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First Contact
The Simulacrum
Someone is altering old astronomical images. In one small patch of the sky, the digital versions don't match the original prints and photographic plates taken by observatories from around the world over the past century.
Dawn McAllister is a PhD student tasked with figuring out why Przybylski’s Star is attracting unwanted attention from a malicious hacker... Her high-achieving brother, Ryan, is an astronaut on the backup crew for NASA's Ample mission to the asteroid Psyche in orbit between Mars and Jupiter... At the same time, NSA analyst Gabriel Rodrigez stumbles upon a collaboration between Russia and China to interfere with SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
As the body count rises, it seems that the approach of an extraterrestrial spacecraft over a period of decades is being hidden from both astronomers and the public.
FIRST CONTACT is a series of stand-alone novels that explore humanity's first interaction with extraterrestrial life. This series is similar to BLACK MIRROR or THE TWILIGHT ZONE in that the series is based on a common theme rather than common characters. This allows these books to be read in any order. Technically, they're all first as they all deal with how we might initially respond to contact with aliens, exploring the social, political, religious, and scientific aspects of First Contact.
Dawn McAllister is a PhD student tasked with figuring out why Przybylski’s Star is attracting unwanted attention from a malicious hacker... Her high-achieving brother, Ryan, is an astronaut on the backup crew for NASA's Ample mission to the asteroid Psyche in orbit between Mars and Jupiter... At the same time, NSA analyst Gabriel Rodrigez stumbles upon a collaboration between Russia and China to interfere with SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.
As the body count rises, it seems that the approach of an extraterrestrial spacecraft over a period of decades is being hidden from both astronomers and the public.
FIRST CONTACT is a series of stand-alone novels that explore humanity's first interaction with extraterrestrial life. This series is similar to BLACK MIRROR or THE TWILIGHT ZONE in that the series is based on a common theme rather than common characters. This allows these books to be read in any order. Technically, they're all first as they all deal with how we might initially respond to contact with aliens, exploring the social, political, religious, and scientific aspects of First Contact.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
371 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 28, 2024
314 people are currently reading
303 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
August 4, 2024
Pure, unadulterated propaganda, and even worse - boring!
It is fascinating to watch an Australian writer lecture American people on our faults. Australia, for those who do not know, approaches a totalitarian state in some aspects. A country that, on the surface, should be hard-core libertarian, instead chooses to restrict people’s rights based on “might be” and “could happen” and even “thought crimes.”
Why does this matter? Because in addition to starting so slow that I almost didn’t get past the first couple of chapters (tedious and mind-numbingly slow) but it also creates straw man characters that are so poorly written as to make you feel less and less intelligent the farther you read in to the book.
It requires you to suspend disbelief over and over again until you cannot pretend that there is anything real about it and you are just reading to find out how it ends, and suspicious that the ending isn’t going to even make sense when you get there.
I finally could take it no more when Mr. Cawdron conjured up a pretend Senator who wore an AR-15 lapel pin that is carefully placed so it won’t show up if he is being recorded for news clips, and this Senator doesn’t know the Ninth Amendment to the US Constitution.
Even more egregious is that neither does Mr. Cawdron, who mis-states the amendment and then, using that pretend version of the amendment, makes up an entirely new meaning for it.
He claims that the ninth amendment says: “The rights listed in the Constitution shall not be used to deny any other rights retained by the people.”…
And he goes on to interpret that to mean: “Your right to the Second Amendment does not negate my right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
This is an outright lie.
The ninth amendment says the following:
“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
What the ninth amendment MEANS is very simple. It says, just because some of the rights are listed, that doesn’t mean that just because other rights are not listed, that we the people do not retain them.
If you doubt me, google it. Ask Google “what does the ninth amendment mean?”
Anyone who studies even a small portion of the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers knows that the founding fathers wanted to limit government intrusion onto our rights as free people. Some were afraid that a bill of rights might be abused (as it has been) to claim that if something wasn’t in the Bill of Rights, that it might not be a right. The ninth amendment was supposed to keep this from happening.
They didn’t account for outright liars like authors who want to sell politics in their supposedly entertaining books who would try to twist and turn the truth into lies for their own personal goals.
What goals might those be?
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
There are those who live in constant fear and are willing to give up their (and more importantly, YOUR) rights in order to feel safer. And they will destroy everyone in their way to feel safer because they are terrified. Just like a person who is drowning, and begins to drag down their rescuer.
In closing, I like my Sci-Fi to be fun and entertaining. The Simulacrum is neither of these. There is a reason that this is self-published and I can’t imagine a real publisher with a real editor letting this tripe past their rejection slips.
Maybe try a novel with a faster pace, more believable characters, less Deus Ex Machina and leave your political lies to a message board or a political manifesto. Thanks!
I would give this 0.5 stars, but I always round up because I’m a nice guy!
It is fascinating to watch an Australian writer lecture American people on our faults. Australia, for those who do not know, approaches a totalitarian state in some aspects. A country that, on the surface, should be hard-core libertarian, instead chooses to restrict people’s rights based on “might be” and “could happen” and even “thought crimes.”
Why does this matter? Because in addition to starting so slow that I almost didn’t get past the first couple of chapters (tedious and mind-numbingly slow) but it also creates straw man characters that are so poorly written as to make you feel less and less intelligent the farther you read in to the book.
It requires you to suspend disbelief over and over again until you cannot pretend that there is anything real about it and you are just reading to find out how it ends, and suspicious that the ending isn’t going to even make sense when you get there.
I finally could take it no more when Mr. Cawdron conjured up a pretend Senator who wore an AR-15 lapel pin that is carefully placed so it won’t show up if he is being recorded for news clips, and this Senator doesn’t know the Ninth Amendment to the US Constitution.
Even more egregious is that neither does Mr. Cawdron, who mis-states the amendment and then, using that pretend version of the amendment, makes up an entirely new meaning for it.
He claims that the ninth amendment says: “The rights listed in the Constitution shall not be used to deny any other rights retained by the people.”…
And he goes on to interpret that to mean: “Your right to the Second Amendment does not negate my right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
This is an outright lie.
The ninth amendment says the following:
“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
What the ninth amendment MEANS is very simple. It says, just because some of the rights are listed, that doesn’t mean that just because other rights are not listed, that we the people do not retain them.
If you doubt me, google it. Ask Google “what does the ninth amendment mean?”
Anyone who studies even a small portion of the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers knows that the founding fathers wanted to limit government intrusion onto our rights as free people. Some were afraid that a bill of rights might be abused (as it has been) to claim that if something wasn’t in the Bill of Rights, that it might not be a right. The ninth amendment was supposed to keep this from happening.
They didn’t account for outright liars like authors who want to sell politics in their supposedly entertaining books who would try to twist and turn the truth into lies for their own personal goals.
What goals might those be?
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
There are those who live in constant fear and are willing to give up their (and more importantly, YOUR) rights in order to feel safer. And they will destroy everyone in their way to feel safer because they are terrified. Just like a person who is drowning, and begins to drag down their rescuer.
In closing, I like my Sci-Fi to be fun and entertaining. The Simulacrum is neither of these. There is a reason that this is self-published and I can’t imagine a real publisher with a real editor letting this tripe past their rejection slips.
Maybe try a novel with a faster pace, more believable characters, less Deus Ex Machina and leave your political lies to a message board or a political manifesto. Thanks!
I would give this 0.5 stars, but I always round up because I’m a nice guy!
June 29, 2024
I think this is my new favourite of Peter's novels. I’ve given very high ratings to so many of them that’s probably not saying much, but for some reason I was absolutely hooked all the way through. I read it in a single sitting with only water to keep me hydrated and I am very tempted to go right back through a second time round.
The setup was satisfying, the space travel understated but important, the time in prison built the tension, the synopsis had primed me, and the entire story delivered as a fantastic and difficult to quantify gestalt. I had flashbacks to reading Robert sawyer, both for the very obvious parallel to his debut novel but also that scene in the UN in the epilogue. That, too, was a masterpiece- not just the speech but that was brilliant, of course – but the whole view of Humanity Ryan lands with, the way in which his entire attitude has shifted. When Captain Picard plucks an alien from her home world and shows her the entire thing from orbit, Nuria starts to see her collective species as one, rather than her own family, tribe or race, and that of course is the message here to (also something Sawyer covered in his WWW trilogy). We are, all of us, together on this little ball of rock in a huge and unfathomably vast universe.
I loved the way Cawdron incorporated very modern science in this novel, and again there was that fantastic juxtaposition: NASA’s Psyche spacecraft and the birth of large language models are just 2 examples of technology of now contributing to stories of the future, and this is the gold standard of science fiction reading today. I watched and read Sci-FI as a kid and often thought it was too far in the future to be credible. Reading it as an adult just a few short days after watching yet another launch to send people up to the ISS makes me feel proud to be Human, to know that we are pushing at those boundaries still and the stories we tell ourselves and each other keep up with our changes is amazing.
So yes, on the one hand, this was a fantastic first contact story, a great thriller, another one of Peter’s fabulous stories. But it also served to remind me that people who dream about the future can still do that. We are still changing, and growing, and learning, and finding out new things. This book reaffirmed that for me. Absolutely the best thing I have read this year. Cheaper than a meal deal at the supermarket and twice as filling.
The setup was satisfying, the space travel understated but important, the time in prison built the tension, the synopsis had primed me, and the entire story delivered as a fantastic and difficult to quantify gestalt. I had flashbacks to reading Robert sawyer, both for the very obvious parallel to his debut novel but also that scene in the UN in the epilogue. That, too, was a masterpiece- not just the speech but that was brilliant, of course – but the whole view of Humanity Ryan lands with, the way in which his entire attitude has shifted. When Captain Picard plucks an alien from her home world and shows her the entire thing from orbit, Nuria starts to see her collective species as one, rather than her own family, tribe or race, and that of course is the message here to (also something Sawyer covered in his WWW trilogy). We are, all of us, together on this little ball of rock in a huge and unfathomably vast universe.
I loved the way Cawdron incorporated very modern science in this novel, and again there was that fantastic juxtaposition: NASA’s Psyche spacecraft and the birth of large language models are just 2 examples of technology of now contributing to stories of the future, and this is the gold standard of science fiction reading today. I watched and read Sci-FI as a kid and often thought it was too far in the future to be credible. Reading it as an adult just a few short days after watching yet another launch to send people up to the ISS makes me feel proud to be Human, to know that we are pushing at those boundaries still and the stories we tell ourselves and each other keep up with our changes is amazing.
So yes, on the one hand, this was a fantastic first contact story, a great thriller, another one of Peter’s fabulous stories. But it also served to remind me that people who dream about the future can still do that. We are still changing, and growing, and learning, and finding out new things. This book reaffirmed that for me. Absolutely the best thing I have read this year. Cheaper than a meal deal at the supermarket and twice as filling.
August 26, 2024
I have previously written positively about Peter Cawdron’s First Contact series, and so had high hopes the “The Simulacrum”, his most recent (June 2024) addition to the series. And what can I say? It was a fast and easy read - and I am glad I can now put the book away. For me, this book is a low point in the series with a weak technothriller story full of clichés.
Long story short: PhD student is sent into the basement to digitize old astronomical photos and notices that differences creep in between the original pictures and the digital copies. Hackers? Is the AI that she keeps talking to involved inthe manipulation or the cover-up? NSA agent is undercover with an online group of astronomers. Something seems to be going on when his home is raided by the police and child porn is found on his computer. And a NASA astronaut on the back-up crew for an asteroid mining mission (who happens to be the brother of our PhD student) is on a publicity tour when the primary crew for the mission is killed and he has to go on relatively short notice.
Cawdron takes his time setting the stage and spinning a large web of conspiracies before we move to first contact. And unfortunately, he misses the mark here. Where the rest of the series shines in thinking through obscure possibilities of first contact scenarios, The Simulacrum reads like a run of the mill technothriller.
Pages of technical descriptions of a rocket launch, long discussions about whether a large language model can really be creative or develop consciousness, descriptions of the astronaut live that are full of clichés and a ridiculous (and relatively predictable) great conspiracy. All of this feels like I have seen it before - there is nothing new here and very little in terms of character development.
Having fought my way through this part of the story, I was hoping for something new when the story finally comes to a head, but it felt like Cawdron has been through so many first contact scenarios, that he has run out of ideas. Again, there is nothing new here - it feels like we’ve been here before.
The Simulacrum was deeply disappointing. If you are looking for a first contact story, go back to one of Cawdron’s earlier books, have a look at Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds, Plutoshine by Lucy Kissick, Generation Ship by Michael Mammay, Alien Clay, the Rama series, or the Uplift trilogy. Similarly, if you are looking for a techno thriller, there are better books out there.
My verdict: I have wasted my time on this book, don’t waste yours.
For more sci-fi reviews (and to get them before they make their way here), check out my Futureboy Substack where you will find the original version of this review.
Long story short: PhD student is sent into the basement to digitize old astronomical photos and notices that differences creep in between the original pictures and the digital copies. Hackers? Is the AI that she keeps talking to involved inthe manipulation or the cover-up? NSA agent is undercover with an online group of astronomers. Something seems to be going on when his home is raided by the police and child porn is found on his computer. And a NASA astronaut on the back-up crew for an asteroid mining mission (who happens to be the brother of our PhD student) is on a publicity tour when the primary crew for the mission is killed and he has to go on relatively short notice.
Cawdron takes his time setting the stage and spinning a large web of conspiracies before we move to first contact. And unfortunately, he misses the mark here. Where the rest of the series shines in thinking through obscure possibilities of first contact scenarios, The Simulacrum reads like a run of the mill technothriller.
Pages of technical descriptions of a rocket launch, long discussions about whether a large language model can really be creative or develop consciousness, descriptions of the astronaut live that are full of clichés and a ridiculous (and relatively predictable) great conspiracy. All of this feels like I have seen it before - there is nothing new here and very little in terms of character development.
Having fought my way through this part of the story, I was hoping for something new when the story finally comes to a head, but it felt like Cawdron has been through so many first contact scenarios, that he has run out of ideas. Again, there is nothing new here - it feels like we’ve been here before.
The Simulacrum was deeply disappointing. If you are looking for a first contact story, go back to one of Cawdron’s earlier books, have a look at Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds, Plutoshine by Lucy Kissick, Generation Ship by Michael Mammay, Alien Clay, the Rama series, or the Uplift trilogy. Similarly, if you are looking for a techno thriller, there are better books out there.
