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[ [ [ Wayland's Principia [ WAYLAND'S PRINCIPIA ] By Garfinkle, Richard ( Author )Aug-01-2009 Paperback
Unlike in appearance, history, and Distant, too distant to reach, too far to travel in a universe bound by the speed of They did not come, but they sent word, words so strange that humans would have to devote their lives to mimicking alien appearance, taking in alien history, and following alien thought in order to understand them.No longer so human, generation by generation these Humans-Reaching-to-the-Alien become Guests on their own world.Guests learning to think like five alien species so strange that they do not have names for names, let alone names for themselves.Guests bringing gifts, the thoughts, ways of life, and technology of beings who share nothing in common with humanity or each other but the need for survival, the ability to think, and senses that look outward on the universe.Earth grew used to these gifts delivered by alien voice and human hand, to alien medicine, alien power sources, alien social organization, alien mathematics.Earth grew comfortable with its Guests.Until some of the aliens on a ship in a long, slow two-hundred-year arc from world to world announce that they are coming to Earth to welcome their hosts and Guests.Hearing of this, one voice cries out a different word for Garfinkle is an award-winning author of science, science fiction, and fantasy who has published with Tor, DAW, Benbella Books, and the University of Chicago Press. His first novel, "Celestial Matters", won the Compton Crook award for best first science fiction novel of 1996 and was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award. He has written numerous fiction and nonfiction works on his interests of history, science, imagination, and the preternatural. Garfinkle grew up in New York and now lives in Chicago with his wife and children. More information can be found at www.richardgarfinkle.com.
Paperback
First published August 1, 2009
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144 people want to read
About the author
Richard Garfinkle
13 books21 followersRichard Garfinkle grew up in New York and now lives in Chicago with his wife and children. His first novel, Celestial Matters, won the Compton Crook award for best first science fiction novel of 1996. Garfinkle was twice a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer. He has written numerous fiction and nonfiction works on his interests of history, science, imagination, and the preternatural.
More information can be found at www.richardgarfinkle.com.
Garfinkle's blog is "Overdue Considerations,"
More information can be found at www.richardgarfinkle.com.
Garfinkle's blog is "Overdue Considerations,"
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 11, 2016
This was actually a very interesting book. Not perfect by any means, and a little long, but still very good.
What it’s about: a future where aliens have contacted earth. This contact has transformed society to be near-unrecognizable, where academics are marginalized and those who imitate the five alien races rule. A group of humans embark on a journey to visit the alien planets on a spaceship.
Themes: A very interesting exploration about aliens, consciousness, and how fundamentally different these creatures can be. One of the best attempts I’ve seen at exploring creatures that are truly alien, and filtering that in a way people can understand.
Style: Almost whimsical. It reminded me of old Cordwainer Smith stories. The author is a strong world-builder; The book has its own contained mythos, which is a little confusing at first, but is revealed through the text.
Cons: A little long. Also, in a story about aliens, it was a little strange that the humans themselves were so alien and at times difficult to understand. This may have been a decision by the author (if the people start out strange, then this serves to emphasize how different the aliens themselves are) but this made it a little difficult to get started.
Bottom line: I’d recommend it if you are into the themes. The author is talented, full of ideas, and this book is filled with (many different kind of) life.
What it’s about: a future where aliens have contacted earth. This contact has transformed society to be near-unrecognizable, where academics are marginalized and those who imitate the five alien races rule. A group of humans embark on a journey to visit the alien planets on a spaceship.
Themes: A very interesting exploration about aliens, consciousness, and how fundamentally different these creatures can be. One of the best attempts I’ve seen at exploring creatures that are truly alien, and filtering that in a way people can understand.
Style: Almost whimsical. It reminded me of old Cordwainer Smith stories. The author is a strong world-builder; The book has its own contained mythos, which is a little confusing at first, but is revealed through the text.
Cons: A little long. Also, in a story about aliens, it was a little strange that the humans themselves were so alien and at times difficult to understand. This may have been a decision by the author (if the people start out strange, then this serves to emphasize how different the aliens themselves are) but this made it a little difficult to get started.
Bottom line: I’d recommend it if you are into the themes. The author is talented, full of ideas, and this book is filled with (many different kind of) life.
June 21, 2025
Review of Wayland's Principia by Richard Garfinkle
(Published 2001 – Genre: Philosophical Sci-Fi / Metaphysical Fiction / Alternate Reality)
Wayland’s Principia is not your average science fiction novel. It doesn’t rocket off into galaxies or battle alien overlords. Instead, it travels inward—into consciousness, metaphysics, memory, and the very machinery of belief and science. Imagine Newton’s Principia Mathematica reimagined as a reality-altering spellbook, and you’re halfway to grasping the scope of this strange and staggering work.
