Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Rollback

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 · rating details · 1,662 ratings · 195 reviews

Dr. Sarah Halifax decoded the first-ever radio 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 wealthy industrialist offers to pay for Sarah to have a rollback--a hugely expensive experimental rejuvenation procedure. She accepts on c

...more

Hardcover, 313 pages

Published April 3rd 2007 by Tor Books

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Science Fiction of the 21st Century

81st out of 205 books — 1,331 voters

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Best Books of 2007

182nd out of 440 books — 518 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 2,477)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Mar 29, 2009 Ceridwen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, shit-show, o-canada

So, this book was like going a second date with someone, even though the first date wasn't that great. I mean, he was kind of a tool, but not so much of a tool that it send me scrambling out the bathroom window before the entrees arrived. He clearly flosses, but it's hard to say whether that's a good thing or not. Not that I kissed him, because he might yet reveal he's super into Ayn Rand or just took a seminar on Pyramid Power.

Anyway, here we are on the second date, and it turns out that he's...more So, this book was like going a second date with someone, even though the first date wasn't that great. I mean, he was kind of a tool, but not so much of a tool that it send me scrambling out the bathroom window before the entrees arrived. He clearly flosses, but it's hard to say whether that's a good thing or not. Not that I kissed him, because he might yet reveal he's super into Ayn Rand or just took a seminar on Pyramid Power.

Anyway, here we are on the second date, and it turns out that he's still the same middle-aged Canadian schlub that he was on the first date, only now the power and the glory of his middle-agedness and his Canadianity has worn off. How is it that this writer has won like every single award known to the scifi world, some of them several times over? Was it a slow decade? Did he bribe the voters with platters of poutine and six-packs of Molson? (mmm, poutine...)

This is the kind of scifi that is really about the ideas, like Silverberg or Asimov. It's old-school, high-concept, and tends to be essayish, with characters having discussions rather than letting actions illustrate the central argument. He clearly has an encyclopedic knowledge of the contributions Canadians have made to science and society. (Mr Rogers started his show on the CBC? Well, knock me over with a feather.) Saywer delivers some fairly interesting asides about, say, the relative merits of Sagan's novel Contact versus the film version. He then tackles the really important questions of societal ethics with the lusty gusto of someone who has just taken an Intro to Ethics class. This was all well and good, and I enjoyed some of his ideas.

In fact, it's when Sawyer takes stabs at social realism that make me totally want to die. Mr. Sawyer, you should never ever talk about masturbation again, okay? Just don't. Also, I honestly don't give a crap about how you eat pizza (I'm sorry, Pizza Hut pizza, did they pay you for the name drop?) and I don't think it adds to the verisimilitude whatsoever. No more Seinfeld references either. Jeez, man.

Anyway, check please. I'll totally call you later.
(less)

25 likes · like · see review

Sep 24, 2008 Sandi rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, 2008, hugo-nominees-2008

About halfway through "Rollback" by Robert J. Sawyer, I had a scathing review all ready to go. I hated the first half. There were way too many brand names used. There were way too many Star Trek references. There was this horribly long exposition about the movie "Contact" starring Jodie Foster. The couple around whom the story centers were born a year before me and I had a hard time relating to their thought processes. If I were reminiscing about a pizza dinner from 40 years earlier, I certainly...more

4 likes · like · see review

Apr 08, 2008 Roger rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, favorites

This book is up for the Best Novel Hugo this year and it deserves it, although I'll reserve final judgment on that until I've read the other four in the category. It is a STRONG contender, though.

The year is 2048. Sarah Halifax, a SETI researcher, who cracked the first alien transmission to earth in 2009 and who helped craft the reply, is 87 and living in quiet retirement. On her 60th wedding anniversary, the aliens have responded with an encrypted message. A wealthy industrialist, convinced she...more

4 likes · like · see review

Mar 14, 2008 The other John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed, sf

An interesting tale about an 87-year-old man who receives the "gift" of rejuvenation. The biggest problem was that it really wasn't intended for him. The year is 2048. Thirty-eight years earlier, Earth had received the first ever radio transmission from another world. Many folks puzzled over the message, trying to figure it out, but it was Dr. Sarah Halifax who made the breakthrough and allowed Earth to understand the message and respond. Now the second message has arrived and the main financier...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 09, 2008 Heather rated it 2 of 5 stars

this is an extremely character-driven book, to the degree that i wished for a little less dialogue. and certainly less posturing or lecturing, because boy is this book full of discussions where people preach the merits of this position or that. the fact that i shared some of his characters' beliefs? maybe that made it worse, i don't know. but it seemed heavy-handed.

