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Calculating God

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Calculating God

By: Robert J. Sawyer
Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Robert J. Sawyer
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About this listen

 In this Hugo-nominated novel, an alien walks into a museum and asks if he can see a paleontologist. But the arachnid ET hasn't come aboard a rowboat with the Pope and Stephen Hawking (although His Holiness does request an audience later). Landing at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the spacefarer, Hollus, asks to compare notes on mass extinctions with resident dino-scientist Thomas Jericho. A shocked Jericho finds that not only does life exist on other planets, but that every civilization in the galaxy has experienced extinction events at precisely the same time. Armed with that disconcerting information (and a little help from a grand unifying theory), the alien informs Jericho, almost dismissively, that the primary goal of modern science is to discover why God has behaved as he has and to determine his methods.

BONUS AUDIO: Author Robert J. Sawyer explains how the creationism vs. evolution debate informed the writing of Calculating God.

©2000 by Robert J. Sawyer (P)2008 Audible, Inc. First Contact Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction Natural History

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Critic reviews

"Is Sawyer Canada's answer to Michael Crichton? Very possibly yes." ( Montreal Gazette)
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Great start. Wastes no time getting stuck in. The premise is intriguing. The main alien is a hoot. Ultimately just fizzles out but takes a long time doing it.

Starts at a Gallop. Ends in a Canter

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vivid characters, fascinating ideas and food for thought, and the story eventually goes in very interesting directions I never expected. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though a great deal of the book is just conversation and debate, it's captivating. And great aliens!

Excellent narration and story.

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Skip the first 2' 45'' or so. The authors introduction, in my opinion, takes away from the story.

Enjoyable read, but...

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This is an excellent, original story and very well presented. There are occasional parts that are a bit tedious and too "sciency" but are not too long or frequent, but if it wasn't for that I'd give it five stars. It's well worth listening to a different take on the "the aliens have landed" story

An excellent original story, with heart

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I really enjoyed this book from start to finish. I found it to be well constructed, thought provoking, well paced with many unfolding layers and contexts. The story begins simply enough with an alien landing on earth to talk to a palaeontologist. The focus of the collaboration between alien and human is initially about whether or not God exists and the creation of the Universe. The early part of the story recounts the debates that develop between the two parties, each maintaining an opposite point of view. As the story unfolds however, the focus subtly and gradually shifts from this a discussion, to an exploration of the relationships between the characters in the book. We learn about the palaeontologist, his world and family, and about the alien's world and family. We witness the bond of friendship growing between both individuals. The story continues to expand, and weaves in as a part of the plot, some of the current forces which are occurring in our society. The development of the plot in this way adds a real thriller element to the story, as well as maintaining the interest and pace of the book.
Overall the book explores some fascinating hypotheses about life and it's existence, the rise and fall of species and civilisations, the structure and nature of civilisations depending on what their thought structure is based upon, life and death of an individual at a personal and an inter-relational context. It also throws in some fascination facts about the Universe in which we exist.
A most thought provoking, interesting and engaging "read". In essence it is a real 'human story' with an unexpected twist at the end. I still find myself thinking about some of the ideas, concepts and hypotheses presented in the story.

A Thoroughly Good 'Read'

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