Mindscan

This novel is set in 2045, at a time when it has become possible to scan and store one's brain into a new, virtually indestructible android body.

Jake Sullivan has a hereditary, potentially terminal disease. He lives his life in a state of utmost care so as not to trigger it, and knows that he, like his father, will probably die a young man. So when he hears about a new process, called mindscanning, he is intrigued. Immortex claims to be able to make a scan of your brain and duplicate your mind in an artificial body. The new body, the new you, will become the primary you, while the old you will live out the rest of your days in a luxury resort on the moon. The process, however, results in two Jake Sullivans. Flesh-and-blood Jake must renounce all ties to his earthly existence and live out the rest of his days in a deluxe retirement village on the dark side of the moon.

As a mindscan, Jake can finally face a future without the fear of imminent death. And he finds love with another mindscan, Karen.

But things begin to get complicated when Karen’s son sues for his inheritance, claiming that the mindscan is not his mother, his mother is actually dead, and he and his children are entitled to inherit. Now, the future of mindscans’ rights is on the line, as the question is raised: what does it mean to be a human being? To be an individual? What is it that makes us who we are?

The original version of Jake, consigned to die on the far side of the moon, has taken hostages there, demanding the return of his rights of person-hood. In the courtroom and on the lunar surface, the future of uploaded humanity hangs in the balance.

Mindscan speculates on the ethics of bio-technology, the nature of consciousness, and the meaning of life. In Sawyer's future socially liberal Canada contrasts sharply with the fundamental Christian-controlled USA.

This is a really good book. I loved it. Once I picked it up and got into the story I did not want to put it down. It was so good.