Lift - by Ray Anderson (Paperback)

About the Book

"If music is a universal language, and mathematics a universal truth, could the two be combined to form a new world language that would create common understanding across all cultures? In 2422, mathematicians who govern the world calculate that if our species doesn't reduce wars and killing, humanity will be driven to extinction in fifteen months. They further divine that the only way out of the crisis is to create the optimum language for humans, which, it turns out, will be based on mathematics, linguistics, and music. Charles De Costa, a brilliant mathematics student, with help from great minds resurrected (Lifted) from the past, works with the World Council of Mathematicians (WCM) to create the language, but the endemic human virus of evil thwarts progress. Charles also has trouble navigating a romance with his girlfriend, Andrica, but in a year, he grows from an awkward teen into a formidable young man. Juanita Popov, Chairperson of WCM, leads the world and struggles to save humanity. Her World Army commander, General Roy Braun, is tasked with reducing wars, eliminating conflicts, and policing a society of over 11 billion on the planet. One of his renegade generals brings the planet to another crisis. Meanwhile, a beta version of M-L-M, transmitted to space, triggers a multitude of SETI responses from all over the galaxy. However, no one understands the replies. What do these alien signals say? At the last possible moment, M-L-M is perfected, but it can't be inculcated to all humans in time. Simulations using complex algorithms reveal that only weeks remain for humanity not to slide into a blackhole of extinction. A starship able to take 3000 passengers to a hospitable planet in another star system has been readied in order to propagate our species. Who will be selected to survive? Ensuing chaos tests the best and worst of humanity. And now the starship is under siege"--

Book Synopsis

With Earth on the brink of total annihilation, can a new universal language unite the world enough to save it?

It's 2489 and the world's governing mathematicians have calculated that society's struggles with rampant war and homicide have put humanity on a crash-course with extinction. With an estimated fifteen months left until humankind's total annihilation, the World Council of Mathematicians (WCM) determine the only way out of the crisis is to create the optimum language for humans, creating common understanding across all cultures and allowing them to work together for their joint salvation.

The WCM and Charles De Costa, a brilliant mathematics student, must rely on LIFT, a scientific breakthrough that allows them to enlist the aid of the greatest minds in history, to create this new world language based on mathematics, linguistics, and music. Can the great minds of the past help lead humanity to a better future? Can this new language be created in time? Or will society's continued evil and miscommunication lead the world to an inevitable end?

Review Quotes

"An outstanding achievement... Ray Anderson's extraordinary grasp of mathematics, music, and human behavior are all on display here... His world-building is impressive, and yet the all-too-human players in this tale don't become lost in it. The natural reactions among many of the characters as the stakes go up coalesce into conflict or cooperation, and the doomsday clock keeps ticking toward what may be its final chime." -Vincent H. O'Neil, author of Glory Main, book one of The Sim War series

"So much science fiction rests on the caveat at the core of Mary Shelley's progenitor novel Frankenstein: 'Watch what you wish for.' For over two hundred years this cautionary theme has infused the genre with the warning not to tamper with nature, human or otherwise.

Lift is a mind-bending and brilliantly engaging twist on that theme, suggesting that human nature be altered to set it free from the so-called 'Curse of Cane'--murder and war.

Set in the year 2489, the world is at the threshold of World War IV and inching toward extinction. Because it is believed that violence is 'embedded in our psyche, ' mathematicians decide that the only way to eliminate the self-sabotaging evil is to devise an optimal language that eliminates miscommunications and misunderstandings among people of diverse cultures.

An ingenious concept, Lift clearly and meticulously demonstrates how mathematics, linguistics, and music theory coalesce to save the species. Thus, humans can join the galactic community of other species which have long conquered their violent nature.

Brilliantly researched and well-crafted, the novel's title refers to a scientific breakthrough that allows for a finite number of historical individuals to be resurrected or 'lifted' into the present. Euclid, Bach, Marie Currie, Jonas Salk and other great thinkers help fabricate a language that obviates 'the virus of evil.'

The title Lift also refers to the literal upward movement to the stars as well as an apotheosis of the human race based on humanity evolving out of its own bestial nature. This is a must-read piece of speculative fiction that accomplishes what the best of the genre does well--educate, entertain, and inspire [a] new way of thinking." --Gary Braver, bestselling and award-winning author of Rumor of Evil

"A fascinating and highly original story, crackling with energy, played out against a nonstop kaleidoscope of ideas.... Lift is a must read for all fans of smart science-based thrillers, and for those justly anxious over the prospects for our human race." --Scott Britz-Cunningham, author of Interface

"The fields of math, linguistics, and music come together to save humanity in this intricately plotted and heavily academic sci-fi experiment from Anderson.... There are fascinating ideas at play here and the optimism in the face of impending apocalypse is inspiring. Hard sci-fi fans seeking hope for the future will be pleased." --Publishers Weekly

"[Lift] takes a refreshing angle on human advancement. Math and communication are the unanticipated heroes, and the novel does well at making them attractive, even incorporating real concepts like Benford's law.... The work takes a nuanced angle on an optimal solution for an ideal future. An informative, highly creative take on problem-solving." --Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Ray Anderson is a hiker and the author of the AWOL Thriller novel series, which includes The Trail (2015), Sierra (2016), and The Divide (2020). Anderson has done a radio column on hiking. He has also written columns for the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) newsletter and contributed to the local news site, Patch.com, for Hingham, Massachusetts. Anderson lives with his wife, Nancy, near Boston.