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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

13.97 x 1.92 x 20.96 cm
ISBN-10

9780765322890
ISBN-13

978-0765322890
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Product description

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 ‏ : ‎ 299 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 1.92 x 20.96 cm

Best Sellers Rank: #120,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #60 in Canadian Short Stories
- #1,283 in Alien Invasion Science Fiction
- #1,700 in First Contact Science Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
512 ratings

About the author

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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

4.3 out of 5

512 global ratings

5 star		55%
4 star		26%
3 star		11%
2 star		4%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from Canada

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Torstang

Interesting

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 3, 2013

Verified Purchase

I didn't know what to think of this book at first, and spent over a year before I actually picked it up to read it. It was surprisingly good. The ending kinda sucked (as with most of Sawyer's books) and, let's face it, the book is written for those who don't believe in God; but it was still an interesting read. I wouldn't have been able to think stuff like this up. BTW, the title is misleading. Nowhere does the book actual "calculate" God. Remember: this is a piece of fiction.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

literaryloser

Hands down one of the best fiction books I've ever read

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 18, 2014

Verified Purchase

This book does such an amazing job of covering such a wide experience of humanities different ways of questioning existence. It's so subtle but poignant. The debates are amazing, the ideas are so good. It may be a sifi story but this is some pretty serious modern existential philosophy. It's just wrapped up in this great bundle full of characters and situations that allow ideas to be put on display instead of dryly laid out in textbook form. This book will make you think and I know I fell in love.

One person found this helpful

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Ryan

Good condition

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on July 9, 2021

Verified Purchase

Came in good condition

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emma

Double check product before shipping

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 19, 2021

Verified Purchase

I bought this book for my online class and it got delivered with proper packaging and then when I opened it up it had this huge slash on the cover and inside of first page, looking to be from a knife. Very upset and cannot return it because I need to read it for an assignment.

Helpful

Lakaf

Learnt a lot knowledge

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 3, 2014

Verified Purchase

I have learnt a lot of science from this book, physics, chemistry, biology, and paleontology. A very handy SF, nice imagination, and a little weird ending.

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Kuce

Enjoyed reading (listening) to this book very much

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 20, 2015

Verified Purchase

Different, believable. Enjoyed reading (listening) to this book very much. The part with Texan guys unnecessary, and the explanation of the conclusion a bit confusing , but otherwise really well done.

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Ari Kline

Great science fiction - must read.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on February 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

Really great story with some intriguing concepts to think about. Any fan of science fiction should read this one.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on September 24, 2017

Verified Purchase

Really makes you think

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

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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Calculating God: A Novel Paperback – March 3 2009

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About the author

Robert J. Sawyer

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Top reviews from Canada

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