When apocalyptic disaster looms, humanity turns to science and technology in this well-crafted tale.
In this debut sci-fi novel, researchers desperately work to protect Earth from a planet-munching entity.
On June 20, 2014, Samantha “Sam” Monroe, a research scientist at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, gets an alert, the first one she’s heard in six years of working there. Amazingly enough, this one seems to be legitimate and coming from Pluto. Sam immediately calls her superior at SETI, Jennifer Epstein, a senior research scientist, and soon a team of astronomers worldwide assembles to investigate the signal thoroughly. If it truly represents first contact with an alien civilization, it could be “the greatest discovery in the history of mankind.” But humanity might not have long to appreciate this discovery because a huge, massive object or ship methodically consumes Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus and appears to be headed toward Earth—due to arrive in 10 years. Attacking this “Leviathan” won’t work, not even a direct hit from the entire world’s combined nuclear missiles. The best option involves diverting the object, but how to accomplish this? The SETI team allies with scientists, governments, and the Elon Musk–like Muzikayise “Muzie” Khulu, CEO of Khulu Global in South Africa, who has enormous resources. They build and launch a rover, and communication is established with the sender of the beacon, an artificial intelligence. Despite efforts to calm the populace, apocalyptic movements have gained currency and spread panic, leading to dangerous armed resistance to the scientists’ work. Can the joint mission to save the planet succeed before it’s too late? In his series opener, Williams offers a wealth of well-informed, highly technical, and scientific details that will captivate fans of hard sci-fi. He takes readers step by step through the mission’s reasoning, methods, and machines, as in this excerpt from a description of an advanced spacecraft: “The four rigid, right triangle-shaped polyimide radiation fins were not retractable and were forty meters long, all of which were mounted to the cylindrical structure by way of a series of trusses that ran the length of the craft, made of titanium and tungsten. The four fins also connected to each other with taut titanium cables every ten meters on their outer edges.” Less technically minded readers may find the going slow, but a strong thread through the novel is humanity’s reactions to this epochal event. The author does a nice job of evoking the complexity of responses. Muzie, for example, sees that “a possible existential threat like this can bring untold benefits to the world if we can resolve the problem” and recognize ways to exploit it for power and gain. A slenderer but still important thread involves relationships, as when Sam and Jennifer slowly fall in love. The book’s possible solution to the threat isn’t terribly dramatic by the usual blow-it-up-extravaganza standard but has the virtue of being realistic and leaving room for further development.
When apocalyptic disaster looms, humanity turns to science and technology in this well-crafted tale.Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73311-183-6
Page Count: 401
Publisher: Trevor Writes
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.
Pub Date: Nov. 7, 1990
ISBN: 0394588169
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1990
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