"I would consider Existence to be a triumphant, epic Science Fiction novel on many levels. It stayed with me after I set it aside for the day, continues to simmer in my mind now that I've finished reading it, and has opened up a gateway to Brin's novels I'd wanted to enter for a while." — Rob H. Bedford at SFFWorld.com
David Brin, 2023
Tor, 2012
Scroll down to read chapter-excerpts or to purchase EXISTENCE.
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what is the secret of EXISTENCE?
Billions of planets may be ripe for life, even intelligence. So where is Everybody? Do civilizations make the same fatal mistakes, over and over? Might we be the first to cross the mine-field, evading every trap to learn the secret of Existence?
Astronaut Gerald Livingstone is an orbital garbage collector, clearing a hundred-year mess, when he spots something unexpected — a glinting crystal, unmapped and strange. An hour after he captures it, rumors fill Earth's infomesh about an "alien artifact."
Peng Xiang Bin is a shoresteader off the Chinese Coast, salvaging homes abandoned to the rising tides. Under one mansion, Bin finds a secret treasure cache. One box bears a warning: Inhabited by Demons.
Tor Povlov is a new-era reporter, a genius at trolling Web and street for exciting and heartbreaking "you are there" reports. On a cross-country zeppelin tour she documents an America and world fracturing apart, torn between a future promising godlike powers for all ... and a beguiling past that might offer the only sanctuary. She does not expect to find herself — and her million-member smart posse — snagged by the biggest story ever.
From a tribe of beleaguered dolphins to the highest mountain observatory, Existence asks the question: Are we alone in the universe? Does every bright new race stumble over the same pitfalls? The same, entrapping seven hundred ways to fail?
Thrown into this maelstrom of worldwide shared experience and tension over human destiny, Livingstone's Artifact is a game changer. A message in a bottle, an alien capsule that wants to communicate ... but for good or ill? The world reacts as humans always do: with fear and hope and selfishness and love and violence. And insatiable curiosity.
watch the book trailer for Existence
Watch a preview book-trailer, with stunning images of characters and events in Existence, by the great web-artist Patrick Farley.
purchase Existence
Amazon.com US: paperback and Kindle ebook
Amazon.ca Canada: paperback
Amazon.co.uk UK: paperback
#AmazonCommissionsEarned
Apple iBooks US: Existence (French-language iBook) and Existenz (German-language iBook) and Existence (English-language audiobook)
Barnes and Noble US: paperback
Bookshop.org US: paperback
indiebound.org US: paperback
Smashwords US: ebook
read chapter-excerpts from Existence
In "The Smartest Mob," a news reporter finds herself aboard a passenger Zeppelin that might — perhaps — have been turned into a weapon of terror.
In "Aficionado," Hacker Sander is spoiled, temperamental and a champion rock-jock, expert at the game of Space War... till a crash landing throws him into lethal peril.
In "The Shelter of Tradition," a mother and her child must flee dark forces in broad daylight while evading the gaze of a hundred million cameras on every ledge and lamp-post.
In "Shoresteading," a brave Chinese man trying to make a life in the flooded boundaries of Shanghai stumbles upon a great and terrible discovery.
other uplifting novels
Is Existence: an uplift "prequel"? In many ways, yes. David Brin's bold novel explores the ultimate question: Billions of planets may be ripe for life, even intelligence. So where is Everybody?
The Uplift series is one answer.
The stirring saga that begins with Sundiver continues in Startide Rising, and climaxes in The Uplift War.
A second uplift series begins with Brightness Reef, continues with Infinity's Shore, and concludes with Heaven's Reach.
An illustrated companion to the series, Contacting Aliens: An Illustrated Guide To David Brin's Uplift Universe, is a fun tour of the many alien races in the Uplift Universe.
Learn more about all of Brin's novels and books here.
uplifted short stories
These shorter stories are also set in the uplift universe. Learn more about all of Brin's shorter fiction here.
a brief intro to science fiction author DAVID BRIN
To learn more, visit his books page, or see his "about me" page or detailed biography.
novels
David Brin's science fiction 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. They range from bold and prophetic explorations of our near-future to Brin's Uplift series, envisioning galactic issues of sapience and destiny (and star-faring dolphins!). Learn More
shorter fiction
Short stories and novellas have different rhythms and artistic flavor, and Brin's short stories and novellas, several of which earned Hugo and other awards, exploit that difference to explore a wider range of real and vividly speculative ideas. Many have been selected for anthologies and reprints, and most have been published in anthology form. Learn More
Contrary Brin blog
Since 2004, David Brin has maintained a blog about science, technology, science fiction, books, and the future — themes his science fiction and nonfiction writings continue to explore. Learn More
social media influencer
Who could've predicted that social media — indeed, all of our online society — would play such an important role in the 21st Century — restoring the voices of advisors and influencers! Lively and intelligent comments spill over onto Brin's social media pages. Learn More
scientist
David Brin's Ph.D in Physics from 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. Every science show that depicts a comet now portrays the model developed in Brin's PhD research. Learn More
transparency expert
Brin's non-fiction book, The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy?, continues to receive acclaim for its accuracy in predicting 21st Century concerns about online security, secrecy, accountability and privacy. Learn More
speaker & consultant
Brin speaks plausibly and entertainingly about trends in technology and society to audiences willing to confront the challenges that our rambunctious civilization will face in the decades ahead. He also talks about the field of science fiction, especially in relation to his own novels and stories. To date he has presented at more than 200 meetings, conferences, corporate retreats and other gatherings.Learn More
future/tech advisor
Brin advises corporations and governmental and private defense- and security-related agencies about information-age issues, scientific trends, future social and political trends, and education. Urban Developer Magazine named him one of four World's Best Futurists, and he was appraised as "#1 influencer" in Onalytica's Top 100 report of Artificial Intelligence influencers, brands & publications. Past consultations include Google, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, and many others. Learn More
