
Factoring Humanity
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.60
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Katherine Kellgren
-
By:
-
Robert J. Sawyer
About this listen
In the near future, a signal is detected coming from the Alpha Centauri system. Mysterious, unintelligible data streams in for ten years. Heather Davis, a professor in the University of Toronto psychology department, has devoted her career to deciphering the message. Her estranged husband, Kyle, is working on the development of artificial intelligence systems and new computer technology utilizing quantum effects to produce a near-infinite number of calculations simultaneously.
When Heather achieves a breakthrough, the message reveals a startling new technology that rips the barriers of space and time, holding the promise of a new stage of human evolution. In concert with Kyle's discoveries of the nature of consciousness, the key to limitless exploration - or the end of the human race - appears close at hand.Sawyer has created a gripping thriller, a pulse-pounding tour of the farthest reaches of technology. Factoring Humanity is a 1999 Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel.
©2003 Robert J. Sawyer (P)2012 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Starplex
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty years after the discovery of artificial wormholes launches Earth space exploration to unforeseeable heights, Starplex Director Keith Lansing investigates a mysterious vessel that soon threatens the station with intergalactic war.
-
-
Tribute to Arthur C. Clarke
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-23-12
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Quantum Night
- By: Robert. J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experimental psychologist Jim Marchuk has developed a flawless technique for identifying the previously undetected psychopaths lurking everywhere in society. But while being cross-examined about his breakthrough in court, Jim is shocked to discover that he has lost his memories of six months of his life from 20 years previously - a dark time during which he himself committed heinous acts.
-
-
PHILOSOPHICAL ZOMBIE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 12-02-17
-
Calculating God
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Hugo-nominated novel, an alien walks into a museum and asks if he can see a paleontologist. But the arachnid ET hasn't come aboard a rowboat with the Pope and Stephen Hawking (although His Holiness does request an audience later). Landing at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the spacefarer, Hollus, asks to compare notes on mass extinctions with resident dino-scientist Thomas Jericho.
-
-
Interesting book, very enjoyable narration
- By Ione on 05-07-10
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Hominids
- The Neanderthal Parallax, Book 1
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Neanderthals have developed a radically different civilization on a parallel Earth. A Neanderthal physicist, Ponter Boddit, accidentally passes from his universe into a Canadian underground research facility. Fortunately, a team of human scientists, including expert paleo-anthropologist Mary Vaughan, promptly identifies and warmly receives Ponter. Solving the language problem and much else is a mini-computer, called a Companion, implanted in the brain of every Neanderthal. But it can't help his fellow scientist back in his world, Adikor Huld, when the authorities charge Adikor with his murder.
-
-
Scicen Fiction Can Be Literature
- By Scott on 08-10-09
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
WWW: Wake
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Jessica Almasy, Jennifer Van Dyck, A. C. Fellner, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Caitlin Decter is young, pretty, feisty, a genius at math - and blind. Still, she can surf the net with the best of them, following its complex paths clearly in her mind. But Caitlin's brain long ago co-opted her primary visual cortex to help her navigate online. So when she receives an implant to restore her sight, instead of seeing reality, the landscape of the World Wide Web explodes into her consciousness, spreading out all around her in a riot of colors and shapes.
-
-
A Great, if Incomplete, Concept
- By Seth H. Wilson on 04-14-09
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Frameshift
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of Pierre Tradivel, a scientist, and his complex battle against deadly illness, and ex-Nazi war criminal still hiding in the U.S., a crooked insurance company, and a plot to make Pierre and his wife the victims of a bizarre genetic experiment. Frameshift is hard science fiction at its best, full of complications and neat surprises.
-
-
Storyshift
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-24-14
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Starplex
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty years after the discovery of artificial wormholes launches Earth space exploration to unforeseeable heights, Starplex Director Keith Lansing investigates a mysterious vessel that soon threatens the station with intergalactic war.
-
-
Tribute to Arthur C. Clarke
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-23-12
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Quantum Night
- By: Robert. J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experimental psychologist Jim Marchuk has developed a flawless technique for identifying the previously undetected psychopaths lurking everywhere in society. But while being cross-examined about his breakthrough in court, Jim is shocked to discover that he has lost his memories of six months of his life from 20 years previously - a dark time during which he himself committed heinous acts.
