Robert J. Sawyer

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:

• Indigo Canada
• Amazon Canada
• Amazon US
• Barnes & Noble US
• Owl’s Nest in Calgary
• Audreys in Edmonton
• McNally Robinson in Saskatoon and Winnipeg
• Bakka-Phoenix in Toronto

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