Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Themes
Synopsis
Bestselling, award-winning futurist David Brin returns to globe-spanning, high concept SF with Existence. Gerald Livingstone 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.
Is Existence appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 15 and up.
This hard science fiction novel explores humanity's response to discovering alien intelligence through an artifact in space. Contains moderate violence related to worldwide reactions and conflict, complex themes about human nature, and sophisticated scientific concepts. No sexual content.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include violence.
Publisher ages reflect reading level; our rating reflects content maturity — they can differ.
Who'll love this
Teens interested in hard science fiction will enjoy the thought-provoking premise of humanity's first contact with alien intelligence and how the world reacts.