Mindscan is the new science fiction novel by Robert J. Sawyer, the science fiction writer with the perfect url, www.sfwriter.com. In Mindscan, the year is 2045, and science has discovered a way to scan a copy of the human brain, then transfer it to an android body which looks like the original body of the patient. These scans are being marketed for elderly wealthy people who want to transfer their minds into new bodies before they die. However, the original mind is left in the original body. These orginals are sent to the far side of the moon to live out their natural lifespan. They must sign over all their rights and belongings to the new scans (the originals are called shed skins).
The central character is a man of 42 who has an inherited malfunction in his brain, which could cause his death at any time. He decides to have the mindscan performed, and is sent to the moon to live. A cure for his disease is found shortly after he arrives on the moon. A doctor is imported from Earth to perform surgery on him, and he is cured, albeit with some health problems. He decides then he wants to go back to Earth and take up his old life, which is prohibited, since the shed skins sign a contract never to return to Earth or contact anyone from their old lives.
Most of the novel is given over to the legal and moral problems presented when a shed skin wants to recover his old life. There is a jury trial, which is nicely portrayed. The arguments for both sides are spelled out in detail, which sounds boring, but is actually engrossing.
The trial and the arguments remind me of the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, and the movie made about it, Inherit the Wind, in 1960. The film stars Spencer Tracy and Fredric March, and is one of the finest legal films ever made. One of the finest films of any kind ever made.
Mindscan is a fine novel, well written, and an enthralling read. Sawyer is one of my favorite writers. This is one of his best. I highly recommend it.
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