I really enjoyed this book and, despite being heavy on the conversation and discussion of ideas, it was quite a page-turner. I found myself caring about Tom Jericho, the paleontologist at the core of the story, his life, his health, his struggles with the idea of an intelligent designer and with religion (2 very separate issues). His relationship with Hollus, the alien from Beta Hydrii III, felt genuine. I also found that nothing in the book went quite the way I expected and so I was both entertained and surprised with various developments.

Looking forward to reading more by Sawyer! ( )

One of Sawyer's more awkward attempts, but still engaging, with lots & lots of sciency ideas. I did like the aliens. I didn't like the omission of the admission that "life as we know it" is a relevant concept... sure, life as we know it can probably only evolve within a certain set of parameters, but what about life as we are not capable of imagining?

Also, our hero had so many brilliant ideas, almost all of which were immediately accepted as truth by the representatives of the other peoples. I mean, nobody else could think of, for example, the transcendence of advanced races? But even though he's dying of cancer, Tom can! Plus he's not only a great paleontologist, and husband, and dad, he's also a diplomat, administrator, and hero. Ok fine. Recommended, lukewarmly, if, like me, you've enjoyed other Sawyer stand-alones (I've not tried Hominids yet), or if you're truly interested in the theme (which is, to put it straight, what kind of proof would it take to convince a human atheist scientist that there is a Supreme Creator?).
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Second read. Interestingly dated in that there's Blockbuster but no Google, and Pluto is still a planet. Funnier than I remembered. But, given a reread of my previous review, I may just let it go (accidental purchase at a used-book store). ... Yes, I did dnf this time around, Feb 2020. ( )

DNF ( )

I read this on an airplane, and it seemed a bit familiar, but I didn't realize I had read it nearly 23 years ago! An alien ship lands on the grounds of the Ontario Science Museum and the alien asks to meet a paleontologist, who of course turns out to be our hero. It turns out this alien species, and the other one they've found, believes in a scientific god. Sawyer uses well a lot of tropes about a god of science that were around 25 years ago or more. The proof in this case involves mass extinctions that happened on all three planets around the same time, and it is shown that these were caused by this god, who is steering the universe towards intelligent life. When the novel looks like it really isn't going anywhere, it takes quite a huge dramatic turn at the end. Don't know why I didn't review it 23 years ago, but I don't write up everything I read. This was an enjoyable, and oftentimes moving and puzzling sf novel. ( )

(2000)(audio)Very good SF story about first contact with an alien race that comes in peace and reveals that they have proof that God exists and is responsible for everything that occurs in the universe. It leads a Toronto paleontologist to go on a quest to find the meaning of life and God even though he doesn't initially believe.(Amazon.com) 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