-
-
PHILOSOPHICAL ZOMBIE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 12-02-17
-
Calculating God
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Hugo-nominated novel, an alien walks into a museum and asks if he can see a paleontologist. But the arachnid ET hasn't come aboard a rowboat with the Pope and Stephen Hawking (although His Holiness does request an audience later). Landing at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the spacefarer, Hollus, asks to compare notes on mass extinctions with resident dino-scientist Thomas Jericho.
-
-
Interesting book, very enjoyable narration
- By Ione on 05-07-10
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Hominids
- The Neanderthal Parallax, Book 1
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Neanderthals have developed a radically different civilization on a parallel Earth. A Neanderthal physicist, Ponter Boddit, accidentally passes from his universe into a Canadian underground research facility. Fortunately, a team of human scientists, including expert paleo-anthropologist Mary Vaughan, promptly identifies and warmly receives Ponter. Solving the language problem and much else is a mini-computer, called a Companion, implanted in the brain of every Neanderthal. But it can't help his fellow scientist back in his world, Adikor Huld, when the authorities charge Adikor with his murder.
-
-
Scicen Fiction Can Be Literature
- By Scott on 08-10-09
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
WWW: Wake
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Jessica Almasy, Jennifer Van Dyck, A. C. Fellner, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Caitlin Decter is young, pretty, feisty, a genius at math - and blind. Still, she can surf the net with the best of them, following its complex paths clearly in her mind. But Caitlin's brain long ago co-opted her primary visual cortex to help her navigate online. So when she receives an implant to restore her sight, instead of seeing reality, the landscape of the World Wide Web explodes into her consciousness, spreading out all around her in a riot of colors and shapes.
-
-
A Great, if Incomplete, Concept
- By Seth H. Wilson on 04-14-09
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Frameshift
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of Pierre Tradivel, a scientist, and his complex battle against deadly illness, and ex-Nazi war criminal still hiding in the U.S., a crooked insurance company, and a plot to make Pierre and his wife the victims of a bizarre genetic experiment. Frameshift is hard science fiction at its best, full of complications and neat surprises.
-
-
Storyshift
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-24-14
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
The Oppenheimer Alternative
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While J. Robert Oppenheimer and his Manhattan Project team struggle to develop the A-bomb, Edward Teller wants something even more devastating: a weapon based on nuclear fusion - the mechanism that powers the sun. But Teller’s research leads to a terrifying discovery: by the year 2030, the sun will eject its outermost layer, destroying the entire inner solar system - including Earth. After the war ends, Oppenheimer’s physicists combine forces with Albert Einstein, computing pioneer John von Neumann, and rocket designer Wernher von Braun.
-
-
Scratches head
- By miki on 09-14-20
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Rollback
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thirty-eight years ago, Dr. Sarah Halifax earned worldwide fame by deciphering a radio transmission from an unknown intelligence reaching out from deep space. Now 87, Sarah receives news that, at long last, a new signal has been received, and her services are desperately needed once again.
-
-
Main plot - Tiresome; Subplot - Cool!
- By Ole Hippie on 04-29-11
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Illegal Alien
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a disabled spaceship enters Earth's atmosphere, seven members of the advanced Tosok race are welcomed by the world. Then a popular scientist is murdered, and all evidence points to one of the Tosoks. Now, an alien is tried in a court of law -and there may be far more at stake than accounting for one human life.
-
-
This is It.
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-11-13
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Mindscan
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jake Sullivan has cheated death: he's discarded his doomed biological body and copied his consciousness into an android form. The new Jake soon finds love, something that eluded him when he was encased in flesh: he falls for the android version of Karen, a woman rediscovering all the joys of life now that she too is no longer constrained by a worn-out body. Karen's son sues her, claiming that by uploading into an immortal body, she has done him out of his inheritance.
