Frameshift

by Robert J. Sawyer

Geneticist Pierre Tardivel may not have long to live―he's got a fifty-fifty chance of having the gene for Huntington's disease. But if his DNA is tragic, his girlfriend's is Molly Bond has a mutation that gives her telepathy. Both of them have attracted the interest of Pierre's boss, Dr. Burian Klimus, a senior researcher in the Human Genome Project who just might be hiding a horrific past. Avi Meyer, a dogged Nazi hunter, thinks Klimus was the monstrous "Ivan the Terrible" of the Treblinka Death Camp. As Pierre races against the ticking clock of his own DNA to make a world-changing scientific breakthrough, Avi also races against time to bring Klimus to justice before the last survivors of Treblinka pass away. Winner of the Seiun Award―Japan's top honor in science fiction―and a finalist for the Hugo Award, Frameshift is classic Robert J. Sawyer, combining a heart-wrenching human story and cutting-edge science into a pulse-pounding thriller that "delivers the real thing with subtlety and great skill" ( Toronto Star ).

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Thriller, Canada, Genetics, Audiobook, Medical

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Robert J. Sawyer is one of Canada's best known and most successful science fiction writers. He is the only Canadian (and one of only 7 writers in the world) to have won all three of the top international awards for science fiction: the 1995 Nebula Award for The Terminal Experiment, the 2003 Hugo Award for Hominids, and the 2006 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Mindscan.
Robert Sawyer grew up in Toronto, the son of two university professors. He credits two of his favourite shows from the late 1960s and early 1970s, Search and Star Trek, with teaching him some of the fundamentals of the science-fiction craft. Sawyer was obsessed with outer space from a young age, and he vividly remembers watching the televised Apollo missions. He claims to have watched the 1968 classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey 25 times. He began writing science fiction in a high school club, which he co-founded, NASFA (Northview Academy Association of Science Fiction Addicts). Sawyer graduated in 1982 from the Radio and Television Arts Program at Ryerson University, where he later worked as an instructor.

Sawyer's first published book, Golden Fleece (1989), is an adaptation of short stories that had previously appeared in the science-fiction magazine Amazing Stories. This book won the Aurora Award for the best Canadian science-fiction novel in English. In the early 1990s Sawyer went on to publish his inventive Quintaglio Ascension trilogy, about a world of intelligent dinosaurs. His 1995 award winning The Terminal Experiment confirmed his place as a major international science-fiction writer.

A prolific writer, Sawyer has published more than 10 novels, plus two trilogies. Reviewers praise Sawyer for his concise prose, which has been compared to that of the science-fiction master Isaac Asimov. Like many science fiction-writers, Sawyer welcomes the opportunities his chosen genre provides for exploring ideas. The first book of his Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, Hominids (2002), is set in a near-future society, in which a quantum computing experiment brings a Neanderthal scientist from a parallel Earth to ours. His 2006 Mindscan explores the possibility of transferring human consciousness into a mechanical body, and the ensuing ethical, legal, and societal ramifications.

A passionate advocate for science fiction, Sawyer teaches creative writing and appears frequently in the media to discuss his genre. He prefers the label "philosophical fiction," and in no way sees himself as a predictor of the future. His mission statement for his writing is "To combine the intimately human with the grandly cosmic."

http://us.macmillan.com/author/robert...

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sawyer incorporates a whole lot of diverse stuff in this novel that was a finalist for the Best Hugo the year it was published; the human genome project, Nazis, Neanderthals, Huntington's Disease, and on and on. And on. Rather than a quiet and introspective analysis of the disparate plot elements and how they fit together, he tells the story in one of his most action-packed novels. A battle on top of a skyscraper with helicopters and Nazis? It's not Nick Fury this time, it's Rob Sawyer. It's an excellent story in a real page-turning book.

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad I've read and loved so many of Sawyer's later books because it means this won't put me off...

Frameshift fails on so many levels. It's too complicated: we have three characters who look like Ivan the Terrible, of Treblinka death camp fame; we have a telepathic leading lady (and really, it isn't even necessary to the plot); a Nobel winning geneticist who can successfully clone humans in one try!; Police who are far too ready and willing to share information with members of the public; and another Nobel-wannabe geneticist who ties it all together.

All of that might be acceptable, except that Sawyer frames it all as a traditional mystery and breaks my one absolute rule about mysteries: No Coinkydinks! Coincidence may be acceptable in a Science Fiction novel - if all else fails, you call it "quantum entanglement"; it's fine in a Fantasy, where you call it "magic"; but it's a complete violation of an author's contract with his readers in a mystery, where the reader needs to be able to deduce the culprit in the same way as the investigator. And Sawyer's mystery completely fails without coincidence.

