4.0 (1 rating)
Calculating God
CALCULATING GOD
by Best-Novel Hugo and Nebula Award-winner Robert J. Sawyer
DID GOD CREATE THE UNIVERSE? THE ALIENS THINK THEY CAN PROVE IT!
The beloved Hugo Award-nominated classic about the conflict between science and religion — perfect for fans of Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow and Carl Sagan's Contact. An alien walks into Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum and asks to see a paleontologist. Dinosaur expert Tom Jericho is stunned to learn that many worlds experienced the same five great mass extinctions Earth did. The alien believes this proves God tampers with the evolution of life. As Tom faces his own mortality, will his lifelong atheism be shaken by these revelations?
From this provocative launch point, Sawyer tells a fast-paced, morally and intellectually challenging story that just grows larger and larger in scope.
Calculating God is SF on the grand scale — with a very human heart.
Praise for Calculating God: "Spectacular; unusually thoughtful SF." —Publishers Weekly "The premise is astounding. A fine read; an intellectual thriller with real bite." —Edmonton Journal "The best science fiction novel of the year." —Denver Rocky Mountain News "An engrossing and nuanced novel, full of food for thought and meat for meditation, the sort of epistemological gavotte that reminds us why God invented science fiction in the first place." —James Morrow "An enthralling story. The climax is an exhilarating and touching glimpse of transcendence." —Starlog "Sawyer ends with grandeur worthy of Arthur C. Clarke." —The Denver Post "An action-packed yet highly philosophical, theological, and ethical story. Well-melded into the fast-paced plot, a wonderful dialogue goes on over the God question and over right, wrong, and the purpose of life. It's guaranteed to expand the minds of believers and non-believers alike." —Tom Harpur in The Toronto Star "Sawyer 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." —Library Journal "Exciting and emotional. Sawyer smoothly combines ethical questions and comical dialogue in a highly absorbing tale." —Booklist "Calculating God is the most captivating work of science fiction I've read since Carl Sagan's Contact." —Victoria Times Colonist
Robert J. Sawyer, a member of The Order of Canada and a Globe and Mail, Maclean's, and #1 Locus bestseller, is the author of 25 other novels, including The Downloaded, The Oppenheimer Alternative, Quantum Night, and FlashForward, the basis for the ABC TV series. He lives just outside Toronto.
by Best-Novel Hugo and Nebula Award-winner Robert J. Sawyer
DID GOD CREATE THE UNIVERSE? THE ALIENS THINK THEY CAN PROVE IT!
The beloved Hugo Award-nominated classic about the conflict between science and religion — perfect for fans of Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow and Carl Sagan's Contact. An alien walks into Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum and asks to see a paleontologist. Dinosaur expert Tom Jericho is stunned to learn that many worlds experienced the same five great mass extinctions Earth did. The alien believes this proves God tampers with the evolution of life. As Tom faces his own mortality, will his lifelong atheism be shaken by these revelations?
From this provocative launch point, Sawyer tells a fast-paced, morally and intellectually challenging story that just grows larger and larger in scope.
Calculating God is SF on the grand scale — with a very human heart.
Praise for Calculating God: "Spectacular; unusually thoughtful SF." —Publishers Weekly "The premise is astounding. A fine read; an intellectual thriller with real bite." —Edmonton Journal "The best science fiction novel of the year." —Denver Rocky Mountain News "An engrossing and nuanced novel, full of food for thought and meat for meditation, the sort of epistemological gavotte that reminds us why God invented science fiction in the first place." —James Morrow "An enthralling story. The climax is an exhilarating and touching glimpse of transcendence." —Starlog "Sawyer ends with grandeur worthy of Arthur C. Clarke." —The Denver Post "An action-packed yet highly philosophical, theological, and ethical story. Well-melded into the fast-paced plot, a wonderful dialogue goes on over the God question and over right, wrong, and the purpose of life. It's guaranteed to expand the minds of believers and non-believers alike." —Tom Harpur in The Toronto Star "Sawyer 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." —Library Journal "Exciting and emotional. Sawyer smoothly combines ethical questions and comical dialogue in a highly absorbing tale." —Booklist "Calculating God is the most captivating work of science fiction I've read since Carl Sagan's Contact." —Victoria Times Colonist
Robert J. Sawyer, a member of The Order of Canada and a Globe and Mail, Maclean's, and #1 Locus bestseller, is the author of 25 other novels, including The Downloaded, The Oppenheimer Alternative, Quantum Night, and FlashForward, the basis for the ABC TV series. He lives just outside Toronto.
