The Terminal Experiment
 Cover of first edition (paperback) |
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| Author | Robert J. Sawyer |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Harper Prism |
| Publication date | May 1995 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 333 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-06-105310-4 |
The Terminal Experiment is a science fiction novel by Canadian novelist Robert J. Sawyer. The book won the 1995 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1996.
The story was first serialised in Analog magazine in the mid-December 1994 to March 1995 issues, under the name Hobson's Choice, before its first novel publication in May, 1995. A Hobson's Choice is an apparently free choice that is really no choice at all. In this book it is a play on the main character's name and describes to the choice between immortality and provable life after death [1].
Plot introduction
Dr. Peter Hobson invents a machine that detects a brain pattern that leaves the body after death, a pattern many believe is a soul. In order to test his theories on immortality and life after death, Dr. Peter Hobson, with his friend Sarkar Muhammed, create three electronic simulations of Hobson's own personality. When people Hobson had a grudge against begin to die, he and Sarkar must try to find out which is responsible. But all three, two modified, one a "control", escape Hobson's computer, into a worldwide electronic matrix.
Many references are made in the book to Star Trek. At many times in the book, Net News Digest issues are "reprinted", similar to the news alert that many news organizations now offer.
| Preceded by Moving Mars by Greg Bear |
Nebula Award for Best
Novel 1995 |
Succeeded by Slow River by Nicola Griffith |
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