The Downloaded by Robert J. Sawyer

Since I don’t blog much anymore in a general sense, I’ve decided I should fill some of that gap by posting my reviews of science fiction and fantasy books by other authors. And what better place to start than the latest offering from Canada’s most successful science fiction writer (and one of my favourites) Robert J. Sawyer? I give it Five Stars.

Robert J. Sawyer writes my favourite kind of science fiction: the concepts are thought-provoking, sometimes disturbing, and the themes are rich and important, but the stories are always about the people. Fully-fleshed people, too—equal parts warts, wit, and wisdom. But whether it’s an astronaut with all the “right stuff’ or a convicted murderer, you can relate to each one. And that’s how stories have emotional impact.

The title The Downloaded refers to human consciousnesses that have been ‘uploaded’ into digital storage, and then returned to their original bodies which have been cryogenically frozen. Some of these frozen and revived characters are convicts who’ve been offered a chance to serve their sentences in computer simulations at sped-up time, so they experience a years-long incarceration, but only lose several months of real time before being released back into society. The others are astronauts meant to take a long space journey to colonize the planets of another star. But when disaster strikes the Earth, both groups are downloaded into physical bodies again and have to face a drastically changed world.

Is it intellectually stimulating? Sure! In The Downloaded Sawyer skilfully combines the concepts of cryogenically preserving humans while they await future medical cures or travel to distant stars, uploading consciousness into digital storage, adapting human biology to conditions on other planets, and more. Yet, what keeps us reading isn’t just the ideas, it’s caring about what happens to Captain Letitia Garvey, murderer Roscoe Koudoulian, even robot Penolong.

The Downloaded is different in structure from other Sawyer books, written in a kind of interview format that reflects how it was first published as an audiobook. But all the qualities we’ve come to expect are there, the ones that keep us seeking out Robert J. Sawyer’s books time and time again.

(SOME OF) THE STORY BEHIND INDIGENT EARTH

Unless you buy the hardcover edition, you won’t see all the gorgeous artwork my cover artist provided, so here it is.

Readers often wonder where writers get our ideas. Well, in the case of my newest novel Indigent Earth, a number of sources came into play.

Worldwide, the year 2023 has been a year of fierce heatwaves, devastating droughts, rampant wildfires, and horrendous floods.

Climate change is upon us.

At the time I wrote Indigent Earth, things weren’t quite this extreme, but I knew they could get to be. I’d already taught a college course about climate change for a semester (I didn’t enjoy the experience enough to continue, but that’s another story). I was also watching the rise of private sector space companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic. I don’t consider them a bad thing, but depending on billionaires for all our space technology might have risks. Plus, economic studies were showing that the world’s 2000+ billionaires hold as much wealth as 60% of the rest of Earth’s population. That divide is increasing, with no end in sight.

Could conditions on Earth get so bad that the rich and powerful might abandon the planet?

On another front, two of my grandkids are part Cree (on their father’s side) and that heritage is very important to them. It’s special to me, too—I have a deep love for the natural spaces of my home country, Canada, and inevitably link them with our indigenous peoples, for whom I have great respect. But, as in many places, Canada’s history with its indigenous peoples is troubled, to say the least.

Indigent Earth is set in a North America of six centuries from now, at a time 500 years after the world’s wealthiest people abandoned our damaged planet to live in space colonies and have now chosen to return. Killian Morningcloud feels like a prisoner in his constrained Earth community (known as an Allocation) and has bright hopes for the colonists’ reappearance. Celebrated citizen of the colonies, Natira Celestia, looks forward to meeting the “noble primitives” she’s sure must inhabit the home planet. Both will have their dreams dashed; thrown together, they will struggle to survive long enough to uncover dark secrets that powerful people are desperate to keep hidden.

Yes, I’m afraid that the face of colonialism may change, but it’s something our species will find hard to escape. My Dedication for the novel reads:

To the indigenous peoples of the world

who have been displaced and marginalized.

I can’t speak your truth; I can only acknowledge it.

More broadly, I believe that being on the wrong side of the ‘privilege gap’ could happen to any of us in the years to come.

So those facts provide some explanation of where the novel came from.  

That said, Indigent Earth isn’t a rant or a lecture! It’s an exciting adventure story with vivid settings and characters including a fire-and-water pairing if there ever was one. Killian and Natira are about as different as two people can be, so it was a lot of fun to write such a charged relationship!

With a publication date of September 30th, I hope you’ll use this Universal Book Link to find Indigent Earth at your favourite online bookseller (or ask your local bookstore to get it for you) and give it a read. I really think it’ll grab you.

COMING SOON: A NEW YEAR AND A NEW BOOK

The life of the average author isn’t much like the romanticized portraits you see on TV and in the movies (how do they all afford those loft apartments in New York City anyway??) But it does come with some unique “highs”.

One of those is being able to introduce a brand new book into the world. The obvious comparison is to the birth of a child—obvious because it’s so accurate. Months of anxiety and labour culminating in a creation never seen before.

My next creative “offspring” is still a couple of months from seeing the light of day, but I can show off the literary equivalent of an ultrasound picture. This is the (brilliant) new cover of my forthcoming science fiction novel The Dispossession of Dylan Knox. Here’s the elevator pitch:

Dylan Knox is not the man he was. He may be like no man who ever existed.

Brooke’s old flame doesn’t remember her. Worse, he behaves like a different person every time they meet. A victim of a brain injury? Or an imposter—an assassin targeting Brooke’s boss, the secretary-general of the United Nations?

Dylan’s own explanation is impossible to accept: an airliner accident, a bold space mission. Castaways in time.

Now Brook is faced with a choice: to trust him, or to betray him.

And falling in love is the last thing she needs.

The Dispossession of Dylan Knox is scheduled for publication February 2, 2022. It should be available for pre-order in early January. Suspense, danger, high stakes. Plus a stronger romance element than my usual. I really hope you love it.

In fact, you can read a sample of the opening chapter of the novel right now!

OTHER NEWS:

While I’m at it, I’d like to tell you what else I’ve been up to.

I’ve been busy exploring more ways to tell readers about my books. One way is book trailers. I’ve had one for my debut novel Dead Air and a slow, suspenseful trailer for my latest, Naïda. But I wanted to bring more excitement to that one, and I’d never released a trailer for my first SF thriller The Primus Labyrinth at all. So check out these new offerings:

The Primus Labyrinth

Naïda 

On the other hand, some people love to hear a sample of a book in the author’s own words and voice. So I’ve recorded some readings from my novels that weren’t available before. Have a listen to them on Soundcloud.

Naïda

The Primus Labyrinth

Dead Air

And lastly, when I was helping out a fan recently, I noticed that two of my paperbacks—my novel Dead Air and my story collection Beyond—are still listed on Amazon for about 25% less than my usual paperback price (just $15.99 each in North America). With the cost of printing these days, I really have to raise that price, but I’ve decided to put it off until 2022. SO until the end of this year you can still pick up those two books at that price. If you buy both (plus something else worth a few bucks) you can even get Amazon’s free shipping.

About my Beyond collection, Goodreads and freelance book reviewer Christine Ernst-Lomond says, “Solid gold. That's how I'd summarize Overton's collection of sci-fi short stories…I'm honestly not sure I can praise it enough. It's completely brilliant.”

And I didn’t pay her a cent to say that!

Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that hours of great reading enjoyment makes a thoughtful gift!

Have a great holiday season.