# Existence by David Brin



## Werthead (Jul 2, 2012)

Half  a century in the future, the human race has survived several  brushes with extinction. True AI has been created but - so far - has  been benign and helpful. A terrible nuclear incident has taken place,  but humanity has endured. As each bullet is dodged, so mankind's chances  of survival to a brighter future appear to be growing...until an  ancient alien artefact is recovered from Earth orbit which harbours a  terrible truth about the nature of the universe.


After almost twenty years as an important and relatively prolific voice  in the hard SF field, David Brin dropped out of the genre in 2001 after  the publication of _Kil'n People_. He's remained active, penning  non-fiction and the occasional short story as well as working in comics  and doing consulting work, but no more novels have appeared, either  stand-alone or in his *Uplift* universe. Now he's back with _Existence_,  a self-contained, epic SF novel about mankind, our place in the cosmos,  why we seem to be alone and where our destiny lies. Certainly if you're  going to mount a comeback, there's no better way than doing so with  your most ambitious work to date.

_Existence_ revisits the Fermi Paradox, that familiar problem of  how, given the sheer size and age of our galaxy, it is implausible that  intelligent life has not arisen elsewhere and left visible traces of its  presence. Brin's solution to the paradox is both intelligent and,  initially, deeply depressing: that the minefield of threats that each  race must survive to reach the starts is so extensive that very, very  few make it. The novel's opening sections dwell deeply on the threats to  mankind's own existence, from climate change and the threat of nuclear  war to the possible 'threat' of super-advanced AI. The discovery of the  alien 'guidestones' then provides a possible answer, but one which is  not to our liking.

The novel unfolds on a large scale, with characters in America, in  undersea habitats in the Gulf of Mexico, in floating bases above drowned  Pacific island nations and in ruined mansions in Shanghai having their  own part to play in the global mystery that unfolds. Our protagonists  include a spoiled rich kid who races suborbital rockets for fun, a  Chinese sailor who lives on the salvage he dredges out of the sea, a  hotshot reporter caught up in a horrendous disaster and a self-obsessed,  politically-motivated novelist who slums it as a Hollywood script  writer (any similarities to the late Michael Crichton being presumably  coincidental). Brin's skills with characterisation - something that set  him apart from his fellow 'Killer Bs' back in the day (the Gregs Bear  and Benford) - are on full display here as he develops his characters  through the unexpected events that engulf them whilst keeping his  thematic and philosophical musings integrated with the plot.

In fact, this is what sets Brin's novel apart from Kim Stanley Robinson's recent and equally epic portrait of the future, _2312_.  Where Robinson seems to have wanted to create a mood piece and then  felt compelled to tack on an undercooked thriller plot, Brin keeps his  plot, characters and musings all on track simultaneously, developing  them all in tandem. This is helped by Brin's prose which has always been  above average for hard SF, but in _Existence_ hits new heights.  His skill to move between harsh pessimism (the universe is cold and  empty and we are a fluke who will soon splutter and die) and tremendous  optimism (we can do whatever we want with the universe, if we try) is  particularly impressive.

For a novel more than 500 pages long in hardcover, _Existence_ has verve and pace. It's hard SF but done with a light touch and a sense of humour. It's not set in the *Uplift*  universe but Brin drops in parallel-universe versions of some elements  of that setting just for fun (those who enjoy Brin's depiction of  futuristic dolphins will find some more that on display here). Some of  Brin's moments of whimsy backfire - 'Awfulday' seems like an odd  nickname for the anniversary of a terrorist attack - and some plot  elements feel left behind when several time-jumps take place late in the  novel, propelling us decades further into the future. But these are  less than niggles.

_Existence_ (****½) moves between being exuberant and fun and  serious and contemplative (even maudlin). It asks big questions and  proposes a variety of intelligent answers but doesn't resort to  over-simplicity. It's definitely as good a comeback as we could have  hoped for from Brin. The novel is available now in the UK and USA.


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