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New Releases by Robert J. Sawyer

Robert J. Sawyer is the author of The Oppenheimer Alternative (2026), The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine (2026), L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 41 (2025), The Downloaded (2024), Boarding the Enterprise (2016).

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The Oppenheimer Alternative

release date: May 19, 2026
The Oppenheimer Alternative
"Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds," physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer famously exclaimed when the first atomic bomb exploded in 1945. His Manhattan Project gathered the greatest scientists ever assembled, including Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, Edward Teller, Leo Szilard, and Enrico Fermi. In this meticulously researched, fast-paced thriller, Sawyer keeps those geniuses together after the war in hopes of redeeming themselves and saving our planet from an environmental catastrophe. If they succeed, they will be able to declare, "Now we are become life, the saviors of the world." The Oppenheimer Alternativewill delight Sawyer''s traditional science-fiction fans as well as history buffs, those who enjoy scientific biographies, and mainstream readers. "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!"--Dr. Doug Beason, former Associate Laboratory Director, Los Alamos National Laboratory "Alternate history usually turns on the decisions of politicians and generals. Robert J. Sawyer has done 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, the organizer of the Manhattan Project.T hey 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, New York Times bestselling author of Dies The Fire

The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine

release date: May 19, 2026
The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine
"Ghosts in the Machine fulfills the promise of TheDownloadedthen 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 To see yourself as others see you 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. Robert J. Sawyer--"the dean of Canadian science fiction," according to the CBC, and a Globe and Mail, Maclean''s, and #1 Locus bestseller--has won the Hugo, Nebula, Aurora, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards for best science-fiction novel of the year. The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his novel of the same name. A member of the Order of Canada, he lives in Mississauga. "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

L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 41

release date: Apr 22, 2025
L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 41
Step into the extraordinary with L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 41--an anthology that promises the unexpected, the thought-provoking, and the unforgettable. Celebrating the best new voices in speculative fiction, this collection offers gripping tales of science fiction, fantasy, and beyond. Discover Distant Worlds Explore alien landscapes, futuristic technologies, and hidden realms. From time-traveling adventures to battles for survival in dystopian societies, these stories transport you far beyond the limits of imagination. Meet Extraordinary Heroes Follow protagonists who face impossible odds--from a young constable on a harsh alien frontier to a reclusive writer sharing a ride with a sentient car. These characters redefine courage, resilience, and what it means to be human. Experience Visual Wonder Every story is brought to life with breathtaking original illustrations. These commissioned works add depth, color, and vibrancy to the collection, making it a visual and literary masterpiece. Learn from the Legends Gain inspiration from essays by L. Ron Hubbard, Robert J. Sawyer, and Tom Wood, offering rare insights into storytelling and creative mastery. Discover Tomorrow?s Stars This volume continues the legacy of Writers of the Future, the competition that has launched myriad bestselling authors. These rising talents are reshaping speculative fiction as we know it. Whether you love heart-pounding action, thought-provoking ?what ifs,? or stories that blur the line between science and magic, Volume 41 is your gateway to new dimensions. With tales and illustrations that linger long after the final page, this anthology invites you to take the leap into worlds uncharted. Push Beyond the Ordinary. Explore the Extraordinary. Grab your copy of L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 41 and discover the next generation of visionary storytellers and artists.

The Downloaded

release date: May 07, 2024
The Downloaded
The new novel by Canada''s top Science Fiction writer In 2059 two very different groups have their minds uploaded into a quantum computer in Waterloo, Ontario. One group consists of astronauts preparing for Earth''s first interstellar voyage. The other? Convicted murderers, serving their sentences in a virtual-reality prison. But when disaster strikes, the astronauts and the prisoners must download back into physical reality and find a way to work together to save Earth from destruction. The Downloaded debuted in a six-month exclusive window as an Audible Original narrated by Academy Award-winner Brendan Fraser promoted by national TV and radio ad campaigns. This print edition is coming out immediately after Audible''s exclusivity ends and is being supported by a six-city cross-Canada author book tour.

