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Tuesday, March 22, 2005
She's dead, Jason
by Robert J. Sawyer
Setting the stage for an odd murder mystery in space: While she is running a late-night experiment, Diana is murdered by the ship's computer JASON on board the starship Argo in the first chapter of this short novel. This short novel takes place from the point of view of the criminal trying to cover up his crime. The main character, however, is not the computer. With some clever plot devices (and some spurious science), we ride along with Aaron, Diana's ex-husband, as he obsesses about the, ahem, incident.
This book is not Mr. Sawyer at his best. But Golden Fleece does set the stage for later Sawyer works. Artificial intelligence, looking at humans from outside, murder done in the name of a good cause, unrevealed background in service of the plot -- these are all themes the author will later explore, with greater maturity and depth in books like Calculating God, Flashforward, Starplex, and Illegal Alien.
That said, Golden Fleece is a fun read, and my attention never flagged from the story. A good, fun book that hints of great things to come.
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