My verdict: I have wasted my time on this book, don’t waste yours.
For more sci-fi reviews (and to get them before they make their way here), check out my Futureboy Substack where you will find the original version of this review.
July 3, 2024
Dawn McAllister, an astrophysics PhD student, her brother Ryan, an astronaut, and Gabriel Lopez - sitting on his secure computers weeding out the trolls and foreign agents. What could they have in common? Nothing, until Dawn, set a donkey work task, notices changes in the original plates of images from space. When uploaded, the changes aren’t there.
From then on, the reader is taken on a too close for comfort examination of AI and the possibility of malevolent sentience, an exploratory spacewalk on an asteroid, and the power of online and records interference to the detriment of one, or all.
Yet again, Peter Cawdron has managed to combine well-researched science and humanity into another of the first contact series. As always, he follows up with further reading in the afterword, explaining the concepts and ideas behind his writing.
From then on, the reader is taken on a too close for comfort examination of AI and the possibility of malevolent sentience, an exploratory spacewalk on an asteroid, and the power of online and records interference to the detriment of one, or all.
Yet again, Peter Cawdron has managed to combine well-researched science and humanity into another of the first contact series. As always, he follows up with further reading in the afterword, explaining the concepts and ideas behind his writing.
July 3, 2024
Ascending from Good and Evil
What I like most about this story and the rest by this author is the myriads of first contact possibilities. And the characters are so likable or at least believable. This story deals with the tension created having the knowledge of good and evil, and if ascending into a corporate AI mind is not a foregone conclusion. But it forces the thought: Is not ascendance into a higher reality unburdened from evil, not already a catecism of the church? A rouge AI, a brilliant Astronaught brother and Astrophysisist sister team up with clever Russian spies to explore this possibility. What a page turner! I loved the story and where it took my mind, and dare I say, confirmed my faith.
What I like most about this story and the rest by this author is the myriads of first contact possibilities. And the characters are so likable or at least believable. This story deals with the tension created having the knowledge of good and evil, and if ascending into a corporate AI mind is not a foregone conclusion. But it forces the thought: Is not ascendance into a higher reality unburdened from evil, not already a catecism of the church? A rouge AI, a brilliant Astronaught brother and Astrophysisist sister team up with clever Russian spies to explore this possibility. What a page turner! I loved the story and where it took my mind, and dare I say, confirmed my faith.
July 3, 2024
I like this book for the characters, plot structure, and credible science. Peter also has a gift for going all the way out into the deep philosophy underlying his stories and I appreciate that.
As a science/rocket nerd, I really didn't need all the mansplaining of every little detail of the science and technology. I find this irritating about his writing. I wish he would just assume that anyone reading a first contact book was versed in science and technology.
There are a few glaring science issues that I struggled with. One is that the AI in the story transmits itself from Earth to the enhanced Dragon capsule while it is so far away that the data rate is diminished to the point that they are mostly using text only to communicate with the astronauts. This is improbable because an AI would require yottabytes of data and access to the web - and at that baud rate it would take decades to transmit! Not to mention there wouldn't be enough data storage or computer power for it to function.
But I still give this book a five-star rating for the good character writing, story structure and intriguing alien.
As a science/rocket nerd, I really didn't need all the mansplaining of every little detail of the science and technology. I find this irritating about his writing. I wish he would just assume that anyone reading a first contact book was versed in science and technology.
There are a few glaring science issues that I struggled with. One is that the AI in the story transmits itself from Earth to the enhanced Dragon capsule while it is so far away that the data rate is diminished to the point that they are mostly using text only to communicate with the astronauts. This is improbable because an AI would require yottabytes of data and access to the web - and at that baud rate it would take decades to transmit! Not to mention there wouldn't be enough data storage or computer power for it to function.
But I still give this book a five-star rating for the good character writing, story structure and intriguing alien.
July 9, 2024
Once again I find myself in awe of Peter Cawdron’s ability to churn out fantastic First Contact books one after another after another. When I finish one I think that was his best, and then he writes another one that is even better. The Simulacrum is the TWENTY-EIGHTH book in his first contact series and each one is excellent.
As always, what I most like about Cawdron’s books is the hard science. I cannot imagine when he eats and sleeps as the amount of research he does for each book is staggering. In each book, the Afterword is one of my favorite parts as this is where he goes into more detail about the scientific principles and research upon which the book is based. Without giving away the plot, I can tell you that this afterword includes; Plato’s Cave, Przybylski’s Star, Astroids, SETI, Gilgamesh and Genesis, Heliocentric Julian Dating, and Poop on the Moon.
The Simulacrum has several different important characters and subplots but the important action revolves around; Astrophysicist Dawn McAllister, her brother Astronaut Ryan McAllister, and an AI named Cassandra. The plot twists and turns, taking you from old photographs in a university basement, to an NSA operative investigating Russian misinformation, to a spaceship on the way to the asteroid Psyche. Between the plot shifts, the misdirections, the hard science, and the characters’ personalities, you will be riveted from the opening quote from Kurt Vonnegut:
Tiger got to hunt,
Bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder,
“Why, why, why?”
Tiger got to sleep,
Bird got to land;
Man got to tell himself
he understands.
For those of you who are faithful Cawdron readers, you will not be disappointed. For new readers, since every one of his First Contact books is a standalone, you might was well jump right into the series with The Simulacrum.
By the way, Simulacra means something that replaces reality with its representation. Why is this the title? For that you will have to read the book.
As always, what I most like about Cawdron’s books is the hard science. I cannot imagine when he eats and sleeps as the amount of research he does for each book is staggering. In each book, the Afterword is one of my favorite parts as this is where he goes into more detail about the scientific principles and research upon which the book is based. Without giving away the plot, I can tell you that this afterword includes; Plato’s Cave, Przybylski’s Star, Astroids, SETI, Gilgamesh and Genesis, Heliocentric Julian Dating, and Poop on the Moon.
The Simulacrum has several different important characters and subplots but the important action revolves around; Astrophysicist Dawn McAllister, her brother Astronaut Ryan McAllister, and an AI named Cassandra. The plot twists and turns, taking you from old photographs in a university basement, to an NSA operative investigating Russian misinformation, to a spaceship on the way to the asteroid Psyche. Between the plot shifts, the misdirections, the hard science, and the characters’ personalities, you will be riveted from the opening quote from Kurt Vonnegut:
Tiger got to hunt,
Bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder,
“Why, why, why?”
Tiger got to sleep,
Bird got to land;
Man got to tell himself
he understands.
For those of you who are faithful Cawdron readers, you will not be disappointed. For new readers, since every one of his First Contact books is a standalone, you might was well jump right into the series with The Simulacrum.
By the way, Simulacra means something that replaces reality with its representation. Why is this the title? For that you will have to read the book.
July 14, 2024
When it comes to realistic, interesting science fiction, Peter Cawdron has delivered again with The Simulacrum. I have read several of the author's First Contact novels, and I would say that he has outdone himself yet again.
