Robert J. SawyerThe Terminal ExperimentMonika says:
Scientist Peter Hobson has proven the existence of the human soul that leaves the body in the moment of death in shape of a weak electric field. Hobson also does research about the afterlife and the possibility of eternal life. Therefore he creates three computer simulations of himself. One of them is to investigate the afterlife, the other is to tell him how it feels to be immortal. Both simulations have certain neural relations in the brain interrupted that seem unnecessary for their purpose. The third simulation remains unchanged for control purposes. The experiment at first seems promising, but then the simulations start to live their own lives. They don't want to be limited to the laboratory computers and escape into the World Wide Web. When one of them starts to kill the study is completely out of control. Hobson has to decide what to do about his copies. THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT won the Nebula Award, one of the most prestigious science fiction prizes, in 1995. But it could also be called a mystery with science fiction elements and ought to be attractive for fans of both genres. Just like in his other novels FRAMESHIFT and FACTORING HUMANITY Sawyer created believable characters that spark the reader's interest. Once again he also treats ethical questions like how to determine the time of death of a person. The protagonist Hobson is confronted with this question as a student when he witnesses an organ transplant but is convinced that the donor's brain still was active. This experience haunts him and makes him turn to questions of life and death in his own scientific research. Another important question is that about somebody's personality. Hobson realizes how little he knows what he himself is capable of when one of his simulations turns out to be a killer. Before the novel was published in book form it appeared in installments in the science fiction magazine Analog under the title "Hobson's Choice". The ideas explored aren't new, but this is one of the most suspense-filled treatments of the subject I have ever read. Harper Collins, New York, 1995 |
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Last changes: 02-09-03 Copyright 2000 Christina Gross & Monika Hübner |
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