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iamnattles 's review for:
Existence
by David Brin
Existence by David Brin is a thought-provoking novel, full of believable ideas on things like technological advancement on Earth and the possibility of life amongst the stars. It's a 'hard' science fiction - meaning, it's based on real science & theory - so it's definitely not for everybody. But I really must recommend it, as it's one of the most rewarding novels I've read in a long time.
I've long pondered the Fermi Paradox and it's implications, so Brin's novel seems engineered specifically to me. Why, he asks, if the universe is SO LARGE and SO OLD (and our little sun relatively new), do we not see any evidence of intelligent life? Why are we alone in the Universe? In detail throughout the novel, Brin gives numerous explanations for The Problem: life is rarer than we thought, they are hiding from us, we might not be able to recognise their forms of communication, etc. But the Big One, the explanation that we fear most of all is that all civilizations eventually die.
It's not all doom and gloom, though. Somehow, after reading some 600 pages of intense terror and excitement, the reader is left with the confusing feeling of hope. That if we are careful and aware of the dangers that confront us, then we can fix them. An example of this is shown in the handling of the Artificial Intelligence problem. By raising AIs as human children, making them citizens of the world and sending them to schools, we manage to instill love and loyalty in beings that would otherwise overwhelm us.
I've talked a little about the themes of Existence but I won't tell you the plot as it would be a shame to ruin all the revelations and twists that await you.
I've long pondered the Fermi Paradox and it's implications, so Brin's novel seems engineered specifically to me. Why, he asks, if the universe is SO LARGE and SO OLD (and our little sun relatively new), do we not see any evidence of intelligent life? Why are we alone in the Universe? In detail throughout the novel, Brin gives numerous explanations for The Problem: life is rarer than we thought, they are hiding from us, we might not be able to recognise their forms of communication, etc. But the Big One, the explanation that we fear most of all is that all civilizations eventually die.
It's not all doom and gloom, though. Somehow, after reading some 600 pages of intense terror and excitement, the reader is left with the confusing feeling of hope. That if we are careful and aware of the dangers that confront us, then we can fix them. An example of this is shown in the handling of the Artificial Intelligence problem. By raising AIs as human children, making them citizens of the world and sending them to schools, we manage to instill love and loyalty in beings that would otherwise overwhelm us.
I've talked a little about the themes of Existence but I won't tell you the plot as it would be a shame to ruin all the revelations and twists that await you.