there are some cool ideas, but the particular way he blended pop culture references in was somehow annoying rather than charming. e...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jul 16, 2008 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was a fun, easy read. Nominally sci-fi, it reads more like mainstream fiction. True, there are aliens, but they are 18.8 light years away. This book is about ethics. SETI finally recieved a radio message from the stars in 2009. Sarah was integral to decoding that message then, at age 49, and sending Earth's reply. Now in 2047, we've finally received a reply that nobody can figure out. Sarah, unfortunately, is in her late 80's now and knocking on death's door. But a super-rich SETI-love...more This book was a fun, easy read. Nominally sci-fi, it reads more like mainstream fiction. True, there are aliens, but they are 18.8 light years away. This book is about ethics. SETI finally recieved a radio message from the stars in 2009. Sarah was integral to decoding that message then, at age 49, and sending Earth's reply. Now in 2047, we've finally received a reply that nobody can figure out. Sarah, unfortunately, is in her late 80's now and knocking on death's door. But a super-rich SETI-lover wants to give her more time to work on decoding the message, so he pays billions of dollars for a procedure, a "rollback," that will make her physically 25 again. She insists that if she gets a rollback her octagenarian husband of sixty years, Don, receives one too. For Don the procedure works perfectly, he's 25 again, full of vim and vigor, but for Sarah the procedure fails, she's still 88, feeble and fading. Now what?

The story is told almost entirely from Don's point of view. It's about moral quandaries. There's lots of stuff in here to make you think. What would you do if you were in that situation? An easy read, but deep and thought-provoking at the same time, I definitely enjoyed this book.

Sarah comes off as a much stronger more tolerant woman than I am. I would've liked to have some of the story told from her point of view. We hear what she has to say to her husband about the ethical dilemmas that arise, but what is she really thinking?

There are two things that annoyed me about this book. The first was the familiarity with which the author dealt with pop topics. Maybe the author was just trying to emphasize when a section of the story was set in 2009 as opposed to being set in 2048 (lots of this story was told in flashbacks), but it seems to me that too many references to Seinfeld, Conan O'Brien, Blondie, Red Lobster and iPods is the kind of thing can date a novel and make it unreadable in the years to come when people no longer get the references. The other thing that annoyed me was the epilogue, set another twenty years in the future. It was totally unnecessary. It added nothing to and probably detracted from the story. I would much rather have had all of that left to the imagination, especially because I didn't like the way the author had it go. There is such a thing as too perfect.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 21, 2008 Jason Pettus rated it 2 of 5 stars

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

Regular readers know that July has been somewhat of a special month for me, in that I was accidentally able to get ahold of eight out of the twelve science-fiction novels nominated this year for either the Hugo or Philip K Dick award, and have been reviewing all of them here throughout the month; toda...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 02, 2008 John rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book has a fascinating premise: An astronomer decodes a message from an alien race who live on a planet 18 light years away. She sends a reply and 36 years in the future another message is received. However, she is now in her 80s. A rich supporter of scientific efforts to contact alien species offers to fund a "rollback": give the astronomer her youth again so she can continue to communicate with the alien species (at one point, someone says she is their penpal). She will only have the roll...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 07, 2008 Capitu rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club, 2008, scifiction

Someone in my bookclub suggested this book, and as far as books for bookclubs, this one should generate very interesting discussions when we do meet. To be fair to Robert J. Sawyer, it already has created an array of discussions around the kitchen table with my husband and kids. But, in many ways I feel it was not executed with the mastery it deserved. The author utilizes dialogue as a form of explaining ideas to no end, making the reading a bit tiring. The ending is too nice and the characters...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 02, 2007 Jack rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf

A sweet little confection. The book is all set up to work through the philosophical implications of a radical life-extending medical treatment so expensive that only a handful of people on earth can afford it. Thrown into the mix are marital infidelity, the death of a longtime partner, and an alien radio transmission that amounts to a survey on species ethics.

