Dr. Sarah Halifax decoded the first-ever radio transmission received from aliens thirty-eight years ago. Now, a second message is received, and Sarah, now eighty-seven, may hold the key to deciphering this one, too…if she lives long enough.
A wealthy industrialist offers to pay for Sarah to have a rollback—a hugely expensive experimental rejuvenation procedure. She accepts on condition that Don, her husband of sixty years, gets a rollback, too. The process works for Don, making him physically twenty-five again. But in a tragic twist, the rollback fails for Sarah, leaving her in her eighties.
While Don tries to deal with his newfound youth and the suddenly vast age gap between him and his wife, Sarah heroically struggles to figure out what a signal from the stars contains before she dies.

Robert J. Sawyer,
a Member of the Order of Canada and a Globe and Mail and Maclean's bestseller, is the author of 23 previous novels, including FlashForward, the basis for the ABC TV series. His most recent novel, Quantum Night, was long-listed for CBC's Canada Reads

Praise for Robert J. Sawyer

"A new Robert J. Sawyer book is always cause for celebration."
— Analog Science Fiction and Fact

"Robert J. Sawyer is a writer of boundless confidence and bold scientific extrapolation."
— The New York Times

"Sawyer not only has an irresistibly engaging narrative voice but also a gift for confronting thorny philosophical conundrums. At every opportunity, he forces his readers to think while holding their attention with ingenious premises and superlative craftsmanship."
— Booklist

"Robert J. Sawyer is by any measure one of the world's leading (and most interesting) science-fiction writers. His fiction is a fascinating blend of intellectually compelling big ideas and humane, enduring characters."
— The Globe and Mail

"Sawyer, an articulate fountain of ideas, is the genre's northern star—in fact, one of the hottest SF writers anywhere. By any reckoning Sawyer is among the most successful Canadian authors ever."
— Maclean's: Canada's Weekly News Magazine

"A polished, exciting writer. Sawyer writes with the scientific panache and grandeur of Arthur C. Clarke and the human touch of Isaac Asimov."
— Quill & Quire

Robert J. Sawyer's profile page

• Nominated, Hugo Award - Nominee

“This is what SF is supposed to be about: Discovery as carried out by real people. A joy to read; a superb novel.” —Jack McDevitt, author of Odyssey
“Likeable characters facing big ethical dilemmas…[a] smoothly readable near-future SF novel.” —Publisher's Weekly, starred review
“Sawyer's near-future speculative fiction reveals many advances in medicine and robotics. But it's the humanness of the closeness (and the distance) between Sarah and Don that makes Rollback an early candidate for sci-fi book of the year.” —The Kansas City Star