I will admit, I felt like I was cheating by reviewing a book that was required reading for my elective credit this year, but then again, Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer is probably one of the most engrossing novels I've ever been sucked into in a long time. Hell, I practically finished the thing in an overnight sitting.

It really exemplifies its position of being the type of novel to mix in factuality (and not religious apologetics as the title seems to suggest) with (science) fiction, like Dan Brown but without the overwrought prose to suffer through. Although its story is largely just a background for the characters' various conversations and debates that doesn't truly progress much until the very end of the final act, nothing suffers in delivering an absorbing experience.

Tom Jericho is an average man, save for his scientific knowledge as paleontologist for the Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto, who has been thrust into extraordinary circumstance; namely, being one of the first humans to initiate contact with extraterrestrials. This alien being, a Forhilnor named Hollous, has come from lightyears away with his companions to discuss the existence of a god. Well, the visitors aren't quite proselytizers as much as scientists finding reason to believe that their existence is the work of a hyper-intelligent being that co-ordinated the development of various civilizations to reach technologies within a few hundred years of each other. Coupled with Tom's discovery of having terminal lung cancer, the book creates an emotionally cruel dynamic of a man trying to scientifically refute the existence of a creator while dealing with his own mortality.

Like I mentioned earlier, Calculating God is NOT, and never comes close to, religious apologetics. It doesn't attempt to provide ammunition for either sides of the debate, but rather, remains strictly agnostic. Oh yes, Jericho and Hollus debate throughout the book on why a creator doesn't and does exist respectively, but those debates largely follow the logic of the book's world, one where alien civilizations exist in near-synchronous development. Don't fault the book's Earth-based sciences, though — it's pretty solid in its own regard.

Philosophical talking points aside, how does Calculating God fare as a purely science-fiction book? Pretty well, among the religious debate. The two alien species actually seen in the book, the Forhilnors and the Wreeds, are detailed in ways most people don't even think about when imagining a species completely unlike us, and definitely move away from a man-in- a-rubber-suit mentality. Outside from simple language barriers, for example, the three species have difficulty in communication due to the ways they're wired to think, the humans more deductive, and the alien beings more moralistic. Their differences from us are much more fleshed out than just looking unusual and carrying odd cultural traits. Conversely, the aliens are not all that much unlike us, and as characters, are written to be sympathetic and relatable despite looking like giant, super-intelligent spiders.

Calculating God can be emotionally tiring at times, simply because of how much you'll end up liking the characters. A large chunk of Calculating God, outside of Tom's cancer being the most active subplot, is conversation between Hollus and Tom, but written well enough that you wouldn't notice entire chapters are dedicated to their various debates. Calculating God's rather flimsy story is perfect for the kind of book it is; character-driven while letting you learn a thing or two along the hero's trials.

Reading Between The Lines explores books that you may have missed out on that are worth your while. If you have a book to suggest, email Eshaan at e_gupta@fanshaweonline.ca.