Don't even get me started on how the protagonist had to give an entry-level genetics lecture to his post-graduate research assistant, just so that the reader would understand very basic genetics...

Ultimately, I'd have been thrilled to read a novel about the genetic research - and loved that part of the book; the Nazis & Nazi-hunters just ruined it.

If you've never read Sawyer, don't start here!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I often peruse other reviews before I post my own - not to change my mind, but to make sure I'm not forgetting anything I thought was important. When I did that for this book I was surprised to find a bunch of pretty strongly critical reviews. That wasn't my reaction at all. To me this is the best book I've read so far this year, and more than deserving of it's Hugo nomination.

After reflection, I think I see where the critics are coming from.

This book jumps right in with some all-out action, and sets up plot elements like Neo Nazis and telepaths. Quickly though, it seemly abandons all that. It switches to posing tough moral quandaries, against a backdrop of sedate modern day living and everyday people.

I think it's frustration with this bait-and-switch that turned off many readers.

It worked well for me because I could really identify with some of the characters, and it held my interest firm even when the story didn't go where I thought it should. Some of the later turns and twists I found delightful, not contrived or disappointing, and I was literally tearing up in spots at the end.

Obviously my experience wasn't everyone's, but I suggest if you go into this novel with your eyes open and "go with the flow", you'll be rewarded with a sci-fi tale that'll make you start questioning your own world, and your own values.

[Sarah Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars. It would have been two but the generous helpings of nonsense made me laugh out loud frequently.

The book seems to be the result of an unlikely pairing - a group of scientists and a gang of 8 year old boys had got to together to write the most AY-MAY-ZING(OMGLOLZ!!!1!) story in all the wide world.

Their check-list must have looked a little like this..

In the bestist story in the world we will need:-
Nazis!
The Human Genome Project!
Cavemen!
Nobel Prize Winners!
Hot women!
Mind-readers!
Baddies with guns!
Exotic people who speak French and Hebrew!

Some of the topics being a little more exciting-looking than others.

Despite myself I liked the characters, especially poor old Pierre and his wife Molly. Together they were supermarket-value version of the X-Men. Professor Xavier is only a Doctor and doesn’t have a super-cool chrome wheelchair, but Huntington’s Disease and a walking cane. Molly is hot but crucially not as hot as her sister, and her mind-reading skills are accepted as quite normal and not terribly exciting at all. Least said about the unfortunate Amanda, the better. I wonder how she coped through school. Maybe she's got a bright future an Olympic shot-putter.

Anyway, it was silly fun if you skip over the very involved genetic science sections, and the parts where Sawyer tells you in detail the plot of another film or book. Has the man never heard of spoilers?! I think I might give Flash Forward a go, as long as it's a bit more science-fictiony.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third book by Sawyer that I've read in the last few months. This is definitely my least favorite, but that's not to say it wasn't good. In fact, for a fun read over the holidays when my brain is happy to be not-overly-intellectually-challenged, it was ideal. I was a little concerned through most of the book that that various plot lines seemed unconnected and somewhat contrived (in order to make certain plot twists possible - which always happens in sci-fi, but sometimes more subtly than others) - but in the end Sawyer pulled them all together. So, only two real complaints - I know Sawyer's Canadian, and the book is about a Canadian living in the USA, but after the tenth "Americans are so provincial and kinda dumb" remark it gets a little tiring (I'm not American, and I've lived in others countries and can sympathize with how aspects of other cultures inevitably drive you crazy, but when the point is made over and over again in a novel it's too much). The other complaint is that Sawyer at one point describes a character as feeling pity for a mute person who can only communicate via sign language, since they will never be able to be as expressive as if they used a "real" spoken language. I can't sign, but my understanding is that sign language is just as (arguably more) expressive as spoken language. Minor point, but it irked me so I feel I should complain about it!

[Tomislav · Rating 5 out of 5]

In order to review this, I think I have to disclose that I am a Unitarian, and am in fact married to a Unitarian Universalist minister. So having a seriously-taken character with an accurate Unitarian background predisposes me to like the book. And, if that weren't enough, I had a aunt who died of Huntington's, as well as two cousins and some of their children currently living with it. Sawyer treats this topic very well.

So. This book was a nominee for Hugo best novel in 1998. Sawyer has in fact had eight novels nominated for that award, one of which actually won. I think his key is that he ties together multiple speculative concepts in a single plot without making it look like a kitchen sink full of pots and pans. I found Pierre and Molly to be extremely sympathetic characters. And we have some solid science, on which is added speculative science. I mean, this book has everything I need, to like a science fiction book. Top marks!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr Sawyer himself recommended this book for our bookclub. We try to read a lot of Candaian Literature, and this book fit the bill in that way.
It's a fairly smart story considering it was written so long ago. (tech speaking) and a good lesson in basic genetics. It's even got nazis!