Boarding the Enterprise

release date: May 17, 2016
Boarding the Enterprise
Rereleased for Star Trek: The Original Series '' 50th Anniversary, this in-depth analysis of the groundbreaking TV show features an updated introduction by Robert J. Sawyer and foreword by David Gerrold Trekkies and Trekkers alike will get starry-eyed over this eclectic mix of essays on the groundbreaking original Star Trek, one of the most culturally impactful TV shows of the last 50 years. Star Trek scriptwriters D. C. Fontana, David Gerrold, Norman Spinrad, and Howard Weinstein, science fiction writers including Allen Steele and Lawrence Watt-Evans, and various academics share behind-the-scenes anecdotes, discuss the show''s enduring appeal and influence, and examine some of the classic features of the series. Inside: Communications and media theorist Paul Levinson shows how the unprecedented success of the "seventy-nine jewels" in syndication changed the way we look at television forever. Star Trek writer D. C. Fontana remembers Gene Roddenberry and what it was like on the set and behind the scenes. Hugo Award–winning author Allen Steele explores the strong science fiction tradition that made the show so great. Cultural theorist Eric Greene details the show''s complex dialogue with the Vietnam War, highlighting the evolving stances on interventionist politics. Science fiction novelist DON Debrandt contends that the famously logical Spock isn''t quite as rational as Star Trek''s writers would have you believe. Scientist Robert A. Metzger proves that Scotty''s ability to lie makes him the most valuable member of the Enterprise crew. Fanfiction author Melissa Dickinson explains why we still feel compelled to write our own stories about Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the show''s memorable characters.

Quantum Night

release date: Mar 01, 2016
Quantum Night
LONGLISTED FOR CANADA READS 2017 2017 AURORA AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL Robert J. Sawyer has proven himself to be "a writer of boundless confidence and bold scientific extrapolation" (The New York Times). Now, the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author explores the thin line between good and evil that every human being is capable of crossing... Experimental psychologist Jim Marchuk has developed a flawless technique for identifying the previously undetected psychopaths lurking everywhere in society. But while being cross-examined about his breakthrough in court, Jim is shocked to discover that he has lost his memories of six months of his life from twenty years previously--a dark time during which he himself committed heinous acts. Jim is reunited with Kayla Huron, his forgotten girlfriend from his lost period and now a quantum physicist who has made a stunning discovery about the nature of human consciousness. As a rising tide of violence and hate sweeps across the globe, the psychologist and the physicist combine forces in a race against time to see if they can do the impossible--change human nature--before the entire world descends into darkness.

Red Planet Blues

release date: Mar 26, 2013
Red Planet Blues
Incorporating the Hugo & Nebula award–nominated novella “Identity Theft” The name’s Lomax—Alex Lomax. I’m the one and only private eye working the mean streets of New Klondike, the Martian frontier town that sprang up forty years ago after Simon Weingarten and Denny O’Reilly discovered fossils on the Red Planet. Back on Earth, where anything can be synthesized, the remains of alien life are the most valuable of all collectibles, so shiploads of desperate treasure hunters stampeded here in the Great Martian Fossil Rush. I’m trying to make an honest buck in a dishonest world, tracking down killers and kidnappers among the failed prospectors, the corrupt cops, and a growing population of transfers—lucky stiffs who, after striking paleontological gold, upload their minds into immortal android bodies. But when I uncover clues to solving the decades-old murders of Weingarten and O’Reilly, along with a journal that may lead to their legendary mother lode of Martian fossils, God only knows what I’ll dig up...

Spark

release date: Jan 01, 2013
Spark
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY FICTION (POST C 1945). A bold revival of the short story format, punctuated with classic and modern poetry forms, Spark: A Creative Anthology features the freshest work from a range of talented writers, from established professionals to newly-emerging authors and poets. Volume II continues the ambitious approach to contemporary English writing and solidifies Spark: A Creative Anthology as a noteworthy collection of great work.

Triggers

release date: Apr 03, 2012
Triggers
On the eve of a secret military operation, an assassin’s bullet strikes President Seth Jerrison. He is rushed to the hospital, where surgeons struggle to save his life—and where Professor Ranjip Singh is experimenting with a device that can erase traumatic memories. Then a terrorist bomb detonates. In the operating room, the president suffers cardiac arrest. He has a near-death experience—but the memories that flash through Jerrison’s mind are not his own. The electromagnetic pulse generated by the bomb amplified and scrambled Professor Singh’s equipment, allowing a random group of people to access one another’s minds. One of those people can retrieve the President Jerrison’s memories—including classified information regarding the upcoming military mission, which, if revealed, could cost countless lives. But the task of determining who has switched memories with whom is a daunting one—particularly when some of the people involved have reason to lie…

Wonder

release date: Mar 27, 2012
Wonder
The advent of Webmind—a vast consciousness that spontaneously emerged from the infrastructure of the World Wide Web—is changing everything. From curing cancer to easing international tensions, Webmind seems a boon to humanity. But Colonel Peyton Hume, the Pentagon’s top expert on artificial intelligence, is convinced Webmind is a threat. He turns to the hacker underground to help him bring Webmind down. But soon hackers start mysteriously vanishing. Is Webmind killing them before they can mount an attack? Caitlin Decter—the once-blind sixteen-year-old math genius who discovered Webmind—desperately tries to protect her friend. Can this new world of wonder survive, or will everything, Webmind included, come crashing down?

