The Doomsday Effect

by Thomas Wren, Thomas T. Thomas

When an 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocks the San Francisco Bay Area, geologist Ariel Ceram sees anomalies suggesting it may be more than a one-time occurrence. She soon discovers that a remnant of the Big Bang, a micro black hole smaller than a hydrogen atom but with the mass of a mountain, has wandered into the solar system and by chance fallen into the Earth’s gravity well. Instead of passing through the planet and leaving, the invisible mite has taken up a comet-like orbit, circling around and through the Earth’s core. At first, first effects outside the Bay Area are small, almost unnoticeable: a whip-crack here, a landslide there. But the menace is growing and one day the planet will collapse. Ariel Ceram joins Grace Porter and Alex Kornilov of Pinocchio, Inc., who head a team of robotics scientists and engineers trying to deflect or capture the black hole. They enlist the help of Jason Bathespeake, a cyber both blind and mute by choice, who uses direct perception of data streams to devise a solution that will change the solar system forever and put a new moon in Earth’s sky.

Genres: Science Fiction

346 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 1986

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one has its moments, but overall falls flat. The addition of profanity and religion-bashing only muddled things further.

[Kevin Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting take on the end of the world style story especially taken from the businessman's point of view. The little snippets from none involved characters was a nice touch. Given the very short window of time before the end of the world I can see why these people chose not get governments directly involved. A problem with the story is that were don't really see anything going on outside the core group in any significant detail. Given the scope of the issue and the small snippets we do get it it feels like a fairly significant missed opportunity. Otherwise it is a very engaging story with a limited but diverse cast of fairly well fleshed out characters.

[Brown Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a favorite when I was a teen, but it has noticeable flaws which I noticed as a middle-aged fart. I love the pace and the commitment to tell a science-stuffed story. The politics is dated, of course, and there's not enough space for all the story elements, to be honest, so the second half is squinched.

Despite its problems, worth a read for the rad black hole stuff.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story. I like the use of mini blackholes. I've seen stories with them before, so the topic isn't new, but I like the story wound around this one. Good book.

[Foxtower · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Wren, aka Thomas T. Thomas is one of those less well known authors that gives one a sense of discovering hidden talent. THis story, based upon a black hole hitting and then beginning to consume the earth is excellent!

[Jonas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging and exciting read.