The Hole

Solar System #1

by Brandon Q. Morris

A mysterious object threatens to destroy our solar system. The survival of humankind is at risk, but nobody takes the warning of young astrophysicist Maribel Pedreira seriously. At the same time, an exiled crew of outcasts mines for rare minerals on a lone asteroid. When other scientists finally acknowledge Pedreira’s alarming discovery, it becomes clear that these outcasts are the only ones who may be able to save our world, knowing that THE HOLE hurtles inexorably toward the sun. Hard Science Fiction. All descriptions and events could become reality some day.

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Space, Science Fiction Fantasy, Hard Science Fiction

449 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 3, 2019

About the author

Brandon Q. Morris is a physicist and space specialist. He has long been concerned with space issues, both professionally and privately and while he wanted to become an astronaut, he had to stay on Earth for a variety of reasons. He is particularly fascinated by the "what if” and through his books he aims to share compelling hard science fiction stories that could actually happen, and someday may happen. Morris is the author of several best-selling science fiction novels.

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es ist so ungemein erfrischend, wenn mir unter all der existierenden Hard-SciFi endlich mal wieder ein Roman in die Finger gerät, der kein Military-Science-Fiction ist.

Rückblickend erscheint es mir ratsam, vor Beginn dieses Buches die Eismond-Serie zu lesen. Auch wenn die Handlung hier in sich abgeschlossen ist, greift die Geschichte doch auf Ereignisse zurück, die in der Vorgängerserie passierten. So hatte ich zuerst eine bestimmte KI betreffend ein starkes deus ex machina Gefühl, dass sich später genau dadurch aufklärte.

[Chaitali Narla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing sciency about this

This seems like a hurried attempt at getting a sci-fi book out. The story is strangely written with unbelievable plot lines and unrealistic characters. The science is even more unbelievable and doesn't connect together. I finished the book because I purchased it but did not enjoy it at all.

[reherrma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Als ich zu diesem Roman des deutschen Hard SF-Virtuosen Brandon Q. Morris griff, habe ich gedacht, einen unabhängigen Roman abseits seiner Eismond/Proxima-Romane zu bekommen, aber es stellt sich heraus, dass dies ein Sequel ist, das etwa 20 Jahre nach den Ereignissen von Enceladus, Io, etc. spielt. Der Plot ist einfach; eine junge Astronomin endeckt ein Objekt im Sonnensystem, das es eigentlich nicht geben dürfte. Ihr Mentor im Observatorion Pico del Teide auf Teneriffa glaubt ihr nicht, er beschafft ihr aber Observations-Zeit an den leistungsfähigsten Teleskopen dieser Zeit, bis der Beweis nicht mehr leugnar war. Es ist ein primordiales Schwarzes Loch (postulierte Mini-Black Holes, die beim Urknall entstanden sein sollen). Der Kurs des Black Holes zeigt direkt auf die Sonne zu, wenn das passiert, würde das Schwarze Loch die Sonne verschlingen, dabei werden so große Energien frei werden, dass die inneren Planeten und die Erde binnen Minuten sterilisiert würden, das wäre das Ende der Menschheit. Zu dieser Zeit sind bereits Raumschiffe im Asteroidengürtel unterwegs, um seltene Materialien dort abzubauen, auch eine Mission im Auftrag des russischen Milliardärs Schostakowitsch (den Namen dürfte den Lesern der Eismond- und Proxima-Romane bekannt sein) ist dort unterwegs, die auf einem Asteroiden eine Basis errichtet haben und von dort aus die Asteroiden ausbeuten. Sie bemerken ein unsichtbares Objekt mit der Masse von Jupiter, das ins Innere des Systems fliegt. Außerdem finden sie eine Sonde mit einer KI, die den Namen Watson trägt. Watson sagt selbst, dass er verstoßen wurde weil er Menschen Schaden zugefügt hat( siehe die Eismond-Romane), dennoch wird er Mitglied der Besatzung und hilft ihnen bei ihren Problemen, seine Existenz wird jedoch vor den Menschen auf der Erde verschwiegen. Sie werden mit ihrem Raumschiff in die Nähe der Singularität geschickt, um mehr über sie herauszufinden. Auf der Erde wird hektisch an einer Arche gearbeitet, um wenigstens das Überleben der Menschheit sicherzustellen. Watson und die Astronomin, die diese Singularität entdeckt hat, arbeiten zusammen, bis es zum Ende des Spannungsbogens eine Lösung für die Rettung gibt, eine Lösung die tief in die Spekulationskiste greift, in der Physiker aktuell mit dem Schwarzen Loch Informations-Paradoxon ringen...
Brandon Q. Morris hat wieder einmal einen ungemein spannenden und informativen Hard-SF-Thriller abgeliefert, der wieder am Rand des physikalischen Wissens kratzt. Die Beilage, bei der er über die neuesten Erkenntnisse der Wissenschaft der Schwarzen Löcher referiert, ist phänomenal. Ich kenne kein Kompendium, das ein solch großes wissenschaftliches Rätsel so ungemein kompetent, kurz und prägnant und für den wissenschaftlich ungeschulten Geist anschaulich darlegt; Kompliment !
Mögen die Literaten unter uns die Nase über den literarischen Stil rümpfen, ich mag diese Art SF einfach, ein Abenteuer, Charaktere, in die man sich hineinversetzen kann, eine spannende Story und dazu wissenschaftlich fundierte, spekulative Science Fiction; großartig; weiter so !

