Winnipeg Free Press on Mindscan

The Winnipeg Free Press, the major daily paper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, ran a brief review of Mindscan yesterday; the review is by David Pitt:

Once again Ontario's Robert J. Sawyer takes something that seems wildly improbable -- the notion of transferring human consciousness to an artificial body -- and uses it as a jumping-off point for an exploration of some very nifty ideas.

In Mindscan (Tor, 370 pages, $10), a man with a life-threatening disease transfers himself into a synthetic body. When his biological self (now living in a sort of retirement community on the moon) learns his disease can be cured, he wants to return home. But which of the two Jake Sullivans is the real Jake?

On its surface a very inventive science-fiction story, the novel is actually a rumination on the nature of consciousness and identity. It is another excellent (not to mention surprising) novel from one of the genre's brightest lights.