Sunday 15 November 2009

Book Review - Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer


I've been a fan of Robert J. Sawer for a while now; his books are always entertaining, fast-paced, interesting and feel plausible.

So when I heard that his book Flashforward has been turned into a TV series, I started to read the book.  I blasted through it in three days (a fast pace for me) but unfortunately it left me cold and re-reading the back cover blurb to see if I missed something.

It starts out with a particle collision experiment at the Large Hardon Collider where the unexpected side effect propels the entire human consciousness forward 21 years.

Cool idea.  And the first 100 pages live up to the promise; you know, scientists trying to figure out what went wrong.  But the next 100 pages just goes on (and on) about how this flashforward "vision" affects people.  Which is OK but it does drag the pace to a crawl.  The last 100 looks at what happened after the experiment is repeated and it becomes a different story all together.  It takes such a "left turn" that it left me wondering if I had picked up the wrong book.

The premise is very interesting and I hope the TV show takes the idea in a different direction.  I think there is a lot to explore and a TV drama might me a good vehicle for this story.

Sorry Mr. Sawer; I'm still a fan but this book just did not do it for me.