The Terminal Experiment

By: Robert J. Sawyer

Narrated by: Paul Hecht

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

An experiment has gone terribly wrong. Dr. Peter Hobson has created three electronic simulations of his own personality. One will test life after death; another, immortality. The third one is the control unit. But now all three have escaped from Hobson's computer into the worldwide electronic matrix. And one of them is a killer.

Robert Sawyer has won many awards for his science fiction, which is praised for its blend of high-tech mystery and suspenseful pacing.

©1995 Robert J. Sawyer (P)2003 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

• Nebula Award, Best Novel, 1995

Much more than SciFi

This novel is so much more than a great science fiction tale. The author uses a very suspenseful and engaging mystery to discuss the nature of death, the question of life after death, the capacity of man to forgive adultery, and finally, where does murder really begin. Sawyer is very adept in examining these topics while keeping the reader completely engaged.

A mind walk of possibility

Sawyer took me on a journey of the possible future. What was so enjoyable is the story was extremely well thought out and very believable on how things will actually unfold. As with most Sawyer books I see a trend in the final pages of having to wrap up some worldview and philosophy. Sometimes I disagree and find it annoying and sometimes I think "yes I think that too". You'll have to experience it for yourself and decide.

Interesting Listen

I have listened to quite a few from Robert Sawyer and found them all very interesting. This story is a good choice as well. It is not as captivating as some of his other titles (such as Flashforward) but it steadily gets the job done. I like the fact that Sawyer always discusses some relative technology and has a solid gift of presenting his sci-fi take on this technology without bombarding the listener with unnecessary information. This sci-fi light approach makes his books easy to listen to, even for the non-scientific person who is looking only to be entertained while driving. I would also mention that it did take me a little while to get comfortable with the narrator Paul Hecht. Having listened to many other narrators who seemed more contemporary and animated, his very deep and professorial tone took a few chapters to adjust to. Overall, solid buy if you like technology and don't overthink its applications!!!!

Are your moral choices bound?

Part (not inconceivably far in the future) sci-fi, part murder mystery.. with a sprinkling of morality (and what ifs...)

Most summaries you will come across talk about the character's striving to "capture/reproduce" a soul - and the choices (or rather inevitable paths) that distinguishes life and the afterlife.

I see this as a study of morals... what would you do if you were "you" but immortal or incorporeal. How would this change your relationship with others.. the world.. your morals and self beliefs?

Peter Hobson (main character) wants to study life after death so creates copies of his own personality (captured with advanced sensor and stored on a computer):
- one is a control,
- one simulates immortality and
- one simulates incorporeality

Unfortunately, they "escape" and one of these "souls" starts to murder people in Peter's life. All clues start to point to Peter..

We follow Peter's quest to track down the killer and are introduced to what we may wish to do, but are bound by our imposed morals, ties to our corporeal self and fear of mortality .

Would you actually kill someone if you could not be caught.. if you were immortal.. had no physical body..

I have to recommend this - it was one the books that brought me back to sci-fi and I originally bought to read. I could not put it down and finished it in a weekend - am excited that it is back as an audible book.

It is one of the few books I am happy to come back to again and again - and the other is Ends Game (by Orson Scott Card)

NOTE: this was originally a serial in ANALOG magazine under the title "Hobson's Choice".

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Please see review from David, from Glenview, IL; he's said it very well. Only thing to add: I hesitated about this listen because, judging from some of the publisher's comments, etc, I feared the religious overtones might be strong, obnoxious, and pro "intelligent design." I was very wrong! This book is full of ideas, debates about ideas, and great fun. If you like great sci-fi (as opposed to fantasy -- when will they stop being lumped together on the shelves!) I believe you'll enjoy this read.

Interesting set of story angles

This book covers many disparate topics from religion (existence of a soul) to determination of when someone is actually dead - for organ donation purposes. The technology discussed moves between things long gone (technologically speaking) to things that have not been done. The concept that one could record one's self and store in on the internet, turn it on and have a discussion with your self is kind of interesting. The fact that there are limitations to that recording vs the physical experience is not surprising.

The story carries well although a little weak on the ending. The reading is good and captured my attention. Overall a great performance.

Cool sci-fi

Really interesting concept. A little out there, but still easy to listen to and hold my attention.

preoccupied with his religious ponderings

Like much of what this author does, it is well written and thoughtful, original and often very interesting. That said, if you aren't a religious person, particularly those who are atheist, will find the endless examination of religion, God, the after life, etc to be a bit dull - like examining the scientific roots of a fairy tale. This really isn't meant as a criticism, but much of his work seems increasingly preoccupied with religion, and tries to put a scientific spin on it. I found it distracting in the last of the neanderthal series, and it is the whole basis of this one.

However, if you are the religious sort, and interested in that, and you like sci-fi and a well written story with lots of thoughtful, unique concepts to ponder, this is a great book.

Pulpy and common- An easy listen with nothing new.

If I had to describe the book in a word, it would be "unoriginal."

The major concepts have been been tired for years, having been thoroughly explored in B grade television sci-fi anthologies (i.e. Outer Limits) and present nothing new. The characters have some minor depth, but are never developed enough for me to care about them, an essential feature in a book where the universe and vision of the future are hackneyed ideas. I don't recommend this book at all, unless you are specifically looking for something that feels like a made-for-TV SyFy channel movie extended into many hours of audio.

Slow. Sleep Inducing

This book is almost a meditation, especially the epilogue. The main plot point is an interesting idea as far as the sci-fi goes, but it is written as a relaxed conversation with almost no exciting scenes. It is not a hard driving tale told to make your eyeballs spin. It was hard for me to get through without my attention wandering. The police investigator Sandra’s investigation proceeded too perceptively, almost as if she knew all the plot points beforehand. The protagonist’s figuring out who the murderer is also too contrived. I’m not sure what the AI part of the story had to do with the main plot idea. The two did not seem to be related. The reader reads the story as written, as a relaxed conversation, almost a meditation. Sleep inducing.