Robert J. Sawyer

Oppie gets a glow up!

Rob — Sun, 03 May 2026 18:19:37 +0000

Announcing a beautiful new edition of my The Oppenheimer Alternative

I honestly think The Oppenheimer Alternative is the best of my 26 novels, and, back in 2020, we were all set to launch it in a big way. We had a spectacular venue for the launch party: Toronto’s Prehistoria Museum, the only place in the city where you can buy real Trinitite from the initial atomic-bomb test.

And we had a book tour lined up across Canada and with major stops in the US (including an American launch at the New Mexico Air and Space Museum).

And then — boom! COVID-19 hit, everyone went into lockdown, and all of that was canceled.

Still, the book got fabulous reviews, and it hit #1 on the best-sellers list published by Locus, the American trade journal of the SF&F fields.

It’s rare in life that you get a second chance, but when the sales force for LitDistCo, the distribution arm of Canada’s Literary Press Group, was presenting my new novel The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine to the buyer for Chapters/Indigo, Canada’s largest bookstore chain, they mentioned that in addition to that novel, Shadowpaw Press in Regina had picked up rights to The Oppenheimer Alternative, as well.

And, to the sales force’s delight — and mine! — the buyer said it was too bad The Oppenheimer Alternative had come out when no one was going to bookstores, because it’s a terrific novel. And so he made an offer we couldn’t refuse: put a cover he liked on the book, and he’d stock it in May 2026 for Canada’s largest bookstore chain as if it were a brand-new Robert J. Sawyer title.

More: the buyer took it upon himself to search online for all the various covers the book had already had in Canadian, US, and overseas editions, and he said he liked best the one my Hungarian publisher, Metropolis Media, had used. Shadowpaw Press quickly made a deal with them to repurpose the fabulous art and cover typography by Balázs Varga.

Just one more thing, though: Shadowpaw Press likes their books to be 5.5×8.5 inches. The previous English publishers had preferred a 6×9 trim size. And so the great Alisha Souillet of Bibliofic Designs — the very person to whom The Oppenheimer Alternative is dedicated — re-did the typesetting from scratch.

And, of course, no matter how hard authors, editors, and publishers work, no book comes to market without a few typos, and so I took the chance to correct those in this edition.

The new edition of The Oppenheimer Alternative comes out Tuesday, May 19 — the same day as my latest novel, The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine. But they’re both available for pre-order now.

You can get the new edition from Chapters and Indigo in Canada, Barnes & Noble in the US, Amazon Canada and Amazon US, and all of my May 2026 book-tour partners, or you can simply have your favourite local bookstore order it (just give them the ISBN for this edition, which is 978-1-998273-57-7).

The Oppenheimer Alternative
by Robert J. Sawyer
Shadowpaw Press
(Distributed by LitDistCo)
ISBN 978-1-998273-57-7
Trade paperback: US$19.99 / Cdn$26.99

Buying links:

Some reviews:

