Calculating God [Paperback]

If you're looking for character-driven speculative fiction about God, aliens, mass extinctions and -- not least -- hope, then you've come to the right place.

The synopsis given above provides amble insight into the plot but I think that one thing should be made clear: Sawyer is NOT throwing a bone to the creationists.

What the author IS doing is expressing a sentiment that exists among many of us scientists today: the notion that God can be measured, studied and calculated by science. He weaves arguments about the potential for intelligent design of the universe into the narrative without bogging it down. The exchanges between the protagonist and the alien are funny and profound and touching.

Sawyer does something else very well. He depicts a scientist as a normal human being with normal human feelings and normal human flaws ... the kind of guy you'd like to sit down and drink a beer with ... this is a refreshing contrast to the myriad stereotype scientist characters that have been spoon-fed to us down through the years.

Please read CALCULATING GOD ... it will provoke thought and entertain.

In Calculating God, an alien arrives at a museum in Toronto and asks for a paleontologist. After an extremely funny start, the major part of the book consists of a lively discussion between the alien, who is gathering additional evidence to prove the existence of God, and Tom Jericho, a paleontologist who is diagnosed with cancer and starts to wonder about some very basic questions.

Sawyer manages to squeeze in fascinating discussions about cosmology, paleontology, biology and evolution (Sawyer seems to be equally at ease with all these subjects!), and at the same time uses the alien to present some interesting perspectives on such issues as morality and abortion. Calculating God is a truly intellectually satisfying and fascinating read. It kept me up for a couple of nights, I found myself laughing out loud and quoting funny dialogue to colleagues at work and recommended it to lots of people. On the last morning, with just a few pages to go, I quickly fed my daughter, left her to her mother, and proceeded to finish the book. I ended up still in my bathrobe when mother and daughter left home and needed to hurry to get to work at a reasonable time... So, it if safe to conclude that I enjoyed the book tremendously. While the story didn't convert me, it did really make me think (and still does...).

Having said all this, I'm a bit surprised at some of the criticism from previous readers on this site. For instance, I noticed the inconsistency about Jericho's thoughts about cilia, but I just interpreted them as different musings at different times and why should they be consistent? And what's wrong with the ending of the book? I absolutely loved it! It is admittedly on a very grand scale, but it fits the book and is definitely better than the mystic hoopla in 2001. And taking the trouble to write a review and say that it should be This Kiss instead of The Kiss... Naturally, I really couldn't understand the reader who couldn't get through the book. But, hey, different people, different tastes. I absolutely loved the dialogues, the jokes, the science, the various musings and the great eye for detail. Absolutely wonderful. The only thing that bugged me a (little) bit, was that at several places in the book Sawyer mentions that Hollywood has always had a very limited idea of what an alien should look like. That they are definitely more alien than the movies show. But at the same time, he made his alien into a very human character, making human jokes ("this side up", indeed!) and acting very much like a human. To me, that's a bit strange and contradictory and I feel that the alien should be more alien. Of course, I realize that that would complicate the conversations with Jericho considerably, but nevertheless....

Anyway, in my opinion Calculating God is an impressive achievement and from now on I'll buy every new book by Sawyer as soon as it appears!

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.