The story follows Wayland Sigar, a tortured genius and theoretical scientist who has cracked open the foundations of reality—not through mathematics alone, but through a synthesis of physics, metaphysics, and meaning. His research doesn’t just describe the universe. It alters it. The moment he publishes his new Principia, the world literally changes—its history, laws of nature, and philosophical underpinnings reboot in real time.
But this isn't a superhero origin story. It's a deeply philosophical and ethical exploration of what it means to be a creator, a thinker, and a human being in a universe that responds to thought as much as force. Wayland doesn’t just face opposition from governments or religions—he confronts the terrifying possibility that his ideas could destroy everything that holds the human psyche together. His struggle becomes not just a scientific dilemma, but a spiritual and existential one.
Garfinkle’s writing is intelligent, elegant, and absolutely unafraid to challenge. He juggles physics, theology, semiotics, and moral philosophy without ever reducing them to soundbites. The novel reads like a collaboration between Arthur C. Clarke and Umberto Eco—with a dash of Borges and a twist of Philip K. Dick. It’s about how we shape reality through the frameworks we believe in, and how a single idea can crack the sky.
This is speculative fiction at its most ambitious: no space battles, no AI revolutions—just pure intellectual warfare, fought on the battlefield of mind and matter. And yet, it’s not cold or abstract. There’s a human core—Wayland’s loneliness, his fear, his yearning for connection in a world he keeps unraveling with his own mind.
In essence, Wayland’s Principia is a mind-expanding, soul-searching epic that asks: what if the universe were a language, and one man rewrote its grammar? It’s a novel that demands your attention, rewards your patience, and leaves your worldview gently—but permanently—rearranged.
(Published 2001 – Genre: Philosophical Sci-Fi / Metaphysical Fiction / Alternate Reality)
Wayland’s Principia is not your average science fiction novel. It doesn’t rocket off into galaxies or battle alien overlords. Instead, it travels inward—into consciousness, metaphysics, memory, and the very machinery of belief and science. Imagine Newton’s Principia Mathematica reimagined as a reality-altering spellbook, and you’re halfway to grasping the scope of this strange and staggering work.
The story follows Wayland Sigar, a tortured genius and theoretical scientist who has cracked open the foundations of reality—not through mathematics alone, but through a synthesis of physics, metaphysics, and meaning. His research doesn’t just describe the universe. It alters it. The moment he publishes his new Principia, the world literally changes—its history, laws of nature, and philosophical underpinnings reboot in real time.
But this isn't a superhero origin story. It's a deeply philosophical and ethical exploration of what it means to be a creator, a thinker, and a human being in a universe that responds to thought as much as force. Wayland doesn’t just face opposition from governments or religions—he confronts the terrifying possibility that his ideas could destroy everything that holds the human psyche together. His struggle becomes not just a scientific dilemma, but a spiritual and existential one.
Garfinkle’s writing is intelligent, elegant, and absolutely unafraid to challenge. He juggles physics, theology, semiotics, and moral philosophy without ever reducing them to soundbites. The novel reads like a collaboration between Arthur C. Clarke and Umberto Eco—with a dash of Borges and a twist of Philip K. Dick. It’s about how we shape reality through the frameworks we believe in, and how a single idea can crack the sky.
This is speculative fiction at its most ambitious: no space battles, no AI revolutions—just pure intellectual warfare, fought on the battlefield of mind and matter. And yet, it’s not cold or abstract. There’s a human core—Wayland’s loneliness, his fear, his yearning for connection in a world he keeps unraveling with his own mind.
In essence, Wayland’s Principia is a mind-expanding, soul-searching epic that asks: what if the universe were a language, and one man rewrote its grammar? It’s a novel that demands your attention, rewards your patience, and leaves your worldview gently—but permanently—rearranged.
September 6, 2011
Wayland's Principia is a very intense book, but I don't mean that in a good way. Unfortunately, this is the first book I've reviewed for Sift that I haven't been able to finish. I feel really bad about it because it is hard for me to give up on anything, but I gave it a fair shot and I just really couldn't handle reading any more.
See the in-depth review at Sift: http://www.siftreviews.com/2011/09/wa...
See the in-depth review at Sift: http://www.siftreviews.com/2011/09/wa...
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December 7, 2011My husband wrote this, so I can't review it objectively. It's a hard science fiction investigation into the nature of consciousness and the human and alien mind.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews