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Quintaglios:
Far-Seer
Fossil Hunter
Foreigner

From the Program Book for Tropicon 20, a science-fiction convention at which Robert J. Sawyer was Guest of Honor, held November 9-11, 2001, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

This is a work of fiction based on actual events. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

This is all Dan Foster's fault.

Shortly after my son was born, Dan Foster invited Shirlene, the baby and I to a signing by an author who I had never heard of before. Robert J. Sawyer? A Canadian science fiction writer? Did they even have science fiction in Canada?

I did remember that The Terminal Experiment had been a SFSFS book discussion pick, but beyond that I had never heard of the guy.

So, I broke down and read Starplex.

Wow!

Here was a writer who managed to combine the hard science of Clement with the wonder of James White, and the cosmology of Carl Sagan.

Well, it's been almost three years now and a lot of books.

End of an Era: Dinosaurs, aliens, time travel, the tenth planet and interstellar war.

Far-Seer, Fossil Hunter, Foreigner: Intelligent tyrannosaurs on a moon of a gas giant discover the principles of optics, planetary motion, evolution and gravity.

Flashforward: A harmless particle physics experiment causes everyone in the world to step forward to their future selves and then back again. The future seems immutable. Then things start to change.

I've finally figured two things out.

1. Robert J. Sawyer is one of the greatest living SF writers around; and,

2. He's an apology. Thirty years ago, after Star Trek premiered the U.S. and Canada negotiated the Shatner Acting Limitation Treaty (SALT). One clause of SALT required Canada to repair the cultural damage done to the SF Community.

Robert J. Sawyer has done more than his fair share to repair the damage.

At this rate, the U.S. will owe Canada more than we can ever repay.

When he is not helping to raise his son and preserve his wife's sanity, Pete Rawlik can be found working to preserve the Everglades, bouncing story ideas off other sf/f/h enthusiasts and selling you the book you couldn't live without at a local convention near you!

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Other convention book tributes:

• Michael A. Burstein's tribute to Rob
  
• Rob's tribute to Hal Clement
  
• Rob's tribute to Edo van Belkom
  

Other interviews with Rob