University
in 2007
[36]
and an
Honorary Doctor of Laws
from the
University of Winnipeg
in 2014.
[37]
International translations
[
edit
]
In addition to his popularity at home, Sawyer's work is well received internationally. All of his novels have been issued by New York publishing houses and translated editions have appeared in Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, Hungarian, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, and Spanish.
[38]
Professional associations
[
edit
]
In 1998, Sawyer was elected president of SFWA on a platform that promised a referendum on various contentious issues, including periodic membership requalification and the creation of a
Nebula Award
for best script; he won, defeating the next-closest candidate, past-SFWA-president
Norman Spinrad
, by a 3:2 margin. However, Sawyer's actual time in office was marked by considerable opposition to membership requalification and negative reaction to his dismissing, with the majority support of the Board of Directors, one paid SFWA worker and one volunteer. He resigned after completing half of his one-year term, and was automatically succeeded by then-incumbent vice-president
Paul Levinson
. Prior to resigning, Sawyer's promised referendum was held, resulting in significant changes to SFWA's bylaws and procedures, most notably allowing appropriate non-North American sales to count as membership credentials, allowing appropriate electronic sales to count as membership credentials, and creating a
Nebula Award
for best script.
Sawyer has been active in other writers' organizations, including the
Crime Writers of Canada
, the
Horror Writers Association
, and the
Writers' Union of Canada
[39]
(for which he has served on the membership committee), and he is a member of scriptwriting unions
Writers Guild of America
[40]
and
Writers Guild of Canada
.
Ribbon bars
[
edit
]
Major awards
[
edit
]
- 1991
Prix Aurora Award
for Best Long Work in English, for
Golden Fleece
- 1992 Homer Award for Best Novel, for
Far-Seer
- 1993
Arthur Ellis Award
for Best Short Story, for "Just Like Old Times"
- 1993 Homer Award for Best Novel, for
Fossil Hunter
- 1995
Le Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire
for Best Foreign Short Story, "You See But You Do Not Observe"
- 1995
Nebula Award
for Best Novel, for
The Terminal Experiment
[44]
- 1995 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long Work in English, for
The Terminal Experiment
- 1996
Seiun Award
for Best Foreign Novel, for
End of an Era
- 1996 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long Work in English, for
Starplex
- 1997
Science Fiction Chronicle
Reader Award for Best Short Story, for "The Hand You're Dealt"
- 1999 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long Work in English, for
Flashforward
- 2000 Seiun Award for Best Foreign Novel, for
Frameshift
- 2001
Hugo Award
nominee in the
Best Novel
category for
Calculating God
- 2002 Seiun Award for Best Foreign Novel, for
Illegal Alien
- 2003
Hugo Award
for Best Novel, for
Hominids
[45]
- 2005
Analog
Analytical Laboratory Award for Best Short Story, for "Shed Skin"
- 2005 Prix Aurora Award for Best Work in English (Other) for
Relativity
- 2006
John W. Campbell Memorial Award
for Best Science Fiction Novel, for
Mindscan
[46]
- 2007 Toronto Public Library Celebrates Reading Award
- 2007 Galaxy Award (China) for "Most Popular Foreign Author"
- 2007 Prix Aurora Award for Best Short Work in English, for "Biding Time"
- 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long Form in English, for
Wake
- 2010 Hugo Award nominee in the
Best Novel
category for
Wake
[47]
- 2011 Prix Aurora Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in Canada, for
Watch
[48]
- 2012 Prix Aurora Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in Canada, for
Wonder
[48]
- 2013 Lifetime Achievement Prix Aurora Award
[49]
- 2014
Edward E. Smith Memorial Award
("the Skylark)
[50]
- 2016 Member of the
Order of Canada
"for his accomplishments as a science fiction writer and mentor, and for his contributions as a futurist"
[51]
- 2017
Robert A. Heinlein Award
[52]
- 2017 Member of the
Order of Ontario
for being "one of the world's top science-fiction authors and a champion of the Canadian fiction industry".