[PeterS · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Dirk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich habe die deutsche Edition auf Kindle gelesen und bin etwas enttäuscht.
Bevor ich The Hole angefangen habe, hatte ich Silent Sun gelesen. Wahrscheinlich habe ich erwartet, das die Ausserirdischen, die in Silent Sun vorkommen auch hier am Werk sind. Aber es kam dann doch anders.
Was mich an dem Buch ein wenig aufgeregt hat, ist das hier die Werbetrommel für Unternehmen wie Google, SpaceX, Amazon,... gerührt wird. Klar diese Firmen sind Teil unserer Kultur, aber man muss diese Firmen nicht so in den goldenen Klee loben wie es Herr Morris hier getan hat.

Das Ende kam sehr abrupt und hat doch mehr Fragen aufgeworfen als der Anfang.
Irgendwie hätte ich schon erwartet, das Morris konsequent in seinen Erzählungen ist. Einerseits kommt er mit Außerirdischen und Außerirdischen Artefakten daher und andererseits behauptet er das die Menschheit alleine im All ist.

[Anni K. Mars · Rating 4 out of 5]

War richtig interessant, dazu glaubhaft und realistisch :D Von Morris werd ich noch mehr hören.

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a while, this was actually really great. As someone who is generally not into sci-fi all that much, I was pleasantly surprised both by how written this was, and also with the interesting way the author brings certain side-elements into the story. And, to be fair, there were several strong points throughout, including the climax. But at the same time, I can’t deny that the middle section kind of lost me. Whatever was working kind of takes a backseat to plot development, and this may not have been a bad thing at all, if I only cared about the main characters and bought into their interactions with each other.

This is a polite way of saying that the very unneeded love story was fucking terrible.

[Rob Morton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this author and his hard science fiction, which is a mix of real science and a bit of handwavium. I enjoyed seeing characters from previous books, like the self-aware AI, Watson. This book is scary good because it’s possible that a rouge black hole could come along and wipe us out; it’s informative because we don’t know a whole lot about why black holes exist - and who doesn’t like a crew of unlikely heroes who are willing to risk it all to save humanity?

I do and if you read this, you’ll like it, too.

[Eddie Pittman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple concept, flawless execution

I think what I love most about this novel is that it is character first placed with a situation. While I don’t love every character, the ones I do love are memorable. The science was easy to understand because it was layered with examples and analogies that really helped pin some ideas. I think it’s an amazing standalone.

A lot of the characters feel distinct, in my opinion, and the reveals and information we’re given came at the right time, however there is one thing that I don’t particularly like and that is, without spoiling it, a subplot about Enceladus that I didn’t care for because it felt way too disjointed.