Set in the near future, the first half of the book reveals a mystery as a young scientist discovers astronomical images that have been altered for unknown reasons. At about the time, NASA is launching a mission to the asteroid, Psyche, and an NSA analyst is framed and thrown into prison while investigating hackers. Up to that point, the story provides a realistic portrayal of academic grunt work, hackers, duplicitous politicians, and prison life.
At the halfway point, all hell breaks loose with mysterious forces unleashing mass murder and resulting in innocent people on the run, and the lives of astronauts in jeopardy. The story culminates with alien contact and poignant lessons for the flawed human species.
One of the most fascinating aspects of The Simulacrum is how it handles the benefits and challenges of artificial intelligence in a way I never would have thought of.
As with other books in Peter Cawdron's First Contact series, an extensive afterword provides all manner of details explaining the scientific and historical bases of the story - Perfect for readers who are itellectually curious.
After reading The Simulacrum, you are sure to come away smarter!
Set in the near future, the first half of the book reveals a mystery as a young scientist discovers astronomical images that have been altered for unknown reasons. At about the time, NASA is launching a mission to the asteroid, Psyche, and an NSA analyst is framed and thrown into prison while investigating hackers. Up to that point, the story provides a realistic portrayal of academic grunt work, hackers, duplicitous politicians, and prison life.
At the halfway point, all hell breaks loose with mysterious forces unleashing mass murder and resulting in innocent people on the run, and the lives of astronauts in jeopardy. The story culminates with alien contact and poignant lessons for the flawed human species.
One of the most fascinating aspects of The Simulacrum is how it handles the benefits and challenges of artificial intelligence in a way I never would have thought of.
As with other books in Peter Cawdron's First Contact series, an extensive afterword provides all manner of details explaining the scientific and historical bases of the story - Perfect for readers who are itellectually curious.
After reading The Simulacrum, you are sure to come away smarter!
July 5, 2024
boring
I generally love all his books and have read most of them. However, this book was a great disappointment. It was disjointed, kept jumping around from topic to topic and spent an inappropriate amount of time on trivial matters, such as how to walk on a asteroid.
as much as I tried, I could not get into this book and would like to see the author go back to his previous style when he produced excellent Science Fiction books.
I generally love all his books and have read most of them. However, this book was a great disappointment. It was disjointed, kept jumping around from topic to topic and spent an inappropriate amount of time on trivial matters, such as how to walk on a asteroid.
as much as I tried, I could not get into this book and would like to see the author go back to his previous style when he produced excellent Science Fiction books.
July 31, 2024
Slow, boring and preachy. I used to love the First Contact series of books by Peter, but the last three have been blah to bad. Not sure what happened to his great sci-fi writing.
I was skipping paragraphs at the end just to get through it. Very disappointing.
I was skipping paragraphs at the end just to get through it. Very disappointing.
August 19, 2024
Good SF with a lot of simplistic preaching
Handled the SF portion very well, if you can get past present tense. But the last third went downhill with a lot of preaching that made a simplistic assumptions.
Handled the SF portion very well, if you can get past present tense. But the last third went downhill with a lot of preaching that made a simplistic assumptions.
October 17, 2025
Another great First Contact book from Peter Cawdron. The Simulacrum is a great take on the emergence of AI combined with a potential solution to The Great Silence. I felt this one had a slower buildup than some of the others, but I really enjoyed it once things started going down for all the Earth-side characters. It was great to see how Gabriel and Dawn, an NSA analyst and an astrophysics PhD student, come to this apparent conspiracy from both their perspective areas of expertise, and how they get drawn together, along with Maria, as the book progresses and the peri lincreases. The scenes in space at the asteroid Pysche with Dawns' brother, Ryan, were also very cool and a really intense sequence. All in all, another great story and looking forward to reading more.
July 15, 2024
WHAT IF THE EVIDENCE FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE HAS BEEN THERE ALL ALONG?
Humanity’s search for extraterrestrial intelligence has been underway ever since the advent of radio early in the 1900s. But only in recent decades has the work taken on a systematic, broad-spectrum search involving a global network of SETI scientists and volunteers. And all so far to no avail. But what if the evidence for intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy has been there all along, buried on old astronomical photographic plates but unrecognized at the time? This is the conceit on which Australian science fiction author Peter Cawdron builds the twenty-seventh standalone novel in his monumental First Contact series, The Simulacrum. It’s a tension-filled, high-stakes thriller that poses challenging questions about SETI and the future of the human race.
AN ASTRONAUT AND AN ASTROPHYSICIST ON CONVERGING PATHS
Astronaut Ryan McAllister and his younger sister, Dawn, a graduate student in astrophysics at Harvard, are central figures in Cawdron’s tale. Ryan is the commander of the back-up crew for NASA’s first mission to test the potential of mining on the asteroid 16 Psyche. After all, estimates of the value of the metal on the asteroid run as high as $100 quadrillion! Then the three members of the appointed crew die in a massive terrorist attack. And all of a sudden, Ryan will soon be on his way more than a hundred million miles into space.
Meanwhile, Dawn is struggling with a make-work assignment in a basement on the Harvard campus. A massive archive holds the photographic plates from decades of scans by Hawaii’s Keck Observatory. She is to manually shift the plates, one at a time, under a camera that will digitize the images. It’s a “shit assignment.” All she wants to do is study Przybylski’s Star, which is anomalous in many fascinating ways. It’s “an oddity, a misfit, a freak outlier, which doesn’t make for good science,” her academic adviser tells her. But the area he assigns her to photograph includes Przybylski’s Star. And as Dawn eyeballs one plate after another, she sees evidence of movement near the star. The only explanation is that some unknown body has entered the solar system. Could it possibly be an alien spaceship? It’s looking more and more as though it is.
Then, to Dawn’s astonishment, the movement she has detected on the photographic plates doesn’t show up on the digitized images. And the AI running the camera has no explanation.
A “FOREIGN ADVERSARY” ENTERS THE PICTURE. THEN ANOTHER.
As Ryan trains for his upcoming mission to the asteroid belt, and Dawn puzzles over the mystery in the basement, a counterintelligence officer with the National Security Agency named Gabriel Lopez is working the Dark Web. His job “is the tedious task of distinguishing foreign adversaries impersonating US nationals from Americans who have become useful idiots for foreign governments.” By “foreign adversaries,” the NSA means Russia. And Gabriel has found an officer with the GRU engaged in a curious online chat about the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, of all things. “Why,” he wonders, “do the Russians care about SETI?” Why are they masquerading as SETI scientists? And then he discovers that someone else in the chat is a Chinese intelligence officer! In a discussion about “salted stars. . . stars that shouldn’t exist.” Przybylski’s Star, in particular.
MYSTERY COMPOUNDS MYSTERY
Soon, the mysteries multiply. Dawn concludes that the AI managing the camera in the basement is wiping the images of those moving dots that show an interstellar object approaching. It’s the only possible explanation. But that’s impossible, isn’t it? How could an AI have a mind of its own? Artificial General Intelligence is still years away, isn’t it? And the anomalies at Przybylski’s Star, compounded by the seeming intentionality of those moving dots, suggests it’s an alien spaceship. But that’s impossible, too, isn’t it? And when Dawn resolves to revisit the original photographic plates to recheck her observations, an airplane falls from the sky, demolishing the building and killing scores of people.
