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Robert J. Sawyer

Calculating God: A Novel Paperback – March 3, 2009

by Robert J. Sawyer (Author)

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Calculating God is the new near-future SF thriller from the popular and award-winning Robert J. Sawyer.

An alien shuttle craft lands outside the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. A six-legged, two-armed alien emerges, who says, in perfect English, "Take me to a paleontologist."

It seems that Earth, and the alien's home planet, and the home planet of another alien species traveling on the alien mother ship, all experienced the same five cataclysmic events at about the same time (one example of these "cataclysmic events" would be the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs). Both alien races believe this proves the existence of God: i.e. he's obviously been playing with the evolution of life on each of these planets.

From this provocative launch point, Sawyer tells a fast-paced, and morally and intellectually challenging, SF story that just grows larger and larger in scope. The evidence of God's universal existence is not universally well received on Earth, nor even immediately believed. And it reveals nothing of God's nature. In fact. it poses more questions than it answers.

When a supernova explodes out in the galaxy but close enough to wipe out life on all three home-worlds, the big question is, Will God intervene or is this the sixth cataclysm:?

Calculating God is SF on the grand scale.

Calculating God is a 2001 Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publication date

March 3, 2009
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.76 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

9780765322890
ISBN-13

978-0765322890
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An enthralling story…. [The] climax [is] an exhilarating and touching glimpse of transcendence.” ―Starlog

“Vigorous speculation…Sawyer ends with some grandeur worthy of vintage Arthur C. Clarke.” ―The Denver Post

“Sawyer is first and foremost a writer of ideas, some concept that can drive a narrative through to a grand conclusion, one that remains true to science but often achieves that sense of transcendence that Samuel R. Delany once said was the sine qua non of science fiction. This is Sawyer's great strength, and it's fully present in Calculating God….A intellectual thriller with real bite.” ―The Edmonton Journal

About the Author

Robert J. Sawyer is the author of Flashforward, winner of the Aurora Award and the basis for the hit ABC television series. He is also the author of the WWW series―Wake, Watch and Wonder―Hominids, Calculating God, Mindscan, and many other books. He has won the Hugo, Nebula and John W. Campbell Memorial awards―making him one of only seven writers in history to win all three of science-fiction’s top awards for best novel. He was born in Ottawa and lives in Mississauga, Ontario.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0765322897
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Books; First edition (March 3, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780765322890
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0765322890
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.76 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #141,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #39 in Canadian Literature
- #1,561 in First Contact Science Fiction (Books)
- #2,043 in Alien Invasion Science Fiction

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Robert J. Sawyer

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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

572 global ratings

5 star		53%
4 star		29%
3 star		10%
2 star		7%
1 star		1%

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Jerrel E. Towery

Excellent but slightly flawed

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 26, 2000

Verified Purchase

This is one of the best science fiction novels I have recently read. Not a perfect book; not a classic; but one of the best recently written science fiction novels out today.
The concept of the book is an interesting one; basically a debate/discussion between aliens and humans as to whether or not God exists. The God in question is a "creator" God rather than any specific religious groups' concept of God. I found the debates on God interesting to read, and thought provoking. The strength of the novel however, lies with the characters. Mr. Sawyer's forte is his characterizations. He is a very humanistic writer in the sense that there is a deep sense of empathy for his characters; be they human or alien. He develops these characters, making you sincerely care for them as individuals. Although the novel is serious fiction, I still found myself chuckling out loud over passages dealing with the alien's commentary and reaction to earth. I even quoted sections of alien dialogue to my secretary at work which I found particularly witty.
The weakest part of the book is the seemingly pasted on sub-plot about radical religious rightwingers. Contrary to the rest of the book, these characters did not ring true and seemed to be an afterthought. The whole sub-plot was too short (thankfully)to become a relevant part of the book and too easily handled and then forgotten. The sub-plot simply detracted from the rest fo the story and did not fit in with anything else that was going on. I could have seen a better confrontation with members of the religious right which could have made a valued addition to the storyline, but the one chosen by the author would have been better left out completely. Equally out of place and overly simplistic is the alien discussion of abortion.
The author's prose is easy to read which is unusual for hard science fiction novels. Also unusual for a hard science fiction novel is the character development mentioned above. My reaction upon finishing the book was to immediately purchase two more books by the same author. I have finished reading one of those already and was equally pleased. His characters are his stock in trade!
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction novels with concepts which put you to thinking and who enjoys masterly developed characters. The book is worth reading just for the characters but there is much more to it than that.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

W. V. Buckley

... so the alien says "Take me to a paleontologist."

