Writing with “a sense of wonder that hasn’t prevailed since the days of Heinlein” (Books in Canada), best-novel Hugo and Nebula Award-winner Robert J. Sawyer brings you “a truly science-fictional work of alternate history” (S.M. Stirling).
While J. Robert Oppenheimer and his Manhattan Project team struggle to develop the A-bomb, Edward Teller wants something even more devastating: a weapon based on nuclear fusion — the mechanism that powers the sun. But Teller’s research leads to a terrifying discovery: by the year 2030, the sun will eject its outermost layer, destroying the entire inner solar system — including Earth.
After the war ends, Oppenheimer’s physicists combine forces with Albert Einstein, computing pioneer John von Neumann, and rocket designer Wernher von Braun — the greatest scientific geniuses from the last century racing against time to save our future.
Meticulously researched and replete with real-life characters and events, The Oppenheimer Alternative is a breathtaking adventure through both real and alternate history.
Advance Praise for The Oppenheimer Alternative
- “I loved it!”
—Lee Smolin, author of The Trouble with Physics- “An imaginative restructuring of a phantasmagoric life into an alternative phantasmagorical story. Oppenheimer fans will be intrigued.”
—Martin J. Sherwin, co-author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer- “Really great, a page turner; I was hooked from the beginning to the end. Another fine addition to the Sawyer canon!”
—Andre Bormanis, co-executive producer, The Orville and Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
- “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
- “I knew many of these physicists, and Sawyer nails them accurately.”
—Gregory Benford, author of The Berlin Project
- “Really great, a page turner; I was hooked from the beginning to the end. Another fine addition to the Sawyer canon!”
- “An imaginative restructuring of a phantasmagoric life into an alternative phantasmagorical story. Oppenheimer fans will be intrigued.”