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Calculating God

Calculating God

List Price: $6.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Thoughtful, original, daring. A fine read
Review: Science fiction is a genre of ideas and no other author in the science fiction genre can claim to explore them so in depthly as Robert J. Sawyer. At the heart of Calculating God is a really good idea: aliens experience the same five major cataclysmic events at the same time the earth experiences them.

An alien targets the Royal Ontario Museum as a landing spot due to its multi-disciplinary extensive and accessible fossil collection unrivaled in the world. It was nice to see aliens land in a country other than United States of America. Sawyer is after all Canadian and he delves as deeply into Canadian society as an American author would American society, writing the equivalent story.

The story may seem frustrating for some because the ending is never really explained. Sawyer was strongly influence by 2001 and it shows in Calculating God more so than his other books. He doesn't explain it at all. He gives the reader credit for his/her intelligence and leaves it open ended.

The alien first contact scenes at the beginning of the book is met with humour instead of tanks for once. I found this really refreshing. If an alien actually landed on earth, nobody would believe it, then it would be a huge event, and then eventually forgotten as people continue on with their daily lives. Sawyer doesn't fall into the trap of dwelling on this. He's a smart enough writer to focus on the story. However I'm sure that it's more than a rudimentary coincidence that an alien is shot by an American.

Sawyer - an athiest/agnostic himself - covers all the theological and scientific ground thoughtfully and convincingly. Other books such as "Canticle for Liebowitz" have touched on religious themes but not quite this head on.

On the whole, a good Sawyer effort despite a jarring point of view change. There are some really moving moments involving the main character's wife and child and his struggle with illness.

Not as solid as 'Flash Forward' or 'The Terminal Experiment' but he's without a doubt, one of the most thoughtful, original and intelligent contemporary science fiction writers working today. He does have a tendency to fall in love with his ideas at the expense of the story so this book might not be for everyone hoping for a fast paced read. Recommended.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Sawyer futilely hopes that unresolved issues just go away.
Review: An alien spacecraft lands in front of the Royal Ontario Museum. Its eight-legged occupant enters the building and asks, in perfect English, to see a paleontologist. Why? Because every inhabited planet her expedition visited went through an identical cycle of extinctions. If Earth fits that pattern, the aliens' theories of God's existence will be proved. The fossil record matches up, but can Hollus, the all-too human spider creature from a distant star, convince the terminally-ill paleontologist, Tom Jericho, that the universe has a creator?

I got through the first quarter of "Calculating God" with extreme difficulty. Here was what seemed to be the very antithesis of every science fiction book ever written. An alien emissary comes down to Earth and reveals that the speed of light cannot be transcended, that there are neither hyperspace nor parallel dimensions, that there are only three intelligent races (including humans) within conquerable distance, and that there is a God. Whereas science fiction is the discovery of new possibilities, "Calculating God" is those possibilities' denial.

"Calculating God" is a very painful read, largely because Sawyer's excellent writing is trapped within a tired plot that does little but open up some old wounds. First and foremost, there is the communication problem between Tom and Hollus on God's nature. The alien presents an exceedingly strong case for the existance of a creative force, using scientific data that is only partly fictional. Tom disagrees, because if God exists, why does Tom have cancer? This is a clear communication error: for the two main characters, the word "God" means two entirely different things, but they don't seem to see this.

Secondly, why is Tom having these conversations with Hollus at all? Nothing he says - outside of his area of expertise - can possibly be new to the alien, and yet Jericho and Hollus engage in heated discussions, despite the fact that Hollus really should have the advantage of two centuries' worth of scientific progress. Is Hollus humoring Tom, or is the alien just plain stupid? And despite the fact that Tom can't possibly contribute to the Forhilnors' knowledge in any way, he "mysteriously" solves the enigmas of alien ruins scattered throughout the galaxy, the next stage of humanity's evolution, and, best of all, God's ultimate purpose for all intelligent life.

With time, the book does get better. Character development overtakes the heated metaphysical discussions, and Tom's suffering and decline acquires a measure of pathos: Sawyer reveals that Tom has a loving family - a dear wife and an adopted six-year-old son. Meanwhile, a sideplot develops. Apparently, a pair of fanatical gaptoothed southerners are bent on destroying the priceless Burgess shales to show the aliens that the people of Earth really believe in God. Worse yet, these cardboard creationists watch the Red Green show. Here even Sawyer's considerable talent fails.

Even Sawyer's science is a bit shaky. His store of factual evidence exhausted during an intense conversation with Hollus, the writer has to resort to virtual reality and anti-gravity belts.

Possibly, there is a message of tolerance and conviviality hidden somewhere in this book. Too bad it gets garbled by all the heavy subject matter Sawyer treats with such unfair simplicity.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Intelligent design with a major twist.
Review: Sawyer's work is among the most intellectually challenging in modern SF. His plots are strong and his characters are interesting, but what makes Sawyer's novels so fascinating is the way in which he blends current scientific thinking with speculative themes. In "Calculating God," this mix includes the debate between evolutionary theory and intelligent design, first encounters with alien species, and a plot by human fanatics.

The story centers on attempts by several alien species to find (literally) God. They have come to Earth to research mass extinctions, which seem to have taken place at the same time on all planets with intelligent life. The major characters are a terminally ill human paleontologist and his alien counterpart. The human, an exponent of modern evolutionary theory, finds himself increasingly intrigued by the alien's vision of intelligent design. As they discuss their different points of view, a friendship develops, and the human becomes a participant in the search.