This is a fun read, though the treatment of these topics turns out to be a bit shallow. Sawyer has lots of good and interesting ideas, but...more

1 like · like · see review

May 31, 2013 Lance Schonberg rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Liked this quite a bit better than the last Sawyer book I read (Triggers).

Fun story, fun concept. SETI bore fruit several decades back and now the aliens have gotten around to sending a response. But, um, it's encrypted so you'll have to figure it out, okay? Turns out to be a personal message keyed to the person who figured it out last time, although not for that reason.

But that's really only a part of the story. As part of the interstellar pen pal deal, the original SETI researcher is put up fo...more Liked this quite a bit better than the last Sawyer book I read (Triggers).

Fun story, fun concept. SETI bore fruit several decades back and now the aliens have gotten around to sending a response. But, um, it's encrypted so you'll have to figure it out, okay? Turns out to be a personal message keyed to the person who figured it out last time, although not for that reason.

But that's really only a part of the story. As part of the interstellar pen pal deal, the original SETI researcher is put up for a rollback (i.e. restored to youthful vigor) but only agrees if her husband gets the process too. It works on him, not on her. We get to watch Don adapt to suddenly being sixty years younger than he's used to being while no one else changes, deal with the sudden physical age difference with his wife, Sarah, and all of the things that come with being 25 again in the mid 21st century.

I had problems with a couple of bits, particularly Lenore getting over things so easily and being willing to take Don back at the drop of a hat. "Oh, you're wife's dead now? I guess we're okay." And that's after so easily getting over finding out that he's not the grandson of her SETI heroine, but the husband, and taking him back. It didn't seem to fit that well with her otherwise strong sense of self.

The household robot gave me some issues, too. Not that it was there--that was fine--but that it could manage emotional responses and non-programmed behaviour working with Sarah and protecting her interests in the new project after her death. Actually, not so much the actions themselves, but the fact that they really weren't adequately explained in the process of the story.

I did quite like that Don had plenty of angst over things and had some mental issues to work through himself in adapting to suddenly being sixty years younger (physically), but some of them were barely touched on. Easily forgiven because you only have so much space in a single volume and it showed the author thought things through quite a bit.

And this was Don's story, so we definitely got inside his head, got a good solid view of all of the problems and issues he was having with adapting to a new life, and that worked almost consistently very well through the whole book.

Fun story and if it isn't Mr. Sawyer's best so far, he's got lots more to choose from and probably lots more to come.(less)

like · see review

Jan 04, 2013 Tracey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dr. Sarah Halifax, SETI astronomer, translates the first ever message received from aliens and formulates a reply. However, it takes 18.8 years for the message to reach the aliens, and when the encrypted reply arrives she’s 87 years old. She’s offered a Rollback by a wealthy benefactor- a procedure that will make her physically 25 again. She agrees to go through with it- but only if her husband, Don, is offered the same chance at youth. In a twist of fate the procedure fails for Sarah, and Don i...more

like · see review

Nov 13, 2012 Todd Meigs rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked up Robert J. Sawyer’s Rollback on the strength of two things: 1) the author’s pedigree (he’s won the Best Novel Hugo and Nebula awards) and 2) the fascinating premise. The book takes place far in the future when mankind has received a second transmission from Sigma Draconis.Sarah Halifax, the woman who decoded the first message is now 87, and so a rich benefactor offers to pay for a “rollback procedure” – medically improving the body so that you’re physically 25 again – so that she can...more I picked up Robert J. Sawyer’s Rollback on the strength of two things: 1) the author’s pedigree (he’s won the Best Novel Hugo and Nebula awards) and 2) the fascinating premise. The book takes place far in the future when mankind has received a second transmission from Sigma Draconis. Sarah Halifax, the woman who decoded the first message is now 87, and so a rich benefactor offers to pay for a “rollback procedure” – medically improving the body so that you’re physically 25 again – so that she can continue the correspondence with our neighbors 18.1 light years away. Sarah agrees, but only if her husband Don is rolled back as well. Unfortunately, the rollback only works for Don, and the couple has to deal with the implications of their 50-year age gap as Sarah works towards deciphering the second alien message.

