Science Fiction Writer
ROBERT J. SAWYER
Hugo and Nebula Winner

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About Books: "Very, very cool. This is a book not to be missed."

Asimov's Science Fiction: "Sawyer's latest should gladden the hearts of readers who complain that nobody's writing real science fiction anymore, the kind of story that has faster-than-light spaceships and far-off planets and interstellar combat and all the neat things they gobbled up so greedily when `Doc' Smith was dealing them out. Here's a story with plenty of slam-bang action but no shortage of material to attract thinking readers, either. Sawyer deftly juggles half a dozen sweeping questions of cosmology (not to mention everyday ethics and morality) while keeping the story moving ahead full speed. His scientific ideas are nicely integrated into the plot, yet they also hint at larger metaphorical levels. Enjoy."

Analog Science Fiction and Fact: "Mind-boggling. A complaint often heard these days is that there's not enough `sense of wonder' in today's science fiction. Robert J. Sawyer's Starplex ought to lay that complaint to rest for quite a while."

Bakka Books: "Big-Screen SF. Sawyer's new book is a fine example of the unlimited scope a good writer can show. He goes after nothing less than the origin of the universe, and comes away with as good a piece of speculation as you'll get in the genre."

Gregory Benford, author of Furious Gulf: "Complex but swift, inventive but real-feeling, with ideas coming thick and fast. For big-time interstellar adventure, look no farther."

Astronomer Andrew Fraknoi, Foothill College, co-author of Voyages Through the Universe: "Complex hard-science novel by a Canadian amateur astronomer with intriguing ideas about the nature of dark matter and even dark matter life forms. Includes more cosmological concepts than any novel we have seen."

The Globe and Mail: Canada's National Newspaper (2010): "Sawyer is well known these days as the author of FlashForward, inspiration for the TV series of the same name. But his reputation was already growing in 1996, when he published Starplex, an old-fashioned science fiction novel with aliens and spaceships, and not afraid to deal with big issues."

The Halifax Chronicle-Herald: "Starplex appears to be traditional science fiction — it takes place aboard a spaceship, and several characters are extraterrestrial — but it's actually a rumination on several very deep questions, including: Where did we come from? Where are we going? And the deepest of the deep, Is there a God?"

Library Journal: "An epic hard-science adventure tempered by human concerns. Highly recommended."

Jack McDevitt, author of Ancient Shores: "Starplex takes us on the ultimate grand tour: an elegant intergalactic ride with Sawyer's signature mix of cosmic concepts and solid characterization. This one is a treat for the mind; I enjoyed it thoroughly."

The New York Review of Science Fiction: "An enormous grab bag of ideas — and a whole lot of fun."

Quill & Quire: "A swift, inventive, enjoyable book. Unexpected twists keep the plot moving briskly, but Sawyer is able to do this while raising intriguing philosophical issues."

James Schellenberg from the Crystalline Sphere web page: "Starplex is an astonishing novel, hard science fiction with heart, with a grand overarching vision. This book contains many of Sawyer's trademarks — addictive readability, a frank engagement with ethical questions, and a fondness for Canadiana. The grand sweep of the story and Sawyer's graceful manipulation of the reader's sympathies combine to make this a fine book. Starplex outdoes any book in Sawyer's oeuvre, and the majority in the field of science fiction. Sawyer uses a heady mix of big ideas and crafty storytelling, and he challenges the reader intellectually while grabbing their emotional sympathy. Quite the accomplishment."

Science Fiction Chronicle: "Excellent hard SF, with Sawyer tossing stars, people and time travel around with reckless abandon. One of the best SF novels of 1996."

Sci-Fi Weekly: "An audacious engineering effort that makes Larry Niven's Ringworld look like a high-school science project."

Alan Smale, author of Hot Moon: "I was blown away by the sheer density of awesome ideas and the cosmic scale of the book (while still being populated with very human characters). Color me impressed."

SF Site: "Big spaceships, alien civilizations, the mysteries of the cosmos, and a story that roams through the vastness of time and space. All of the elements of a big-scale, hard science fiction adventure story are present right from the start of Starplex, Robert J. Sawyer's 1996 novel, now back in print from Red Deer Press. In that way, Starplex is the very model of a modern hard science fiction novel."

The Toronto Star: "Here, at last, is an ambitious attempt to exploit the possibilities that the genre is capable of."

Andrew Weiner, author of Station Gehenna: "Mind-blowing! Who says there are no more big ideas?"

A reader's letter published in the May 1997 issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact magazine about Starplex, which was serialized in four parts in that magazine before being published in book form:

I suppose it is appropriate to establish my credentials before launching into my dissertation: I have been an avid reader of science fiction literature for 45 years. I have attempted writing for the genre and never succeeded, but have never become less of a fan. My comments, following, are directed not only to you, but also to author Robert J. Sawyer. I have never been inspired to submit comments of this sort before.

Starplex is, without conditions, the most exciting, spellbinding, informative and entertaining work of science fiction I have ever had the pleasure to read! There is, simply, no comparison I can make to any of the thousands of short-short, short, serialized or novel-length works that have passed before my eyes.

I have learned more about astrophysics than I ever intended or wanted to know. I have been introduced to three "alien" species, and one home-grown species that man knows so little about as to be considered "alien." But, all are believable, and leave me yearning to know more about them and their relationships with one another and the human species.

For four months I have read and reread each of the episodes. Instead of being gratified when the final episode was concluded I was, as I have stated, yearning for more.

Congratulations on choosing to print Starplex. And sincerest thanks to author Robert J. Sawyer for creating this work. It should be, and probably will be, chosen to emulate science fiction literature for generations of up-and-coming authors.

Keep up the outstanding work of publishing interesting and entertaining literature found in the pages of Analog.

—Norman E. Churchill
Tehachapi, CA 93561

More Good Reading

More About Starplex
Starplex novel excerpt
Robert J. Sawyer's awards and honors
What's a Rob Sawyer novel like?
Review index

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