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 21, 2011

Verified Purchase

Robert J. Sawyer is rapidly becoming one of my favorite science fiction authors. He brings intelligence and humor to whatever issuing he is addressing. In Calculating God, Sawyer is addressing one of the biggest issues: Is there a god who planned out creation and set it in motion?

For Tom Jericho, a palentologist at the Royal Ontario Museum, the answer is a resounding "no." But then one day a six-legged, two-armed alien resembling a spider named Hollus shows up to request a meeting with a paleontologist. Tom just happens to be available and the pair compare notes on mass extinctions. Seems on Hollus's world the mass extinctions happened at the exact same intervals as on earth and the home world of another species of alien. Furthermore, the aliens see the hand of an intelligent creator moving behind the scene - something Tom can't bring himself to accept.

Much of the book consists of convrsations between Tom and Hollus as they sort through theories. For some readers these conversations will probably seem a bit dull. I found them fascinating. I've always found myself on the scientific/rational side of the argument, so it was interesting to hear the aliens present the flip side. It didn't make a believer out of me (and I suspect many of the creationists and an proponents of intelligent design would have problems with the alien's version of intelligent design) but it did make me think about other possibilities.

If there were times when the book got a little "talky" in places, I just chalked it up to listening to a professor who knew his subject well and was able to present to in a way that the average Joe off the street could understand if they wondered into the middle of the lecture. The only problem I had was that some of the ideas have become outdated. That's hardly Sawyer's fault considering the book was written more than a decade ago ... well before all the current interest in string theory.

One more brief observation: I have yet to read a book by Sawyer that I didn't come away from without learning something new. Calculating God was no exception. Not only does he tell intriguing stories, but he gets you to learn new things along the way whether you intended to or not.

9 people found this helpful

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Dayal.

Intelligent, amusing, thoughtful and a refreshing SF read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 26, 2011

Verified Purchase

This is the first book of Sawyer's I have read and it won't be the last. Sawyer presents arguments in a very amusing way and I often wonder if the aliens in the novel are supposed to be so human!

The book does have it's downsides, it seems quite hurried in places and lacking for ideas. I would have liked to seen a bit more of God in action as it were (without wanting to give away spoliers), instead of the alien and human intellectual chin stroking. It's also a bit clumsy with some of the coincidences. However the plausiable is very much the point of this book.

My biggest complaint about this book was I would have liked it to have been deeper, a bit more philosophical perhaps - another couple of hundred of pages would have been wonderful! Not that any of this detracts from this being a good book... merely I was sad to come to the end as quickly as I did.

If you're into the philosophy of religion, evolution, and the kind of musings stoned and idle university students come up with - then this one is for you.

(Couldn't help but imagine the Canadians in the book as looking like the Canadians from Southpark!)

One person found this helpful

Glenn Myers

Interesting premise

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 20, 2012

Verified Purchase

So the alien that lands outside the geology museum believes in God. The geologist with whom he wishes to do research (on epoch-ending events) isn't. Cue an enjoyable and unusual SF novel with fun characters and plenty to think about, especially the Anthropic Argument. There are shades of Olaf Stapledon in his cosmology, which is high praise.

I enjoyed this book. It's not four or five stars because the plotting gets creaky in places and I wondered if he'd been guilty either of some injudicious spicing up of the plot, or an editor had some made some not-so-good suggestions which he had enacted. But it's good fun, and would be a particularly good book to sit round with friends and discuss.

Bob Houghton

Calculating God

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 2, 2017

Verified Purchase

Three weeks later and we're both still discussing ideas that came up in the book. Another thought provoking book by Robert J Sawyer.

R

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 27, 2016

Verified Purchase

Excellent read - covers philosophy, science and humanity.

Kindle Customer

Absolutely awful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 9, 2014

Verified Purchase

I don't lightly give a one star review. I like sci fi, and even a flawed novel can be enjoyable. This book isn't just flawed, it is atrocious. It comprises a series of high school science lectures loosely held together with an unconvincing plot. Not only does the author fail to sustain any interest in his characters or what will happen to them, he seems constitutionally incapable or letting much happen in his book. Now, loose slow plots don't guarantee a boring book - but in this case they surely produce one. Do yourself a favour and find something else to read: this is by far the worst book I have come across in the last few years, and you might well feel the same way...

2 people found this helpful

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