My Brother's Keeper

by Charles Sheffield, Gary Ruddell

TIME-SHARING TWINS

Lionel Salkind was a rising musical star. His twin brother, Leo Foss, was a researcher in government work that he couldn't talk about. Then the helicopter they were flying crashed.

When he woke up, Lionel learned that both he and Leo had sustained fatal injuries, and he was only alive because the surgeon had used organs from Leo to repair Lionel's slightly less damaged body. More than half of Lionel's brain was gone, and had been replaced with Leo's. Lionel, in fact, had become "His Brother's Keeper!"

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Charles A. Sheffield (June 25, 1935 – November 2, 2002), was an English-born mathematician, physicist and science fiction author. He had been a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronomical Society.

His novel The Web Between the Worlds, featuring the construction of a space elevator, was published almost simultaneously with Arthur C. Clarke's novel about that very same subject, The Fountains of Paradise, a coincidence that amused them both.

For some years he was the chief scientist of Earth Satellite Corporation, a company analysing remote sensing satellite data. This resulted in many technical papers and two popular non-fiction books, Earthwatch and Man on Earth, both collections of false colour and enhanced images of Earth from space.

He won the Nebula and Hugo awards for his novelette "Georgia on My Mind" and the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for his novel Brother to Dragons.

Sheffield was Toastmaster at BucConeer, the 1998 World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore.

He had been writing a column for the Baen Books web site; his last column concerned the discovery of the brain tumour that led to his death.

He was married to writer Nancy Kress.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is a science fictional spy-suspense thriller that's quite different from Sheffield's other, better known works. (He once said it was more inspired by Dick Francis than by traditional science.) It's a near-future story involving an advanced medical procedure that causes a twin to inherit memory that isn't his... which leads him to an unfinished job he must see to completion. Good, page-turning stuff.

[Jordan Bethea · Rating 3 out of 5]

It says it's sci-fi and has an alien planet on the cover, but really it's the 1980's with a couple extra scientific advances, and the story is more of a crime thriller. The premise is fairly interesting, with two brothers in an accident and having to combine their brains to keep them alive - but the execution doesn't feel like it lives up to it. The following of clues doesn't feel much different than lots of other thrillers, and the actual plot involved is little explained until the very end. The protagonist also seems to constantly make bad decisions that other people end up paying for, and has to rush into things for no great reason. It's not a super compelling character or plot beyond the basics.

[Alien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lionel trifft seinen Zwillingsbruder wieder, der einen geheimen Regierungsjob ausübt. Und offenbar ist er in Gefahr. Da geraten sie in einen Helikopterunfall, bei dem beide so starke Verletzungen davontragen, dass sie keine Überlebenschance haben. Ein mutiger Chirurg versucht eine gewagte Operation.

Es klingt etwas reißerisch, aber eine ganze Weile funktionierte dieser Science-Thriller für mich ganz gut. Dann kamen ein paar fragwürdige Ideen und ein paar abgegriffene Action-Elemente. Und der Schluss ... naja. Es ist ein ziemliches Durcheinander mit zuvielen Ideen.
Die recht schwache Durchschnittswertung hier bei goodreads ist also erklärbar, wegen des guten Anfangs gebe ich aber doch 3 Sterne.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual book from Sheffield. The SF element is important, but this is mainly a thriller. The protagonist (Lionel) and his twin brother (Leo) are critically injured in a crash. A brillaint and eccentric surgeon saves both, in a sense, by cobbling together a single body and brain. The dominant personality is Lionel because Leo's part of the brain is still healing. Lionel begins to realize that his brother was involved in international drug trafficking, perhaps as an agent for the USA (Leo was raised in America, but Lionel was raised in England). Soon Lionel is pursued by drug dealers, but his brother instincts and training manifest and save him. Lionel decides to get to the bottom of his brother's affairs and his travels lead to India and Saudi Arabia. He soon learns that his brother led a very interesting life... An engaging book, but then I don't generally read thrillers. I would have rated it 3.5 stars if possible.

[Luke_Archer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baits SF readers with the cover only for the most advanced “science” present to be stitching a guy together with his brother, and pedophile pills.

[Ralph McEwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

More mystery / Thriller then SciFi but still a very good novel.

[Brett]

Science Fiction

[Maddalenah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Il libro meno bello che ho letto di Sheffield. A parte un paio di idee molto interessanti, come le Nymphs, avrei anche potuto evitarlo.

[Jossalyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

picked this up because I liked Web so much; can't decide if I like this one better.

[Tom Coe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, not my favorite sheffield. different from his other writing.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Near future (written in 1980, set in 2000) science fiction spy thriller.