Identity Theft (and Other Stories) - Robert J Sawyer

Sawyer revisits some of his usual, but by no means travel-worn themes in this collection of short stories 1989 to the present, and his writing is as compelling and lucid as in his novels, albeit abbreviated. The titular story is a detective story that touches on identity and the rights of the individual; in other stories he looks at the conflict between rationality and faith; race and change; an initial exploration of the themes later visited as a novel; a (somewhat disappointing, I thought) riff on the Wells SF classic The Time Machine; the perils of assuming all creatures think in the same way; the negative aspects of scientific and technological advances; and others. Unfortunately I read this some time and had the more pressing task of reviewing library books before they were due back, leaving me with only sketchy but pleasant memories.