[53]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Golden Fleece
(
Warner Books
/Questar, 1990)
- The
Quintaglio Ascension trilogy
:
- End of an Era
(Ace, 1994)
- The Terminal Experiment
(
serialized as
Hobson's Choice
in
Analog
;
HarperPrism
, 1995)
- Starplex
(serialized in
Analog
; Ace, 1996)
- Frameshift
(
Tor
, 1997)
- Illegal Alien
(Ace, 1997)
- Factoring Humanity
(Tor, 1998)
- Flashforward
(Tor, 1999)
- Calculating God
(Tor, 2000)
- Iterations
? Short stories (
Quarry Press
, 2002)
- The Neanderthal Parallax
trilogy:
- Hominids
(serialized in
Analog
; Tor, 2003)
- Humans
(Tor, 2003)
- Hybrids
(Tor, 2003)
- Relativity
(
ISFiC Press
, 2004)
- Mindscan
(Tor, 2005)
- Rollback
(serialized in
Analog
; Tor, 2007)
- Identity Theft and Other Stories
(
Red Deer Press
, 2008)
- The WWW trilogy
:
- Wake
(serialized in
Analog
, 2008?2009; Ace USA, Viking Canada, and Orion/Gollancz UK, 2009)
- Watch
(Ace USA, Viking Canada, and Orion/Gollancz UK, 2010)
- Wonder
(Ace USA, Penguin Canada and Orion/Gollancz UK, 2011)
[54]
- Triggers
(serialized in
Analog
, 2012; Ace USA, Viking Canada, and Gollancz UK, April 2012)
- Red Planet Blues
(Ace USA and Viking Canada, 2013; Orion/Gollancz UK, 2014)
[55]
- Quantum Night
(Ace USA and Viking Canada, 2016)
[56]
- The Oppenheimer Alternative
(CAEZIK SF & Fantasy, 2020)
- The Downloaded
(Audible 2023 [audiobook] and Shadowpaw Press [print], 2024)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Robert J. Sawyer (2007).
"Autobiography from
Dual Citizenship
"
. Retrieved
2011-06-26
.
- ^
Robert J. Sawyer (2003).
"Autobiography from
Contemporary Authors
"
. Retrieved
2009-09-26
.
- ^
Robert J. Sawyer (2007).
"Robert J. Sawyer Curriculum Vitae"
. Retrieved
2022-02-11
.
- ^
Robert J. Sawyer (2007).
"Short-Fiction Bibliography"
. Retrieved
2007-09-25
.
- ^
Charles N. Brown and William G. Contento (2007).
"The
Locus
Index to Science Fiction (1984-1998)"
. Retrieved
2007-12-06
.
- ^
Science Fiction Awards Database (2022).
"Robert J. Sawyer"
. Retrieved
2022-02-11
.
- ^
Science Fiction Awards Database (2022).
"Aurora Awards Winners By Name"
. Retrieved
2022-02-11
.
- ^
Adria Guxens (2013).
"Robert J. Sawyer: "The war between science and religion is the most important issue of our time"
"
. Retrieved
2023-03-20
.
- ^
Center for Consciousness Studies (2010).
"Toward a Science of Concsiousness 2010 Keynote Speakers"
. Retrieved
2017-09-16
.
- ^
Robert J. Sawyer (1995).
"You See But You Do Not Observe (short story)"
. Retrieved
2007-09-25
.
- ^
Robert J. Sawyer (2000).
"Iterations (short story)"
. Retrieved
2007-09-25
.
- ^
Andrew Fraknoi (1997).
"Science Fiction Stories with Good Science"
. Retrieved
2007-12-06
.
- ^
Orson Scott Card (1990).
"Review of
Golden Fleece
"
. Retrieved
2007-08-11
.
- ^
Historica Foundation of Canada (2007).
"Robert J. Sawyer"
.
The Canadian Encyclopedia
. Retrieved
2007-12-04
.
- ^
Robert J. Sawyer (1993).
"Just Like Old Times (short story)"
. Retrieved
2007-09-25
.
- ^
Red Deer Press (2007).
"Robert J. Sawyer Books Submission Guidelines"
. Retrieved
2007-12-06
.
- ^
The BRB Catalogue (2007).
"
New York Review of Science Fiction
#176 to current"
. Retrieved
2007-12-06
.
- ^
"Robert J. Sawyer"
.
The Canadian Encyclopedia
.
Historica Canada
. March 1, 2014.
Archived
from the original on 2007-11-23.
- ^
Writers of the Future (2007).
"List of Judges"
. Archived from
the original
on 2007-09-09
. Retrieved
2007-09-25
.
- ^
Sawyer, Robert J.
(2009-06-23).
"RJS on WordStar cited in paper about accessibility for the blind"
.
sfwriter.com
. Retrieved
2017-07-20
.
- ^
Nellie Andreeva (2009).
"ABC picks up 'Flash Forward'
"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. Archived from
the original
on May 14, 2009
. Retrieved
2009-05-09
.
- ^
Josef Adalian (2009).
"ABC's 'FlashForward' Finds New Leaders"
. Archived from
the original
on 2010-04-16
. Retrieved
2010-04-13
.
- ^
SFWRITER.COM Inc. (2008).
"TV rights to Sawyer's novel
Flashforward
sold to ABC"
. Retrieved
2009-05-09
.