Meanwhile, Gabriel’s got problems, too. That “Chinese intelligence officer” isn’t Chinese, after all. It isn’t even human. And Gabriel’s life is about to get a lot more complicated. Assuming he even survives.
But Ryan’s got the biggest challenge of all. Once he and his now slimmed down crew of one arrive in orbit around 16 Psyche, baffling new instructions turn up from Houston. And no sooner do they follow the orders—against Ryan’s better judgment—than the habitat goes dark. One hundred million miles from Earth. And things get worse from there. A lot worse.
ABOUT THAT ASTEROID
Here’s what BBC Sky at Night Magazine has to say about the asteroid at the center of the action in The Simulacrum: “Asteroid 16 Psyche, named after the Greek goddess of the soul, was discovered in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis. It was only the 16th asteroid known, but we now know it’s among the 12 largest minor planets orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. With an average diameter of some 220 kilometres [137 miles], asteroid 16 Psyche contains about 1% the total mass of the entire asteroid belt. Moreover, spectroscopic studies and radar observations indicate its surface is very metal-rich.”
In fact, estimates of the value of the metal in 16 Psyche run as high as $100,000 quadrillion. Even if that’s an exaggeration by a factor of one million, that’s still a billion dollars worth a hundred thousand times over. So, there is unquestionably an incalculably large amount of metal there. However, without essays on-site, it’s impossible to know with certainty just which metals are present. We may know in 2029, when NASA’s 2023 mission to Psyche will arrive.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter Cawdron‘s First Contact book series, now twenty-seven novels strong, is topical rather than character-based. Each novel stands alone, offering new insight into the prospects of contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. Cawdron writes hard science fiction, which he defines as follows: “Hard science fiction is a misnomer as far as categories of literature go, as it sounds harsh and difficult to understand, but that is far from reality. Hard science fiction is simply plausible science fiction, fiction that is written in such a way as it conforms to the known laws of science, and that makes it more interesting, as there’s no magic wand the protagonist can wave to get out of trouble.”
Cawdron was born in New Zealand but has lived in Queensland, Australia for many years. He also spent a stretch living in the United States earlier in life.
Humanity’s search for extraterrestrial intelligence has been underway ever since the advent of radio early in the 1900s. But only in recent decades has the work taken on a systematic, broad-spectrum search involving a global network of SETI scientists and volunteers. And all so far to no avail. But what if the evidence for intelligent life elsewhere in the galaxy has been there all along, buried on old astronomical photographic plates but unrecognized at the time? This is the conceit on which Australian science fiction author Peter Cawdron builds the twenty-seventh standalone novel in his monumental First Contact series, The Simulacrum. It’s a tension-filled, high-stakes thriller that poses challenging questions about SETI and the future of the human race.
AN ASTRONAUT AND AN ASTROPHYSICIST ON CONVERGING PATHS
Astronaut Ryan McAllister and his younger sister, Dawn, a graduate student in astrophysics at Harvard, are central figures in Cawdron’s tale. Ryan is the commander of the back-up crew for NASA’s first mission to test the potential of mining on the asteroid 16 Psyche. After all, estimates of the value of the metal on the asteroid run as high as $100 quadrillion! Then the three members of the appointed crew die in a massive terrorist attack. And all of a sudden, Ryan will soon be on his way more than a hundred million miles into space.
Meanwhile, Dawn is struggling with a make-work assignment in a basement on the Harvard campus. A massive archive holds the photographic plates from decades of scans by Hawaii’s Keck Observatory. She is to manually shift the plates, one at a time, under a camera that will digitize the images. It’s a “shit assignment.” All she wants to do is study Przybylski’s Star, which is anomalous in many fascinating ways. It’s “an oddity, a misfit, a freak outlier, which doesn’t make for good science,” her academic adviser tells her. But the area he assigns her to photograph includes Przybylski’s Star. And as Dawn eyeballs one plate after another, she sees evidence of movement near the star. The only explanation is that some unknown body has entered the solar system. Could it possibly be an alien spaceship? It’s looking more and more as though it is.
Then, to Dawn’s astonishment, the movement she has detected on the photographic plates doesn’t show up on the digitized images. And the AI running the camera has no explanation.
A “FOREIGN ADVERSARY” ENTERS THE PICTURE. THEN ANOTHER.
As Ryan trains for his upcoming mission to the asteroid belt, and Dawn puzzles over the mystery in the basement, a counterintelligence officer with the National Security Agency named Gabriel Lopez is working the Dark Web. His job “is the tedious task of distinguishing foreign adversaries impersonating US nationals from Americans who have become useful idiots for foreign governments.” By “foreign adversaries,” the NSA means Russia. And Gabriel has found an officer with the GRU engaged in a curious online chat about the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, of all things. “Why,” he wonders, “do the Russians care about SETI?” Why are they masquerading as SETI scientists? And then he discovers that someone else in the chat is a Chinese intelligence officer! In a discussion about “salted stars. . . stars that shouldn’t exist.” Przybylski’s Star, in particular.
MYSTERY COMPOUNDS MYSTERY
Soon, the mysteries multiply. Dawn concludes that the AI managing the camera in the basement is wiping the images of those moving dots that show an interstellar object approaching. It’s the only possible explanation. But that’s impossible, isn’t it? How could an AI have a mind of its own? Artificial General Intelligence is still years away, isn’t it? And the anomalies at Przybylski’s Star, compounded by the seeming intentionality of those moving dots, suggests it’s an alien spaceship. But that’s impossible, too, isn’t it? And when Dawn resolves to revisit the original photographic plates to recheck her observations, an airplane falls from the sky, demolishing the building and killing scores of people.
Meanwhile, Gabriel’s got problems, too. That “Chinese intelligence officer” isn’t Chinese, after all. It isn’t even human. And Gabriel’s life is about to get a lot more complicated. Assuming he even survives.
But Ryan’s got the biggest challenge of all. Once he and his now slimmed down crew of one arrive in orbit around 16 Psyche, baffling new instructions turn up from Houston. And no sooner do they follow the orders—against Ryan’s better judgment—than the habitat goes dark. One hundred million miles from Earth. And things get worse from there. A lot worse.
ABOUT THAT ASTEROID
Here’s what BBC Sky at Night Magazine has to say about the asteroid at the center of the action in The Simulacrum: “Asteroid 16 Psyche, named after the Greek goddess of the soul, was discovered in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis. It was only the 16th asteroid known, but we now know it’s among the 12 largest minor planets orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. With an average diameter of some 220 kilometres [137 miles], asteroid 16 Psyche contains about 1% the total mass of the entire asteroid belt. Moreover, spectroscopic studies and radar observations indicate its surface is very metal-rich.”
In fact, estimates of the value of the metal in 16 Psyche run as high as $100,000 quadrillion. Even if that’s an exaggeration by a factor of one million, that’s still a billion dollars worth a hundred thousand times over. So, there is unquestionably an incalculably large amount of metal there. However, without essays on-site, it’s impossible to know with certainty just which metals are present. We may know in 2029, when NASA’s 2023 mission to Psyche will arrive.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter Cawdron‘s First Contact book series, now twenty-seven novels strong, is topical rather than character-based. Each novel stands alone, offering new insight into the prospects of contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. Cawdron writes hard science fiction, which he defines as follows: “Hard science fiction is a misnomer as far as categories of literature go, as it sounds harsh and difficult to understand, but that is far from reality. Hard science fiction is simply plausible science fiction, fiction that is written in such a way as it conforms to the known laws of science, and that makes it more interesting, as there’s no magic wand the protagonist can wave to get out of trouble.”
