Winnipeg Arts Council

An Evening with Robert J. Sawyer (The Downloaded)

Acclaimed science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer returns to Winnipeg to discuss and sign his new novel, The Downloaded (Shadowpaw Press).

The event will be hosted live in the Atrium of McNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park and also available as a simultaneous YouTube stream.

In 2059 two very different groups have their minds uploaded into a quantum computer in Waterloo, Ontario. One group consists of astronauts preparing for Earth’s first interstellar voyage. The other? Convicted murderers, serving their sentences in a virtual-reality prison. But when the astronauts and prisoners download back into physical reality, they’re shocked to find that 500 years have passed, technological civilization has fallen, and the only other survivors are the members of the local Mennonite community.

Robert J. Sawyer has won both the Hugo and the Nebula Awards for best science-fiction novel of the year as well as more Canadian Aurora Awards than anyone else in history. The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name. Rob is a member of both the Order of Canada and the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. The Downloaded is his 25th novel, following such previous bestsellers as Quantum Night and The Oppenheimer Alternative.