Published: June 28, 2025
Pages: 358
ISBN: 9781988415444
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4.0
1 rating
Charlene M.
Apr 18, 2026
The first thing to bear in mind is that this is a Sci-fi book and that means that while there should be some solid science, there also has to be some fiction and that means, in this case, some assumptions for this 'view' of the world that have to be integrated and explored in order for the story to progress. In this case: a theistic (though not really religious and I think this is where many people stumbled in trying to figure this book out) alien and atheist scientist who are working together to see if:
a) A 'god' or at least a 'creator' (as the alien is usually careful to point out) exists
b) What its 'deal' is and
c) Figure out some of life's bigger questions.
But in order to make the story 'work' the writer really has to come down on one side or the other and he went down on the side of 'there's something,' and then set out arguments to justify it. Whether you find those arguments compelling, offensive or flat out wrong is a matter of opinion, but for myself, it's rather important to have some sort of something tangible to hang the story off of or else it's a plot that will go in circles.
Overall, I found many of the ideas compelling-even if they do require you to go into this 'universe' with the idea that what the alien is saying *could* be true. I have no trouble suspending a bit of belief for the sake of a story, so I wasn't nearly as outraged as many other readers end up being. The idea of a creator being a programmer has some appeal and the fact that the atheist kept saying 'God' and personifying this 'other' while the alien worked very hard to simply call it a 'creator' and attribute very little to it save for an overwhelming intelligence and clearly a creative drive interesting. Many of the conversations which come out of this are interesting--but again, those who have chosen a 'camp' will probably get angry or at least disgusted.
Where the book fell flat for me was the second climax with the supernova. It only served to hammer down which side the author fell on and it felt incredibly forced. The sexism instances made me roll my eyes a little, but not enough to cause me grief (but then, I've never really had trouble with sexism in a book unless it's really damaging, appalling or serves no real purpose). The characters are a bit one-dimensional, (the main reason why the character is a stalwart atheist seems to be due to more recent events) but then the point of the story was philosophy and bigger ideas, not so much character driven.
It's definitely an interesting read and it had me coming back again and again to finish it; however, if you're the type who is completely down on the idea of intelligent design-er, intelligent programming would actually be a better phrase, (either because you don't believe in any beings at all or you don't believe that a supreme being would Be Like That), then this won't be the book for you and I'd suggest reading something else.
a) A 'god' or at least a 'creator' (as the alien is usually careful to point out) exists
b) What its 'deal' is and
c) Figure out some of life's bigger questions.
But in order to make the story 'work' the writer really has to come down on one side or the other and he went down on the side of 'there's something,' and then set out arguments to justify it. Whether you find those arguments compelling, offensive or flat out wrong is a matter of opinion, but for myself, it's rather important to have some sort of something tangible to hang the story off of or else it's a plot that will go in circles.
Overall, I found many of the ideas compelling-even if they do require you to go into this 'universe' with the idea that what the alien is saying *could* be true. I have no trouble suspending a bit of belief for the sake of a story, so I wasn't nearly as outraged as many other readers end up being. The idea of a creator being a programmer has some appeal and the fact that the atheist kept saying 'God' and personifying this 'other' while the alien worked very hard to simply call it a 'creator' and attribute very little to it save for an overwhelming intelligence and clearly a creative drive interesting. Many of the conversations which come out of this are interesting--but again, those who have chosen a 'camp' will probably get angry or at least disgusted.
Where the book fell flat for me was the second climax with the supernova. It only served to hammer down which side the author fell on and it felt incredibly forced. The sexism instances made me roll my eyes a little, but not enough to cause me grief (but then, I've never really had trouble with sexism in a book unless it's really damaging, appalling or serves no real purpose). The characters are a bit one-dimensional, (the main reason why the character is a stalwart atheist seems to be due to more recent events) but then the point of the story was philosophy and bigger ideas, not so much character driven.
It's definitely an interesting read and it had me coming back again and again to finish it; however, if you're the type who is completely down on the idea of intelligent design-er, intelligent programming would actually be a better phrase, (either because you don't believe in any beings at all or you don't believe that a supreme being would Be Like That), then this won't be the book for you and I'd suggest reading something else.