Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$8.99

Available instantly

Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial

Hardcover
$18.91

Paperback
$21.71

$21.71

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 16. Order within 8 hrs 28 mins

Select delivery location

Only 3 left in stock - order soon.

$$21.71 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

30-day easy returns

Returns

30-day easy returns

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

$19.54

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

$6.99 delivery Friday, May 17

Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 16. Order within 8 hrs 28 mins

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$21.71 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Sold by Goodwill Good Skills and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (25) from $8.34 & FREE Shipping

Follow the author

David Brin

+ Follow

More books from this author

Existence Paperback – January 1, 2012

by David Brin (Author)

4.2 1,166 ratings

Editors' pick Best Science Fiction & Fantasy

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$21.71","priceAmount":21.71,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"21","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"71","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"9UbPU8OYTKDlhUkbT6l%2Fi9CWGsusp1DBfAGKRzPXNadaB6aQX8OYwow0wTXsXS1cpf4oKGgdtXvi3UbqyBMxKQdmmbZk3sdJy%2BCMeQJh8kBGyaqM1%2BQedIRDJz1ZbmIN9aGinDlJWpxdn0LoDkC17A%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$19.54","priceAmount":19.54,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"19","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"54","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"9UbPU8OYTKDlhUkbT6l%2Fi9CWGsusp1DBemT1vJ9ss79o7kLcWhKFFTtQC0cmK2a0%2Bs46ft8A0pTCawe8vydCY2Ipd9FzoitcSWswux2CTyfRvc2LyulRRmYAFzEiAQeFa1lQZ69oULrpn%2BedmahqZW756nLukegQZLhWNdPQPES0UuniiSQ5tn%2FvtI%2FxYIAE","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Bestselling, award-winning futurist David Brin returns to globe-spanning, high concept SF with Existence.

Gerald Livingston is an orbital garbage collector. For a hundred years, people have been abandoning things in space, and someone has to clean it up. But there’s something spinning a little bit higher than he expects, something that isn’t on the decades’ old orbital maps. An hour after he grabs it and brings it in, rumors fill Earth’s infomesh about an “alien artifact.”

Thrown into the maelstrom of worldwide shared experience, the Artifact is a game-changer. A message in a bottle; an alien capsule that wants to communicate. The world reacts as humans always do: with fear and hope and selfishness and love and violence. And insatiable curiosity.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orbit; Digital original edition (January 1, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 659 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0356501736
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0356501734
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.06 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.04 x 1.81 x 7.8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,984,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.2 1,166 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

David Brin

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

David Brin is a scientist, public speaker and world-known author. His novels have been New York Times Bestsellers, winning multiple Hugo, Nebula and other awards. At least a dozen have been translated into more than twenty languages.

David's latest novel - Existence - is set forty years ahead, in a near future when human survival seems to teeter along not just on one tightrope, but dozens, with as many hopeful trends and breakthroughs as dangers... a world we already see ahead. Only one day an astronaut snares a small, crystalline object from space. It appears to contain a message, even visitors within. Peeling back layer after layer of motives and secrets may offer opportunities, or deadly peril.

David's non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Make Us Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with secrecy in the modern world. It won the Freedom of Speech Award from the American Library Association.

A 1998 movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on his post-apocalyptic novel, The Postman. Brin's 1989 ecological thriller - Earth - foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. David's novel Kiln People has been called a book of ideas disguised as a fast-moving and fun noir detective story, set in a future when new technology enables people to physically be in more than two places at once. A hardcover graphic novel The Life Eaters explored alternate outcomes to WWII, winning nominations and high praise.

David's science fictional Uplift Universe explores a future when humans genetically engineer higher animals like dolphins to become equal members of our civilization. These include the award-winning Startide Rising, The Uplift War, Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore and Heaven's Reach. He also recently tied up the loose ends left behind by the late Isaac Asimov: Foundation's Triumph brings to a grand finale Asimov's famed Foundation Universe.

Brin serves on advisory committees dealing with subjects as diverse as national defense and homeland security, astronomy and space exploration, SETI and nanotechnology, future/prediction and philanthropy.

As a public speaker, Brin shares unique insights -- serious and humorous -- about ways that changing technology may affect our future lives. He appears frequently on TV, including several episodes of "The Universe" and History Channel's "Life After People." He also was a regular cast member on "The ArciTECHS."

Brin's scientific work covers an eclectic range of topics, from astronautics, astronomy, and optics to alternative dispute resolution and the role of neoteny in human evolution. His Ph.D in Physics from UCSD - the University of California at San Diego (the lab of nobelist Hannes Alfven) - followed a masters in optics and an undergraduate degree in astrophysics from Caltech. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Space Institute. His technical patents directly confront some of the faults of old-fashioned screen-based interaction, aiming to improve the way human beings converse online.