-
-
Entertaining, but not Sawyer's Best
- By John C. on 05-31-12
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
End of an Era
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paleontologist Brandon Thackery and his rival, Miles "Klicks" Jordan, fulfill a dinosaur lover's dream with history's first time-travel jaunt to the late Mesozoic. Hoping to solve the extinction mystery, they find Earth's gravity is only half its 21st-century value and dinosaurs that behave very strangely. Could the slimy blue creatures from Mars have something to do with both?
-
-
Fascinating!
- By Simone on 07-08-16
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Far-Seer
- The Quintaglio Ascension, Book 1
- By: Robert. J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Face of God is what every young saurian learns to call the immense, glowing object which fills the night sky on the far side of the world. Young Afsan is privileged, called to the distant Capital City to apprentice with Saleed the court astrologer. But when the time comes for Afsan to make his coming-of-age pilgrimage, to gaze upon the Face of God, his world is changed forever- for what he sees will test his faith...and may save his world from disaster!
-
-
Definitely Original!
- By Simone on 08-30-16
-
The Mote in God's Eye
- By: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
- Narrated by: L J Ganser
- Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Mote In God's Eye is their acknowledged masterpiece, an epic novel of mankind's first encounter with alien life that transcends the genre. No lesser an authority than Robert A. Heinlein called it "possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read".
-
-
A great read!
- By J. Rhoderick on 02-12-10
By: Larry Niven, and others
-
I, Robot
- By: Isaac Asimov
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic science fiction masterwork by Isaac Asimov weaves stories about robots, humanity, and the deep questions of existence into a novel of shocking intelligence and heart.
-
-
Thank you
- By Fredrik on 06-11-04
By: Isaac Asimov
-
Roadkill
- By: Dennis E. Taylor
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jack Kernigan is having a bad day...a bad year...a bad life. After being booted out of MIT, he’s back in his Ohio hometown, working for the family business, facing a life of mediocrity. Then one day, out on a delivery, his truck hits...something. Something big...something furry...something invisible. And, it turns out, something not of this Earth. Fate can play funny tricks. Which is why Jack suddenly finds himself the planet’s best hope to unravel a conspiracy of galactic proportions that could spell the end of the human race.
-
-
The least helpful review of Roadkill
- By Joshua Kring on 08-05-22
By: Dennis E. Taylor
-
Quantum Radio
- By: A.G. Riddle
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dr. Tyson Klein is a quantum physicist who has dedicated his entire life to his research. At CERN, he analyses data generated by the Large Hadron Collider, the world's biggest and most powerful particle accelerator. Now, Ty believes he's found a pattern in its output. It looks like an organised data stream, being broadcast over what he calls a quantum radio. Could it be a signal from another universe? A message sent from the future? Or something else entirely?
-
-
Can't wait for book two
- By T. Patterson on 03-12-23
By: A.G. Riddle
-
Childhood's End
- By: Arthur C. Clarke
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer, Robert J. Sawyer - introduction
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Overlords appeared suddenly over every city - intellectually, technologically, and militarily superior to humankind. Benevolent, they made few demands: unify earth, eliminate poverty, and end war. With little rebellion, humankind agreed, and a golden age began.
-
-
Food for Thought
- By Kindle Customer on 11-17-08
By: Arthur C. Clarke
-
Time Enough for Love
- The Lives of Lazarus Long
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 23 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Time Enough for Love is the capstone and crowning achievement of Heinlein's famous Future History series. Lazarus Long is so in love with life that he simply refuses to die. Born in the early 1900s, he lives through multiple centuries, his love for time ultimately causing him to become his own ancestor. Time Enough for Loveis his lovingly detailed account of his journey through a vast and magnificent timescape of centuries and worlds. Using the voice of Lazarus, Heinlein expounds his own philosophies, including his radical ideas on sexual freedom.
-
-
Age changes perspective
- By Candis on 08-27-16
Critic reviews
"An intelligent and absorbing double-stranded narrative." ( Kirkus)
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Quantum Night
- By: Robert. J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experimental psychologist Jim Marchuk has developed a flawless technique for identifying the previously undetected psychopaths lurking everywhere in society. But while being cross-examined about his breakthrough in court, Jim is shocked to discover that he has lost his memories of six months of his life from 20 years previously - a dark time during which he himself committed heinous acts.
