MathFiction: Out of the Sun: A Novel (Robert Goddard)

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

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Out of the Sun: A Novel (1996)

Robert Goddard
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Harry Barnett (first introduced in the novel Into the Blue) investigates the circumstances that lead to his son's accident. The son, 33 year old math genius, lies in a coma and the accident is somehow related to his interest in "hyperdimensions" and his job at a company which predicts the future. (Sounds hokey to me, by I haven't read it yet!)

Contributed by Sarah-Marie Belcastro

This is hard to review. It wasn't to my personal taste (sentence fragments--ugh), but the plot is compelling, with lots of twists. I guess I'd classify it as a murder mystery. There is some dimensionality underlying the plot, as well as some mildly misused mathematical lingo from other fields and some attempts to explain mathematics and physics in ultra-lay terms. The science/math is pretty lame, though.

More information about this work can be found at www.amazon.com.
(Note: This is just one work of mathematical fiction from the list. To see the entire list or to see more works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.)

Works Similar to Out of the Sun: A Novel

According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
The Catalyst [The Strange Attractor] by Desmond Cory
The Dobie Paradox by Desmond Cory
The Mask of Zeus by Desmond Cory
The Fractal Murders by Mark Cohen
An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
The Devotion of Suspect X [Yôgisha X no kenshin] by Keigo Higashino
Maths a mort by Margot Bruyère
The Twisted Heart by Rebecca Gowers
No One You Know by Michelle Richmond

Ratings for Out of the Sun: A Novel:

Ratings

Have you seen/read this work of mathematical fiction? Then click here to enter your own votes on its mathematical content and literary quality or send me comments to post on this Webpage.

Mathematical Content:
2.33/5 (3 votes)

Literary Quality:
3.67/5 (3 votes)

Categories:

Genre	Mystery,
Motif	Higher/Lower Dimensions, Future Prediction through Math,
Topic
Medium	Novels,

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Where are the new works of mathematical fiction?: As you can see from this chronological listing, this database includes many works of mathematical fiction for each year from 1990 to 2025. Strangely, only two are listed for 2026, so far. Either less mathematical fiction is being published than in previous years or I'm just having more trouble finding it. If you know of any works of fiction that should be added to this list, especially recently published ones, please let me know. (Keep in mind that I do not include self-published works or children's fiction that just covers elementary mathematical concepts.) Thanks!

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)