While Rollback was a good book – I plowed through its 300-something pages in less than a week – I was a bit disappointed that Sawyer spent so time focusing on Don. Entire chapters cover the challenges of dealing with his new youth – of being an old mind in a young body. Sarah’s predicament as an 87-year old working to decrypt the alien message - to me, the more interesting scenario - felt like an afterthought. In the end, Rollback was an interesting story, but I was hoping of more of an examination of how aging scientists would cope with challenges.

For me, the highlights of the novel were the examinations of first contact theory, even if the characters didn't so much talk to each other as much as promote theories. Still, I liked the discussions about what Sigma Draconis culture would be like. Forgive the long quote, but it will give you an idea of what these sections of the book is like:

“The aliens have an obligation to let us know they’re there. …Because they’d be an existence proof that it’s possible to survive technological adolescence—you know, the period during which you have tools that could destroy your entire species but no mechanism in place yet to prevent them from ever being used. … [one] solution is that time-honored sci-fi cliché, the hive mind. … you all think with one mind. Of course, if you do that, you might even lose any notion that there could be other individuals out there. … There’s another solution too. Absolute totalitarianism. Everyone’s still got free will, but they’re constrained from doing anything with it. pages 53-4

He continues this interesting line of thought by offering another way to survive technological adolescence: by refusing to evolve as a species through a lack of procreation, etc. that Sarah calls “transcend[ing] Darwin.” In the end, the novel neatly wraps itself up with some touching pictures of mortality and a continued picture into what life will be like several hundred years from how. It’s an entertaining little self-contained book that I’d recommend to anyone with an interest in first contact, even if it didn't blow me away.(less)

like · see review

Nov 01, 2012 Doug rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-general

I got this book at the library the other day. In it, a woman and her husband are offered the chance to have a ‘rollback’ which takes their bodies (not their minds) back (from age 80 or so) to the age of 25. For some reason, the rollback works for him, but not for her. As he gets younger, he tries to renew the physical relationship with his still aging wife, but it’s just too painful for her. So he, when he has the chance, has a relationship with a younger woman. This really struck me like a sled...more

like · see review

Nov 20, 2011 Lori L (She Treads Softly) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Robert J. Sawyer expertly explores ethical dilemmas and alien contact in his intelligent, highly readable novel Rollback. It is 2048. Astronomer Sarah Halifax, who had been one of the leading astronomers at SETI and the one person who translated the first message from the Draconians in 2009, is now 87. When the Draconians send an encrypted reply, wealthy industrialist Cody McGavin offers Sarah a rollback - a rejuvenation procedure that will result in her being like a 25 year old physically - so...more Robert J. Sawyer expertly explores ethical dilemmas and alien contact in his intelligent, highly readable novel Rollback. It is 2048. Astronomer Sarah Halifax, who had been one of the leading astronomers at SETI and the one person who translated the first message from the Draconians in 2009, is now 87. When the Draconians send an encrypted reply, wealthy industrialist Cody McGavin offers Sarah a rollback - a rejuvenation procedure that will result in her being like a 25 year old physically - so she can help decipher the second message. Sarah demands that the procedure also be given to her husband of 60 years, Don. The procedure works for Don, but, sadly, not for Sarah.

While coping with her physical frailties, Sarah ponders the key to solving the encrypted message from the Draconians. At the same time Don struggles with being essentially an 87 year old man with the body and health of 25 year old. While their bond of 60 years continues, Don has to face some tough moral choices while Sarah is working, hoping to solve the puzzle before her death.

Sawyer succeeds in Rollback because he takes a couple themes - rejuvenation and contact with aliens, concentrates on the big picture and the questions that might arise, and then reaches a conclusion in a story that doesn't demand a sequel. Even though this is an alien contact story, it's really mostly a story about moral dilemmas and choices. The narrative mainly focuses on the effects of the rejuvenation for Don and the moral dilemmas and choices challenging him. One of the opening quotes is from Jonathan Swift, "No wise man ever wished to be younger." But is that true? And if you were to suddenly be returned to a young adult at age 87, how would you cope? What choices would you make?

I have one problem with Rollback. Honestly, the young Don got on my nerves a bit. Even though he is now physically 25, he still is 87 and has still been married to 60 years to Sarah. I would have thought he'd be more in touch with many of the life lessons he must have learned in that time. I think the main root of any problem I have with the story is that it is definitely told from a male point of view - and I am not male. So, while the ending of the story Sawyer is telling didn't work quite as well for me, a case could be made that Rollback will work for the majority of the targeted readers of science fiction who are male.

