Double Planet

by John Gribbin, Marcus Chown

The Dragon, an enormous comet, is on a trajectory that will bring it perilously close to an Earth that is still suffering from the scars of a nuclear incident, and from the problems of the Greenhouse Effect. For the optimists - those that remain - it is a sign of change for the better; for others, the comet foreshadows humanity's final doom.

But to Francis Reese and the hard-pressed astronauts of the depleted space programme, the Dragon presents a third outrageous, yet irresistible possibility - the transformation of a barren world into a new home for the beleaguered peoples of Earth.

Genres: Science Fiction

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

John R. Gribbin is a British science writer, an astrophysicist, and a visiting fellow in astronomy at the University of Sussex. His writings include quantum physics, human evolution, climate change, global warming, the origins of the universe, and biographies of famous scientists. He also writes science fiction.

Reviews

[Trevor McGuire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for the well thought out science and storyline. Where it falls short is the mechanical writing style. It seems pretty clear to me that a rigid outline for the book was lain and militantly adhered to with no concern for transition from one stage to the next. In my opinion, a subplot does not mean that one ends a chapter, goes off on a tangent, ends that chapter, and then gets back to where they started. The bottom line is that there was too much of this stuff, with at least two subplots left unresolved at the conclusion of the book. These issues shouldn't prevent you from reading the book, but just understand beforehand that you will get a mechanical feel from the writing.