[prcardi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Storyline: 1/5
Characters: 2/5
Writing Style: 2/5
Resonance: 1/5

The momentum this book generated came from watching horrible authorial decisions as they were contemplated, foreshadowed, and brought to realization. It was thinking, He's not really going to rely on that trope for a villain is he? or There's no way the author is going to let the main character do that to move the novel forward. And then there were so many moments of, "No, no, no, you can't possibly plan to let the scene turn on a twist like that. One spends the majority of the book thinking that this can't be happening, that it has to be a joke and that there has to be some later meta narrative to brings things around and show us how to laugh at the mind-numbing devices writers employ to instill the targeted emotion. The biggest suspense of the book was suspending every facet of discretion and sense while awaiting the punch line to the joke. There was no punch line. There was no meta narrative. Everything here was intended just as seriously as it appeared to be.

There is a way to better appreciate the book. One has to come to it expecting a 1990s made-for-tv-movie experience. One has to come to this wanting to suspend all suspicions, wanting the villain to be absolutely fiendish (with the literary equivalent of accompanying creepy villain music), for the main character to involve himself in and accomplish feats that it would take specially-trained teams to do (Sawyer was prophetic in anticipating the television CSI dramatization of forensic science/super sleuth detectives); one has to come demanding that every bad guy and evil incident be tied up in a neat conspiracy that also conveniently impugns infamous pop culture social ills. And I don't mean to demean those looking their escapism through pop thrillers, I'm a science fiction fan afterall; I've got my own preference for escapism.

It is the science fiction enthusiast in me that was perhaps most insulted and aggrieved. It is absolutely right for this to be categorized as hard science fiction. It is also absolutely right to say that it doesn't matter at all. The two major science fiction elements here are astounding; they are full of potential and worthy of exploration. There was no exploration here though, no speculation. You could have taken them out and given Sawyer a few hours to edit the novel to correct for the incongruities. These sci fi elements would have made for provocative social experiments or sources for character building, but their part in the story is to push it in the science fiction genre, little more. So many of the themes herein present similarly - we have a disadvantaged minority because it is admirable to be inclusive; we have an undeserved plight because those are trendy and compelling. Even the writing bore this trait; consider this sentence: "'This is it,' said Tischler, checking the number on the house against an address he had written down on a Post-it note in his hand, folded in half so that the adhesive strip was covered over." Description for description sake. Narration for the sake of narration. Does the use of the Post-it note tell us anything about the character? He's old-fashioned? Does the folding mean anything? Is Tischler obsessive compulsive? Does it come up again in the story? It tells us nothing, does nothing, means nothing. I'd guess that about a third of the book is filler of this kind. The descriptions have no weight, no purpose; they're not there to enrich the environment, build the character, or connect back to the plot. They're just they're because...well...if they weren't it would be a script for a TV movie. And I would have stopped flipping the channels and watched that movie on a lazy evening in 1997. I found it a vexing book in 2017.

[Yev · Rating 3 out of 5]

My experience with the works of Robert J. Sawyer is that he isn't read for how he explores scientific ideas. He's read for the spectacle that he creates by using the ideas as a launching point. While that can be amusing, it also creates a lot of problems if you want the story to be anything more than a melodrama. If all of these elements are taken out, a thriller narrative remains, though it's questionable whether it's meant to be the main plot point or not. It's sort of like stumbling onto what it's all really about. I don't know whether I should be more or less surprised that he's had so many novels published by doing so.

Frameshift is about genetics, including the titular term, though despite that, it's oddly played down and the reader is told to not be all that concerned about it. Specifically, a character is immediately shown to be telepathic. For most stories it'd be the case that this is something that the plot revolves around. Here it's instead almost entirely to allow for narrative contrivances.

This is how the book handles it:
How did she become psychic?
She got FRAMESHIFTED!
What does that mean?
Here's a scientific explanation of the process.
How did that give her telepathy?
It happened through the power of authorial fiat.
Oh, ok.

But, there's another way that it could've gone that would be in line with the scientific pretense and drama:
Heh, did I shift your frame of reference?
Yes, you did, now I'll never be able to think about it in the same way ever again.
I guess you could say, you just got FRAMESHIFTED!
My Overton Window will never be the same.
Now you're like a framed portrait on the wall that's hanging diagonally.
I don't understand.
This too is another form of FRAMESHIFTED.