Otherwise, amazing read, I recommend it. Don’t let the “hard” science fiction nomenclature deter you.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dieses Buch habe ich Ewigkeiten vor mich hergeschoben, einfach weil ich zu grossen Respekt vor dem "Hard Sci-Fi" im Untertitel hatte. Kleiner Feigling, die ich bin. Dank einer Challenge wagte ich mich endlich an das Buch und

fand es toll!

Überhaupt nicht schwerfällig oder kompliziert. Sondern packend und faszinierend. Ich konnte kaum genug davon bekommen und auch das Nachwort über die Schwarzen Löcher las ich mit grossem Interesse.

Ehrlich, ich denke, dieses Buch ist sogar ein ziemlich guter Einstieg in das Subgenre der Hard Sci-Fi. Sollte mir wieder etwas von Morris begegnen, wird es sicherlich nicht mehr auf dem SUB versumpfen!

[Xapphirea · Rating 4 out of 5]

+ an exiting read
+ learned a thing or two qbout black holes
+ loved some of the characters
- hated some of the characters. Some qre there only to cook and be annoying?
- no hard sf at all! I expected a lot more real science
- abrupt ending (ran out of paper)?
- no dragons

[Paaras]

Maths ftw -identifying black holes without observing it directly. On the other hand, a lot of other things did not make sense. Why did the person who discovered the black hole lead the effort to save humanity. Who am I to judge though.

[William Henes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark side of the universe

Great story. I like books with unique story lines and characters. This book had it all. Have fun and enjoy a trip to the future.

[Dodie Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

The was an excellent read. An unknown object is noticed by a young post doc in a brand new job. Her boss, a real jerk, doesn't want to listen to her so she has to go elsewhere to get some help. In the meantime, out beyond Mars, a crew of miners is told to go investigate the anomaly. The rest of the story is quite very good and I'll let you decide whether you want to investigate or not. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

[Red Tide · Rating 5 out of 5]

Different, unusual

I liked this story a lot because of the nature of the black hole and the AI's. The characters were not fashionably nice people but they fit into this dark future very well. The plot may not appeal to all but to me it seemed original.

Other readers have covered everything from the good to the bad and done it well. So rather than write more about the story, I'm going to try another of his books.

[Becks · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it about halfway through this and then unfortunately put it aside. I'm a big SciFi fan and the idea of this book sounds very interesting at first. A young astrophysicist discovers a strange anomaly during routine calculations, which turns out to be a dangerous threat to the solar system and life on earth. You can tell that the author is actually a physicists himself and has a solid special knowledge on the subject, but he is not a particularly good/practiced writer. The characters are shallow, lacking a certain amount of depth, dialogues and plot felt unnaturally constructed and some of the scientists behave more than unprofessional and implausible.?? Anyway, this was unfortunately not gripping enough to hold my interest any longer.

[Alik · Rating 1 out of 5]

I fizzled out with this one around the halfway point.

This isn't "hard sci-fi" at all. There's an interesting story here, but not much to cling on to. As the story develops it's clear that most of the focus in on the characters themselves and their relationships with others, rather than any actual sci-fi themes or subject matter. Which could potentially be okay, if the story had depth or substance to it (but nope).

Ultimately I just got bored with the story. Both the characters and the story were not fascinating at any level to keep me invested.

[Thomas James]

A Black Hole is a life Form

OK, the physics are way beyond me. Morris does an awesome job of taking a whole lot of theories about black holes and weaving them into a fun story. His best yet in my opinion. Along the way we mere mortals get to understand a bit more about these space "entities" (bodies). Good fun. Recommended

[Leya Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was definitely hard science fiction, unlike the sequel "The Silent Sun" would I would call "slightly" hard science fiction. The discussions surrounding the AIs and the Black Holes, and most definitely the ending, are classic hard SciFi. Other than some books by Stephen Baxter, I haven't come across many Hard SciFi books that are set in the near future, most are set in extreme futures, or at least several hundred years. It was neat to read something that is only set about 50 years in the future.

I definitely enjoyed this book. Although I didn't finish "Seveneves" by Neal Stephenson, this story had a similar premise. I couldn't finish Seveneves because it was just too morbid for me. I couldn't handle the constant doom facing everybody on the planet. This book had the same eminent doom, although I knew how it would end since I had already read the sequel. I felt that the actions taken by everyone involved were much more realistic than in Seveneves. Instead of working to create something as crazy as the space station they made in Seveneves, this story goes another route, reusing something already constructed, and just expanding on it. That I find to be much more interesting and realistic. I also found the reactions of the general public, and their governments, also realistic. I thoroughly enjoyed the author's humor in maintaining Alexa and Siri in his future and expanding on Alexa's role. The place of Siri was very entertaining. I found the senior scientist to be a narcissistic jerk, but that was the point. I like how the conclusion wraps that story up. I thoroughly enjoyed the mining characters, and how their roles were developed. As is the case with most hard science fiction, character development can lack. This author has that problem as well, but he does a decent job.

I was a bit irritated by the constant lack of contractions during dialogue. In American English, we typically use contractions when speaking (most of us don't use them when writing). The lack of contractions is probably due to these books being translated into English. The lack of contractions made the dialogue a little disjointed to me, a little too formal when we are listening to characters that are in a relationship or are living together for long periods of time, using overly formal constructions.

[Lisa Rodgers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Sci-Fi Series !!

Just plain great sci-fi. Plenty of science involved and extrapolated within the plot lines.

One area of understatement is the degree to which academia and science are filled with egoistic personalities, both male and female. At one point of my life, I brushed up against numerous defense science boards...and was amazed at the vanity and egoes involved. Such factors rule scientific advancements far more than the scientists like to admit.

If you want "science fantasy," this is not your book. If you want flying dragons, fair yet voluptuous maidens in distress, ogres and trolls, magicians and demons...this is not your book. If you want warring gods and Olympians, Angels and Archangels, possessed humans and little pointy-eared elves...this isn't your book.

But...IF you want science and theory-based plots...impacted by human innovation and pluck, YES, this is your book. If want credible -- even if extraordinarily remote -- dangers driven by our own, very real, universe; if you enjoy watching humans being tested by unimaginable catastrophes, coping as best they can; if you want to see men and women under end-of-the-world levels of stress; if you enjoy seeing both the best, and worst, of mankind's survival impulses displayed in truth and rawness...then, YES, this book is for YOU.

Clean book, though a number of non-traditional relationships are presented matter-of-factly. No sex scenes, though the stage is often set for off-stage sex. I'd allow anyone in my family over 12 to read this book. However, parents should be aware that some other books in this series DO have sex scenes. While not overly explit, such scenes may cross the lines some parents draw for their youth. Parents should thus review all books in this series carefully before their children read them. For teens, parents might want to preview the books, and choose to have appropriate conversations with them before and/or after their teens read those scenes.

All that understood, this is still a great book, part of a great series.

Enjoy!

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favourite character was the Watson, the self-aware, English-accented AI. It's cool and curious how he begins to take on layers of human experience on top of his super-logical thinking by spending time with the crew. The plot as a whole.... pun not intended, was definitively interesting. I can't say how realistic some of the physics is. I'm sure some of it is at least a good stretch of established science though, and some of it is perhaps wholly made up (all further puns of the title of this book will be completely intended, as I have no excuse from now on); I honestly can't tell exactly, and I did get lost with some of the concepts. Maribel was a somewhat sympathetic character. However, in her first chapters, while the great destroyer of planet Earth is being tracked and unmasked, I found the discussion of scientific data at this point a good example. It certainly felt like I imagine Hard Sci fi concepts would be.
I did not find Doug's backstory particularly meaty. He has a secret that he keeps to himself, and it is a source of internal tension for him regarding his lover on board the mining vessel, as it is something he has always kept from her. In comparison to the bigger issue at hand, whether or not she decided to dump him because of it just didn't feel that pertinent compared to, you know, the apocalyptic matter at hand.
One of the ways I know how well I've enjoyed a book is how I feel about the characters and the events they find themselves in at the end. I would daresay the ending felt hurried compared to the earlier chapters. But I was happy for everyone involved and also that planet earth wasn't getting torched. I was especially happy for Watson, who, as a by-product of his brave action, gets the thing that he most wants out of his existence.

