For readers of Station Eleven and Good Morning, Midnight comes an electric, heart-pounding novel of love and sacrifice that follows people around the world as they unite to prevent a global catastrophe.
When dark comet UD3 was spotted near Jupiter’’s orbit, its existence was largely ignored. But to individuals who knew better — scientists like Benjamin Schwartz, manager of NASA’’s Center for … Schwartz, manager of NASA’’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies — the threat this eight-kilometer comet posed to the survival of the human race was unthinkable. The 150-million-year reign of the dinosaurs ended when an asteroid impact generated more than a billiontimes the energy of an atomic bomb.
Ben and his indomitable girlfriend Amy Kowalski fly to South America to assemble an international counteraction team, whose notable recruits include Love Mwangi, a UN interpreter and nomad scholar, and Zhen Liu, an extraordinary engineer from China’’s national space agency. At the same time, on board a polar icebreaker life continues under the looming shadow of comet UD3. Jack Campbell, a photographer for National Geographic, works to capture the beauty of the Arctic before it is gone forever. Gustavo Wayãpi, a Nobel Laureate poet from Brazil, struggles to accept the recent murder of his beloved twin brother. And Maya Gutiérrez, an impassioned marine biologist is — quite unexpectedly — falling in love for the first time.
Together, these men and women must fight to survive in an unknown future with no rules and nothing to be taken for granted. They have two choices: neutralize the greatest threat the world has ever seen (preferably before mass hysteria hits or world leaders declare World War III) or come to terms with the annihilation of humanity itself.
scholar, and Zhen Liu, an extraordinary engineer from China’’s national space agency. At the same time, on board a polar icebreaker life continues under the looming shadow of comet UD3. Jack Campbell, a photographer for National Geographic, works to capture the beauty of the Arctic before it is gone forever. Gustavo Wayãpi, a Nobel Laureate poet from Brazil, struggles to accept the recent murder of his beloved twin brother. And Maya Gutiérrez, an impassioned marine biologist is — quite unexpectedly — falling in love for the first time.
Together, these men and women must fight to survive in an unknown future with no rules and nothing to be taken for granted. They have two choices: neutralize the greatest threat the world has ever seen (preferably before mass hysteria hits or world leaders declare World War III) or come to terms with the annihilation of humanity itself.
t time.
Together, these men and women must fight to survive in an unknown future with no rules and nothing to be taken for granted. They have two choices: neutralize the greatest threat the world has ever seen (preferably before mass hysteria hits or world leaders declare World War III) or come to terms with the annihilation of humanity itself.
scholar, and Zhen Liu, an extraordinary engineer from China’’s national space agency. At the same time, on board a polar icebreaker life continues under the looming shadow of comet UD3. Jack Campbell, a photographer for National Geographic, works to capture the beauty of the Arctic before it is gone forever. Gustavo Wayãpi, a Nobel Laureate poet from Brazil, struggles to accept the recent murder of his beloved twin brother. And Maya Gutiérrez, an impassioned marine biologist is — quite unexpectedly — falling in love for the first time.
Together, these men and women must fight to survive in an unknown future with no rules and nothing to be taken for granted. They have two choices: neutralize the greatest threat the world has ever seen (preferably before mass hysteria hits or world leaders declare World War III) or come to terms with the annihilation of humanity itself.
st fight to survive in an unknown future with no rules and nothing to be taken for granted. They have two choices: neutralize the greatest threat the world has ever seen (preferably before mass hysteria hits or world leaders declare World War III) or come to terms with the annihilation of humanity itself.
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I really enjoyed this book! I decided to read this book simply because it sounded interesting. I liked the idea of people coming together to save the world and there is some of that in this book. This book is more than that though. I really felt like it was a realistic view of what would happen on our planet if we knew that annihilation was a real possibility. I really liked the way this story came together and found this book to be both entertaining and thought-provoking.
This book is told from many points of view and I think this style of storytelling was very effective for this particular story. We get to see how people in different areas are dealing with the crisis. Each character’s story helps to paint an overall picture of what was really happening in the world. We meet Ben who is a scientist who has been put in charge of the plan to try to destroy the comet heading towards earth. Love is an interpreter who helps to make it possible for scientists from all over the world to work together on this mission. Zhen is an engineer from China who shows real leadership just when it matters the most. Jack is on a Coast Guard ship as a photojournalist, while Maya is on the same ship as a scientist. Each character felt really authentic and I liked the fact that we often learn more about their past after getting to know them in their present.
This is a rather bleak story at times. I thought that the author did a fantastic job of painting a picture of just how far people will go when they are desperate. In this story, we see some people at their absolute worst and others sacrificing everything in order to give the world a chance. The descriptions within this story were incredibly well done and vivid. I really felt for some of these characters as they faced impossible odds and terrible situations.
I would recommend this book to others. There are some rather graphic scenes that may be too much for some readers but I thought that it was very well done and realistic. I found this to be a book that was rather hard to put down at times and I am glad that I decided to take this journey. I definitely plan to read more of Claire Holroyde’s work in the future.
I received a copy of this book from Grand Central Publishing.
Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception. – Carl Sagan
I loved this book. In many ways it reminds me of one of my all-time favorite apocalyptic novels THE HAB THEORY, published in 1976.
In this book, an extinction-level comet measuring 8km in diameter appears from the dark side of Jupiter, heading directly for Earth.
A veritable army of physicists, mathematicians, engineers, space experts, translators and more are sent to a space centre in French Guiana to try to develop a spacecraft that will either destroy the comet or divert it from its path towards Earth.
There are many side stories included in this novel, allowing us readers the chance to try to understand the terrible effects news of this calamity would have on the world way before it is scheduled to impact.
I enjoyed the many characters in this story and their contributions to The Effort, the name given to the overall project.
The story is frightening because it feels like it could actually happen.
I received this book from Grand Central Publishing through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
If you are up for an end of the world book this is the read for you. Well-written and engaging, the author takes on some of the current world issues with a sharp pen. Hopefully it isn’t forgotten by the end of the year, because it should definitely make “best of” lists.
A comet is on a collision course with Earth, and a team of scientists, engineers, and other professionals assembles in order to redirect or destroy it. This debut addresses much more than just The Effort, which is the code name given to the massive undertaking to save humanity. This is a big book, with a large number of characters providing insight into issues such as climate change, exploitation and genocide, and government corruption. One of my favorite aspects of the novel is how people from a variety of cultures come to an understanding and respect of one another and become family.
Real talk, THE EFFORT got a whole lot darker than I thought it would. From the synopsis and the classic “rocket demo using mundane objects” scene near the beginning, I was expecting something more like THE MARTIAN where everyone pulls together to accomplish a humanity-saving objective. However, Holroyde gets deep into the brutal, selfish, and very utilitarian behavior that might result when every civilization on earth breaks down simultaneously. She also shows us examples of kindness and connection, and maybe I’m just in that frame of mind, but I’m not sure she’s wrong to be pessimistic about human nature. No spoilers, but a major theme of this book is how humanity can destroy itself just fine without any help from the cosmos. The book ends on a somewhat optimistic (or at least not completely despairing) note, but I’ll be thinking about it for some time (and updating my personal apocalypse plan).
THE EFFORT is not an easy read, but it continues a great tradition of science fiction interrogating our current issues.
The author made this event real. This is powerful. There is so much going on in this book, you wonder…..I am not a writer so it is very hard for me to explain this book. Best that you pick it up and lose yourself in it