Now let's resume as if that didn't just happen, as tends to be the case with Sawyer's writings. But, really, there's also a message here in other ways. Such as: Correlation isn't causation and emotional reasoning can lead to baseless accusation. Before calling someone a Nazi, be certain that you aren't doing so because of circumstantial evidence and because you dislike the person. You don't have to trust me, your government handler will tell you the same.

So, should you read this? Well, if you don't mind a lot of soap opera drama along with your conspiracies and science, then it's ok if you're looking for something mildly amusing. Even those who'd take it seriously could do worse, as there's far more impactful delusions that have become relatively mainstream compared to fictional nonsense.

Content warnings for: nazism, extermination camps, animal cruelty, racial slurs, eugenics, suicidal ideation, terminal diseases, giving birth to a Neanderthal, targeted killings, conspiracies, pop culture references, and various other stuff.

Wait, what?
Surely that's misleading.
It is, but also all of that does happen.
When was this published again?
1997.
Ok, but then why it is talking about Epstein?
That's a different guy.
Sure, but this Souza guy though seems the same.
No, it's spelled Sousa in this.
Fine, but you can't convince me that this is a different Hillary Clinton.
I won't, because it isn't.

This review has been brought to you by Sol. Praise and/or Salute the Sun! Which is to say, the artist formerly known as Col chose this for me to read. You can read what he wrote about it here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Norman Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This certainly deserved all its awards.
Robert J. Sawyer deals with many critical issues in this novel: the Human Genome, health insurance, war crimes, bigotry, competition within the sciences, and ethics in general.
His interest in Homo neanderthalensis shows up here.

Sawyer has put the science back in Science Fiction with this book. It's very hard to tell the real science from the fiction in many places.

I have doubts about a certain action sequence, which looks like definite attempts at a cinematic experience.

Because characters in both this novel and another I just finished suffer from Huntington Disease, I have chosen to donate.

[Timothy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frameshift is not my sort of book. I found it really clunky. Serious name dropping (and speech quoting -- "I have a dream," really?) will not save bad dialog and bad narration. I don't have the book in front of me or I'd give some quotes. A ho-hum plot and a serious penchant for overexposition does not help. Strangely, it being dated didn't bug me too much, but more on that later.

Two things I liked: I enjoyed a sci-fi book teaching me about Huntington's, and if the point had been to show someone's life with that disease, it would have been better for me -- though, having action with a incurably ill man and a geriatric Nazi was kind of fun. It wasn't a bad vehicle for teaching a bit about the illness though, and so I'll credit it that. Another thing I liked was Pierre's obsession with time and Nobel winners. If this hadn't been handled so poorly (if his disease and the whole time/death/legacy issue had been the point of the book), it would have been great, not just a good part of a mediocre book.

What I found most wrong with it also fits into two categories (leaving aside not-awesome writing (it really was like a French Canadian was trying to write his first book in English): 1. the idea that interest in a subject equals a good story; 2. the "HBO-effect" or brutality equals authenticity.

1. I really want to generalize to the whole sci-fi genre, but I'll resist. This book was really interested in DNA and technology that can do stuff with DNA. Everything else felt like an afterthought. The characters were way less filled out than the exposition on the possible DNA activity that generated their defining characteristics (Huntington's/telepathy). The whole element of "where could this go" (often a big part of sci-fi) felt like an add on to a book the author really wanted to write: he really wanted to just write a book for laymen on genetics. And the whole Nazi plot was, as with assigning each of the main characters a major genetic issue, added on for spice, to create some sort of movement to the book the guy didn't want to write: a serious encounter with someone with a genetic illness and the life changes that occur with such a thing.
2. Nazis? Really? The "HBO-effect" as I'm dubbing it, is all about showing some really harsh "reality" as a means to create tension, sympathy, drama, whatever. I will stamp the whole Nazi subplot and the whole Neanderthal thing with this accusation. There is so much drama already there in the idea of a couple where one of them has a genetic disease (I'll dismiss the telepathy here) trying to raise a baby, that we really don't need the whole sub-human/still human argument, and the whole idea of exploiting someone's fertility issues is way harsh and real by itself without a caricature monster like Klimus "all for science" guy.

Now, I might be accused of not taking the book for what it was, but what it was was weak. And it did not sit well with me. It was overdone, and played up for action and drama. If the author wanted to write a sci-fi book about all this stuff, he could have gone off about the whole genetic potential (even the Neanderthal history) of humanity, but bringing in the family angle and the terminal illness -- well, either they were extraneous to a crazy ride of a sci-fi "what could happen" X-Men book, or they were the only part that was real.