All of that is likely a minor quibble with what is a very enjoyable, intriguing, provocative novel. Sawyer is an accomplished writer, he knows how to tell a story, and he has all the awards to prove it. Highly Recommended; http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/

(less)

like · see review

Jun 28, 2011 Don Viecelli rated it 4 of 5 stars

From my Newsletter #15
http://home.comcast.net/~viecelli/newsle...

The first two novels are called “Rollback” and “Flashforward” by Robert J. Sawyer. The author lives in Ontario, Canada and has won just about every science fiction award there is. “Rollback” deals with the first-ever radio transmission received from aliens thirty-eight years ago. Then a second transmission is received and the woman who decoded the first transmission, who is now eighty-seven years old, is asked to decode the second...more

like · see review

Apr 01, 2011 Julka rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Tak naprawdę to science-fiction to tutaj jest jak na lekarstwo. Większość to powieść obyczajowa. Ludzkość doszła do etapu, kiedy starość nie musi być zmierzchem życia. Dzięki nowoczesnej technologii (i znacznej gotówce) można "odmłodzić" ludzki organizm. Taki proces przechodzi starsze małżeństwo. Pani Sarah jest naukowcem, który brał czynny udział w przekazaniu pierwszego radiowego komunikatu do potencjalnych istot pozaziemskich. Teraz przychodzi odpowiedź i to Sarah musi na nią odpowiedzieć. Na...more

like · see review

Mar 10, 2010 April rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

CBC radio's Between the Covers has produced Robert J Sawyer's Rollback as 25 short podcasts, approximatley 15 minutes long. Audiobook is a good format for this book as it allows you to background the story when it is a little less compelling. As many others have noted here, Rollback raises alot of interesting ethical questions within the structure of dialogue. Altogether, this is a charming read for scifi geeks, like myself. I enjoyed The Star Trek, Lost in Space and other scifi references, alon...more

like · see review

Nov 11, 2009 Noah M. rated it 4 of 5 stars

As is always the case with Robert J. Sawyer, this was a quick read. Sucked me in from the first page, and thankfully kept me occupied through several hours of waiting rooms at doctor's offices. Sawyer seems to really love aliens that are really, really far away and coming up with indirect methods for them to communicate with them.

In some ways, this book reminded me a little too much of Factoring Humanity, though ultimately Rollback was a much better novel. It did feel a touch redundant with resp...more

like · see review

Feb 06, 2010 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

In the last few months I commented on a few books that I felt the length and depth of character detail was too much for the book. I did not feel that way about Rollback. There's a lot of character material, but it's both integral to the story and nicely interwoven with the other threads of the novel.

It focuses on a married couple, Sarah and Don. Sarah is the SETI scientist who figured out the 2009 radio message received from a star system 19 light years away. It's now 2048 and the aliens have se...more

like · see review

Dec 09, 2009 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

This was a weirdly constructed book. Sawyer came up with the brilliant idea of offering the 'rollback' proceedure to a long time married couple (60 year wedding anniversary) Sarah and Don Halifax. But it only takes for Don. He has to deal with not only becoming young again, in a society that has progressed past him - not unlike a life prisoner being released and finding he no longer knows the world - but with the widening gulf between himself and the love of his life. Sarah probably won't see ou...more

like · see review

Mar 28, 2013 Rich Mulvey rated it 2 of 5 stars

On the positive side ( it's always best to start out positive, right? ), the book is a very fast read.

In reality, if you make it all the way through the book, you'll be happy you didn't spend any more time on it than necessary.

First disclaimer: I can't even begin to tell you how much it irks me when an author starts throwing around brand names and unnecessary technological detail. Honestly, I really don't need to know that a character plugged a USB2 cable into a Dell laptop. Not only does it im...more

like · see review

May 20, 2010 Jamie rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: liberal sci-fi fans (but not conservatives or religious)

Shelves: fiction, first-contact, sci-fi

First, what I liked:
The book had an interesting premise: it's about both first contact and aging (or the lack thereof - almost like time travel). Some of the concepts the explored about extra-terrestials were quite novel, blowing away some of the widely-held beliefs that were put in place by the likes of Carl Sagan.

