Scan barcode
mmcinwonderland's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
djredhawk's review against another edition
5.0
More Sawyer goodness! Decades ago, Dr. Sarah Hallifax decoded an alien transmission; now in her eighties, her "pen pals" have responded. But she's old, infirm, her mind's not as sharp as it used to be. She's offered a new gene therapy, an outrageously expensive procedure, to "roll back" the time, make her young again. She agrees only if her husband is given the same procedure. The problem is -- it doesn't work on Sarah, leaving her an eight-four-year-old woman while her husband of sixty years is now in his twenties. Once again Robert Sawyer twists the standard immortality tale to bring up whole different questions about family and medical ethics. Fantastic!
rbixby's review against another edition
5.0
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 is involved with a single alien pen pal, offers to give her a rollback so that she will have the time to decrypted the message and keep the conversation going. She agrees only if her husband Don gets the rollback too. While it would seem that the big idea in this book is confirmation of intelligent life in the universe other than our own, that is really just a vehicle to deal with questions of being given the fountain of youth and the consequences of being young again.
How would you deal with being given your physical youth back at the age of 87? What do you do when your wife, whom you love and adore, is given the same treatment but it fails because of experimental cancer treatments she had 40 years previously. How do you deal with your adult children when you know you'll outlive them and most likely live to see your grandchildren grow old and give you great-grandchildren. Robert Sawyer answers these questions in realistic and bittersweet ways.
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 is involved with a single alien pen pal, offers to give her a rollback so that she will have the time to decrypted the message and keep the conversation going. She agrees only if her husband Don gets the rollback too. While it would seem that the big idea in this book is confirmation of intelligent life in the universe other than our own, that is really just a vehicle to deal with questions of being given the fountain of youth and the consequences of being young again.
How would you deal with being given your physical youth back at the age of 87? What do you do when your wife, whom you love and adore, is given the same treatment but it fails because of experimental cancer treatments she had 40 years previously. How do you deal with your adult children when you know you'll outlive them and most likely live to see your grandchildren grow old and give you great-grandchildren. Robert Sawyer answers these questions in realistic and bittersweet ways.
_sequel_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It showed a fascinating difference between the mindset of older people versus younger through the interactions of successful rollbacks, everyday people, and failed rollbacks. It’s important to see the world from all these viewpoints, as ultimately many change and develop new priorities as they age. Additionally, Sarah’s relationship with her husband and his absolute pure concern and dedication to making the most of his rollback were heart wrenching. I strongly recommend this book for those reasons!
It takes a powerful author to make the interstellar communications NOT the focus of a sci-fi book and still have it be this compelling! Be warned, there isn’t a lot in terms of rising action or climax, but don’t let that dissuade you, because a lot happens anyways!
brightshiny's review against another edition
3.0
I'm over Sawyer. Both this and Hominids were too preachy for me.
librariandest's review against another edition
2.0
I was disappointed again by my genre fic pick. This is just mediocre writing, man. I can't get into it. The premise was interesting, but Sawyer's treatment of it was predictable and kind of boring.
suzanne_estevez's review against another edition
3.0
This book had it's moments, but I don't think it delivers what it promises. I agree with other reviews that feel Sarah should have been the main character. This author also tends to, at least in the books I have read of his, suddenly have a chapter that heavily tries to relay a lot of the 'science part' in one conversation between two characters. After I get halfway through said conversations, I tend to just want to skip the rest. Regardless, the story is easy to follow, but I hated the 'epilogue' bit....family trip in the van!!! Part of me feels that the birth of the alien twins should have been where the story had started. Also, I ponder whether this book is about the rollback or the alien messages...I understand why the author mixed the two, but I can't help feel that perhaps there are two separate books here instead.
hmonkeyreads's review against another edition
1.0
I hated this book.
The idea of SETI contact and the rollback to youth was fascinating but the execution was a heavy handed disaster.
It was like discussing philosophy with a Lunkhead like Fred Flintstone.
The idea of SETI contact and the rollback to youth was fascinating but the execution was a heavy handed disaster.
It was like discussing philosophy with a Lunkhead like Fred Flintstone.
salpal314's review against another edition
1.0
I hated this book. The jacket makes it sound like it's going to be about a brilliant female scientist communicating with aliens via radio lightyears away. No. It's a creepy old man's fantasy of being young again and sleeping with a hot young woman, with a tissue-paper thin veneer of "science fiction" about aliens and what would possibly make having a 'rollback' procedure be theoretically anything but gross narcissism. It's the kind of fantasy someone - some unimaginative white dude - would think trying to fall asleep at night. "What would it be like to be young again? But that's not really ethical... what would make it be?" leading to this pile of dribble.
sweetpeppah's review against another edition
3.0
I read the whole thing last night because i couldn't sleep. it's fun...an interesting premise. insightful and accessible as always but i found it a bit trite compared to my memory of Calculating God. Seemed like everything was just too tidy and convenient. Kind of odd how sprinkled it is with cultural references, places, names, especially Canadian ones :) fun for me, but i wonder how well they translate for other people.