No, no, really, I don't want you to do my homework for me ....

Spoiler alert! But if you've read my Calculating God you might enjoy these questions a grade-12 student just sent me. Needless to say, I told him he'd have to come up with his own answers. :)

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1. Who did you mean your audience to be when you wrote this book and what did you want them to get out of it after they read the novel? In short, what was your goal in writing this novel? Does the development of any of the characters symbolize this goal?

2. How would you classify the enlightenment of Tom's character at the end of the novel? In the last few pages, Tom reminisces about when he first became fascinated with fossils. What did he find in that first fossil? (A sense of mystery? His love for science?) His last words are that he has found something he hadn't known he was looking for. What has he found at death? (True friendship? The meaning of life?) Does he finally believe in God or the purpose of faith? How are Hollus and the other aliens affected by finally finding what they have been searching for?

3. Who or what event/circumstance had the greatest affect on Thomas Jericho's enlightened character? What influence ultimately led him to make this decisions he does at the end of the novel?

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