The Shiva Encounter

by Doug Cook

Book 3 of The Second World Book Series

It’s 2044. The Earth is suffering from global warming, overpopulation, and the threat of global extinction. Shiva, a one hundred kilometer diameter dwarf planet has a one-in-fifty chance of impacting the Earth in the year 2079 with four hundred times the impact energy of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. The Vishnu ship, hope for survival launched in 2035, will impact Shiva soon with a 10 gigaton nuclear device to attempt to divert the ‘killer from the Kuiper Belt’. The outcome could deliver salvation or turn the remains of Shiva into a graver threat than the one presently stalking Earth. Should Vishnu be aborted?

The effort to colonize Mars as a second home for humanity has taken root. Colony ships from Earth are now launched almost faster than the Martian infrastructure can assimilate them. Survival is a constant struggle. Commander Paula Jennings comes to grips with governing a new planet. Just as art, architecture, and interplanetary economy are blossoming on Mars, the Shiva threat now encompasses the red planet.

Progeny of the Aquila Mission crew, Oleg and Alex Ivanov, Sofi Brewster, and Jacob Petrov lead a trade mission to the nascent Ceres colony. Along the way they rediscover the mystery on comet 125P, with the potential to reshape the future of space exploration.

The Shiva Encounter, the third book in the Second World Series, explores state-of-the-art science packed into a thrilling hard sci-fi adventure.

395 pages, ebook

First published February 15, 2020

About the author

Doug Cook is retired from a thirty-four year career as a petroleum geophysicist. A career highlight was participating in ten years of deep-water submersible oil seep studies in the Gulf of Mexico. Imagine the submersible as a spaceship exploring extreme life forms in the deep ocean. Astronomy and astrogeology are Doug’s life passions. He is a member American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), Chair AAPG Astrogeology Committee, Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), VP Colorado Springs Astronomical Society, member of the Planetary Society, National Space Society, and Adjunct Astronomy Professor PPCC. He has two daughters and lives in Colorado with his wife Elizabeth.

Reviews

[Carol Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book detailing the effort of combined Earth organizations to address the threat of Shiva; an outer space threat to all mankind. An added bonus is learning about how the future might really grow into colonization of other planets; political, cultural, emotional and realistic challenges humans must face in these circumstances. A brush with extra terrestrial intelligence adds depth to the story at just the right time - a possible explanation to all that is transpiring. So fun to be drawn into the drama of these characters lives and life in the mid 21st century Earth!