Illegal Alien

release date: Dec 27, 2011
Illegal Alien
When a disabled spaceship enters Earth''s atmosphere, seven members of the advanced Tosok race are welcomed by the world. Then a popular scientist is murdered, and all evidence points to one of the Tosoks. Now, an alien is tried in a court of law-and there may be far more at stake than accounting for one human life.

The Terminal Experiment

release date: Aug 30, 2011
The Terminal Experiment
Dr. Peter Hobson invents a machine that detects a brain pattern that leaves the body after death, a pattern many believe is a soul. In order to test their theories on immortality and life after death, Hobson and his friend Sarkar Muhammed create three electronic simulations of Hobson's own personality. When people Hobson had a grudge against begin to die, he and Sarkar must try to find out which is responsible. But all three simulations – two modified, one a "control" – escape Sarkar's computer, into the Internet and the World Wide Web. The book won the 1995 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1996. Sawyer received a writer's reserve grant from the Ontario Arts Council in 1993 in support of his writing the novel. Wikipedia

Watch

release date: Mar 01, 2011
Watch
Caitlin Decter could never have anticipated what was coming when she first sensed a strange presence on the internet. Webmind is an emerging consciousness that has befriended blind mathematics genius Caitlin Decter and has grown eager to learn about her world. But Webmind has also come to the attention of WATCH - the secret government agency that monitors the internet for any threat to the United States - and they''re fully aware of Caitlin''s involvement in its awakening. WATCH is convinced that Webmind represents a risk to national security and wants it purged from cyberspace. But Caitlin believes in Webmind''s capacity for compassion - and she will do anything and everything necessary to protect her friend.

WWW: Watch

release date: Apr 06, 2010
WWW: Watch
Award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer continues his "wildly though- provoking" science fiction saga of a sentient World Wide Web. Webmind is an emerging consciousness that has befriended Caitlin Decter and grown eager to learn about her world. But Webmind has also come to the attention of WATCH-the secret government agency that monitors the Internet for any threat to the United States-and they''re fully aware of Caitlin''s involvement in its awakening. WATCH is convinced that Webmind represents a risk to national security and wants it purged from cyberspace. But Caitlin believes in Webmind''s capacity for compassion-and she will do anything and everything necessary to protect her friend.

Wake

release date: Mar 30, 2010
Wake
Caitlin Decter is young, pretty, feisty, a genius at math—and blind. But, she can surf the Net with the best of them, following its complex paths in her mind. When a Japanese researcher develops a new signal-processing implant that might give her sight, she jumps at the chance, flying to Tokyo for the operation. But the visual cortex in Caitlin''s brain has long since adapted to allow her to navigate online. When the implant is activated, instead of seeing reality, she sees the landscape of the World Wide Web spreading out around her in a riot of colours and shapes. While exploring this amazing realm, she discovers something—some other—lurking in the background. And it''s getting smarter …

Identity Theft and Other Stories

release date: Jan 01, 2008
Identity Theft and Other Stories
This new collection by the man Anne McCaffrey calls "an absolutely marvelous writer" includes Hugo Award nominee "Shed Skin," Nebula Award nominee "Identity Theft," and Aurora Award winner "Ineluctable." In these pages, you''ll discover the dark secret of the only priest on Mars, revisit H.G. Wells''s Morlocks, and learn what really happens when aliens beam us the Encyclopedia Galactica.

Rollback

release date: Apr 03, 2007
Rollback
Sawyers Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novel explores morals and ethics on both human and cosmic scales. Likable characters facing big ethical dilemmas . . . [a] smoothly readable near-future SF novel.--"Publishers Weekly."

Far-Seer

release date: Apr 01, 2007
Far-Seer
The Face of God is what every young saurian learns to call the immense, glowing object which fills the night sky on the far side of the world. Young Afsan is privileged, called to the distant Capital City to apprentice with Saleed the court astrologer. Buth when the time comes for Afsan to make his coming-of-age pilgrimage, to gaze upon the Face of God, his world is changed forever- for what he sees will test his faith... and may save his world from disaster! At the publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Frameshift

release date: Oct 31, 2005
Frameshift
A scientist in Berkeley, California discovers that a series of murders is the work of an insurance company. After collecting information on the genes of policy holders, the company analyzed them to see which ones were a bad risk and proceeded to kill them. By the author of The Terminal Experiment.

