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tomtatom's review
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was caught off guard by the humor in this book. I didn't expect it but I really needed it at the time; 3 dark books in a row, combined with heavy matters in my own life had left me a little down, though it also made me tear up toward the end, which I also didn't se coming (but should have).
I was reminded a bit of James Blish's "A Case of Conscience," not in the writing style, but in the subject matter; science meets theology.
I was reminded a bit of James Blish's "A Case of Conscience," not in the writing style, but in the subject matter; science meets theology.
foofers1622's review
4.0
Robert J. Sawyer did his homework for this one. A definition sci-fi with a bit of creationism thrown it. A good book that makes you really think about the bigger picture.
rewarner's review against another edition
5.0
I tore this book as I haven't with any books in a while. I generally have a distaste for books that are long conversations or monologues; they are usually trying to make a philosophical point that they could sum up in 1/25 the text by making clear arguments. I make an exception for this book. There is a lot of conversation, a lot of exposition, but it just works. I was hooked the moment I heard the premise: an alien comes to Earth and wants to meet with a Paleontologist. From there on it is a clever race to ever stranger notions.
baxspookwave's review
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I think that the problem with this book lies in the number of explanation the author adds to make the argument of the alien solid.
All the things the alien says are not really proofs, they are things we already know are used as reasons to think that the universe was designed in certain ways, but they are not proofs; in some ways the protagonist is conscious of that, but for the most part he’s just very easily convinced (even tho he says, multiple times, how much of an atheist he is).
The sub-plot of the creationist was basically useless.
The writing is a bit too dry, a bit too cliche; everything seems “already seen”.
This is a disappointment since, when i read Flashforward, the ideas were much more detailed and less in your face
The finale is, in my opinion, the worst offender: the author wanted to describe everything, even though the best idea was (maybe) to leave room for the reader; with that I mean that the descriptions of the “god” get in the way of the supposedly eldritch creature they should be.
All the things the alien says are not really proofs, they are things we already know are used as reasons to think that the universe was designed in certain ways, but they are not proofs; in some ways the protagonist is conscious of that, but for the most part he’s just very easily convinced (even tho he says, multiple times, how much of an atheist he is).
The sub-plot of the creationist was basically useless.
The writing is a bit too dry, a bit too cliche; everything seems “already seen”.
This is a disappointment since, when i read Flashforward, the ideas were much more detailed and less in your face
The finale is, in my opinion, the worst offender: the author wanted to describe everything, even though the best idea was (maybe) to leave room for the reader; with that I mean that the descriptions of the “god” get in the way of the supposedly eldritch creature they should be.
marypetersonbennett's review
loved it. It was my first Robert J. Sawyer and I just keep going. I'm a fan :>)
bradparks's review
5.0
Enjoyable - feels like Robert Sawyers take on Contact. Glad I read it, and was eye opening. Very interesting.
professorfate's review
4.0
I must have enjoyed this book, since I finished it in just over three days.
A spaceship lands in front of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. An alien emerges and walks into the museum, wanting to meet with a paleontologist. This alien (and others not only of her race but of another) have been travelling around the Universe trying to scientifically prove that God exists. The paleontologist that she meets up with, Tom Jericho, is dying of lung cancer and is an atheist. The two have a good, healthy exchange of ideas but then are forced to confront the ugly side of religion on this planet when two Christian fundamentalists try to destroy an exhibit of fossils and to convince the alien that Jericho is lying to it, that God exists and created the world 6,000 years ago, etc. etc. etc.
There are two reasons why I bought this book. First was because I like Mr. Sawyer’s writing (although I have only read one other book of his, “WWW: Wake”) and the title and description intrigued me. The second was to try to piss off the reactionary, holier-than-thou Bible thumpers here in South Carolina (guess the second mission failed because I read it so fast). Don’t get me wrong: Christians are cool (to me) as long as they keep their beliefs to themselves. Unfortunately, around here, that doesn’t happen: it is assumed that all people are Christian and if you’re not, you’d better keep quiet. I am an agnostic—I think the existence of a god is most unlikely, but since I can’t prove it, I can’t discount the possibility.
The book really does not take a side one way or the other. Jericho does have a conversion of sorts at the end of the book (due to an event that I won’t tell you about—read the book), but the author doesn’t say that yes, God does exist; it is left up to the reader to decide for themselves. It is a book that will make you think, believer or not. And it does stay with you (I finished it this morning and I’m still thinking about it). Will it make you change your beliefs? It might, but probably not, but it will entertain and challenge you. Highly recommended.
A spaceship lands in front of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. An alien emerges and walks into the museum, wanting to meet with a paleontologist. This alien (and others not only of her race but of another) have been travelling around the Universe trying to scientifically prove that God exists. The paleontologist that she meets up with, Tom Jericho, is dying of lung cancer and is an atheist. The two have a good, healthy exchange of ideas but then are forced to confront the ugly side of religion on this planet when two Christian fundamentalists try to destroy an exhibit of fossils and to convince the alien that Jericho is lying to it, that God exists and created the world 6,000 years ago, etc. etc. etc.
There are two reasons why I bought this book. First was because I like Mr. Sawyer’s writing (although I have only read one other book of his, “WWW: Wake”) and the title and description intrigued me. The second was to try to piss off the reactionary, holier-than-thou Bible thumpers here in South Carolina (guess the second mission failed because I read it so fast). Don’t get me wrong: Christians are cool (to me) as long as they keep their beliefs to themselves. Unfortunately, around here, that doesn’t happen: it is assumed that all people are Christian and if you’re not, you’d better keep quiet. I am an agnostic—I think the existence of a god is most unlikely, but since I can’t prove it, I can’t discount the possibility.