[William S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but

So we have the perspective of three different people as we discover a baby black hole heading toward the sun. In six months the earth will be destroyed by radiation that results from the black hole eating our sun. We lightly consider what people would do when they discover
that the world will come to an end within six months. We consider methods of escaping the calamity. We have the oddballs that try to sabotage the escape plan or try to get included after they were rejected. We have some showing of nationalism. We call upon a character best described in prior books that gives a cryptic message suggesting a method of survival. In my opinion the most disruptive part of the book was the brief visit in two different alternate universes. First we meet up with some fish people, then we find a higher plane of angels. Neither chapter makes sense as any furtherance of the story. There are some real stretches of the imagination that are hard to get over, e.g., we take a young PhD candidate whose afraid of her shadow and turn her into a major construction project leader. She's also the foil for some morality issues regarding who should be saved from all of the people on Earth. The end comes rather suddenly and unexpectedly. The writing and spelling are mostly good, but the story moves along ponderously. In the end, I can only give this book faint praise.

[David Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sudden appearance of the hole leads to predictions of annihilation!

Doug,Maria and Stephano man a mining expedition that is excavating an asteroid when they detect a nearby anomaly. Meanwhile a young astrophysicist is attempting to map the galaxy using an old set of predictions and also discovers an anomaly. Are they the same thing?
As it turns out, no! Doug et al find a "space craft" on which is Watson, an AI from the Enclaudous mission, while the astrophysicist has detected a mini black hole approximately 6 meters in diameter! Its path suggests it going to collide with and devour the sun in 6 months. Once this becomes known, she is tasked with developing a spacecraft that can save 100 individuals. However mankind does not want to cooperate and things do not go as planned.
Meanwhile Doug et al are tasked with investigating the mini black hole to learn more about it.....

This book is highly entertaining with potentially life-ending stakes! There are believable characters with believable interactions and development, some romance, a flawed 'hero' with a dark past, and philosophical discussion of theoretical physics. An enjoyable read.

[Audiblelovers.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

SpinOff zur Enceladus Serie - Weiter so!

Ich “lese“ nur audibles/ audiobooks.

No Spoilers.

Fangen wir beim Cover an:
Gefällt mir sehr gut

Titel:
Erinnert mich an die Film von 2001 und 2009 ... beide Horror und nicht SciFi...

Gesamt:
Leider gibt es den beim Buch angesprochene Anhang zu unterschiedlichen Themen nicht im Hörbuch.
Ich muss dem Rezensenten widersprechen, dass der Schreibstil nicht fesselt.
Ich muss aber andererseits auch sagen, dass Romane mit wissenschaftlichen Hintergrund wie Michael Crichtons Romane oder Daniel Suarez Romane mich v.a. deswegen fesseln weil sie soweit fantastisch sind, dass sie in naher Zukunft so passieren könnten.
Die Anspielungen an seine Enceladus Serie verlangen es nicht, dass man die Serie gelesen haben muss, auch wenn man hier eigentlich von einem SpinOff zu der Enceladus Serie sprechen müsste.

Sprecher:
Mark Bremer ist mein absoluter Favorit.
Ob Cixin Lius Romane oder Zlatan. Mark ist ohne Einschränkung als Leser zu empfehlen.

[Gary Randolph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is hard science fiction, meaning that everything that happens in the story fits with known physics. That doesn't mean it doesn't employ some very odd, little known theories, and even weird about the multiverse. But to make a compelling story, a writer has to do something unexpected to keep the plot moving.

By and large, Morris succeeds admirably. He puts all of Earth in danger with a black hole. He has space miners living on an asteroid who are the only ones in a position to do anything, and he has a very advanced AI. All of those things could happen. And that makes the drama seem pretty real.

Yes, there seemed, to me at least, to be a few slow parts. And at times the B-story about a shipload of 100 hand-picked survivors of Earth seemed to distract from the A-story of trying to do something about the black hole.