“An imaginative restructuring of a phantasmagoric life into an alternative phantasmagorical story. Oppenheimer fans will be intrigued.” —Martin J. Sherwin, co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the basis for Christopher Nolan’s movie Oppenheimer
“If you enjoyed the Oppenheimer movie, Sawyer’s The Oppenheimer Alternative is a must-read.” —Ottawa Review of Books
“I loved it! I know the history of this period well and I’m one or two degrees of separation from many of these people. Sawyer’s portrayals ring true to me.” —Lee Smolin, bestselling author of The Trouble with Physics
“Incredibly realistic: the characters, locations, the era, and even the science. I felt like I was back in Los Alamos — and I should know: I worked there! Breathlessly riveting; Sawyer pulls it off masterfully.” —Doug Beason, former Associate Laboratory Director, Los Alamos National Laboratory
“My favorite Sawyer book of all; the extrapolation is as brilliant as the history.” —Amazing Stories
“Sawyer does a magnificent job. Every individual pops right off the page. The whole book is rich in emotional depth.” —Locus
“Impressive use of scientific and historical detail and Sawyer’s characterization of the man himself pull back the layers of Oppenheimer’s morals, genius, and grief. Science fiction fans will devour this smart speculative tale.” —Publishers Weekly
“A truly science fictional work of alternate history which turns on the decisions — and discoveries — of the great physicists who wrote the history of the 20th century: Einstein, Fermi, Gödel, and Oppenheimer. They are the vividly realized, all-too-human characters who people this novel, and give its brilliant speculations human life and blood. I read this book at a gulp, and you should too — now I’m going to go read it again. Bravo!” —S.M. Stirling
“This book has everything a reader wants from Sawyer: well-drawn alternate history, rigorous SF thriller, social commentary, redemption narrative. Well worth reading.” —Analog Science Fiction & Fact
“The feel and detail of the Manhattan Project figures is deep and well done. I knew many of these physicists, and Sawyer nails them accurately.” —Gregory Benford, author of The Berlin Project and Edward Teller’s graduate student
“Hugo and Nebula award-winning author Robert J Sawyer balances effortless prose with extensive research to create a novel so well-crafted that the lines between reality and alternate reality blur. Combining a whole lot of science with a whole lot of speculation, The Oppenheimer Alternative succeeds as an amazing border-hopper between the reality of science and the boundless imagination. It’s the perfect addition to hard science fiction collections.” —Aurealis
“I enjoyed it tremendously! Really great, a page turner. I was hooked from the beginning to the end. Another fine addition to the Sawyer canon!” —Andre Bormanis, producer, The Orville and Cosmos
“An expert and engrossing knitting of the threads of history; a compulsive fictional narrative.” —Jem Rolls, author of the play The Inventor of All Things about Leo Szilard
“Sawyer portrays brilliantly and poignantly the struggles of the scientists who started it all and were consequently obliged to bear an unbearable burden.” —James Christie, Chair, Project Ploughshares
“You can call this alternate history or alternate astrophysics (or both). Whatever term you choose, it’s a terrific story.” —Eric Flint
“One of the most ambitious books I’ve come across. I can’t imagine the amount of research that went into giving each character a believable voice and personality, but this is Robert J. Sawyer so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. It reminded me of the play Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, with more thrills, cool rockets, and a doomsday scenario to boot.” —Sylvain Neuvel at Tor.com (Reactor)
“A novel as expansive as the physics (and physicists) under whose watch the original Project Orion was launched.” —George Dyson, author of Project Orion: The Atomic Spaceships 1957-1965
“A realistic and intriguing look at Oppenheimer and his work.” —Booklist
“Sawyer has outdone himself! No one could have taken on this project with such gusto and with such a search for the truth as this outstanding author. I’ve never read such a complete and thrilling account of Oppenheimer’s world.” —Jonas Saul

Pre-order The Downloaded 2!

Rob — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 09:17:11 +0000

Announcing my 26th novel! Just three weeks from now, The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine comes out in print and ebook editions — and you can pre-order them now (and pre-orders do help me!).

You can order autographed copies directly from me, or get one during my cross-Canada book tour in Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Kitchener, and St. John.

THE DOWNLOADED 2: GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE

As an asteroid is about to slam into Earth, ex-convict Roscoe Koudoulian along with Captain Letitia Garvey and her starship crew re-upload their consciousnesses into cyberspace. In that digital realm, Roscoe is confronted by someone he left for dead centuries ago, and the astronauts face younger versions of themselves — ghosts in the machine — whose continued existence could destroy the last survivors of the human race.

“Underneath the sci-fi and the technology, this is a story about love and loss and second chances, about people trying to reconnect, no matter how fantastic it may seem, across time and space.”

—Academy Award-winner Brendan Fraser

“In the provocative and compelling follow-up to The Downloaded, Robert J. Sawyer tackles meaty questions of identity, embodiment, and technology. Written with wit, empathy, and an incisive analysis of the ethical questions posed by emergent technologies, this page-turner will keep you thinking long after you’ve closed the book

—Rachel A. Rosen, author of Cascade

“An excellent sequel. Only science fiction can pose such fascinating questions, and only Robert J. Sawyer can ask them in such a human — and humane — way.”