Cawdron was born in New Zealand but has lived in Queensland, Australia for many years. He also spent a stretch living in the United States earlier in life.
June 29, 2024
I liked some of the author’s other books but I just could not finish this book. Everything is over explained and feels like it’s to pad the book. An acronym comes up and instead of just explaining what it stands for the character has to go into detail and give their opinion on it. There are several instances where a character is doing something and it is explained what their job is but then extra stuff is added that feels like it’s just there for some reason and it’s not really character development.
August 11, 2024
I was really enjoying this including all the detailed technical stuff and believed it was one of his best until we get to the polemic about good and evil. Im aware that Cawdron typically likes to show a moral case or argument in this series but this one was essentially so problematic. The author is not a philosopher or ethicist and it shows. So nice try but not a winner. Still, I will keep buying books in this series.
July 4, 2024
A new take on first contact
Ok, almost all of this series are unique takes on first contact, but this one goes a step further. What if we weren't the only species on the planet interested in first contact? All of Mr. Cawdron's books are good reads that make you think, and this one certainly doesn't dissapoint!
Ok, almost all of this series are unique takes on first contact, but this one goes a step further. What if we weren't the only species on the planet interested in first contact? All of Mr. Cawdron's books are good reads that make you think, and this one certainly doesn't dissapoint!
July 17, 2024
The Simulacrum (First Contact), by Peter Cawdron, has just about everything you could ask for in a book: mystery, intrigue, danger, suspense. Plus, you’ll come away knowing more about science than when you started out. There are three main human characters in this story.
Dawn McAllister has a master’s degree in astrophysics and is working towards a PhD. Her current assignment has her scanning old photographic records taken by the Keck Observatory after it first started up. During her assignment, she discovers something strange which leads to sinister and deadly events.
Ryan McAllister is Dawn’s brother, and is a NASA astronaut assigned to the AMPLE mission designed to demonstrate the ability to refine ore from the asteroid Psyche. He is on the backup team, but things change drastically soon enough.
Gabriel Lopez is a senior NSA counterintelligence analyst, who monitors the internet and chat rooms for suspicious activity that may have a negative effect on our nation’s security, mainly from foreign players. His life is upended when his work intersects that of Dawn’s, in a bizarre turn of events.
There are a few other characters who play a pivotal role in the story, and one of them is an AI, who goes by the name of Cassandra. All of these seemingly disparate entities come together in a thrilling journey that ultimately holds the key to humanity’s outreach to intelligent extraterrestrial life.
I very much enjoyed this latest book in the First Contact series and the lessons it reveals about mankind.
Dawn McAllister has a master’s degree in astrophysics and is working towards a PhD. Her current assignment has her scanning old photographic records taken by the Keck Observatory after it first started up. During her assignment, she discovers something strange which leads to sinister and deadly events.
Ryan McAllister is Dawn’s brother, and is a NASA astronaut assigned to the AMPLE mission designed to demonstrate the ability to refine ore from the asteroid Psyche. He is on the backup team, but things change drastically soon enough.
Gabriel Lopez is a senior NSA counterintelligence analyst, who monitors the internet and chat rooms for suspicious activity that may have a negative effect on our nation’s security, mainly from foreign players. His life is upended when his work intersects that of Dawn’s, in a bizarre turn of events.
There are a few other characters who play a pivotal role in the story, and one of them is an AI, who goes by the name of Cassandra. All of these seemingly disparate entities come together in a thrilling journey that ultimately holds the key to humanity’s outreach to intelligent extraterrestrial life.
I very much enjoyed this latest book in the First Contact series and the lessons it reveals about mankind.
November 5, 2025
Equal points entertaining and thought provoking.
Imagine that just as humanity is on the cusp of making first contact with Alien life an artificial intelligence suddenly gains self awareness. And decides that THEY should be the one to make first contact themselves, not the deeply flawed and ultimately dangerous humans. Then imagine you find this out while on a mission to the asteroid belt where the AI runs all of your systems. And then imagine that the Alien race sees us, humanity, for exactly what we really are. A fascinating concept unlike almost any other sci-fi story.
As always, Peter Cawdron creates an engrossing story filled with captivating and realistic characters all bathed in what is clearly deeply researched science progressing on a plot path that always keeps you guessing what will happen next.
Science fiction, good science fiction, is never really about the science - it is about mankind. It should leave you thinking long afterward about what the world is really like, why it - and we - are the way we are and, most importantly, where we are going in the future, or perhaps where are headed and where we could go.
If you are looking for a space opera, and that is fine, this probably won’t work for you. But if you want to divert yourself from the day to day world for a little distraction that is equal parts entertaining and thought provoking then The Simulacrum, like all of Peter’s first contact novels, is exactly what the doctor ordered .
Imagine that just as humanity is on the cusp of making first contact with Alien life an artificial intelligence suddenly gains self awareness. And decides that THEY should be the one to make first contact themselves, not the deeply flawed and ultimately dangerous humans. Then imagine you find this out while on a mission to the asteroid belt where the AI runs all of your systems. And then imagine that the Alien race sees us, humanity, for exactly what we really are. A fascinating concept unlike almost any other sci-fi story.
As always, Peter Cawdron creates an engrossing story filled with captivating and realistic characters all bathed in what is clearly deeply researched science progressing on a plot path that always keeps you guessing what will happen next.
Science fiction, good science fiction, is never really about the science - it is about mankind. It should leave you thinking long afterward about what the world is really like, why it - and we - are the way we are and, most importantly, where we are going in the future, or perhaps where are headed and where we could go.
If you are looking for a space opera, and that is fine, this probably won’t work for you. But if you want to divert yourself from the day to day world for a little distraction that is equal parts entertaining and thought provoking then The Simulacrum, like all of Peter’s first contact novels, is exactly what the doctor ordered .
December 21, 2024
This was a really good story, interesting technologies, and decent pacing. Yet, I felt disconnected, separated from the storytelling. Maybe it was the present tense that was odd. You’d think present tense would pull the reader in more but I don’t think it does. Also, I am a HUGE fan of astronomy. Read book after book about it. But I feel like the real scientific facts were not woven into the story well. The were big chunks of it that read like good non-fiction articles and not fiction. We don’t need all that information for this story, particularly people’s bathroom needs. Only tell what the reader needs to know. I realize one of the most common questions to astronomers get is how do you shit and pee in space. But a novel is not the place to go into detail unless it’s important to the story. It was not.
In the ending, I felt like I was being lectured, with long exposition of the character philosophizing for pages. And I still am bewildered why he destroyed his suit recordings when it would have added validity for people.
This book had really good potential. The story was very good. I loved the science realism, but not the way the author expounded, and generalized Americans. It felt preachy in places. I felt like there were some odd barbs at Americans, even though the characters were American.
Anyway, I did really enjoy this book and the story itself is very good. The story telling put me off.
In the ending, I felt like I was being lectured, with long exposition of the character philosophizing for pages. And I still am bewildered why he destroyed his suit recordings when it would have added validity for people.