As for being dated: it was trying way too hard to be contemporary, but that is a common fault. I forgive it

[Invadozer Misothorax Circular-thallus Popewaffensquat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This guy Sawyer knows how to get the
fingers greased up to turn pages. There's a few little
roadblocks when it comes to theDNA bits he goes into that
leaves me standing in the corner with a dunce cap on,
it's something it try to understand but have only so much
brain space for the sequencing bits. Ok, I just take his
word for it and skim over those bits. Nazi
intrigue/ hunting for a war criminal 'Ivan the Terrible' who
in Treblinka would go out of his way for that extra bit
of cruelty. What a gutter fncker, you really get to hate
this guy. So he's in the USA and one guy is doing
DNA research with an accent, he is maybe a racist divvying
up the Neanderthal bits to prove some kinda
evolution b.s., who is a major suspect. The main guy Pierre,
who is in on the genome project, working with
the arrogant Neanderthal obsessed jerk/boss is keeping it
cool and collecting evidence with his wife Molly(who
can incidentally read minds when she is close enough, ok ya, Koontzward
but bear with me) on
this arrogant boss type. A few murders around of people
with faulty genes in a certain disease group draws a
closer bead on name-that-nazi since these murders tie in
with the 'Millennial Reich' group's flunkies who
are pushing the blades around. On top of this the main
boss figure suspect helped out with fertilizing Pierre's
wife Molly's eggs in a petri dish, the kid is
......
enough, this is a quick read and a full on dna
log
ride. I suppose I recommend it--the characters in
the little paragraphs on them if they drift in and out
get full flesh rights and are really well slapped
together before leaving the plot. I got through it really
fast, the guy like I sez knows how to keep the
fingers moving.

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

To explain the 1 star rating, I present this gem: "He knew that sign language was, at best, a poor substitute for spoken language..." (p271-2). More accurately, the author doesn't know anything about sign language, or this ridiculous statement would never be included in a book centred around a fight for equality.

The writing is terrible (the main female character has "only one vice" which is occasionally eating fast food - I do declare!). The plot has some interesting aspects but gets bogged down in a ridiculous and laughable final action sequence. The fast food eating heroine is telepathic, but this is barely explored apart from in one poignant scene where she reads her mother's thoughts about her child. But the sign language line ultimately killed it for me, and is so embarrassing that this author is off my to-read list for now.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised with this novel. It's got a little bit of a science fiction element to it, but it's set in, presumably, the modern day. It spoke to my inner science nerd, which I loved. There were a lot of biological elements because Pierre worked on the Human Genome Project.

At first I wasn't sure how they were going to intertwine all the stories they started with, but it really worked out in the end. There's really not much I can say without giving away the story though.

The character development was excellent. You hated the characters you were meant to, and likewise fell in love with those you'd be expected to. You even learned a little French! Who knew, right?

Anyway, for fear of giving away too much, I'll just say that I highly recommend this book to my science-y people out there. It's not QUITE science fiction, but it's definitely got a bit of that genre mixed in.

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, even though the timeline in part one of the book is a little hard to follow at times. With its mix of well researched science and crime it makes for a captivating read.

The book itself is labeled in the blurb as a "morality tale for the Genetic Age", and this theme is present throughout the book. The author has written brilliantly about the wider possible consequences of using genetic science for personal gain at the cost of others. Do not let the science aspect put you off as the author uses his characters in the book to explain the theory of genetics in a way that is easy to understand and keeps your interest.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a terrible mess of a book. Although there is a story here that was engaging enough to keep me reading, it was impossible to take seriously, and 90% of why I kept reading was just to see how ridiculous it would keep getting.

The main flaw, I suppose, is that there is just too much thrown in there to make it coherent or believable. It's almost as if Sawyer was mulling around three or four main ideas for new novels, wasn't sure which to work on next, and just thought, "What the heck, I'll put ALL of them together and make a SUPER NOVEL!" After all, more drama is always better, right? (Spoilers below).

So we get a story about Pierre, a driven man with a fatal genetic disorder desperately trying to complete Nobel prize-worthy DNA research before his time is up, falling in love with a Molly, a mind-reading woman who ends up implanted with a neanderthal embryo by a mad scientist who is possibly a fugitive Nazi, Ivan the Terrible--but, no! Actually he's just a mad scientist about the right age and nationality to get confused with Ivan, and the real Ivan is actually the founder of the insurance company that Pierre signed up with, who is conspiring to secretly sample DNA from his customers and have those with problems murdered on a massive scale in order to save on claims payments, and also, one would assume, just for the pure joy of eliminating the inferior and the unfit.