-
-
PHILOSOPHICAL ZOMBIE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 12-02-17
-
Frameshift
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of Pierre Tradivel, a scientist, and his complex battle against deadly illness, and ex-Nazi war criminal still hiding in the U.S., a crooked insurance company, and a plot to make Pierre and his wife the victims of a bizarre genetic experiment. Frameshift is hard science fiction at its best, full of complications and neat surprises.
-
-
Storyshift
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-24-14
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
The Terminal Experiment
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An experiment has gone terribly wrong. Dr. Peter Hobson has created three electronic simulations of his own personality. One will test life after death; another, immortality. The third one is the control unit. But now all three have escaped from Hobson's computer into the worldwide electronic matrix. And one of them is a killer.
-
-
Incredible
- By David on 05-19-08
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Calculating God
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Hugo-nominated novel, an alien walks into a museum and asks if he can see a paleontologist. But the arachnid ET hasn't come aboard a rowboat with the Pope and Stephen Hawking (although His Holiness does request an audience later). Landing at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the spacefarer, Hollus, asks to compare notes on mass extinctions with resident dino-scientist Thomas Jericho.
-
-
Interesting book, very enjoyable narration
- By Ione on 05-07-10
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Flashforward
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A scientific experiment begins, and as the button is pressed, the unexpected occurs: everyone in the world goes to sleep for a few moments while everyone's consciousness is catapulted more than twenty years into the future. At the end of those moments, when the world reawakens, all human life is transformed by foreknowledge.
-
-
How would you digest the fruits of knowledge??
- By Phelix_da_Kat on 07-23-08
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Starplex
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty years after the discovery of artificial wormholes launches Earth space exploration to unforeseeable heights, Starplex Director Keith Lansing investigates a mysterious vessel that soon threatens the station with intergalactic war.
-
-
Tribute to Arthur C. Clarke
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-23-12
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Quantum Night
- By: Robert. J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experimental psychologist Jim Marchuk has developed a flawless technique for identifying the previously undetected psychopaths lurking everywhere in society. But while being cross-examined about his breakthrough in court, Jim is shocked to discover that he has lost his memories of six months of his life from 20 years previously - a dark time during which he himself committed heinous acts.
-
-
PHILOSOPHICAL ZOMBIE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 12-02-17
-
Frameshift
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of Pierre Tradivel, a scientist, and his complex battle against deadly illness, and ex-Nazi war criminal still hiding in the U.S., a crooked insurance company, and a plot to make Pierre and his wife the victims of a bizarre genetic experiment. Frameshift is hard science fiction at its best, full of complications and neat surprises.
-
-
Storyshift
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-24-14
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
The Terminal Experiment
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An experiment has gone terribly wrong. Dr. Peter Hobson has created three electronic simulations of his own personality. One will test life after death; another, immortality. The third one is the control unit. But now all three have escaped from Hobson's computer into the worldwide electronic matrix. And one of them is a killer.
-
-
Incredible
- By David on 05-19-08
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Calculating God
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Hugo-nominated novel, an alien walks into a museum and asks if he can see a paleontologist. But the arachnid ET hasn't come aboard a rowboat with the Pope and Stephen Hawking (although His Holiness does request an audience later). Landing at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the spacefarer, Hollus, asks to compare notes on mass extinctions with resident dino-scientist Thomas Jericho.
-
-
Interesting book, very enjoyable narration
- By Ione on 05-07-10
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Flashforward
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A scientific experiment begins, and as the button is pressed, the unexpected occurs: everyone in the world goes to sleep for a few moments while everyone's consciousness is catapulted more than twenty years into the future. At the end of those moments, when the world reawakens, all human life is transformed by foreknowledge.
-
-
How would you digest the fruits of knowledge??
- By Phelix_da_Kat on 07-23-08
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Starplex
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty years after the discovery of artificial wormholes launches Earth space exploration to unforeseeable heights, Starplex Director Keith Lansing investigates a mysterious vessel that soon threatens the station with intergalactic war.