Brin lives in San Diego County with his wife and three children.

You can follow David Brin:

Website: http://www.davidbrin.com/

Blog: http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/DavidBrin

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/cab801

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

1,166 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all photos

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Christopher Brown

ageless and aging

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2024

Verified Purchase

Words painting pictures using conflated words, comforting words, confusing words.
Helpful. Exciting. Chiding. Supportive.
Twisted words.
These pages carry hope, lessons, queries, and conundrums.
My hope is that we listen to those like David Brin.

Helpful

Amamerc

Interesting premise, Hopeful and Optimistic, but topsy-turvy narration weakens the effort

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2012

Verified Purchase

As a first-time reader of David Brin, I did not know what to expect from Existence. Luckily, Brin provides a lengthy preview, which I recommend that you read before buying, especially given that this is a pricey book.

While reading Existence, I was reminded of Heinlein in some respects. Brin explores political, philosophical, scientific, religious, moral and ethical considerations from a number of different perspectives. His musings are truly kaleidoscopic. This is, of course, both good and bad: the positive perspective is that Brin criticizes modernity, particularly its politics and more parochial tendencies, thus providing the reader with a refreshing or perhaps more refined understanding of polemical issues, while challenging everyday "post-modern" platitudes; the negative flip side is that all of Brin's introspection, questioning and pontificating becomes repetitive, if not a bit tiresome, depending on your interest in these more existential questions, along with your attention span.

Indeed, Existence has been written--make no mistake--for avid science fiction readers. The language is, in addition to pedantic, somewhat turgid, even pretentious, so make sure you are prepared to read a book whose author isn't afraid to challenge your vocabulary; if this turns you off, then there are times when the writing will bother you.

The plot itself is rather straightforward: Gerald, aboard a spaceship orbiting Earth, encounters an anomalous object: is it alien; is it a hoax; where did it come from? Immediately after apprehending this object, later dubbed the "Artifact," Brin explores the various reactions humans have toward the object. He provides the full gamut of human reaction, which courses through every nook and cranny in society. However, Brin is principally concerned with the Artifact's effect on society as a whole; Brin's characters, being sort of one-dimensional and easily forgettable, serve as symbols for greater collective cliques. You've got the inquisitive scientist, the ultra-rich elitist, the conservative and reactionary politician, and so on. But none of these characters seem very real. Character development is altogether lacking, although there are a few characters who are more indelible than others.

As a work of science fiction, Brin has a rather optimistic perspective of humanity's future, in spite of the many predictable and inevitable potholes ahead. Existence takes place around 2040, then jumps ahead to 2060 or so, and again toward the end of the twenty-first century. Most of the novel takes place around 2040, or the time frame near which time the Singularity, and the dawn of transhumanism, is hypothesized to take place. Like in the real world, Existence captures both the wonderment and anxious nostalgia revolving around transhumanism, cyborgs, artificial intelligence, and so forth. If you recall what Arthur C. Clarke writes in his Space Odyssey saga, the material out of which a being is made is immaterial; what we humans identify as truly special is our intelligence, and if that intelligence is manifested by biological beings, technological-silicon cyborgs, or hybrids between the two is of lesser concern than the possibility of a harmonious or commensal relationship between like-minded sentient beings. A federation of intellectual and moral beings, if you will. This lofty yet satisfying goal of a federation encompassing an panoply of sentient beings reminds me of Star Wars wherein every being, regardless of species, is accepted. Brin breathes life into this quasi-utopian but nonetheless noble possibility: he, in short, merges the morality of progressivism with the politics and technology of futurism, if you will.

Moreover, Brin's society incorporates many of modernity's predictions of the future: escalated sea levels, virtual reality (albeit with a more unique flavor), a fragmented United States (not unsimilar to Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games, though not dystopic), an autism pandemic, etc. Amid the partisan politics, basically boiled down to conservative versus moderate versus progressive-"futurist," Brin weaves a tapestry of narratives that coincide--or sometimes even wither away prematurely, on the other hand--all the while raising important questions about the Artifact, from which questions about the nature of intelligent life, extraterrestrial beings, the feasibility of interstellar space travel arise, and receive startling answers. Aside from all these big questions, Brin somewhat solemnly tackles the quandary that has been irking sci-fi aficionados for possibly decades, if not centuries: Are we alone in our galaxy, or even in the entire cosmos? Have we yet, or will we ever, encounter intelligent life elsewhere? If not, what does this say about humanity? Do we have a responsibility to mother and husband up-and-coming civilizations, once we have mastered the science of interstellar space travel? But what if we destroy ourselves first? What does this say about the possibility of intelligent life in general? Is it a spoof?

