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The Oppenheimer Alternative by [Robert J. Sawyer]

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The Oppenheimer Alternative Kindle Edition

4.2 out of 5 stars 594 ratings

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Editorial Reviews

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

“You’re bad luck for me,” said Haakon Chevalier. “I hope you know that.”

Robert Oppenheimer looked at his friend, seated next to him on the pink-and-green living-room couch as the party bustled about them. Oppie’s sense was the exact opposite: Hoke had brought him nothing but good fortune, including getting him into this offbeat rooming house here on Shasta Road. “Oh?”

“Absolutely. When I go places without you, I’m considered the attractive one.”

Oppenheimer made a small chuckle. Chevalier, who had just turned thirty-five, was three years his senior, and was indeed movie-star handsome: gallant, as befitted his last name, and long of face, with wide-spaced eyes and sandy hair swept back in a slight pompadour.

By comparison, Oppie knew he himself was scrawny, his tall body angular, his coarse black hair a wild nimbus, and his duck-footed gait awkward―one friend had described it as a constant falling forward as if he were forever tumbling into the future.

“See that one over there?” continued Hoke, with a subtle nod. “She hasn’t glanced at me once since we got here, but you―” Chevalier shook his head in good-natured exasperation. “It’s those goddamn eyes of yours, I tell you. Fucking opals.”

Oppie was used to compliments about his pale blue eyes: he often heard them called “transparent” or “luminous,” but this metaphor was new to him. He smiled as he turned to look at the woman Hoke had indicated, and―

And, my God, he’d seen that lovely face before―he was sure of it. But where? “Wow,” said Oppie softly.

“Wow, indeed,” agreed Hoke. “And she keeps looking your way. You should go over and say hello.”

“I ... um ...”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake, Robert, go! You study the mysteries of the universe; girls are simple by comparison.” <p

>Hoke taught French literature at the University of California’s Berkeley campus; Oppie was a professor of physics there. Normally, members of such diverse faculties would have little to do with each other, but Oppie loved French poetry, and the two men had become great friends. One advantage Hoke had was a lot of female students―he’d married one, in fact―whereas in Robert’s circles, women were rare. “Come on,” said Hoke. “Give me a story to tell Barb when I get home. Go try your luck.”

Luck. Einstein said that God didn’t play dice with the universe―but, then again, God probably wasn’t itching to get laid. “All right already,” Oppie said, unfolding himself from the couch. Of course, he couldn’t just go up and say hello, but Mary Ellen, his landlady, was swirling by in one of her floor-length batik dresses. She threw many parties, often as fund-raisers. This one was for the Republicans in Spain―or maybe it was for the Spanish Nationalists? Whoever the good guys were, anyway; Oppie had come downstairs from his room for donuts and drinks, not the cause.

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

Robert J. Sawyer is one of only eight writers in history to have won all three of the science-fiction field’s top awards for best novel of the year: the Hugo (which he won for Hominids), the Nebula (which he won for The Terminal Experiment), and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award (which he won for Mindscan).

Sawyer’s novel FlashForward was the basis for the ABC TV series of the same name, and he wrote the two-part finale for the acclaimed web series Star Trek Continues.

The New York Times calls Sawyer “a writer of boundless confidence and bold scientific extrapolation.” New Scientist calls his work “scientifically plausible, fictionally intriguing, and ethically important.” And The Washington Post says, “No reader seeking well-written stories that respect, emphasize, and depend on modern science should be disappointed by the works of Rob Sawyer.”

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B084H26X5S
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ SFWRITER.COM Inc. (June 2, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 2, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1741 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 377 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 594 ratings

About the author

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Robert J. Sawyer is one of only eight writers ever to win all three of the world’s top awards for best science-fiction novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. He has also won the Robert A. Heinlein Award, the Edward E. Smith Memorial Award, and the Hal Clement Memorial Award; the top SF awards in China, Japan, France, and Spain; and a record-setting sixteen Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards (“Auroras”).

Rob’s novel FlashForward was the basis for the ABC TV series of the same name, and he was a scriptwriter for that program. He also scripted the two-part finale for the popular web series Star Trek Continues.

He is a Member of the Order of Canada, the highest honor bestowed by the Canadian government, as well as the Order of Ontario, the highest honor given by his home province; he was also one of the initial inductees into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Rob lives just outside Toronto.His website and blog are at sfwriter.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Patreon he’s RobertJSawyer.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
594 global ratings

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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 21, 2021
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Top reviews from other countries

Boothy
3.0 out of 5 stars Well researched, enjoyable read, ridiculous ending
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 22, 2021
Andrea Fabris
5.0 out of 5 stars A real gem
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 20, 2021
DC
5.0 out of 5 stars Utterly brilliant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 26, 2020
PJ Online
3.0 out of 5 stars Sorry Mr Sawyer
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 20, 2022
Mish
4.0 out of 5 stars well researched
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 24, 2021
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