—James Kerwin, director of Yesterday Was a Lie

“Ghosts in the Machine fulfills the promise of the first Downloaded then kicks it up a dozen notches: twists and turns, romance and tragedy, the end of our world and the start of several new ones. I couldn’t stop reading

—James Alan Gardner, author of Commitment Hour

BUYING LINKS

EBOOK:

TRADE PAPERBACK:

Autographed copies directly from me:

My eBay Store (and send your personalization request to carolynclink@yahoo.ca)

Trade paperbacks from my Book Tour partners:

Online Retailers and Brick-and-Mortar:

BOOK TOUR

Book launch for The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine
Prehistoria Museum & SkullStore Oddity Shop
333 Yonge St #2, Toronto, Ontario
(One-half block north of Dundas on the west side of Yonge on the second floor)
Saturday, May 23, 2026, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
More info
Joint book launch with Finnian Burnett
NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE!
Calgary Public Library Memorial Park Library Branch in the Alexander Calhoun Salon
1221 2 St SW, Calgary, Alberta
Monday, May 25, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.
(I’ll be launching The Downloaded 2 and Finnian will be launching their excellent Star Trek-inspired flash-fiction collection Redshirts Sometimes Survive)
Free tickets on Eventbrite
Audreys Books
10702 Jasper Ave, Edmonton, Alberta
Tuesday, May 26, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.
More info
McNally Robinson (Grant Park)
4000-1120 Grant Ave, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.
More info
Kitchener Public Library Central Branch
85 Queen Street North, Kitchener, Ontario
Thursday, May 28, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.
More info
Keynote Speaker
WordSpring 2026
St. John, New Brunswick
May 29-31, 2026
More info

Many thanks, my friend! Live long and prosper!

30th anniversary of winning the Nebula

Rob — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 13:45:31 +0000

Thirty years ago tonight, on April 27, 1996, my life changed forever. Aboard the Queen Mary at Long Beach, California, Sheila Finch presented me with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s Nebula Award for best novel of the year, for The Terminal Experiment.

As my editor John Douglas said at the afterparty, “You’ve gone overnight from being a promising newcomer to an established, bankable name.”

The gorgeous trophy was designed and built by William Rotsler. The large sphere is actually the Jupiter-like Face of God from my novel Far-Seer; the Quintaglio home world is orbiting close to it off at right.

William Rotsler was doing Nebula trophy designs based on the author’s work back then. He also did a great one for Greg Bear‘s Moving Mars (red sandstone sphere for Mars), which won the year before I did, and Nicola Griffith‘s Slow River, which won the year after (lapidary stones having sunk to the bottom).

Nebula Awards always have the spiral galaxy at the top.

The full list of nominees for Best Novel of 1995:

Mother of Storms by John Barnes
Beggars and Choosers by Nancy Kress
Celestis by Paul Park
The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer
Metropolitan by Walter Jon Williams
Calde of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe

And here’s the press release about my win from all those years ago.

R.I.P., Terence M. Green

Rob — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 03:38:09 +0000

I’m in tears right now. Terence M. Green passed away yesterday at 77 after a long battle with cancer. Terry was my mentor and, for 43 years, since 1982, one of my very best friends.

Terry was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for his novels Shadow of Ashland (1997) and A Witness to Life (2000). His short fiction appeared in Asimov’s, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and elsewhere, and was collected in The Woman Who Is The Midnight Wind (1987). I had the great privilege of publishing his novel Sailing Time’s Ocean under my Robert J. Sawyer Books imprint for Red Deer Press.

A celebration of Terry’s life will be held Saturday, January 3, 2026, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Local, a pub in Leaside (180 Laird Drive, East York, Toronto). Per his wishes, there will be no service.

