Religions, formed in primitive times with an advantageous bias and species-centric dogma: being rewritten with pure science with lots of room for modifications and additions. No more " it is written" in a book. Just that scientists are discovering that the Physics of this Universe are extremely fine tuned for life.

Start with 3 different species, add a few rednecks, and you’re set for a lot of very different approaches to everything. Good enough that I’ve purchased a copy for my priest friend.

This is the first book of Sawyer's I have read and it won't be the last. Sawyer presents arguments in a very amusing way and I often wonder if the aliens in the novel are supposed to be so human!

The book does have it's downsides, it seems quite hurried in places and lacking for ideas. I would have liked to seen a bit more of God in action as it were (without wanting to give away spoliers), instead of the alien and human intellectual chin stroking. It's also a bit clumsy with some of the coincidences. However the plausiable is very much the point of this book.

My biggest complaint about this book was I would have liked it to have been deeper, a bit more philosophical perhaps - another couple of hundred of pages would have been wonderful! Not that any of this detracts from this being a good book... merely I was sad to come to the end as quickly as I did.

If you're into the philosophy of religion, evolution, and the kind of musings stoned and idle university students come up with - then this one is for you.

(Couldn't help but imagine the Canadians in the book as looking like the Canadians from Southpark!)

En este libro Robert toca varios temas controvertidos y provoca al lector a tener un pensamiento crítico. Es entretenido y con suficiente acción para mantener la atención.

Ainda estou lendo. Para quem gosta de conteúdos sobre ET... leitura perfeita.

Sawyer is a great hard Sci-Fi writer, finally we have someone who has the style of the good old masters. He is as good as Arthur Clarke in extrapolating science at his best times, as interesting in exploring the consequences of new scientific discoveries as Michael Crichton, but with better characters, and his philosophical discussion regarding God's existence rivals with Richard Dawkins's "The God Delusion".

In fact, Sawyer's novel explores more objectively every issue about the existence of God in a throughout manner, considering the latest knowledge in biology, genetics, evolution and cosmology, and without offending or criticizing modern religions, as Dawkins did. For those who read Dawkins's "The God Delusion", this novel will clarify why some consider that Dawkins' weakest argument has to do with the origin of life and the Big Bang. Despite of the fact this is just a sci-fi novel, through the discussion between Holus (the alien who believes in God as a matter of scientific truth) and Dr. Jericho (the Canadian scientist who is a hard atheist, Dawkins style), Mr. Sawyer present us with a fair and balanced argumentation for each position (deist -not to be confused as creationist- vs. atheist). The final is a brilliant, just a shame it is only a brilliant speculation, but based on hard scientific possibilities.

A book highly recommended for hard sci-fi fans, and also for those who enjoyed reading Carl Sagan, Paul Davies, Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking. I am looking forward to read Sawyer's other books, and I am just sad I didn't discover him earlier, since I haven't read a good hard science fiction novel from a new author since the 20th century.