I’ve just finished reading Robert J. Sawyer’s Flashforward, a sci-fi novel examining the ramifications of a brief glimpse into the future. A science experiment gone awry gives everyone on the planet a one minute and forty-three second glimpse of their life twenty-one years hence, and the rest of the book deals with the aftermath of that.
Like the other Sawyer books I’ve read, I found Flashforward to be the ideal blend of both science-fiction and science-fiction. There’s a lot of interesting science exploring the edges of what we’re just starting to discover about the universe, but there’s also a good story, in this case examining the effects that the experience has on our heroes and the other characters we encounter. Knowing about our future can be enlightening or frightening, especially if we don’t know whether or not that future is immutable, and Sawyer explores the possibilities.
All of Sawyer’s books I’ve read so far (Hominids, Humans, Hybrids, Mindscan, and now Flashforward) have been entertaining, thought-provoking, and off the beaten path, but I think I’ve enjoyed this one the most. If you’re tired of intergalactic exploration and alien invasions, you’ll likely enjoy Sawyer’s writings. I certainly plan to read more.
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