Although "Calculating God" is talky at times, the action is there. Some reviewers have felt that the ending was lame, but for me, it was the best part of the book. Conceptually daring and (for this reader at least) totally unexpected, it elevated the novel out of the realm of an ordinary story about the existence of God into something totally different. A reader who's looking for some light space opera probably wouldn't like this book. But for someone looking for a more philosophical novel, it would make a very good read.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fascinating speculations, very sympathetic main character
Review: CALCULATING GOD is a terrific book. Sawyer's research is wonderful and far reaching. He has clearly gone beyond just popular science sources. The main character's struggle with cancer is the perfect subplot, for one does wonder how such injustice can exist. All Sawyer's characters come off well, alien or otherwise. I thought at first that the two fundamentalists were going to be given an unfair treatment, but they were seen being very competent at what they set out to do. And, as a Sikh, I must applaud Sawyer's use of a Sikh character in a nonstereotypical role. Very well done! I enjoyed the aliens very much, from the affable Hollus to the almost incomprehensible Wreeds. I do not know the Royal Ontario Museum, where Sawyer sets his book, but I do know the politics of other museums and what he writes has the ring of real truth about it. A fresh and welcome contrast to the ridiculous portrayal of how a museum really works in for instance THE RELIC by Preston Child. CALCULATING GOD should be enjoyed by science fiction readers (I loved it) and by those who don't read sf (my wife loved it as well).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: No longer God vs Evolution, now God is evolution!
Review: I have been debating this subject in my head and others for quite a while and I'm so glad I got to read such a novel as this to shed more light on both science and religion. Don't be afraid of the title if you believe this book creates a crusade in making the reader believe in God or to create a belief system, it doesn't (so you won't become Scientologist by reading it). It in all forms Science Fiction, but believable science fiction indeed.

Two alien races come to Earth in search of a paleontologist. As it turns out every planets history in biology and evolution are extremely similar, almost identical. This fact, as the 2 foreign races believe, is the undeniable proof or "smoking gun" that the Universe was intelligently designed.

A completely understandable (if you took High School biology) look through science, God and fiction. The book also focuses on the life of a dying Paleontologist, his friend a large arachnoid alien and a furry blue little 4 armed 1 eyed giant purple.... oh wait hehe. Well, you'll see if you read this book.

Creationists and Evolutionists or Creative Evolutionists alike will adore this book because it is sensitive and explicative view into the existance of God and Evolution and how the two are interelated. I was so entranced by this book thatI finished it in a night. GET IT! Its a classic likely to fit into the realm of Arthur C. Clark's "Childhoods End" and "2001." It answers questions, doesn't lack ridiculously funny moments that "3rd Rock from the Sun" couldn't contend with. Its Religion, its Evolution; its a Revolution!

(No Scientologists were harmed in the making of this review)

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Thought Provoking Premise
Review: Aliens land in Toronto, but instead of "take me to your leader" it's "take me to your paleontologist." This attention grabbing start leads to the alien scientist Hollus working with paleontologist Tom Jericho to research the various extinction events in Earth's past. Hollus explains that the planets of both the alien races that have come to visit Earth have had five of these catastrophic events at roughly the same time. The aliens believe that this is evidence of God's existence and are searching for further signs of God's intervention in the universe. Tom, dying of lung cancer, has a very hard time accepting any arguments for the existence of God and spends a good portion of the book debating scientific proofs with Hollus.

Calculating God has a fascinating, unusual and thought-provoking premise. Sawyer mixes both humorous and poignant moments in with the quite believable scientific discussions. Tom's internal turmoil as he deals with cancer is handled very well. However, the dramatic events that unfold in the last half of the book seem forced and over-blown. Sawyer is at his best when working with moral and philosophic quandaries and thoughtful scientific debates. I just couldn't get past the feeling that the ending didn't really mesh with the rest of the book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great story that made me think for real.
Review: I love this book. The first page was weird, and I was thinking, "Oh, my god. This is going to be totally corny bad."

But it wasn't. It's great. The conversations on science are a little lightweight, but accurate. Just one proposition introduced for the sake of the plot, about extinction events coinciding.

As a non-religious guy, I found the arguments in the book really cool and fun. It's a great thing to find fiction that tweaks one's sacred cows. One of mine is the idea that there could not be a god. Sure, this god is way different, but it's a real argument. It's not the "void" of buddhism, nor the tao, nor is it the father-god in heaven. It's a discussion that will rock a guy back on his heels for a change, make him think.

Wonderful book, great story in the class of Jonathan Swift!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Search For God...
Review: Tom Jericho was a paleontologist doing the best he could with the time he had left. He was a scientist who believed in evolution, loved his family and knew there was no such thing as God.
Then one day two alien races came to Earth, not only with the belief that God does exist, but they were using science to find out WHAT he was up to. In other words they said that science and evolution of life proved there was a God because all three planets had gone through the same changes, EVEN mass extinctions at the SAME times!
A funny, sometimes serious and sometimes sad look at the origins of life, the mixture of science and faith, and the true meaning of God. A must for any sci-fi fan (even if you don't believe in God)!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I laughed and cried!
Review: This book was great. I couldn't put it down and when I did all I could think about was the theories and ideas that the main characters discussed. Some of the actual physics was hard to understand but the point was made at the end. I like the ending but it made me sad. I would have done the same thing though.
I recommend this book to anyone that has philosophical questions because the ideas and theories presented are thought-provoking.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Interesting but unconvincing.
Review: First the book is easy to read and well written as I see it.
The problem is that there are many discussions that guide the characters to unproportionated conclusions. In another words (spoil- here!) and as an example, if you see a rocket ship flying to a star and the star become a supernova. Do you get to the conclusion that the ship do it?!! Like these are many conclusions with the same base. I am use to read Hard SCI-FI so this is not acceptable for me. Besides it is very anthropocentric.
A couple of discussions about life and cosmic constants are very interesting but far from being conclusive as the book try to make you believe.


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