As you can see, these questions are a bit arresting: and yet these are the questions you will encounter throughout Existence.

A great deal of Existence is spent trying to figure out what the Artifact is, what it wants, what utilitarian purpose can it serve humans, etc. Brin provides many cliffhangars, however: after you're starting to figure things out, Brin leaves you hanging for several chapters, until, almost randomly, one of those lingering, nagging questions at the back of your mind is finally answered. In this regard the plot, at times, feels somewhat anticlimactic: I felt no intense, adrenaline-filled anticipation for something to ever happen with Existence. The big questions are answered, but kind of schizophrenically: Brin takes you out to sea, slams multiple waves into your seafaring ship, some of which are unexpected while others are redundant and therefore superfluous, then brings you out of the storm, into calm waters, finally satisfies some of your curiosity by showing you the "land ahead," but then seemingly makes a roundabout turn before you ever get to see that land, taking you off to sea again--sometimes through the same waters, leading to more redundancy and therefore boring superfluity.

However, eventually Brin does offer an exciting plot twist, that dwarfs the importance of the "Artifact." After much skepticism and waffling, your spirit for adventure is whetted again. But Brin, nevertheless, provides the same formula: rephrasing of the same questions, answering them from a number of perspectives, and eventually providing a resolution.

What sets Existence apart from many First Encounter sci-fi novels is its ultimate optimism. This isn't a work for Cassandras. You'll be reminded of "The Rational Optimist" by Matt Ridley in some ways.

So, for a work with such an ambitious title as Existence, is it worth reading? Well, if you don't mind existential musings and shallow characters, while having your patience tested at times, then yes. If you want thrillers, horrors, tons of action and constant plot twists like many sci-fi novels today, then no: this isn't for you. Whatever your predilections may be, Existence offers a new, more intelligent-than-usual, and engrossing take on the first contact sci-fi genre. Still, for a book named Existence, you'd expect something truly marvelous; unfortunately, Brin's latest work is too ambitious, contains much redundancy, and is ultimately more about the possibilities of the existence of extraterrestrial life rather than course of human existence.

3.5-4/5

19 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jenny Hanniver

Superior classic sci-fi by a master storyteller!

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2013

Verified Purchase

I have seldom read such a wonderfully convoluted novel as EXISTENCE. Its joy is in it complexity--that the multiple plots stay coherent and express a multitude of contradictory viewpoints of the future of our humanity. According to Brin, in the later 21st century the world's factional differences--great to begin with--grow to crisis proportions when a crystal containing the downloaded electronic intelligences of numerous galactic beings is found by an astronaut trolling for space garbage. That's just PART of the intertwined plot of this 900+-page novel! Soon after the announcement of the discovery (can you imagine it being released in our secretively paranoid decade?) similar "stones" surface all over the globe, with new sets of characters fleeing factions in pursuit. Brin is a master of varying viewpoints, as he demonstrated in his Uplift War and Uplift series, so we meet (or hear about) extremists of all sorts, not very many reasonable folks, plenty of persons with a wealth of human frailties, but no cardboard villains at all. The aliens, when they begin to speak, are as vulnerable, error-prone, fanatic and sly as humans, which makes the appearance of a few of them as pseudo-alive electronic beings at the novel's end fascinating and poignant. I loved Brin's shrewd portrayal of the conceit of self-justifying trillionare oligarchs, the cruelty of extremist rebels with a cause, the struggle of impoverished families in the era of global warming, and the awful pollution of plastic and rusting metal junk in the rising seas--which Brin describes as something future humans and dolphins must try to cope with although it will very likely overwhelm their efforts. As a Medievalist, I think his acceptance of Steven Pinker's belief that humans are now less violent than in the past is naive, nor does he bring in the ominous likelihood of the rapid destruction of the planet's fresh water, food chain and other life-sustaining necessities by our decade's selfish fossil fuel solipsists who think only of profits, but otherwise there seem to be no major gaps in his analysis of what Earth's overcrowded future may be like. Much of it isn't pleasant, but the novel somehow seems optimistic. It's filled with outspoken, opinionated, intelligent and very human people--as varied as burnt-out aging astronaut Gerald Livingstone who discovers the crystal among space-trash, science-obsessed trillionaire Lacey Donaldson-Sander and her playboy son Hacker who becomes an uplifter of dolphins, hard-working shoresteader of drowned Shanghai mansions Peng Xiang Bin and his resourceful wife Mei Ling, the delightful rastifarian physicist and science popularizer Professor Noozone or "Profnoo" who seems like a blend of Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Bob Marley, TV journalist Dorothy (Tor) Povlov who becomes a hero and loses her face and body but not her mind or spirit, conceited sci-fi writer and hypocrite Hamish Brookeman who gets humbled and becomes a much finer person, a world-chain of autistic young people who communicate in their own ultranerd jargon no less brilliantly and courageously than conventional people. Artificial intelligence is very nearly a character in its own right. And there are dolphins, aliens, and numerous other characters important or subsidiary, who impressed me as amazingly plausible within so complex a novel. If you enjoy good storytelling, a lot of humor and punning wit, prediction of the limited choices for our future, intelligent digressions on theology, philosophy, sociology, ethics, fanaticism, conservatism, rebellion both sane and insane, and the mind-expansion of getting to know humans and non-humans of all points of view--this is the book for you! It's a long read and demands concentration. Usually I finish a novel in a couple of days, but EXISTENCE took almost two weeks, and then I turned right around and read it again, to locate ideas I knew I'd overlooked. I don't do that more than once every 20 years! Enjoy!

