Flash Forward: Amazon.co.uk: Robert J. Sawyer: Books

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29 Reviews

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4.3 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews)

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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Characters always come alive for Robert Sawyer., 16 Jul 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Flashforward (Hardcover)

This book is not just about the human consciousness leaping 21 years into the future. It's about the people to whom this happened. How do people who have been given a taste of their own future react to that knowledge? Humanity just had the "Fruit of Knowledge" thrust down its throat. Can we be the same after we gain that knowledge? Did that knowledge come at too high a price? Does freewill exist or is it just an illusion humanity concocted? Is the future immutable or can we make our own future? Sawyer deals with not only complex ideas, like these, but also complex emotions. He breathes life into his characters, then lets them take flight. Once I picked this book up, I could not put it down.

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The excellent source material for the tv series, 8 Oct 2009

By	Blackhorse47 "I.J. Parnham" (Moray, Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: FlashForward (Paperback)

This inevitable release to tie in with the new tv series is sure to have people rushing to read it in the hope of finding answers to the numerous conundrums and Lost-style red herrings that have already been provided. So a word of caution: this book was written ten years ago and the series is only based on the book's central idea. There are already massive changes of direction and focus from the book, and it's likely the direction may go further apart, especially if the series runs for a while. That's not a bad thing though as the central idea is one of Sawyer's best and can be explored in many ways.

What would you do if you knew what the future had in store for you? This is the intriguing question that some scientific technobabble involving quantum mechanics throws up. Free will versus apparent predestination is a fascinating concept. The predicament of the characters, some of whom learn how they'll die and when, and some of whom learn how their lives will turn out for better or worse, is an idea that grabs the attention. Some people give up and accept the inevitable, some people just give up and kill themselves, some people try to change the future, and some people even try to ensure the future they saw does happen.

These attitudes build up a picture of the various views of fate we probably all have and as such it represents the very best that science fiction can provide. Sf always works best when it takes a single idea and asks how the world will change because of it. What I found less successful was the science aspects. I've enjoyed a few Sawyer novels and for me they usually get bogged down with trying too hard to make the science believable, when it rarely is. Sawyer's writing style is also prone to being pedestrian, but on the other hand it's well within the norm for the modern bestseller style.

Some minor reservations aside, this is a fascinating novel of ideas and how we might react to knowing our fates. Whether or not the tv series takes the same direction, both are well worth exploring.

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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars R.J. Delivers A Beauty Again, 11 Dec 2001

By	"polyprecordsdotcom" - See all my reviews

Robert J Sawyer , Is the daddy of modern Science Fiction. Time after time his novels are well thought out and researched. His characters are well developed and interesting. Flashforward is no
exception to the rule , The only problem i found is that I read it in a matter of days because I simply couldnt put it down.
The subject matter is a wonderful idea.. what would happen if every one on the earth were shot 20yrs into the future for 2 minutes? How would this affect humanity and individuals, Sawyers account of this is a most fantastical story. Buy this book, If you've never read Sawyer Before, you will probably end up buying the rest of his books after reading this one..

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling FlashForward!
I decided to buy the book after seeing the first episode of the series (FlashForward) on television. Read more

Published 2 days ago by Fenella Raymont

5.0 out of 5 stars Flashforward
After watching the series on TV, I bought the book and it is excellent. I would definately recommend this book. Read more

Published 3 days ago by susan

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite a page turner
I have never read this author before, but now I have started I will continue with more of his books. I came to this book having had my curiosity piqued by the t.v. Read more

Published 4 days ago by Pen pal

4.0 out of 5 stars FlashForward
Having watched the first few episodes of the TV version, you notice with the book that it's very different and far more focussed on one of the characters but still a good read,... Read more

Published 4 days ago by Sean Douglass

3.0 out of 5 stars flash-forward...the book
If your looking for the book to expand the tv program dont bother. The book passes only slight resemblance to the tv script with none of the characters. Read more

Published 4 days ago by Graham Shirlaw

5.0 out of 5 stars Flash forward
It starts completely diffently to thr tele version and you find a possiblr cause straight away Despite that I am thoughly enjoying it

Published 7 days ago by Patsy Woo

2.0 out of 5 stars not what I expectedd
I have possibly been influenced by the TV series which is so different to the book but I must admit this is the second book of Robert Sawyer that I have read and I find he gets... Read more

Published 7 days ago by Ann the SAF

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but it feels too short.
I first heard of the book because of the new TV Series, once I heard it was based on a book, I went to Amazon and ordered it (this even before the series started here in... Read more

Published 7 days ago by Daniel Almeida

5.0 out of 5 stars Dump the TV version...just read the original...
OK, so you may have been watching (and/or snoozing) whilst Channel 5 have been running the 'TV adaptation'. Read more

Published 12 days ago by NortyNicko

3.0 out of 5 stars TV Viewers Will Be Disappointed.
If, as I was, you're thinking of buying this book to get a heads-up on the TV series, don't bother. If you're thinking of buying this book to read a great example of... Read more

Published 26 days ago by Dr. Bertie Dastard

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