The book really does not take a side one way or the other. Jericho does have a conversion of sorts at the end of the book (due to an event that I won’t tell you about—read the book), but the author doesn’t say that yes, God does exist; it is left up to the reader to decide for themselves. It is a book that will make you think, believer or not. And it does stay with you (I finished it this morning and I’m still thinking about it). Will it make you change your beliefs? It might, but probably not, but it will entertain and challenge you. Highly recommended.
suzemo's review
2.0
I have never read this author (though I guess he's rather prolific and well known and, from what I can gather - not too bad otherwise), and I bought this book based on the blurb. Essentially, an alien lands on earth (for whatever reason) and proceeds to argue with a human, who is both a paleontologist and atheist, about the existence of god. Or God, I suppose.
I will say that the foreward put me off. It was an honest to (hah) god blurb of "if you don't like my book, you're a close-minded asshole."
Well, I didn't like the book very much, and not because of the subject matter. I actually found the writing rather lacking, so I guess that makes me a closed minded asshole.
The author, btw, is himself, an atheist. I've seen some reviews that seem to think he's pushing the creationism or intelligent design theory, but the book really doesn't push much of anything, except bad arguments.
So, essentially. An alien lands on earth. This alien is part of a species that are (obviously) star-faring and they have come with another alien race to check out Earth/Terra. We're all at about the same technological level, and what they've discovered is that there are 5 mass extinction events that have happened *at the exact same time* to all three races. So, for whatever reason, they're trying to look at the history of Earth to see what other comparisons can be made. Apparently most of the other species discovered thus far have gone post-physical and are out of the picture, but these aliens believe that there is another race out there, playing "god", in that it's causing events, nudging the races to the state they are at. And then a star explodes (well, hundreds of millions of years ago, but, you know, astronomical stuff takes some serious time) and the author pulls a literal deus ex machina and the god-alien saves the day.
In all of this, the scientist-protag is fighting cancer and at the end travels off with the aliens to visit "god."
There is also a very, very weak subplot involving some super-christian neo-con types who are bombing abortion clinics and fossils (lies created by the scientists to manipulate people away from god, of course). This book, btw, takes place in Canada, and I don't know how bad their crazy neo-con abortion-bomber problem is, but it sounds very stereotypical for 'Murika.
So, my issue was I was looking forward to the arguments of this "god" that the aliens know of, but really, the author perverts the idea of god - he takes Clarke's third law (you know, the one about advance technology and magic) and essentially applies that to any sufficiently advanced race/alien. So the argument is moot. It's not that there is a god, it's that there is a powerful enough alien that feels the need to play with other races/lifeforms to get what he wants out of the deal. Which. Meh. Cute, but ultimately boring.
I will say that the foreward put me off. It was an honest to (hah) god blurb of "if you don't like my book, you're a close-minded asshole."
Well, I didn't like the book very much, and not because of the subject matter. I actually found the writing rather lacking, so I guess that makes me a closed minded asshole.
The author, btw, is himself, an atheist. I've seen some reviews that seem to think he's pushing the creationism or intelligent design theory, but the book really doesn't push much of anything, except bad arguments.
So, essentially. An alien lands on earth. This alien is part of a species that are (obviously) star-faring and they have come with another alien race to check out Earth/Terra. We're all at about the same technological level, and what they've discovered is that there are 5 mass extinction events that have happened *at the exact same time* to all three races. So, for whatever reason, they're trying to look at the history of Earth to see what other comparisons can be made. Apparently most of the other species discovered thus far have gone post-physical and are out of the picture, but these aliens believe that there is another race out there, playing "god", in that it's causing events, nudging the races to the state they are at. And then a star explodes (well, hundreds of millions of years ago, but, you know, astronomical stuff takes some serious time) and the author pulls a literal deus ex machina and the god-alien saves the day.
In all of this, the scientist-protag is fighting cancer and at the end travels off with the aliens to visit "god."
There is also a very, very weak subplot involving some super-christian neo-con types who are bombing abortion clinics and fossils (lies created by the scientists to manipulate people away from god, of course). This book, btw, takes place in Canada, and I don't know how bad their crazy neo-con abortion-bomber problem is, but it sounds very stereotypical for 'Murika.
So, my issue was I was looking forward to the arguments of this "god" that the aliens know of, but really, the author perverts the idea of god - he takes Clarke's third law (you know, the one about advance technology and magic) and essentially applies that to any sufficiently advanced race/alien. So the argument is moot. It's not that there is a god, it's that there is a powerful enough alien that feels the need to play with other races/lifeforms to get what he wants out of the deal. Which. Meh. Cute, but ultimately boring.
gloame's review
3.0
Overall quite enjoyable as fiction. I really loved all of the science written into this book and spent some time Googling things mentioned but was disappointed that so much of it was completely made up, and not just science somewhat twisted to make an interesting plot.
The resolution was not great. For one it didn't make sense, and for two it was kind of comical. It felt rushed, which was a shame.
Did not feel any religious or evolutionist anger, despite being of no religion and a believer of evolution.
The resolution was not great. For one it didn't make sense, and for two it was kind of comical. It felt rushed, which was a shame.
Did not feel any religious or evolutionist anger, despite being of no religion and a believer of evolution.
samikki's review
3.0
Taattua Sawyeriä: hyvää scifiä, mielenkiintoisia ideankehittelyitä, kevyt ja nopealukuinen.