But I enjoyed the book and the characters and looking ahead at possible tech 50 years in the future.

[Clare Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

This is the second book l’ve read by this author and although it is called hard sci-fi it isn’t hard at all. You canards and enjoy this book even if you don’t like a lot of science. Or if you do want to get into more science about astrophysics and quantum physics you can you can learn more from this story. The author does not bore you with details in the story but he gives the opportunity to learn more and thinking about more theories while telling the story. Then at the end of the book he has a primer on the science and theories behind the story. Those who have more science or newer science teachings than me, will certainly get more out of this primer and the original story told. For me I learned more, but could not understand all. For other, I’m certain the may have enjoyed the story and skipped the additional primer chapters on science surrounding the story.
This author is quickly becoming a favorite of mine!

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characterization was good-but-not-excellent, and the plot was engaging. I'd like to know what astrophysicists would think of the science; while I didn't spot any inconsistencies, my knowledge of quantum physics is a low threshold to meet.

IMO, the most enjoyable parts of the story take place far from earth. The author explores the relationships among the crew of an asteroid mining boat, including a hard-luck couple with pasts and a paraplegic chef, as this motley threesome encounters a mysterious arrival named Watson. The author also does a good job of describing quality spacefaring lives in threadbare isolation, including the challenges of cooking in microgravity.

The marketing blurb leaves the wrong impression about the content of the book, because the earthbound heroine is surprisingly successful in getting her evidence acknowledged quickly. The author does a good job of believably explaining how she makes her discovery.

I will continue reading Mr. Morris' work.

[Santiago Ide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo mejor de la novela “The Hole”– para mí – es el capítulo o apéndices titulado “Agujeros Negros – Una visita guiada” que es una síntesis general y algunas explicaciones de la naturaleza de los agujeros negros, esto lo encuentro muy valioso.
¡Bien! Ahora esta es una gran novela, muy entretenida se inicia con un relato que te atrapa desde el inicio, posteriormente decae, pero sin provocar hastío en el lector, sus héroes son personajes atípicos que no tienen nada que ver con comandantes, militares y naciones hegemónicas. La participación de una IA se podría decir que entusiasma al lector por su misteriosa aparición y su participación en la aventura.
Brandon Q. Morris me ha sorprendido con esta novela “The Hole” que, si hubiera leído “La misión Encélado” previamente, no me hubiera sentido como que algo se había saltado. Pero en fin la historia avanzó sin dificultad.
Mi próxima lectura “Misión Encélado”

[Kissu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primero que nada, fue bueno volver a ver a Watson y su relación con Siri me pareció muy interesante. Creo que en este libro se habla bastante sobre ciertas dudas existenciales de las inteligencias artificiales y en general sobre aspectos amplios de sus existencias, pero me habría gustado un poco más de información (no que faltara, simplemente me habría parecido mejor si se hubiera profundizado más en el tema).

Fue bueno saber sobre otros personajes humanos (como Robert, pese a su muerte) y, en especial, sobre la criatura de Encélado.

Me encantaron 2 capítulos: Día 35 del Tercer Ciclo, Sikhana (muy estimulante para la imaginación) y Eternidad, Nada (no sólo estimulante, también se presta a que uno medite al respecto).

En esta ocasión, el autor incluyó información sobre los agujeros negros y, desde luego, aprendí datos nuevos.

Por cierto, me exasperó un poco el uso del masculino para IA (aunque ese es asunto de traducción).

[Damianopoulos Damianos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite liked this book. Well, the science in it is not that detailed of course, but as a pleasure read I think it did fine. It kept my interest and there were a few turns in the plot which I liked.

The idea of Watson was a bit disappointing as also to the fact that the writer does not give more ample information about the appearance of the the ship which was piloted by the AI, later Watson. The appearance of the ship sounded like the appearance of the ship in Rama, but it was a lot poorer.

As regards the development of the story, it was quite smooth and with many lucky occurences, which gave the impression that they were some dei ex machina.

However, the book as a whole was pleasant and an easy read, which instigated me to continue with the sequel "Silent Sun".