Creationists rarely find sympathy in the ranks of science fiction authors--or fans, for that matter. And while Robert J. Sawyer doesn't exactly make peace with evangelicals on the issue, Calculating God has to be one of the more thoughtful and sympathetic SF portrayals you'll find of religion and intelligent design. But that should come as no surprise from this crafty Canadian: in the Nebula Award-winning Terminal Experiment, Sawyer speculated on what would happen if hard evidence were ever found for the human soul; in Calculating God, he turns science on its head again when earth is invaded by theists from outer space.

The book starts out like the setup for some punny science fiction joke: 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 (named 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."

Inventive, fast-paced, and alternately funny and touching, Calculating God sneaks in a well-researched survey of evolution science, exobiology, and philosophy amidst the banter between Hollus and Jericho. But the book also proves to be very moving and character-driven SF, as Jericho--in the face of Hollus's convincing arguments--grapples with his own bitter reasons for not believing in God. --Paul Hughes


From Publishers Weekly
Sawyer (Flashforward; Factoring Humanity), a Canadian, is one of contemporary SF's most consistent performers. His new novel concerns the appearance at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto of a spiderlike alien paleontologist named Hollus. The alien has come to Earth to study the five great extinction events that have hit our planet over the eons, the best known being the asteroid collision that wiped out the dinosaurs. When the museum's head paleontologist, Tom Jericho, consults with the alien, he is shocked to discover that Hollus has proof that her own planet and that of another alien race suffered a similar series of five catastrophic events at virtually the same times as Earth did. More surprising still to a 21st-century disciple of Darwin like Jericho, both alien races see this synchronicity, along with other scientific evidence, as proof of the existence of God. Much of the novel is relatively cerebral, as Jericho and Hollus argue over the scientific data they've gathered in support of God's existence, but Sawyer excels at developing both protagonists into full-fledged characters, and he adds tension to his story in several ways: Jericho has terminal cancer, which gives him a personal stake in discovering the truth of the alien's claims, and lurking in the background are a murderous pair of abortion clinic bombers who have decided that the museum's Burgess Shale exhibition is an abomination that must be destroyed. Finally, there's the spectacular, if not entirely prepared for, climax in which God manifests in an unexpected manner. This is unusually thoughtful SF. (June) FYI: Sawyer's The Terminal Experiment won the 1995 Nebula Award for Best Novel. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Diagnosed with lung cancer, paleontologist Thomas Jericho expects to die within the year. What he doesn't expect is the appearance of a spiderlike alien in his museum seeking confirmation from Earth's prehistoric past of the existence of God. The author of Factoring Humanity once again demonstrates his wild talent for innovative, iconoclastic storytelling as he relates a thought-provoking, sobering, yet wryly compassionate tale of one man's discovery of timelessness even as his own time is running out. A good choice for most sf collections. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"It's hard to think of a modern science-fiction author with dreams as vast as those of the internationally acclaimed Robert J. Sawyer."--The Toronto Star

"Is Sawyer Canada's answer to Michael Crichton? Very possibly yes."--Montreal Gazette



Review
"It's hard to think of a modern science-fiction author with dreams as vast as those of the internationally acclaimed Robert J. Sawyer."--The Toronto Star

"Is Sawyer Canada's answer to Michael Crichton? Very possibly yes."--Montreal Gazette



Book Description
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.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Alien Intelligence
In the engaging and thoughtful Calculating God, Nebula Award-winner Robert J. Sawyer (Frameshift, Flashforward) gives us yet another novel full of deeply insightful speculation on the universe at large and humanity's place in it. Sawyer toys with the conventions of the hard SF tale brewed with meditations of philosophic and spiritual significance. Setting the pace and tone for a new kind of enriching blend, Sawyer's work proves to be an electrifying mix of old-fashioned alien contact as well as pertinent, enthralling conjecture. Calculating God is an offbeat and highly informative novel that shows a provocative understanding of man's need to grow closer to his creator.

When an alien ship lands in the courtyard of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and asks to speak with a paleontologist, most people believe a big budget movie is being filmed nearby. That is until the chief paleontologist, Tom Jericho, meets with a large spider-like being named Hollus and learns it is a scientist who's come to Earth to study fossils pertaining to the five great planet-wide extinctions, including the one that destroyed the dinosaurs, which helped shape the evolutionary scale of the Earth. Hollus stuns Jericho by explaining that his own distant world, as well as that of another intelligent alien race, suffered the same cataclysms during the same five time periods. Hollus believes that these universal designs and patterns irrefutably prove the existence of God.