However... there was a lot that I didn't care for in the book.

The first was the author's idea of what things might be like 30-40 years from now. I'm not talking about "futuristic" th...more First, what I liked:
The book had an interesting premise: it's about both first contact and aging (or the lack thereof - almost like time travel). Some of the concepts the explored about extra-terrestials were quite novel, blowing away some of the widely-held beliefs that were put in place by the likes of Carl Sagan.

However... there was a lot that I didn't care for in the book.

The first was the author's idea of what things might be like 30-40 years from now. I'm not talking about "futuristic" things, like flying cars or robots; I'm talking about ideas from our present that would continue through the decades: from debatable items (like global warming) to outright fads (like Atkins, which has already been replaced by the South Beach Diet, which in turn is likely to be replaced as the diet-du-jour), the things the author believes to be enduring trends, I found to be rather unbelieveable.

The second - and I might be due to the author being Canadian, and therefore more socially liberal than Americans coupled with my own religious conservatism - is that there were many liberal ideas that were presented, not just as one belief or philosophy among many, but as superior to them all. One of the major plot points seems to revolve around the controverserial topic of abortion. There are entire chapters devoted to the topic of abortion - this is surprising (and the conclusions, quite frankly, frustrating!) in a book that is supposed to be about aliens and aging.

But it is not just the way the abortion issue is presented while giving barely a nod to opposing viewpoints, nor is it the fact that other social issues are presented in the same way (e.g., religion as a superstition that we'll eventually grow out of as a species) - that is not my only or primary objection to the book. It is the way these ideas and their "debate" are presented that I find most heavy-handed and offensive: these views (and the token counterpoints) are done by the protagonists who essentially agree with each other and whose views are later supported (even validated) by others. There's a definite lack of a sincere attempt to present the issues with full disclosure, and therefore without a fully comprehensive "answer" or conclusion.

For example, "every child has a right to be wanted" is presented as the ideal viewpoint in the abortion issue, without acknowledging that a right to life might be superior (not to mention foundational) to merely being wanted.

As I said before, what I perceive as shortcomings of this book may be due to my personal conservatism vs. the author's liberalism, but this is *my* review after all, and this was *my* reaction to the ideas presented in this book.(less)

like · see review

Jul 03, 2012 Michele Maakestad rated it 4 of 5 stars

I expected to enjoy this book as I have many other of Sawyer's books, and was not disappointed. When a message is received from Sigma Draconis, Dr. Sarah Halifax becomes famous when she decodes their message and formulates a reply. Fast forward, Sarah and her husband are in their late 80's and celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary when the aliens' next response comes in. In the ensuing hubub, Sarah and Don are offered a chance for a rollback, a new medical treatment that will take their bod...more

like · see review

Jan 03, 2010 Laurie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I go through phases where I cannot stand to read anything but science fiction. Part of the reason for that is that science fiction is so often optimistic and the endings (if there is one!) are happy.

Having said that, reading Rollback was a treat. The book is a bit sexist, but with science fiction writing you frequently have to put up with that I fear. At least the women are often super smart so I appreciate that at least.

Some other reviewers criticized the frequent u...more

like · see review

Dec 06, 2010 Kyle rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Oct 09, 2009 Amber rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was intrigued enough by the premise on the back of this book to buy it, but sadly it wasn't worth the money. It takes way too long for all the events described on the back of the book to actually happen and it's boring to wait for them to happen since you already know from the back of the book that they will happen. The book is set in 2048, was published in 2007, and yet the pop culture references within (Seinfeld, the movie Contact) already feel dated.

Once the "Rollback" occurs, I found the...more

like · see review

Apr 12, 2013 Spock rated it 2 of 5 stars

se da una parte l'idea �� interessante ed il colloquio a distanza con i Draconiani �� potenzialmente interessante, ad un certo punto l'autore prende la tangente e diventa veramente difficile seguirlo senza sorridere. La metodologia immaginata per fare ringiovanire fino a 25 anni spaccati non pu�� che lasciare perplesso chi come me lavora su tematiche molecolari. Lo avrei perdonato alla SF anni '50 ma non ad un autore contemporaneo.
La pensata poi degli ET di inviare i progetti per sintetizzare de...more

like · see review

Dec 02, 2011 Jean Oram rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-or-fantasy-scifi

I don't usually read sci fi, but this one could make me a fan of the genre. It is a sweet, kind, and gentle sort of a book that probes deep philosophical questions. While almost a romance in parts, it is also quite cerebral and heady in others.