Terry is survived by his wife Merle Casci and sons Connor, Owen, and Daniel. My 1997 novel Frameshift is dedicated to Terry and Merle.

Here’s an interview I did with Terry in 1992 for the newsletter of the Toronto International Festival of Authors: https://sfwriter.com/green.htm

And here’s an interview i did with him in 1988 for Books in Canada magazine: https://sfwriter.com/greenbic.htm

And here’s Terry’s own 10,000-word autobiography first published in Contemporary Authors and reprinted in The New York Review of Science Fiction: http://tmgreen.com/autobiog.html

Pictured: me and Terry at Carolyn and my place in 2016.

New ebook edition of ROLLBACK

Rob — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:29:22 +0000

New ebook edition of my Hugo Award-nominated ROLLBACK in all markets worldwide! Wonderful new cover by Bibliofic Designs.

“Rollback gets my vote as SF novel of the year. A joy to read.” —Jack McDevitt

Canadian radio astronomer Dr. Sarah Halifax decoded the first-ever transmission received from aliens. Thirty-eight years later, a second message is received—and Sarah, now 87, may hold the key to deciphering this one, too … if she lives long enough.
A tech billionaire offers to pay for Sarah to have a rollback—a hugely expensive experimental rejuvenation procedure. She accepts on condition that Don, her husband of sixty years, gets a rollback, too. The process works for him, but it fails for her.
While Don tries to deal with the suddenly vast age gap between himself and his wife, Sarah struggles to do again what she’d done once before: decode a signal from the very stars.

• Hugo Award finalist

• John W. Campbell Memorial Award finalist

• Aurora Award Finalist

• A Main Selection of the Science Fiction Book Club

• One of the American Library Association’s Top-Ten SF Novels of the Year

“Canadian author Sawyer once again presents likable characters facing big ethical dilemmas in this smoothly readable near-future SF novel. Sawyer, who has won Hugo and Nebula awards, may well win another major SF award with this superior effort.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review, denoting a work of exceptional merit)

“Above all, the author’s characters bear their human strengths and weaknesses with dignity and poise. An elegantly told story for all libraries; highly recommended.” —Library Journal (starred review, denoting a work of exceptional merit)

“Thoroughly entertaining (and accessible) science fiction. One of those books you can’t put down … truly engrossing human drama. A great springboard for philosophical discussions on morality and ethics, man’s place in the universe, and more; there are several stop-and-think moments. All through this, Sawyer gives us characters that are totally realistic. The kind of book that can attract a wide audience: it’s got mainstream appeal but is also a great read for fans of thought-provoking science fiction” —SF Signal

“While Rollback is, on the surface, a book about reaching out to those across the universe, it is at its heart an investigation of our very humanity, and how relationships are a fundamental key to defining who we are. Sawyer’s crisp and accessible writing style allows for this interweaving of the personal and the scientific. The characters feel real, and their emotions and responses genuine. Beyond the SF trappings, this is a story about love and commitment, about humanity at its most basic — a novel to be savoured by science-fiction and mainstream readers alike.” —The Globe and Mail

“Robert J. Sawyer has a way of taking familiar ideas, looking at them from new angles and in greater depth than almost anybody before him, and tying them together to create extraordinarily fresh and thought-provoking stories. Rollback is a thoroughly engaging story, with some of the most memorable people you’ll ever meet.” —Analog Science Fiction and Fact

Robert J. Sawyer is a member of the Order of Canada. He has won the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Robert A. Heinlein Award, the Hal Clement Award, the John W. Campbell and E.E. “Doc” Smith Memorial Awards, an Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada, and a record-setting seventeen Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards (Auroras). He lives near Toronto.

Buying Links:

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G3B13Q8F
Kindle Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0G3B13Q8F
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3B13Q8F
Kindle Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0G3B13Q8F
Kobo: https://kobo.com/en/ebook/rollback-10
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rollback-robert-j-sawyer/1100358499
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/rollback/id6755450614

Launch day: The Downloaded 2

Rob — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 16:55:56 +0000

Today’s the day! My twenty-sixth novel The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine just had its worldwide debut as an audiobook on Audible. As with the original The Downloaded, the lead narrator is Academy Award-winner Brendan Fraser.