-
-
Tribute to Arthur C. Clarke
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-23-12
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Illegal Alien
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a disabled spaceship enters Earth's atmosphere, seven members of the advanced Tosok race are welcomed by the world. Then a popular scientist is murdered, and all evidence points to one of the Tosoks. Now, an alien is tried in a court of law -and there may be far more at stake than accounting for one human life.
-
-
This is It.
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-11-13
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Hominids
- The Neanderthal Parallax, Book 1
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Neanderthals have developed a radically different civilization on a parallel Earth. A Neanderthal physicist, Ponter Boddit, accidentally passes from his universe into a Canadian underground research facility. Fortunately, a team of human scientists, including expert paleo-anthropologist Mary Vaughan, promptly identifies and warmly receives Ponter. Solving the language problem and much else is a mini-computer, called a Companion, implanted in the brain of every Neanderthal. But it can't help his fellow scientist back in his world, Adikor Huld, when the authorities charge Adikor with his murder.
-
-
Scicen Fiction Can Be Literature
- By Scott on 08-10-09
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
Golden Fleece
- By: Robert. J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Steven Menasche
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aboard Argo, a colonization ship bound for Eta Cephei IV, people are very close - there's no other choice. So when Aaron Rossman's ex-wife dies in what seems to be a bizarre accident, everyone offers their sympathy, politely keeping their suspicions of suicide to themselves. But Aaron cannot simply accept her death. He must know the truth: Was it an accident, or did she commit suicide? When Aaron discovers the truth behind her death, he is faced with a terrible secret - a secret that could cost him his life.
-
-
Just ok
- By Simone on 05-18-16
-
Red Planet Blues
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Perry Daniels
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The name's Lomax-Alex Lomax. I'm the one and only private eye working the mean streets of New Klondike, the Martian frontier town that sprang up forty years ago after Simon Weingarten and Denny O'Reilly discovered fossils on the Red Planet. Back on Earth, where anything can be synthesized, the remains of alien life are the most valuable of all collectibles, so shiploads of desperate treasure hunters stampeded here in the Great Martian Fossil Rush.
-
-
A Clever and Thrilling Gumshoe Tale
- By Henry on 03-29-25
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
The Downloaded
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Brendan Fraser, Luke Kirby, Vanessa Sears, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2059, two vastly different groups of people portrayed by the compelling trio of Brendan Fraser (Academy Award winner), Luke Kirby (Emmy Award winner), and Vanessa Sears (Dora Award winner) undergo cryonic suspension. While their bodies are frozen, their minds, still active and awake, are uploaded into a massive quantum computer. The first group are all astronauts, about to leave Earth on a one-way interstellar colonization mission. The second group consists of convicted murderers and volunteers who elect to serve their sentences in a virtual-reality prison.
-
-
Poor writing- agenda piece
- By Amazon Customer on 10-27-23
By: Robert J. Sawyer
-
The Oppenheimer Alternative
- By: Robert J. Sawyer
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
While J. Robert Oppenheimer and his Manhattan Project team struggle to develop the A-bomb, Edward Teller wants something even more devastating: a weapon based on nuclear fusion - the mechanism that powers the sun. But Teller’s research leads to a terrifying discovery: by the year 2030, the sun will eject its outermost layer, destroying the entire inner solar system - including Earth. After the war ends, Oppenheimer’s physicists combine forces with Albert Einstein, computing pioneer John von Neumann, and rocket designer Wernher von Braun.
-
-
Scratches head
- By miki on 09-14-20
By: Robert J. Sawyer
What listeners say about Factoring Humanity
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Vera
- 07-12-15
Required Reading for a Thoughtful Mind
If you could sum up Factoring Humanity in three words, what would they be?
Dare To Believe
Who was your favorite character and why?
Ape. This character deserves to be listened to. This story is bigger then the characters.
Which character – as performed by Katherine Kellgren – was your favorite?
This narrator is perfect for all the characters. I can't pick a favourite.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Absolutely, I'm grateful there are authors with such thought provoking ideas.
Any additional comments?