All these elements get churned up together, so that it's difficult for a coherent story line to stand out. The result is a plot that just seems forced, amateurish, hokey. It's needlessly complicated. We get not only a real Nazi Ivan, and a red-herring mad scientist who Sawyer tries to make us believe is Ivan for much of the book (before the real Ivan is even introduced as a character under his new identity of insurance man), but we get thrown into past threads involving another man falsely accused of being Ivan and almost sentenced to death for it, who happens to be (unknown to anyone except Pierre after testing their DNA samples) the half brother of the real Ivan, which, WOW, is a really interesting twist, isn't it? Even though it adds absolutely nothing to the story, except the opportunity to end a few chapters with extra suspense as Pierre makes hints about this to the Nazi-hunter Avi.

On other hand, some elements are so undeveloped as to be silly in the opposite direction. Molly's mind reading ability has almost no purpose in the story except as a convenient way to feed clues to her and Pierre that they couldn't believably get otherwise, and to give us some cheesy "take that" moments, like this one, after Pierre bravely goes to the insurance company shareholder meeting to protest their evil policies, and is booed down by the crowd:

"'You got a lot of nerve, buddy,' said a fellow with a comb-over in the row behind them, leaning forward. Molly, who had been detecting some thoughts from this man and his wife throughout the evening, wheeled around and snapped, 'And you’re having an affair with your secretary Rebecca.'
The man’s mouth dropped open and he began to splutter. His wife immediately laid into him."

The Neanderthal child angle is used for nothing but mawkish emotional scenes in which Pierre and Molly fervently assert that she is their child whom they absolutely love and will do anything for.

Aside from such cheesy moments, we also get passages evocative of cheap romance novels: "They collapsed back down on the couch, making wild, hot love, first licking and kissing each other, she taking him into her mouth, he lapping at her, and then, of course, the most important of all, driving his penis into her, pounding, pounding, as if to propel his own sperm through her blocked fallopian tubes, and at last exploding in orgasm...." --- "He’d talked her into wearing the wig to bed that night, and it inspired him to new levels of creativity. Molly gently teased him about being her six-foot vibrator."

We get poor attempts at adding details for realism, that just come off as pointless and clumsy: "Sitting on a desk was a Dell Pentium computer. Molly booted it up, logged on to CompuServe, scurried down a couple of layers of menus, and pointed to the screen." --- "Mrs. Proctor returned and handed Pierre a Budweiser can. He pulled the tab, took a swig, and winced. He’d never get used to this cow piss Americans called beer."

Somewhat related to that last example, it's also clear that the author loves to use his novel as a way to expound his own personal views and opinions, especially on health care. Every time the topic comes up, it's wincingly obvious how he uses his characters as mouthpieces for his own views. Authors are entitled to their views of course, but copying and pasting them into your character's dialogues in this ham-fisted way is just bad writing. As you read this book, you can almost see Sawyer in his office at his Compaq with a document open in Microsoft Works, scanning his draft as the dot matrix printer screeches it out line by line, nodding approvingly, and saying to himself "I'll tell an exciting story and win people over to universal health coverage at the same time!"

The one good point: it was an easy read. I hate to leave books unfinished, and at least the writing style was simple enough that I could burn through the pages relatively quickly.

[Brian Driver · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've now read six Robert J. Sawyer books, so it's fair to say I'm a fan.

And I also think it's very safe to say if you like Sawyer's other works, you'll really enjoy FRAMESHIFT. It's vintage Sawyer, if I might say so after my having read about a quarter of what he's written. It's all here: his love of science, his hope to be able to benevolently blend religion into sci-fi, his love of Canada (especially its socialized medicine), and his hope that science is the door to explain our relationship with the cosmos.

And for those who don't know Sawyer, I want to stress this: the author loves to write compelling novels first, about people, and second, about science. I really thought about reversing those two, as science is a huge part of these novels, but ultimately decided that his stories are about how science makes us more human, and these stories continually ask us to consider Big Thoughts, and not run away from them by pigeonholing ourselves through institutions like politics and organized religion.

What compels me to read Sawyer, and I hope others come to see this, too, is that his books are not primarily about "gee whiz" Buck Rogers sci-fi. Not that his books aren't exciting--they are, but more often because of the really unusual science concepts he invents or investigates. He bases the story in real life, in people with real problems, and then the science provides the key.

