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Existence

On sale

1st November 2012

Price: £10.99

The John W Campbell Memorial Award, 2013

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Selected: Paperback / ISBN-13: 9780356501734

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OUR CONTINUED EXISTENCE WAS NEVER A GIVEN.

Year after year, humanity has survived the main pitfalls awaiting us – natural disasters, nuclear war, rising seas. But when an alien artefact is found floating in Earth’s orbit, it pushes our troubled world to the brink of chaos.

Is this a message in a bottle bringing peace and enlightenment from the stars? Or a warning, threatening to destroy what little stability mankind has achieved? The world is divided – holding its breath. Soon we will know the secret of existence.

Brilliant and gripping, David Brin’s novel of the near future is the work of a modern master of science fiction.

Reviews

Vernor Vinge
In Existence, David Brin takes on one of the fundamental themes in science fiction - and what is also one of the fundamental questions humanity faces in this century. Since Brin is both a great storyteller and one of the most imaginative writers around, Existence is not to be missed
Publishers Weekly
An impressive introduction to one of SF's major talents
SUN
A masterpiece of rock-hard SF
BBC Sky at Night
The seriously clever Brin has spent a lot of time thinking about big questions - and has devised a highly original yet plausible version of alien contact
LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS
EXISTENCE may be Brin's masterwork
io9.com
Existence is bursting with ideas, including near-future tech, first contact with aliens, and the exploration of what it means to be human
Stephen Baxter
Take a world soaked in near-future strangeness and complexity . . . Add a beautiful alien artifact that turns out to be the spearpoint of a very dangerous, very ancient invasion . . . Hotwire with wisdom and wonder . . . Existence is as urgent and as relevant as anything by Stross or Doctorow, but with the cosmic vision of Bear or Benford. Brin is back
GUARDIAN
Brin tackles a plethora of cutting-edge concepts... with the skill of a visionary futurologist ... [conveying] the depth and breadth of his startling future. Existence is Brin's first novel in 10 years, and it's been well worth the wait
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
Cleverly argued and uncomfortably plausible