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 The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer
reviewed by Underview
Original appearance:Albedo one issue 8, 1995
THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT is a high tech thriller, with a single, but very strong, science fiction premise. If this was his first novel, rather than the latest addition to a short, but critically acclaimed, list of novels published over the last few years, his publishers might have thought twice about pushing it as SF. with a different cover, and a slightly altered marketing approach, this could have trodden the well-worn path of the likes of Tom Clancy et al. But then that might have been a risk, and after all he's got a strong SF pedigree.
Over the past while I've read several reviews of Sawyer's work, both novel and short fiction and about every one of them agrees one point, he's a talented writer with an eye for a good story. Having read the Terminal Experiment, there's no way I would dream of arguing with them.
Peter Hobson is an engineer who, while developing an EEG scanner that reads more accurately and without need for electrodes, discovers an electrical field which leaves the human brain at the moment of death. When he releases his findings, the field is immediately dubbed the soulwave: Peter has provided the first positive proof of the existence of the soul and the existence of life after death.
The invention of the soulwave is a beautiful SF device but it is basically a bit of a cheat in terms of this particular novel. Handled differently the soulwave could have opened the door to several extraordinarily lines of exploration and speculation. Now, this is done peripherally, but is used in the context of the novel as mere furniture, or more accurately wallpaper. The fact is that the plot of the novel would be completely unaffected by the complete removal of the soulwave. Sawyer might need another excuse to introduce the real nuts and bolts of the plot device, but that would have been a matter of a few extra moments thought. I just wish he had held onto the soulwave for use in a different, more thoughtful and challenging novel.
The real development around which the plot hinges are three copies of Peter Hobson which a friend of his creates through the magic of computer science to investigate human behaviour in general and life after death in particular; the experiment is prompted by the discovery of the soulwave. The three versions of Hobson are an immortal; version from which all concerns of physical decline, injury, illness, indeed mortality, have been removed, a spirit version from which all physical input has been excised so that it is an exclusively mental being, memories and feelings akin to what they imagine the soulwave might carry and finally a control version which is virtually Peter Hobson on CD, minus the body of course. In fact the lack of body is one of the elements they initially overlook, as the Hobsons who are supposed to simulate life situations immediately miss simple little things like itching. A nice touch, one of many with which the book is casually littered.
On the evidence of The Terminal Experiment, Robert J. Sawyer is indeed destined for SF greatness. One of the other signs that he might just make it all the way to the top is the fact that he's not being compared to anyone. Long may it last.
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