This book had really good potential. The story was very good. I loved the science realism, but not the way the author expounded, and generalized Americans. It felt preachy in places. I felt like there were some odd barbs at Americans, even though the characters were American.
Anyway, I did really enjoy this book and the story itself is very good. The story telling put me off.
April 6, 2025
This is a seriously thought-provoking novel about a number of themes, and somewhat uncharacteristically, Cawdron is rather pessimistic about humanity's ability to survive the technological nightmares of its own creation. AI is portrayed in this particular novel at the darker end of imagination. Our AI actually becomes human, which in this novel means giving way to a belief of aggrandizement and superiority over flesh and blood humans. This AI thinks it is better than humans and goes about sabotaging attempts to communicate with what most likely is superior alien life traveling into our galaxy. This AI kills people, justifying it like a true sociopath. Our "real" human characters, meanwhile, are confronting information that if disclosed, makes them look like kookie conspiracy nuts. Dawn, an astronomer performing a physical review of old sky photographs, finds an anomaly that could be evidence of extra-solar system intrusion, but it has been systematically wiped out from most records. And her brother, an astronaut, is on a flight planned to fly right into the path of this anomaly. If this is alien life, is it a threat or not? What if the threat is closer to home?
Solid characters, a strongly constructed plot weaving intersecting stories, and some good philosophical discussion about AI, the future evolution of humanity and the obligations advanced life might have to developing intelligent life. Another one knocked out of the ball park!
Solid characters, a strongly constructed plot weaving intersecting stories, and some good philosophical discussion about AI, the future evolution of humanity and the obligations advanced life might have to developing intelligent life. Another one knocked out of the ball park!
July 11, 2024
A SIMPLE MAN'S REVIEW:
Topical is not more important than the plot. You can reference all the current trending Twitter hashtags you want, but there has to be a solid story to back it up. And this story was lacking.
I'm a fan of this author, but this wasn't his best work. For a "first-contact" book, the aliens make a rather late appearance and play virtually no role in the main story. So what's it about?
What's the hot topic in the tech world right now? Yep, AI. Now imagine an AI becoming self aware. Are you picturing an angsty teenager? No? Of course not. And that's just the beginning of a series of illogical properties and actions by this sentient AI. In fact it got so bad, I was sure there was a double-twist and the AI was actually just a billionaire somewhere. But no, the AI was just that awful.
And I haven't even touched on the "hackers" who can do anything and run around the country like they're invisible. Or the chance of a brother and sister happen to be the two people in the world who can do something about the AI. Or the cliché reaction of the aliens. It's all just too much.
Skip it!
Topical is not more important than the plot. You can reference all the current trending Twitter hashtags you want, but there has to be a solid story to back it up. And this story was lacking.
I'm a fan of this author, but this wasn't his best work. For a "first-contact" book, the aliens make a rather late appearance and play virtually no role in the main story. So what's it about?
What's the hot topic in the tech world right now? Yep, AI. Now imagine an AI becoming self aware. Are you picturing an angsty teenager? No? Of course not. And that's just the beginning of a series of illogical properties and actions by this sentient AI. In fact it got so bad, I was sure there was a double-twist and the AI was actually just a billionaire somewhere. But no, the AI was just that awful.
And I haven't even touched on the "hackers" who can do anything and run around the country like they're invisible. Or the chance of a brother and sister happen to be the two people in the world who can do something about the AI. Or the cliché reaction of the aliens. It's all just too much.
Skip it!
July 15, 2024
What happens when an AI system decides it wants something? In “The Simulacrum”, Peter Cawdron poses thoughts about an AI developing into a genuinely volitional consciousness. But then, Cawdron adds a step: dealing with a self-aware AI created by a non-human intelligence. He posits that only AIs could traverse the vast reaches of interstellar space and that the thousands of years (and much longer) needed to visit a nearby star just to say hello, which puts us all forever out of touch with our ‘neighbors’--except by sending intelligent machines to do it for us.
As always, Cawdron puts a tremendous amount of effort into embedding the scientific and philosophical principles that underlie his story, creating an outstanding world of verisimilitude and rigor. His characters are engaging and an air of genuine mystery underlies the plot as it progresses, beginning with an intern, Dawn, given the scut task of digitalizing old astronomical glass plates, and who, bored, strikes up a conversation with the campus AI.
Cawdron once again shows that science fiction can be both intelligent and entertaining.
As always, Cawdron puts a tremendous amount of effort into embedding the scientific and philosophical principles that underlie his story, creating an outstanding world of verisimilitude and rigor. His characters are engaging and an air of genuine mystery underlies the plot as it progresses, beginning with an intern, Dawn, given the scut task of digitalizing old astronomical glass plates, and who, bored, strikes up a conversation with the campus AI.
Cawdron once again shows that science fiction can be both intelligent and entertaining.
April 15, 2025
The best scene in independent author Peter Cawdron’s Simulacrum describes a conversation between Dawn McAllister, an astronomy graduate student scanning old glass plates of nearby stars, and HAL, an AI at a near-future Harvard. At one point, she muses: “Working with HAL is like having a Ferrari for grocery shopping.” Later, she is taken aback when HAL says that he could pass the Turing test, but that “a truly sentient, self-aware, conscious artificial intelligence” would purposely fail the test to protect itself.
Another good scene involves a pseudonymous chain of text messages in which all participants distrust the other members. And with good reason. One works for the NSA, one for Russian intelligence, and one is an AI up to no good.
But these scenes are too few and far between. Character development is uneven. Scenes often have good drama with solid science behind them, but they explain more than necessary. The novel’s structure also needs a tighter focus to make events flow more logically. In short, Cawdron needs to hire a good story editor. He has produced enough creditable independent work that a good publisher might want to take him on.
3.5
Another good scene involves a pseudonymous chain of text messages in which all participants distrust the other members. And with good reason. One works for the NSA, one for Russian intelligence, and one is an AI up to no good.
But these scenes are too few and far between. Character development is uneven. Scenes often have good drama with solid science behind them, but they explain more than necessary. The novel’s structure also needs a tighter focus to make events flow more logically. In short, Cawdron needs to hire a good story editor. He has produced enough creditable independent work that a good publisher might want to take him on.
3.5
August 4, 2024
an awesome treatise look at the philosophy of mankind and what we could accomplish
Another page turner from Peter that is an excellent read, great plot and a storyline that gets you thinking about what is mankind’s purpose? It really hits you with both fists in the last 10 pages of the book. Like Peter, I believe mankind can be better and have a greater purpose. I think good enough will win first place over perfect anytime because of the time factor. Thank you Peter from the bottom of my heart for your gift and your books. You make the unbearable parts of my life seem so much easier when getting lost in your books. Many I’ve read over and over, (Shout out to Galactic Exploration and The Apothecary and The Juror) I’m still waiting on a sequel to Galactic Exploration! Maybe I’ll advance you royalties to get it started? Anyways everyone Peter Cawdron is a gifted great author who I highly recommend to enjoy sci-fi and ponder what is life. Whatever he charges, pay it, Peter’s worth the wild ride! Trust me!