If your Audible account includes Plus Catalog, then The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine is free — no need to use up an Audible credit (otherwise, it’s one credit):

And in other Audible markets worldwide!

Advance praise for The Downloaded 2

“Ghosts in the Machine fulfills the promise of the first Downloaded then kicks it up a dozen notches: twists and turns, romance and tragedy, the end of our world and the start of several new ones. I couldn’t stop reading!” —James Alan Gardner, Theodore Sturgeon Award-winning author of Commitment Hour
“Speculative fiction at its very best, at once ferociously brilliant and heartbreakingly human with moments of absolutely delightful humor — a story of real people across the diverse spectrum of lived experiences navigating life in a strange, sometimes terrifying new world. The sharp plot twists combined with the genuine character relationships made it impossible to stop reading.” —Finnian Burnett, author of Redshirts Sometimes Survive

25th-anniversary editions of Calculating God

Rob — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 19:00:26 +0000

My Calculating God, the beloved Hugo Award-nominated novel about the conflict between science and religion — perfect for fans of Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow and Carl Sagan’s Contact — has a new 25th-anniversary edition (in hardcover, trade paperback, and ebook!) with spectacular new cover art by Lui Junwei.

An alien walks into Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum and asks to see a paleontologist. Dinosaur expert Tom Jericho is stunned to learn that many worlds experienced the same five great mass extinction events as Earth did, and that the aliens believe this proves God tampers with the evolution of life. As Tom faces his own mortality, will his life-long atheism be shaken by these revelations?

Praise for Calculating God:

“Spectacular; this is unusually thoughtful SF.” —Publishers Weekly
“The premise is astounding. A fine read; an intellectual thriller with real bite.” —Edmonton Journal
“The best science fiction novel of the year.” —Denver Rocky Mountain News
“An engrossing and nuanced novel, full of food for thought and meat for meditation, the sort of epistemological gavotte that reminds us why God invented science fiction in the first place.” —James Morrow, author of Towing Jehovah
“Sawyer ends with grandeur worthy of Arthur C. Clarke.” —The Denver Post
“An action-packed yet highly philosophical, theological, and ethical story. Well-melded into the fast-paced plot, a wonderful dialogue goes on over the God question and over right, wrong, and the purpose of life. It’s guaranteed to expand the minds of believers and non-believers alike.” —Tom Harpur in The Toronto Star
“Sawyer once again demonstrates his wild talent for innovative, iconoclastic storytelling as he relates a thought-provoking, sobering, yet wryly compassionate tale of one man’s discovery of timelessness even as his own time is running out.” —Library Journal
“Exciting and emotional. Sawyer smoothly combines ethical questions and comical dialogue in a highly absorbing tale.” —Booklist
“Calculating God is the most captivating work of science fiction I’ve read since Carl Sagan’s Contact.” —Victoria Times Colonist

Calculating God buying links:

Hardcover:

Trade Paperback:

eBook:

Happy 5th birthday, Oppie!

Rob — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 19:14:19 +0000

Five years ago today, my novel The Oppenheimer Alternative was officially published. I think it’s my finest book. It’s available in print, as an ebook, and as an audiobook — and you can get autographed copies directly from me.

Buying links for all formats worldwide: https://sfwriter.com/buylinks.htm#oa

Although marketed as an alternate-history science-fiction novel, I prefer to think of The Oppenheimer Alternative as the secret history of the Manhattan Project, filling in the untold story of the mystery that J. Robert Oppenheimer himself alluded to but never explained. Oppnehemer really did say, “There is a story behind my story. If a reporter digs deep enough he will find that it is a bigger story than my [security-clearance] suspension.” In The Oppenheimer Alternative, you learn just what that world-spanning secret is.