Basically, a scientist (Canadian!) in her thirties or forties decodes a message sent from an alien planet. By the time they have sent their reply and the answer has come back through the 18.8 lightyears that are between the two planets, she is in her 80s a...more

like · see review

Apr 11, 2013 Niklaus rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

niente di che
se da una parte l'idea è interessante ed il colloquio a distanza con i Draconiani è potenzialmente interessante, ad un certo punto l'autore prende la tangente e diventa veramente difficile seguirlo senza sorridere. La metodologia immaginata per fare ringiovanire fino a 25 anni spaccati non può che lasciare perplesso chi come me lavora su tematiche molecolari. Lo avrei perdonato alla SF anni '50 ma non ad un autore contemporaneo. La pensata poi degli ET di inviare i progetti per sint...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 82 83 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (3)

More editions...

Genres

Science Fiction

120 users

Cultural > Canada

13 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

8 users

Science Fiction > Aliens

6 users

Book Club

6 users

Science Fiction > Near Future

4 users

Speculative Fiction

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Robert J. Sawyer

Robert J. Sawyer is one of Canada's best known and most successful science fiction writers. He is the only Canadian (and one of only 7 writers in the world) to have won all three of the top international awards for science fiction: the 1995 Nebula Award for The Terminal Experiment, the 2003 Hugo Award for Hominids, and the 2006 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Mindscan.
Robert Sawyer grew up in...more Robert J. Sawyer is one of Canada's best known and most successful science fiction writers. He is the only Canadian (and one of only 7 writers in the world) to have won all three of the top international awards for science fiction: the 1995 Nebula Award for The Terminal Experiment, the 2003 Hugo Award for Hominids, and the 2006 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Mindscan.
Robert Sawyer grew up in Toronto, the son of two university professors. He credits two of his favourite shows from the late 1960s and early 1970s, Search and Star Trek, with teaching him some of the fundamentals of the science-fiction craft. Sawyer was obsessed with outer space from a young age, and he vividly remembers watching the televised Apollo missions. He claims to have watched the 1968 classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey 25 times. He began writing science fiction in a high school club, which he co-founded, NASFA (Northview Academy Association of Science Fiction Addicts). Sawyer graduated in 1982 from the Radio and Television Arts Program at Ryerson University, where he later worked as an instructor.

Sawyer's first published book, Golden Fleece (1989), is an adaptation of short stories that had previously appeared in the science-fiction magazine Amazing Stories. This book won the Aurora Award for the best Canadian science-fiction novel in English. In the early 1990s Sawyer went on to publish his inventive Quintaglio Ascension trilogy, about a world of intelligent dinosaurs. His 1995 award winning The Terminal Experiment confirmed his place as a major international science-fiction writer.

A prolific writer, Sawyer has published more than 10 novels, plus two trilogies. Reviewers praise Sawyer for his concise prose, which has been compared to that of the science-fiction master Isaac Asimov. Like many science fiction-writers, Sawyer welcomes the opportunities his chosen genre provides for exploring ideas. The first book of his Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, Hominids (2002), is set in a near-future society, in which a quantum computing experiment brings a Neanderthal scientist from a parallel Earth to ours. His 2006 Mindscan explores the possibility of transferring human consciousness into a mechanical body, and the ensuing ethical, legal, and societal ramifications.

A passionate advocate for science fiction, Sawyer teaches creative writing and appears frequently in the media to discuss his genre. He prefers the label "philosophical fiction," and in no way sees himself as a predictor of the future. His mission statement for his writing is "To combine the intimately human with the grandly cosmic."

http://us.macmillan.com/author/robert...(less)

More about Robert J. Sawyer...

Books by Robert J. Sawyer

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Rollback

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Rollback
avg rating	preview: Rollback Goodreads rating: 3.67 (1662 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/264940.Rollback?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312039836l/264940.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/264940.Rollback?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer[/url]

Rollback

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website