Robert J. Sawyer does not mimic other writers. I personally believe he is the fiction writer that could open our minds and possibly invoke greatness in the minds of future leaders. Hopefully everyone reads his books.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Martin
- 11-01-16
Fun approach on quantum theory
Lovely narrated. Interesting approach to quantum theory. Stereotypic persons and some simplifications disturbed me a bit. Overall enjoyable.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael G Kurilla
- 05-28-12
Novel alien first contact
Sawyer has crafted a novel twist on a first contact theme. This near future tale has earth receiving for the past 10 years, alien messages (one every 30 hours). Beyond the initial set that contained formulas for chemicals, the remainder have been inscrutable.Our main characters are estranged husband and wife professors focused on quantum computing and psychology, respectively. The wife has been engaged with a world wide effort to decipher the messages and makes the seminal breakthrough after the messages mysteriously stop. While all of this is occurring, the couple is also dealing with accusations of sexual molestation by their only living daughter. What follows as a result of her "cracking" the alien messages would delight Freud and Jung, but at the same time will render her profession obsolete.
Conceptually, this work is ambitious and quite engrossing. Sawyer has identified a novel mechanism for an alien encounter that does not involve either warlike aggression on the part of the aliens, nor engender an equally militaristic defensive posture on the part of earth. Some of the actions of characters are downright petty when the full power of the alien message/gift is made clear, but then Sawyer keeps the focus on the individual. At the same time, Sawyer also glosses over the ramifications of alterations in societal organization as a result as well.
The narration is solid and inviting with a more than adequate range to handle the diversity of characters. Overall, this is well suited for a beach listen or transcontinental flight.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ted
- 09-27-14
An Artist Can Use Old Tools
The twin entwining plots of this tale are as classic as the names Asimov, Clarke, and Bradbury. But look, plots are to writers as brushes are to painters. I don't know a composer who fails to diddle with key, or photographers who avoid negative space because others have used it. Nope… they're all tools.
And so in "Factoring" Sawyer churns at least two mature hunks of red meat through his grinder, mixes them with clever spices, then cooks and presents the dish deliciously. If there's a problem it's that he's got a tendency here to get pretentious and a tad corny. But hey… corn sells with me, especially when it's popped, hot, buttered and salty.
Katherine Kellgren's very good and perhaps, given the echoes from romance literature, we'll the book fits better into the mind and mouth of an excellent woman. Kellgren's made it her own.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SamanthaG
- 05-10-13
He can do better
Have to say that Sawyer handles aliens better than he does humans. I loved his "Calculating God", but I found this one a bit difficult what with his trying to deal with a somewhat dysfunctional human family and the resolution of marital and familial discord.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Simone
- 06-28-14
Can't Get Enough!
This is the ninth Robert J Sawyer book I’ve read and it’s the ninth I have LOVED! LOVED! LOVED!
He is a hit every time! I can’t get enough of the stories and the themes he dreams up; his books are so good they are plan-cancelling good! I love how he makes me think and ponder fascinating scenarios… they are always so engrossing - I just want more!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- F. Craft
- 03-18-18
out of date fantasy lost me
Not really compelling or interesting take on alien interaction. characters all fell flat and acted with almost not consistency
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- M. Vanderhoven
- 04-15-24
Interesting story
The performance is excellent. The story itself is interesting. but the overly-detailed descriptions of "science-y" things gets tedious. If this were a print book, I would have set the it down and never come back to it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Warren
- 05-31-12
Enjoyable, Fast Listen
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I like science fiction that is just on the edge of being real. This whole story was very believable to me. After you are done, you pause and start to think what if ...I like those kind of stories.
What about Katherine Kellgren’s performance did you like?
The narration was well done. The narrator made it very easy and interesting to listen to.
Any additional comments?
Highly recommend it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JLM
- 04-13-13
Interesting Premise....a LIttle Sugary
What made the experience of listening to Factoring Humanity the most enjoyable?
So this seems to be typical for Sawyer, great idea, don't worry I won't spoil it here, but always ends up a little sugary sweet for me. The 'tension' in his books, and this one is typical of this, just doesn't quite 'wind up' enough for me. The resolution is somewhat 'easy'... Happy Happy joy joy... Maybe it's a Canadian thing, but I wish for a little more conflict and difficulty in resolution.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful