Rollback - Robert J. Sawyer

The Missing Years

Sawyer is one of the most frustrating writers around. His plots with their strange ideas border on brilliance yet there is always an element of slapstick poking through. CALCULATING GOD was one of the deepest, most poignant sci-fi tales around yet it was presented in a comedic fashion that almost (but not quite) destroyed the overall book. It's as if the author doesn't truth his writing without the joke. In ROLLBACK, a novel of genetic engineering and alien contact, all the previous problems are still there and even they cannot destroy the book.

It's 2048 but you'd never know it. Most things seem as they are today but the real problem is that all cultural references (songs, movies, tv shows, books, etc) are from our time or eariler. The five decades from 1998 to 2048 seem to have disappeared. This is such a common error in futuristic novels that it hardly warrants more than a footnote. I suppose we can suspend belief and go along with the 1950's home set 100 years in the future. The idea that a youth restoration cure exists and yet only a few individuals are allowed to participate is politically ludicrous.

The story is simple: In 2010, Sara interprets a message from aliens and sends a return (in the form of a questionaire). In 2048, we hear back (almost like the post office - lol) and again no one but an 80 something year old lady can figure it all out. (Computers are not the super smart ubiquitous creations many predict but instead appear to be souped up PC's.) A super-rich guy offers Sara and hubby Don the rejuvenation cure (to give her more time for interpreation) but preposterously, hers does not work due to some past condition. Does it make sense that such a procedure would befuddle those who can restore someone to their youth? (Answer: No)

So Don's young and horny and she's old and fragile and he meets a cute young thing, has sex, breaks up but then they reunite at the end...to raise two alien babies hatched on Earth following instructions from the alien message. (whew!) THe author treats the alien pair as nothing more than oversea sdoption children out for a Happy Meal. The notion that an alien would or could possess anything close to our own psychological state is far-fetched but these two are on the friendliness scale of the Wookies. My Grade: C

Interesting ideas

this book deserved it nomination for Hugo. It was well written and contained several very interesting ideas. Not nessecarily original idea, but who cares when the story is told so well? A very good book that made me instantly order more books from the same author.

Bought After Reading a Review, Pleasantly Surprised

I bought two books after reading online reviews and this was the really good one. (I won't name the disappointing one here.) The contrast was an education. Rollback engaged me immediately. It presented intriguing characters, an important sets of problems, and it revealed the travails and solutions in a page-turning fashion. I finished it in about two and a half hours and was happy enough to peg the author, Robert Sawyer, as one I should start collecting. So my Sawyer collection started here.

Superb

Two stories in one, intricately woven together into a single cohesive plot. Excellent work! It deserves to win the Hugo this year.

Bland, predictable, and insulting to the reader

Spoilers abound here, by the way. Beware.

I read this for a reading group. However, knowing how well Sawyer is regarded in the SF community, I looked forward to this book.

I could not have been more disappointed.

I will start with the plot: I knew what was going to happen. Sure, it was easy to assume that only a set number of things could happen, but I knew what was going to happen well before Sawyer introduced the plot points. I knew the anniversary party would be interrupted, I knew the rollback would fail for Sarah (well, we all knew that from the back of the book), I knew that Don would eventually have his crotch tested, Sarah would reveal she did something no one else knew about with the first message and she break the code on the new one. I knew the genome was probably going to be in the message. I knew Sarah was going to die and leave Don with Leonore as soon as Don came to the realization that Leonore was basically a young Sarah who liked Scrabble. I also knew that Don would get off smelling like a rose at the end and that Sarah would end up dead and long buried.

Nothing about this book surprised me and that was woefully sad to me because I now resent having spent money on this book. The characters are bland and are about as multi-dimensional as the paper they are printed on. The real meat of the story (meat of the message?) is lost on Don. I do not, will not, ad have no interest in this character. I would have loved for Don to have electrocuted himself by sticking a fork in an electrical socket or something... he's a bore, a liar, and an adulterer. He's a character with no redeeming value or place in literature and I cannot believe the amount of people who seem to think this book is something special. It's not.

The character with interest for the reader is Sarah. She is where the story is, and she is massively missed once she dies. Yet we tend to see Sarah from Don's point of view and, frankly, I could care less about Don's point of view.

To pull something I saw in an earlier review of this book: "Phi-fi"? Really? What philosophy is here? I see no discussion or discourse here on representation. I see no discussion here about morality (sure, Don and Sarah talk about it, but there is nothing beyond a superficial discussion of morality from a philosophical standpoint). There is no discussion on mortality or what makes us human or what a life means. One would think, once Don's rollback occurs, the other characters who should have some massive presence are Carl and Emily (their kids). Yet we never even see Emily when the family gathers for her 50th birthday party... the party where your youngest kid is turning 50 and you look like you're 25? And there's nothing shown to the reader? We never see the family deal with the presence of their father in a younger form.

The discussions are not there because the author doesn't want to take the time to deal with them. This is fantasy, it is not science fiction. This is a fantasy for a middle-aged male who is scared of his mortality. This is a sad excuse for a novel and, trust me, I would award no stars if possible.

It's a sloppy novel that should not be viewed as anything more. Don Halifax is not "a good man." If you want to see a good man, go catch a musical with Charlie Brown in it or watch "The Lives of Others." There is nothing here, folks. There is no meat to this message.