Mindscan

release date: Mar 10, 2005
Mindscan
Hugo Award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer is back with Mindscan, a pulse-pounding, mind-expanding standalone novel, rich with his signature philosophical and ethical speculations, all grounded in cutting-edge science. Jake Sullivan has cheated death: he''s discarded his doomed biological body and copied his consciousness into an android form. The new Jake soon finds love, something that eluded him when he was encased in flesh: he falls for the android version of Karen, a woman rediscovering all the joys of life now that she''s no longer constrained by a worn-out body either. But suddenly Karen''s son sues her, claiming that by uploading into an immortal body, she has done him out of his inheritance. Even worse, 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 personhood. In the courtroom and on the lunar surface, the future of uploaded humanity hangs in the balance. Mindscan is vintage Sawyer -- a feast for the mind and the heart. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Fossil Hunter

release date: Mar 01, 2005
Fossil Hunter
Fossil Hunter is hard SF in the tradition of Larry Niven about a world inhabited by the Quintaglios, a dinosaurian species that has evolved a human level of intelligence and culture. Toroca, a Quintaglio geologist, is under attack for his controversial new theory of evolution. But the origins of his people turn out to be more complex than even he imagined, for he soon discovers the wreckage of an ancient starship -- a relic of the aliens who transplanted Earth''s dinosaurs to this solar system. Now, Toroca must convince Emperor Dybo that evolution is true; otherwise, the territorial violence the Quintaglios inherited from their tyrannosaur ancestors will destroy the last survivors of Earth''s prehistoric past. At the publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Relativity

release date: Jan 01, 2004
Relativity
Relativity is the first American collection by Hugo and Nebula Award winning author Robert J. Sawyer. It includes stories, essays, articles and speeches by Sawyer, as well as an introduction by Mike Resnick, an afterword and crossword puzzle by Valerie Broege and cover art by Jael.

Factoring Humanity

release date: Nov 21, 2003
Factoring Humanity
A twenty-first-century scientist sacrifices her family life to decipher the strange signals coming from interstellar space, messages that show her how to build an extraordinary machine that allows one to travel via the mind.

Hybrids

release date: Sep 01, 2003
Hybrids
Human geneticist Mary Vaughan and Neanderthal physicist Ponter Boddit struggle to make their relationship work and conceive a hybrid child, while Mary''s Earth faces disaster and her boss plots against the Neanderthal world.

Humans

release date: Feb 22, 2003
Humans
Neanderthal physicist Ponder Boddit resumes his relationship with geneticist Mary Vaughn as cultural and scientific exchanges begin between the two parallel Earths--our own, and one in which Neanderthals became the dominant species.

Hominids

release date: May 03, 2002
Hominids
From back cover Tor paperback February 2003: *Hominids* examines two unique species of people. *We* are one of those species; the other is the Neanderthals of a parallel world where *they* became the dominant intelligence. The Neanderthal civilization has reached heights of culture and science comparable to our own, but with radically different history, society and philosophy. Ponter Boddit, a Neanderthal physicist, accidentally pierces the barrier between worlds and is transferred to our universe. Almost immediately recognized as a Neanderthal, but only much later as a scientist, he is quarantined and studied, alone and bewildered, a stranger in a strange land. But Ponter is also befriended -- by a doctor and a physicist who share his questing intelligence, and especially by Canadian geneticist Mary Vaughan, a woman with whom he develops a special rapport. Ponter's partner, Adikor Huld, finds himself with a messy lab, a missing body, suspicious people all around and an explosive murder trial. How can he possibly prove his innocence when he has no idea what actually happened to Ponter?

Calculating God

release date: Jul 15, 2001
Calculating God
In the near future, an alien craft lands outside the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. A six-legged, two-armed alien named Hollus relates to paleontologist Tom Jericho that the Earth, Hollus''s home planet, and the planet of another alien species all experienced the same five cataclysmic events that prove the existence of God.

Flashforward

release date: Apr 15, 2000
Flashforward
Robert J. Sawyer's award-winning science fiction has garnered both popular and critical acclaim. The New York Times Book Review called Frameshift "filled to bursting with ideas, characters and incidents". His novels are fixtures on the Hugo and Nebula ballots. Sawyer now brings us Flashforward, the story of a world-shattering discovery. In pursuit of an elusive nuclear particle, an experiment goes incredibly awry, and, for a few moments, the consciousness of the entire human race is thrown ahead by about twenty years. As the implications truly hit home, the pressure to repeat the experiment builds. Everyone wants a glimpse of their future, a chance to flashforward and see their successes ... or learn how to avoid their failures. Winner of the Aurora Award and the basis for the hit ABC television series

Starplex

release date: Jan 01, 1996
Starplex
The acclaimed author of "Far-Seer" and "End of an Era" embarks on a fantastic journey. A series of mysterious, artificial wormholes have brought the far reaches of space immediately close. But is the Earth ready for who--or what--the wormholes may bring?
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