Jericho, however, has spent a lifetime maintaining that his scientific convictions have gone to proving the case against God. In recent months, though, this has become a much bigger issue for him, more than ever before in his life: Jericho's been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given less than a year to live. Jericho and Hollus continue to disagree and argue the various points for and against a greater presence. Added to all their various data is the fact that Hollus has also discovered the remnants of several other alien civilizations, all of which seem to have vanished without reason. On one world is a deeply buried chamber that may hold part of the answer to what God is and what He wants.

The debates between Hollus and Jericho are often humorous and even poignant, with real touches of ingenuity and wit worked into the moving scenes. The reader shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that a great deal of dialogue might slow the action, because the critically perceptive arguments and points of contention actually are the action, filled with a charge born of inspired, penetrating, and weighty discussions on controversial matters. Jericho's philosophical and spiritual quandaries are no more or less "human" than those of his alien counterpart. Sawyer is wonderfully fair in his portrayal of each of the conflicting beliefs shown here, and his even-keel approach to the storyline keeps the novel perfectly balanced. Sawyer embraces dramatic tension from several sources, whether personal conflict, religious attitude, or moral dilemma.

The provocative nature of Sawyer's work is that each of his protagonists, human and alien alike, believes himself to be in a position of theological certitude over the other. Keen social observations are notable here, made even more impressive because the energy level of his prose is kept constantly full throttle for the maximum effect. The reader can't help but become wound into an intricate series of enthralling conversations and their ever-present scientific foundation, as well as the thoughtful contemplation of our spiritual belief systems. This is the impressive kind of science fiction that not only entertains as well as informs but will also move us to revisit the ideas expressed in Calculating God again and again.

--Tom Piccirilli

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Sawyer (Flashforward; Factoring Humanity), a Canadian, is one of contemporary SF's most consistent performers. His new novel concerns the appearance at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto of a spiderlike alien paleontologist named Hollus. The alien has come to Earth to study the five great extinction events that have hit our planet over the eons, the best known being the asteroid collision that wiped out the dinosaurs. When the museum's head paleontologist, Tom Jericho, consults with the alien, he is shocked to discover that Hollus has proof that her own planet and that of another alien race suffered a similar series of five catastrophic events at virtually the same times as Earth did. More surprising still to a 21st-century disciple of Darwin like Jericho, both alien races see this synchronicity, along with other scientific evidence, as proof of the existence of God. Much of the novel is relatively cerebral, as Jericho and Hollus argue over the scientific data they've gathered in support of God's existence, but Sawyer excels at developing both protagonists into full-fledged characters, and he adds tension to his story in several ways: Jericho has terminal cancer, which gives him a personal stake in discovering the truth of the alien's claims, and lurking in the background are a murderous pair of abortion clinic bombers who have decided that the museum's Burgess Shale exhibition is an abomination that must be destroyed. Finally, there's the spectacular, if not entirely prepared for, climax in which God manifests in an unexpected manner. This is unusually thoughtful SF. (June) FYI: Sawyer's The Terminal Experiment won the 1995 Nebula Award for Best Novel. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Library Journal

Diagnosed with lung cancer, paleontologist Thomas Jericho expects to die within the year. What he doesn't expect is the appearance of a spiderlike alien in his museum seeking confirmation from Earth's prehistoric past of the existence of God. The author of Factoring Humanity once again demonstrates his wild talent for innovative, iconoclastic storytelling as he relates a thought-provoking, sobering, yet wryly compassionate tale of one man's discovery of timelessness even as his own time is running out. A good choice for most sf collections. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

New York Times Book Review

Sawyer is a writer of boundless confidence and bold scientific extrapolation.

Kirkus Reviews

When an alien shuttlecraft lands near the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, its spider-like alien occupant demands to be taken to a paleontologist. This turns out to be lung cancer-sufferer Thomas Jericho. The Forhilnor, named Hollus, claims to have scientific proof of the existence of God. Part of this proof concerns the numerous extinction events that have occurred on Earth: they also occurred, with precisely identical timing, on planet Forhilnor, planet Wreed, etc. The Forhilnor hypothesize that God's trying to encourage the development of intelligent life. The universe itself, according to the aliens, is evidence of intelligent design, though God ignores individuals and doesn't communicate. Still other worlds developed intelligent life but were then abandoned by their inhabitants. Thomas, an avowed atheist, debates endlessly with Hollus. Meanwhile, in a rather absurd subplot, a couple of fundamentalist, abortion-clinic bombers plot to destroy the museum's "bogus" collection of Burgess Shale fossils. Thomas theorizes that the vanished alien races retreated into computer-simulation worlds to live forever; but one race plans to turn the star Betelgeuse into a supernova and thus fry both Earth and Forhilnor. Betelgeuse duly explodes—but suddenly a space-shield appears, and the planets are saved. Finally, Hollus takes the dying Thomas off in the Forhilnor ship to meet God. From the author of Flashforward (1999), etc.: a theological polemic masquerading as a science fiction novel. Take it as you find it.