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Sean Murphy

A beautiful book of ideas

Reviewed in Canada on December 26, 2017

Verified Purchase

Some books I can't put down. Like popcorn compulsively shoved down your gullet, some books demand to be finished as quickly as you can read them. Existence, on the other hand, is a book that I can continue to enjoy after I've put it down. Like a rich dish, I appreciate and savour the taste of it until, before long, it is calling me back for another spoonful. Existence is a masterful exploration of what-ifs and grand ideas, where the characters are both vital and incidental and the story shows occasional hints of self-awareness in ways that made me laugh out loud or, as a fan of Brin's other works, made me feel like I was being teased. If you liked Earth, and you liked the Uplift books, I'm confident you will like this. That being said, I don't think I've read another book like it by any author.

G. GIACOBONE

soddisfatto

Reviewed in Italy on June 6, 2016

Verified Purchase

un altro grande libro di Brin, non riesco più a trovare autori di cui mi possa fidare (tranne neal stephenson e pochi altri) ora che non c'è più (ohime!) Iain M. Banks, il grande rimpianto!

2 people found this helpful

Translate review to English

Client d'Amazon

C'était mieux avant

Reviewed in France on December 30, 2015

Verified Purchase

J'adore Brin. Je n'ai jamais réussi a finir celui-ci. Rien de plus a en dire, préférez ses séries plus anciennes.

3 people found this helpful

Translate review to English

EinKindleKäufer

Brilliantes Epos

Reviewed in Germany on November 8, 2013

Verified Purchase

Dieser Roman ist eine brilliante Zusammenführung von verschiedensten futuristischen und aktuellen Themen. Insbesondere die fein ausgearbeitete Interpretation für das Schweigen "da draußen" ist an sich 5 Sterne wert.

Weiterhin ist die Geschichte wunderbar geschrieben, es gibt unterschiedlichste Charaktere, an Spannung mangelt es nie.

Nur einen kleinen Wermutstropfen gab es für mich, eine der wichtigeren Nebenfiguren taucht plötzlich nicht mehr auf, auch nicht als reine Erwähnung. Aber das stört nicht wirklich und schmälert das Gesamtwerk nicht im geringsten.

2 people found this helpful

Translate review to English

Rivertothesea

Fantastic (but)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

I've just been laid up in bed after a (routine) operation for about 5 days and read 6 science fiction books. After this one I had to get up because I knew that anything else I read after it would feel flat and uninteresting. This was the most enjoyable thing I've read in that genre for years. Spot on the mark for being up to speed with modern paradigms/technology and philosoph-ethical conundrums, all woven into a hard and gutsy plot; and with some good characters. I really can't praise it enough. Blows most other stuff out of the water. As a (struggling!) writer myself, I would say that if I had written this I would (1) be inordinately proud, and deeply satisfied for the rest of my life (2) want to rewrite the end. In particular I wanted to know more about the Seeker and his buddies (you'll have to read it to find out who I mean). Of course this is a sign of a good book/writer, and the pace and attention to detail was flawless right up to the last few pages. At the end, one or two of the other characters started to crack a little too, but read it and make up your own mind. I humbly suggest maybe he should have ended it a few pages earlier (and let our own imaginations take over?). It's still a great story (and manifesto?). My only other quibble: Some 'bits' (which at the author's own admission were included from previous short stories) added little or nothing to the story. I don't mind (I don't expect life, real or imagined, to be simple/neat), but if I'd submitted the story to a literary agent I suspect they would reject a quarter of it as not relevant. Still, I HATE that market-driven imperative to keep us constantly on-plot and breathlessly turning pages: This was a welcome return to real imagination/writing, and it kept me avidly reading (and digesting) the (plentiful!) pages right up to the last twenty or so. So: 5 stars 'cos it's a must-read; but......

See more reviews

Return this item for free

Return this item for free

Follow the author

Image Unavailable