A review by werdyezmik
Contact by Carl Sagan

5.0

I saw the movie version of this when I was young, so when I started reading this, my recollection of it was foggy at best. This is a sensible and well-thought-out thought experiment about how humanity might engage with a superior galactic intelligence. It is reminiscent of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the sense of there being overarching galactic builders and governments, but Carl Sagan's approach to it is much more cerebral than Douglas Adams, although his books are great in their own right. I'm sad that this was Sagan's only novel, because it's clear how well he can illustrate a world, be it the real world (the Cosmos series) or imagined (this book). His unique way of speaking and phrasing pervades this novel, and it is a joy to read.