Calculating God

By: Robert J. Sawyer

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Robert J. Sawyer

Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

In this Hugo-nominated novel, 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, 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.

BONUS AUDIO: Author Robert J. Sawyer explains how the creationism vs. evolution debate informed the writing of Calculating God.

• 2009 Audie Award Winner, Science Fiction/Fantasy

©2000 by Robert J. Sawyer (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Is Sawyer Canada's answer to Michael Crichton? Very possibly yes." ( Montreal Gazette)
"Jonathan Davis...is one of our very best narrators and this is a fine performance. I was rapt the entire time, and even near tears at one moment in the book." (sffaudio.com; named an SFFaudio Essential)
"Jonathan Davis portrays a thoughtful and quietly introspective Jericho....As the conversation with Hollus continues, Davis keeps a steady pace and reflects the intellectual engagement of both characters. He presents the alien's speech as lightly studied, a fitting style for a non-English speaker who coordinates his speech between two mouths." ( AudioFile)

Excellent Read - Loved it!

This thought provoking little gem is very compelling with rich character development and wonderful dialogue. The story of an alien that forces you to think twice about God's motives for humanity. So, well done that I could read it again and again.

Hmm.. fascinating, but also slightly annoying.

Several interesting ideas. We need more of such stories. It's optimistic on many levels. If we would be starting new religion almost from scratch - this what XXI centry theology if this story wouldn't be made up. Unfortunately the critical elements supporting G-d's existence are part of the fictional world built. I would enjoy more calculations and less G-d. More expensive look into what science has to offer science, less theology. Yet, it is important voice in the debate between science and beliefs, beyond what usual Si-Fi writings has to offer.. To my surprise theological system started with monotheism, towards the end to spill into polytheism. I also wondered why to build such tight close theological and physical sytem, when could leave more space for imagination, and alternative solutions. Story locks itself into strictly fictional world - loosing much potential as a real intellectual experiment. Women's characters, especially human are lame.

Amazing performance of a somewhat mediocre tale.

**Minor spoilers**

First off, I did enjoy this book. The reading was very well done; Jonathan Davis is a very talented reader. The premise of the book is also tantalizing and interesting: Aliens visit our planet and lo and behold, they advocate a form of Intelligent Design instead of the commonly (on earth) accepted theory of Darwinian Evolution.

The idea is a great one, but the execution was less so. One of the reasons I love science fiction is that it invites you to think outside the box and imagine new realities and different ways of thinking. However, beyond superficial aspects, I didn't find the primary alien race to be all that interesting or 'alien'. They might as well have been Michael Behe. There was no real indication as to how their beliefs shaped how they did science, how it influenced their society, what religious significance they attached to their scientific pursuits, nothing. It seems that Mr. Sawyer was intent on following the ID mantra of "It's all about the science, and we aren't going to discuss other implications." That's all fine and good, but honestly it didn't make for very compelling or interesting story. The Spider People didn't really seem 'alien', they were just ID advocates with access to information we don't have. The 'Reeds' were a better attempt at describing alien thought, but their appearance is so brief, and the discussion about their moral intuition so hilariously bland and boring, that they feel like an opportunity wasted.

Honestly, the most alien creatures in the whole novel don't come from outer space, they come from the Southern USA. They appear in the form of horrifically stereotypical 'fundamentalists' bearing the names of JD and 'Cooter'. These characters and their actions have no real impact on the story or its final outcome, and seem to exist so that Mr. Sawyer can demonstrate in no uncertain terms that his book is not a subversive attempt to introduce creationism. As a creationist myself (though, I confess, I now have doubts about my sincerity now as I've never killed an abortionist or destroyed fossils with a submachine gun), I wasn't offended by the portrayal of these characters as much as I was annoyed at another missed opportunity. I'm sure rednecks like these exist, but someone who at least 'tried' to be scientific might have made for a more interesting antagonist. I would have been interested to hear the aliens rebut the creationists and correct their 'primitive' conceptions of god with a more enlightened view. But Mr. Sawyer went the boring, unimaginative route instead, unfortunately.

I also wonder if Mike Harris ran over Mr. Sawyer's cat. There are so many negative remarks directed to provincial elected officials that it almost seemed personal. It was very odd and frankly, distracting.

In closing, I don't really regret listening to this book. There were stimulating passages, and it did pick up toward the end. However, I have a nagging disappointment in this book that it didn't challenge me or live up to the potential suggested by the subject matter. It's a good book, but you probably won't be changed by it.

Not an upbeat book.

This book was not at all what I was expecting. I have three complaints.

1. The god of this universe isn't perfect, and doesn't care about anyone, so it doesn't rase any real theological debate. (Which I thought was the point of the book.)

2. I wasn't looking for a sad story, and this is a story about an angry dying man.

3. There were quite a few jabs at America, most of which didn't make much since. If you're not an american I'm sure you won't care, but I am.

A good short story buried in here

I knew the author had an agenda up front, I just hoped it would be contained in more of a story. The premise was intriguing but key characters were made of too much straw and cardboard. If the words wasted in navel gazing and strawman fighting had instead been employed in fleshing out a story of first contact and the global reactions, that would've been the book I wish I had read.

My compliments on very good narrative performance, of such shaky material.

Thought provoking

Where does Calculating God rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

High up. Bringing up lots of questions and possible answers.

What did you like best about this story?

The premise of an intelligence influencing the universe and finding the evidence for that theory. That and the alien's that aren't so different from us. I liked aliens that are not stereotypically attacking us or unable to communicate with.

Which scene was your favorite?

Meeting the spider-like alien at the museum. The protagonist, the professor, was delightful. And how he dealt with his boss, and avoided the politics.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The realization of the pattern of destruction and recreation. That moment of realizing that there appeared to be scientific evidence of intelligence running the universe.

Any additional comments?

There was no religious or faith based agenda. Just the premise that, at some time, we might discover an intelligence at work in the background. I found that fascinating. Sawyer was reminding us that we have theories and that more knowledge always seems to shoot holes in out theories and beliefs.

Beginning was great

I really like the beginning, the portrayal of an alien walking in and asking for a paleontologist. Much of the rest of the book got bogged down. There were high points, but overall just slow.

More science than religion.

This book far exceeded my expectations. A great story, compelling characters, and believable science.

While having a spiritual tone in some respects, it handles the topic of belief in a respectful and logical way.

Whether you are a believer or not this book works on multiple levels. That combined with an excellent performance by the reader leads me to highly recommend it.

Amazing story of fatherhood and adventure

This is one of my favorite books by robert j. sawyer and it really comes alive in this audiobook.

Gaslighting is Never an Effective Argument

It seemed as if the majority of the story was focused on gaslighting the claims that Science has made about the properties of our universe. Throughout the book, Hollus, the alien that went to see the paleontologist, spent most of the time pointing attention to how exact properties the universe were made to be, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to exist, as evidence that a divine creator made it so. Rather than truly presenting arguments involving rationalism, postmodernism and christian moralism, it takes a superficial approach and gaslights like creationists have always done.

I wanted to hear a compelling argument throughout this book, but the points made fell flat on their face.