I wrote The Oppenheimer Alternative before Christopher Nolan announced his movie Oppenheimer, and, unlike that film, my novel vividly includes the full rich cast of characters involved with the Manhattan Project: not just Oppenheimer, but Edward Teller, Leo Szilard, Richard Feynman, Enrico Fermi, Kurt Gödel, Freeman Dyson, Hans Bethe, and Albert Einstein. As a novelist, I couldn’t have asked for more colorful characters to write about.

Praise for The Oppenheimer Alternative

“Extremely well researched and very accurate scientifically; a great book for anyone interested in Oppenheimer.” —Mark Wolverton, bestselling author of A Life in Twilight: The Final Years of J. Robert Oppenheimer

“An imaginative restructuring of a phantasmagoric life into an alternative phantasmagorical story. Oppenheimer fans will be intrigued.” —Martin J. Sherwin, co-author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the basis for Christopher Nolan’s movie Oppenheimer

“My favorite Sawyer book of all; the extrapolation is as brilliant as the history. An extremely clever science-fictional tale that grows naturally out of the research done by extremely smart people on the way to the development of the atomic age. They will live for you after you are done reading this book; this is what they were really like. A solid award contender!” —Steve Fahnestalk in Amazing Stories

“Sawyer does a magnificent job. Every individual pops right off the page, fully integrated both into their era and amongst themselves. The whole book is rich in emotional depth. This fine novel makes explicit its relevance to the present.” —Locus

“I loved it! I know the history of this period well and I’m one or two degrees of separation from many of these people. Sawyer’s portrayals ring true to me. Getting to read this early was a treat!” —Lee Smolin, bestselling author of The Trouble with Physics

“You can call this alternate history or alternate astrophysics (or both). Whatever term you choose, it’s a terrific story.” —Eric Flint, author of 1632

“Impressive use of scientific and historical detail and Sawyer’s characterization of the man himself pull back the layers of Oppenheimer’s morals, genius, and grief. Science fiction fans will devour this smart speculative tale.” —Publishers Weekly

Buying links for all formats worldwide: https://sfwriter.com/buylinks.htm#oa

Protect your genetic information!

Rob — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 22:31:56 +0000

Way back in 1997, in my Hugo Award-nominated and Seiun Award-winning novel Frameshift, I warned about US health insurance companies using nefarious means to acquire genetic profiles of potential clients.

Today, Carolyn and I had 23andMe delete our genetic data; the gene-sequencing company is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and there’s a real likelihood that an insurance company, or consortium of them, will acquire 23andMe specifically for its data as a way of screening potential clients.

Frameshift was originally published by Tor. Here are buying links for the current trade paperback and ebook editions worldwide: https://sfwriter.com/buylinks.htm#fr

Library Journal: “A gripping medical SF thriller. Highly recommended.” (Included on Library Journal‘s list of the five best SF novels of 1997.)

The Calgary Herald: “A finely crafted novel with a riveting plot and complex characters, deftly exploring issues of bio-ethics and moral philosophy.”

Barnes and Noble’s Explorations: “This book should be a major novel for a larger audience than the one which visits the science fiction section: a moving, exciting, touching, suspense-laden wonder. I cannot recommend it more highly. Sawyer has my vote for the next Nebula and Hugo awards.”

New print editions of Quantum Night

Rob — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 16:22:20 +0000

My 2016 Aurora Award-winning novel Quantum Night tells of a psychopathic US president using a trumped-up (ha!) excuse to invade Canada.

“Uncomfortably close to present-day fears.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review denoting a book of exceptional merit)

“Sawyer’s most blatantly Canadian book, an almost forensic examination of the cultural and political differences between Canada and its neighbor. Another thought-provoking and tense novel from a master science fiction writer.“ —Sci-Fi Bulletin

The new print editions have lovely interiors and covers designed by Bibliofic Designs.

Worldwide buying links:

https://sfwriter.com/buylinks.htm#qn