Here it is genetics at the heart of each of the various plotlines of the story: the protagonist has a 50-50 chance of having the gene for Huntington's Disease, and now there is a great chance he might not survive long enough to make a key genetic discovery; his boss is a horrible man who might not only be hiding the fact that he is Ivan the Terrible from the Treblinka death camp, but may be willing to make a horrendous choice involving the genetics of another key character; and finally, an insurance company is prospering, but it's the "how" that's important...

What I like best about Sawyer is his clear, concise style...he does not have excess material in the book, and you can count on every element of the story ultimately figuring into to the ending. Additionally, Sawyer has the ability not only to make his story about people, but also to craft it into a compelling tension that provides a makes reading an adventure.

Sawyer's books are always reaffirming and positive, and he is above all diligent in his works about explaining to us why we are indeed capable of great things, and, especially, that science and religion are positive institutions that may help us learn just why we are on this earth. It is through Sawyer that I have really begun to realize that science and religion do not live at opposing sides of the track, but may indeed be friendly and cooperative neighbors.

[Steve Scanlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pierre Tardivel is a French-Canadian who discovers at a young age that he has a 50-50 chance of developing Huntington's chorea, a genetically inherited disease that eventually leads to death. After coasting through school and living aimlessly he focuses his life on the study of genetics. He eventually finds himself working at the University of California, Berkeley, on the Human Genome Project.

Molly Bond has a Ph.D in behavioural psychology and also ends up at UC-Berkeley. Molly is a very attractive woman with the ability to 'hear' people's thoughts when they are within a three-foot radius. This gift has become a hindrance especially when mixing with people socially and knowing their intimate thoughts.

Avi Meyer's father was a prisoner in the Nazi death camp at Treblinka in World War II. Ivan the Terrible ran the camp and was responsible for the murder and torture of thousands of Jews. Avi never met his father, but has devoted his life to hunting war criminals, especially Ivan the Terrible.

When an attempt on Pierre's life fails, all three become embroiled in a search for the reason behind the attack.

This is the first non-dinosaur book of Sawyer's that I have read and I was a little unsure of what to expect. I wouldn't classify the story as typical science fiction, rather a thriller with some science in the form of genetics. I loved it, however, and would recommend it to those who wouldn't normally read sf.

[Darnoc Leadburger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine Michael Crichton writing a technothriller with really engaging characters, and you get something akin to Frameshift. Robert J Sawyer, who I'd consider an unsung hero of the genre, isn't known for thrillers, but he makes it work really well and writes a really good book in my opinion.

One thing to note: the beginning of the book features some pretty disturbance because of the Nazis. Something else that's unlike RJS...

I am noticing several trends throughout his work: Calculating God also featured a terminal man, some of the evolution themes seemed pulled from Quantum Night, and these real well done characters remind me of those in Rollback.

This book has gotten some flack for two things: 1) the main character explaining genetics to a female grad student and 2) the frameshift mutation being irrelevant. 1)... I got no defense. Clunky writing. But that's what it is, clunky explanation, not sexism or anything like that. 2) I think it really elevated the character work. He needed a frameshift mutation, and the one that he chose made some great symmetry and helped with some cool character work.

Well done, RJS.

[Robbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that what impressed me most about this book was how the story is incredibly convoluted – tying together the study of non-coding DNA together with neanderthals, hunting Nazi war criminals, coping with Huntington's disease, and an examination of how American insurance companies used to treat people with genetic disorders – and yet it wasn't at all hard to follow. The characters are well developed and believable and the ones you're supposed to like are likable and the ones you aren't supposed to like are awful in ways that are, sadly, not outlandish. The author also did a very good job, at least form my limited perspective, of explaining how DNA works without breaking the flow of the story. That said, there was something about the writing style that didn't quite connect with me; perhaps it was a little too straight-forward for the emotional content, though the emotional content of the story did come through well enough. It made it so that, even though I really enjoyed reading it while my eyes were on it, I didn't exactly feel drawn to pick it up every day. It's still good enough for 4.5 stars, though, because the story is incredible and I did greatly enjoy reading it.

[Scott Jann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t even know what a frameshift mutation was before reading this book nor much about Huntington’s disease, so I learned from this book. I liked the chronology of how the story was told, with the gripping start in World War II. As with a few of his other books, this had a grandiose hypothesis of evolution that presented a positive look at the future of humanity. I liked the characters, including Amanda, however there was plenty of story here without her and I’d prefer to have read a whole novel about her instead of having her be a minor part of this story. I appreciate the references he sneaks in to pop-culture things, like Columbo. I found it just as exciting to read as the other books by the same author, it might not have been my favorite, but I did enjoy it plenty.

