Subject: Review: Factoring Humanity by Robert J. Sawyer

From: "Aaron M. Renn" <[email-masked]>
Date: 07 Jun 1999 13:30:24 -0400

Factoring Humanity by Robert J. Sawyer
	Review Copyright 1999 Aaron Renn

Conclusion:  Worth Reading

Sawyer makes a valiant attempt to write a science fiction story that is as
much about real human relationships as it is about science.  While this is
a worthy goal, Sawyer only partially succeeds in attaining it.  His
characters and situtations reminded me too much of a Lifetime made for TV
movie (martial troubles, child abuse, eating disorders, sexual
harrassment, repressed memories, etc) for comfort.  In the end I just
didn't really find that I cared much about anyone in this story.  The rest
of the plot was likewise made up cliched elements (first contact with
aliens, collective consciousness, artifical intelligence, etc), but they
were woven together into a mostly entertaining tale.  My main complaint is
actually there was a lot of potential in this book that just wasn't
explored.  I got the feeling I was reading a novella instead of a novel.

It is the year 2017, and Earth has been receiving daily transmissions from
Alpha Centuri for several years.  These abruptly stop, triggering a mad
dash to decipher their meaning.  Heather Davis is a psychologist working
on this problem.  Her estranged husband is Kyle Graves, a computer
scientist specializing in quantum computing.  As Heather works to discover
the meaning of the signals, her family life is in a state of major
upheaval.  The resolution of the family problems are really the heart of
the book, and when they come to their conclusion, it basically fizzles
out.  As I said, the premises that Sawyer set up in this story were so
full of potential that I was expecting a lot more.  I was very
disappointed when I didn't get it.

This book is fairly light reading, so I was surprised to see that
Factoring Humanity is a Hugo Award nominee.  I haven't yet read the other
candidates so can't really compare, but I didn't really think think this
book even deserved to get issued in hardcover.  Don't get me wrong, it's a
workman-like job that entertains and was worth the money I spent on it,
but I don't think it is one that will linger with me for long after I've
finished it.

Interestingly, Factoring Humanity is Sawyer's fourth consecutive Hugo
nomination.  He's yet to get a win, though his 1995 novel The Terminal
Experiment won a Nebula.  At the rate he's going he's in danger of
becoming the Susan Lucci of the Hugos.

%A Sawyer, Robert J.
%T Factoring Humanity
%I Tor
%D 1998-06 (original publication date)
%G ISBN 0-451-45747-0
%P 348 pp.
%O mass market paperback, US$5.99 C$7.99

-- 
Aaron M. Renn ([email-masked]) http://www.urbanophile.com/arenn/