- ^
SFWRITER.COM Inc. (2010).
"On
FlashForward
set Watching the Episode I Wrote Being Filmed"
. Retrieved
2010-04-13
.
- ^
"SF author Robert J. Sawyer to host Supernatural Investigator"
. McNally Robinson. 2008-11-24
. Retrieved
2020-06-11
.
- ^
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2005).
"
Planet of the Doctor
"
. Archived from
the original
on 2007-08-12
. Retrieved
2007-09-25
.
- ^
SFWRITER.COM Inc. (2003).
"Merril Collection Writer-in-Residence"
. Retrieved
2007-09-25
.
- ^
Robert J. Sawyer blog (2006).
"Edna Staebler Writer-in-Residence"
. Retrieved
2007-09-25
.
- ^
Danielle Fuller; DeNel Rehberg Sedo (2014).
"Reproducing 'the Wow Factor'? Negotiating Values of Reading through One Book, One Community Events"
. Australia Humanities Review
. Retrieved
2020-06-11
.
- ^
Ashleigh Mattern (2009).
"Light Speed, Mr. Sawyer ? Engage!"
. Archived from
the original
on 2011-07-15
. Retrieved
2009-05-10
.
- ^
Robert J. Sawyer (2007).
"Keynotes and Talks"
. Retrieved
2007-12-05
.
- ^
Speakers' Spotlight (2007).
"Robert J. Sawyer: The Challenge of Tomorrow"
. Archived from
the original
on 2007-10-14
. Retrieved
2007-12-05
.
- ^
Steven H Silver (2003).
"Genetics Future Forum Includes Author"
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-04-29
. Retrieved
2007-12-05
.
- ^
Robert J. Sawyer (1983?1992).
"Northern Lights: Canadian Achievements in SF"
. Retrieved
2017-09-16
.
- ^
Robert J. Sawyer (1992?1995).
"The Canadian Region of SFWA"
. Retrieved
2017-09-16
.
- ^
Laurentian University (2007).
"Honourary Doctorates"
. Archived from
the original
on 2017-07-01
. Retrieved
2017-09-16
.
- ^
"
Five exceptional people to be honoured at Spring Convocation
" (8 May 2014).
NewsCentre
, University of Winnipeg. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
- ^
Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (2007).
"Robert J. Sawyer Curriculum Vitae"
. Retrieved
2007-08-08
.
- ^
The Writers' Union of Canada (2007).
"Membership Directory"
. Archived from
the original
on 2007-09-27
. Retrieved
2007-09-25
.
- ^
Writers Guild of America East (2017).
"Find a Writer"
. Retrieved
2017-09-16
.
- ^
"Mr. Robert J. Sawyer: Order of Canada"
.
The Governor General of Canada
. Retrieved
March 20,
2023
.
- ^
"Twenty-Three Exceptional Honourees to be Appointed to the Order of Ontario"
.
Ontario Government
. Retrieved
March 20,
2023
.
- ^
"Robert J. Sawyer: Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)"
.
The Governor General of Canada
. Retrieved
March 20,
2023
.
- ^
"1995 Award Winners & Nominees"
.
Worlds Without End
. Retrieved
2009-05-16
.
- ^
"2003 Award Winners & Nominees"
.
Worlds Without End
. Retrieved
2009-05-16
.
- ^
"2006 Award Winners & Nominees"
.
Worlds Without End
. Retrieved
2009-05-16
.
- ^
"The 2010 Hugo and John W. Campbell Award Nominees"
. AussieCon 4. April 4, 2010. Archived from
the original
on January 21, 2012
. Retrieved
April 4,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (2017).
"Past Winners"
. Archived from
the original
on 2014-04-07
. Retrieved
2017-09-16
.
- ^
Locus (2013).
"Sawyer Wins Lifetime Achievement Award"
. Retrieved
2017-09-16
.
- ^
New England Science Fiction Association, Inc. (2014).
"The E. E. Smith Memorial Award"
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-12-04
. Retrieved
2017-09-16
.
- ^
"Governor General Announces 113 New Appointments to the Order of Canada"
. 20 September 2017.
- ^
The Heinlein Society (2017).
"Robert J. Sawyer Named 2017 Heinlein Award Winner"
. Retrieved
2017-09-16
.
- ^
"The 2017 Appointees to the Order of Ontario"
. January 29, 2018.
- ^
Robert J. Sawyer.
"Wonder"
.
- ^
"Robert J Sawyer ? Red Planet Blues cover art reveal (and release date!)"
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-11-11.
- ^
Briefly reviewed at
Sakers, Don
(May 2016). "The Reference Library".
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
.
136
(5): 105?108.
External links
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]
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