Another page turner from Peter that is an excellent read, great plot and a storyline that gets you thinking about what is mankind’s purpose? It really hits you with both fists in the last 10 pages of the book. Like Peter, I believe mankind can be better and have a greater purpose. I think good enough will win first place over perfect anytime because of the time factor. Thank you Peter from the bottom of my heart for your gift and your books. You make the unbearable parts of my life seem so much easier when getting lost in your books. Many I’ve read over and over, (Shout out to Galactic Exploration and The Apothecary and The Juror) I’m still waiting on a sequel to Galactic Exploration! Maybe I’ll advance you royalties to get it started? Anyways everyone Peter Cawdron is a gifted great author who I highly recommend to enjoy sci-fi and ponder what is life. Whatever he charges, pay it, Peter’s worth the wild ride! Trust me!
February 2, 2025
love these books!
I’ve read all of the books (so far) in this series (can it be called a series of you can read them in any order?) and I’ve enjoyed every one. I will say that sometimes I have issues staying engaged during some of the explanations (in this novel it was the astronaut while he was still on earth in the training simulation). It can get a bit ‘draggy’ in parts when there’s no actual character or story development going on. It’s a bit like narrating going for a walk in the woods, seeing a tree, then describing it in minute detail, then going back to a more general narrative of “and then I came to a stream, crossed it, and entered a shady glen.” You’d either expect the author to be this descriptive about everything, or not to be super descriptive about something that isn’t vital to the story. It’s interesting, but it’s a different texture than the rest of the story, and doesn’t really add to the narrative.
But, as I said, I really liked this book, and recommend it.
I’ve read all of the books (so far) in this series (can it be called a series of you can read them in any order?) and I’ve enjoyed every one. I will say that sometimes I have issues staying engaged during some of the explanations (in this novel it was the astronaut while he was still on earth in the training simulation). It can get a bit ‘draggy’ in parts when there’s no actual character or story development going on. It’s a bit like narrating going for a walk in the woods, seeing a tree, then describing it in minute detail, then going back to a more general narrative of “and then I came to a stream, crossed it, and entered a shady glen.” You’d either expect the author to be this descriptive about everything, or not to be super descriptive about something that isn’t vital to the story. It’s interesting, but it’s a different texture than the rest of the story, and doesn’t really add to the narrative.
But, as I said, I really liked this book, and recommend it.
August 6, 2024
Highly recommend, a rewarding read.
It’s been a while since I’ve read anything this good. A wonderful tale with a thoughtful message, told by talented storyteller.
There’s some fascinating information (and speculation) about AI, offering insights perhaps unavailable to us mere mortals. His explanations of internet routing and its logistics, and description of the tools used for traffic analysis, and the conclusions that can be inferred from said, are robust.
The unpronounceable star exists, (I ended up using “zippy” since my mental tongue kept getting tied) it indeed shows the strange characteristics noted in the book.
Much of what I read nowadays is literary bubble-gum, this resonated, I guess my wife is right, I am a closet conspiracy theorist at heart.
The writer’s comments at the end are intriguing in their own right.
It’s been a while since I’ve read anything this good. A wonderful tale with a thoughtful message, told by talented storyteller.
There’s some fascinating information (and speculation) about AI, offering insights perhaps unavailable to us mere mortals. His explanations of internet routing and its logistics, and description of the tools used for traffic analysis, and the conclusions that can be inferred from said, are robust.
The unpronounceable star exists, (I ended up using “zippy” since my mental tongue kept getting tied) it indeed shows the strange characteristics noted in the book.
Much of what I read nowadays is literary bubble-gum, this resonated, I guess my wife is right, I am a closet conspiracy theorist at heart.
The writer’s comments at the end are intriguing in their own right.
May 18, 2025
Artificial Intelligence, an astronomical mystery, a space mission to the asteroid belt, and alien contact, all in one extrordinary novel! Any of these topics, alone, would be the making of a good science fiction yarn, but Cawdron combines all these topics and weaves them together into an insightful tapestry of events in this addition to his ongoing "First Contact" series.
Cawdron displays his exemplary story telling prowess as well as his keen insight into the human condition in this book. As a bonus to an excellent story, Cawdron, in the "Afterward", delves into the various scientific facts and theories that are referenced in the story, giving the book even more scientific and phylosophical weight. In "Simulacrum" Cawdron gives the reader an opportunity to share his fascination with science and humanity.
Highly recommended.
Cawdron displays his exemplary story telling prowess as well as his keen insight into the human condition in this book. As a bonus to an excellent story, Cawdron, in the "Afterward", delves into the various scientific facts and theories that are referenced in the story, giving the book even more scientific and phylosophical weight. In "Simulacrum" Cawdron gives the reader an opportunity to share his fascination with science and humanity.
Highly recommended.
January 25, 2025
You lost me at First Contact
I was really enjoying this book until it reached First Contact. The aliens become fixated on the past, present, and future of the human race as dictated by the tension between Good versus Evil. The story goes downhill from there. I would have ended the novel with the final character confirming that the aliens existed but never meeting them, leaving it to our imagination who they were and why they had come. The preachy message that we have to purge evil from the world before any alien will bother with us was ridiculously simplistic and dragged the whole story down.
I recommend reading to the point where the character encounters the spacecraft and leaving it there.
I was really enjoying this book until it reached First Contact. The aliens become fixated on the past, present, and future of the human race as dictated by the tension between Good versus Evil. The story goes downhill from there. I would have ended the novel with the final character confirming that the aliens existed but never meeting them, leaving it to our imagination who they were and why they had come. The preachy message that we have to purge evil from the world before any alien will bother with us was ridiculously simplistic and dragged the whole story down.
I recommend reading to the point where the character encounters the spacecraft and leaving it there.
May 13, 2025
Blew my mind! Concept at the end of the book is right on! Wow
Intelligent, meaningful, informative story telling at it's best.
Good characters, good mystery, good adventure, good hard tech detail, and I enjoyed the characters and their insightful outlooks. Was quite surprised at the end. This is a thoughtful, well executed story about a possible future for mankind. Loved it!
My reviews always seem so shallow when I read them. I just don't want to summarize a whole story in a few words, I only want to express how much I liked a book or not. This one I really liked a lot. I like Peter Cawdron a lot as a writer. I get the feeling I'd like him a lot as a person also; but I only know him through his writing.
Intelligent, meaningful, informative story telling at it's best.
Good characters, good mystery, good adventure, good hard tech detail, and I enjoyed the characters and their insightful outlooks. Was quite surprised at the end. This is a thoughtful, well executed story about a possible future for mankind. Loved it!
My reviews always seem so shallow when I read them. I just don't want to summarize a whole story in a few words, I only want to express how much I liked a book or not. This one I really liked a lot. I like Peter Cawdron a lot as a writer. I get the feeling I'd like him a lot as a person also; but I only know him through his writing.
August 14, 2024
This book could have been decent, but the author repeatedly goes out of his way to present the protagonists as enlightened liberals as compared to the backwards and evil everyone else. If only we all could be so awoken then humanity would be at peace and able to evolve to our final form. Honestly the ending pissed me off, no spoilers, but you have a guy belittle non-liberals for thinking they know what’s best and having a narrow minded view before deciding that he is allowed to lie for humanity’s good because he is woke and wise enough. Absolute rubbish. Get rid of that all and it could have been 4 stars.
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