[Kourosh Keshavarz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off confusing but started to come together in the end. There were a seemingly unrelated stories that ended up coalescing as the story progressed. What I found confusing was there was one particular thread that they could have done without altogether. It started off as a red herring but ended up just fizzling out. In case you havent read it yet Ill yell out spoiler alert.
It was my opinion that the whole cloning saga was added as a good red herring but the conclusion was confusing and superfluous to the whole story despite the rest of the story really nicely laid out. Same goes for the whole telepathy bit. I thought more could have been done with it such as finding other telepaths. I was left hanging there.

That being said I finished it so it is still work some stars.

[Angel B.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Llevo leídos unos cuantos libros de Sawyer y para mí se está volviendo un valor seguro: siempre son entretenidos y de fácil lectura.
En esta novela, además, el autor consigue unos personajes más "vivos" que en otras, y con algunas escenas de una emotividad que no creía posible en Sawyer. Escrita y ambientada a finales de los 90, durante el desarrollo del Proyecto Genoma Humano, nos plantea los dilemas éticos de los avances tecnológicos en genética. Lo hace además con una trama tejida de manera impecable y que mantiene la atención hasta el final.
Hay cierto tufillo católico, pero no siempre puedo tenerlo todo :-) Al menos Sawyer, cuando sueña con el diseño inteligente, lo hace imaginando un original mecanismo genético que lo haría casi verificable.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a good job wrestling with some really weighty issues, and it's a total page turner. There are a few loose ends with the plot and a few extraneous red herrings, but the character development is solid, and Sawyer did a pretty good job writing believable female characters. The only really jarring note was when he arranged to have his male protagonist deliver a really beginner level lecture on genetics to his post doctoral female lab assistant so that we readers could get the info dump. That reminded me of way too many condescending professors who do that to their female students and colleagues.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one much better than hominids by the same author, I think this one was very well done, and it certainly raises a lot of questions about all kinds of issues, questions I doubt we're ready to deal with just yet. That's the kind of thing scifi is notable for, and this book has that in spades.
If you're a scifi fan, this should go a long way toward satisfying your scifi urges. If not, then it may not be your cup of tea, but you might want to read it anyway, if nothing else, for the moral issues it raises, it's certainly a thought provoking book.

[Marijo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great contemporary SyFi book that takes you through a funhouse of twists and turns. Imagine a French Canadian geneticist with Huntington's syndrome working on the human genome project. A neo-nazi thug targets and attacks him, but gets killed in the confrontation. Why?

This 1997 novel shows a good understanding of the science of the time but takes those two steps further, moving it into the realm of science fiction with a slight dash of fantasy. This book has held up well, and is classic Sawyer at his best.

[Ezuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has fairly advanced explanation about genetics, alongside with some Nazi hunting, telepathy, and a modern-day Neanderthal. That sounds like a lot to pack into a single novel, but somehow, it works.

It's a fun read, and the hard-science genetics explanations along with the historical facts about the holocaust actually manage to tie it together into something that feels _almost_ plausible at times.

Would recommend. I got this through the Story Bundle Sci-Fi bundle and it was worth it.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike the many other Sawyer books I've read, this one starts off with some very disgusting happenings. We get brutal treatment of people by Nazis in Treblinka and separately some very crude inner sexual thoughts of men. I'm confident that Sawyer did his homework on terrible things done to people at Nazi concentration camps. He would not make this stuff up. This type of material is not found later in this intriguing story.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the book was written in 1997 it's startlingly relevant to 2017, since headlines this year include the US proposing legislation to allow insurance companies to demand genetic testing (and Canada blocking legislation to do the same), and references to Hillary Clinton losing a political fight (I believe he was referencing a fight for health care improvements, but obviously extra topical now). I enjoy Sawyer's writing because he's extremely science-savvy and isn't shy about tackling current-events technology, while still making the science approachable for the general audience. This book isn't an exception; it deals with several genetic issues including genetic testing, cloning, the ethics of requiring genetic testing for medical insurance; and theories about the purpose of introns (junk DNA).

There are multiple plots and stories interweaving through the book and initially it's not clear how they're going to all tie together, but by the end of the book they do all unite. On the whole I found all of them interesting, although the girlfriend's telepathy seemed unnecessary when all that was really needed was any genetic mutation that could be studied. As a Canadian who lived in the US for many years, I felt particularly sympathetic towards Pierre Tardivel as he negotiates the mysteries of US healthcare and politics.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s probably a large bit of ‘90s nostalgia that keeps bringing me back to Robert J. Sawyer; somehow sci-fi drives home datedness like no other genre. This book has the feel of some guy I know from board gaming who got it into his mind to write a book about all the geeky goodness he’s obsessed with. And, surprise! It’s actually pretty entertaining.