Science Fiction Writer
ROBERT J. SAWYER
Hugo and Nebula Winner

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Back in 2001, Tor Books was gearing up to create a Tor-branded Amazon.com store. That never materialized, but I was asked by Aimee Crump, my publicist back then at Tor, to write 500 words for that site about my approach to science fiction. It's still what I strive for:

For me, science fiction is about what it means to be human. I say this despite being a hard-SF writer. I go to great effort to ensure that the science in my books is accurate, whether it's relativity in Golden Fleece (Aurora Award winner), dinosaurian paleontology in End of an Era (Seiun Award winner), genetics in Frameshift (Hugo Award nominee, Seiun Award winner), artificial intelligence in Factoring Humanity (Hugo Award nominee), quantum physics in FlashForward (Aurora Award winner), cosmology in Calculating God (Hugo Award nominee), or paleoanthropology in Hominids (Hugo Award winner).

But the science in my books is really just a springboard for larger issues. My favorite review of my work says: "Sawyer compels us to think in a concrete way about concepts that we usually dismiss as being too metaphysical to grapple with. As he is clearly aware, the essence of science fiction isn't starships, robots or virtual reality, but a unique philosophical inquiry into the evolution of the human spirit" (The Toronto Star, on FlashForward).

And that, indeed, is precisely what I try to do, using SF to explore the biggest questions there are: the nature of reality (Factoring Humanity), whether we have free will (FlashForward), even whether there is a God (Calculating God).

To examine those issues, I use characters that I strive to make as nuanced and subtle, as complex and conflicted, as those in good mainstream fiction — for the only meaningful way to explore such issues is with real people.

To that end, most of my books don't take place in the far future; rather, they're set in or near the present. Most of my characters aren't starship commanders; rather, they're regular women and men, with marriages that sometimes don't work, dealing with the realities of their jobs and with children who cause them pain and joy.

Some SF books make you choose between having either science or characters, physics or psychology, speculation or philosophy. But I try to provide both parts of each pair, combining the intimately human and the grandly cosmic. I want my books to be relevant to real people's real lives, and so I sprinkle them with references to pop culture, current politics, actual companies, and more.

Although I'm known for my optimism, I don't write escapism. Rather, I write for those who, like me, are struggling to better understand the real world and all the complex issues that go along with being human.

More Good Reading

What's a Robert J. Sawyer novel like?

Humor in the SF of Robert J. Sawyer (MP3)

Robert J. Sawyer's awards and honors
Review index

My Very Occasional Newsletter