Illegal Alien

I've known Toronto radio producer Peter Reynolds for fifteen years — he's one of the best in the business. In December 1997, Peter produced two RealAudio clips of me, and, with his kind permission, I'm offering them here. You'll need a RealAudio player attached to your web browser in order to hear these.

• An interview with Robert J. Sawyer conducted in December 1997 by Toronto radio producer Peter Reynolds (3 minutes, 36 seconds; 422 kilobytes).

• Rob reading from his ninth novel Illegal Alien, recorded in December 1997 by Toronto radio producer Peter Reynolds (3 minutes, 16 seconds; 381 kilobytes).

Illegal Alien is a courtroom drama with an extraterrestrial defendant. An alien from Alpha Centauri named Hask is accused of murdering Cletus Calhoun, the host of the popular PBS astronomy series Great Balls of Fire! Before he can stand trial, it first must be determined whether he is psychologically fit. Toward that end, his defense team, including prominent African-American civil-rights attorney Dale B. Rice and Frank Nobilio, the science advisor to the U.S. president, arrange for him to be examined by a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Lloyd Penney. Listen now as author Robert J. Sawyer reads the scene in which Dr. Penney interviews the alien, Hask . . .

How to Write

• Rob's lecture on "Point of View" from Odyssey: The Fantasy Writing Workshop in 2006

• Rob's lecture on "Is your SF element extraneous?" from Odyssey: The Fantasy Writing Workshop in 2006

• A 37-minute podcast produced by Tee Morris featuring Rob discussing what authors can do to help market their science fiction and fantasy books

About Science Fiction

• Rob's lecture on "Science Fiction as a Mirror for Reality" presented at the University of Waterloo in 2007

• Fiona Kelleghan's paper "The Intimately Human and the Grandly Cosmic: Humor and the Sublime in the Works of Robert J. Sawyer" from the 2008 International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (MP3)

• Fiona Kelleghan's paper "Time and the Fiction of Robert J. Sawyer: Flash Forward to the End of an Era" from the 2009 International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (MP3)

More Good Reading

Opening Chapters index
Cover blurb index
Review Excerpts index
Dedications and Acknowledgments index

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