Sunday 29 January 2012

Book Review - Flashforward by Robert J Sawyer

When I read the premise for the book, Flashforward, I knew it was a book that would be fascinating to read.

Two minutes and seventeen seconds that changed the world

Suddenly, without warning, all seven billion people on Earth black out for more than two minutes. Millions die as planes fall from the sky, people tumble down staircases, and cars plow into each other.

But that's the least of the survivors' challenges. During the blackout, everyone experienced a glimpse of what his or her future holds-and the interlocking mosaic of these visions threatens to unravel the present.


The idea sounded very familiar, though, and I had the book for a week before sitting down to start it. As I picked it up to finally start reading, I realized why it sounded so familiar. ABC had made a TV series based on it. I never watched it.

The book was a very interesting read. It is one case where being a fan of Star Trek paid off as I had heard about many of the theories about time travel discussed in the the old shows.

Lloyd Simcoe and Theo Procopides are two research physicists doing an experiment at the CERN Hadron Collider, which causes the entire world to black out for two minutes and seventeen seconds. Death and destruction ensue during the blackout.

Also most people witness two minutes and seventeen seconds of their own future, from their own viewpoint 30 years in the future. Eerie as many of the visions match with the visions of others.

Some, like Theo, experience nothing. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that those with no vision, did not experience one, as they would be dead. To make things even worse for Theo is he discovers that he was murdered just a day before that point in the future.

Is the future fixed? Can it be changed.

Theo sure hopes so, as do many others.

An excellent book with a very interesting storyline. I enjoy good science fiction and reading this makes me want to read more by Robert J Sawyer.

1 comment:

Teena in Toronto said...

You should check out his "Mindscan" ... I enjoyed it. It is set in Toronto in 2045 (and the Blue Jays still aren't winning!).

http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2007/08/book-mindscan-robert-j-sawyer-2005.html