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.

Prizes

Short-listed for John W Campbell Award 2013

A masterpiece of rock-hard SF SUN Cleverly argued and uncomfortably plausible SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 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 GUARDIAN Existence is bursting with ideas, including near-future tech, first contact with aliens, and the exploration of what it means to be human io9.com EXISTENCE may be Brin's masterwork LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS An impressive introduction to one of SF's major talents Publishers Weekly 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 BBC Sky at Night 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 Vernor Vinge 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 Stephen Baxter

David Brin is the acclaimed Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of over fifteen novels, including the classic Uplift series, THE POSTMAN (translated into 25 languages around the world) and the critically acclaimed EXISTENCE. He has a doctorate in astrophysics, and has been a consultant to NASA and a graduate-level physics professor. He lives in California.