Prelude to Extinction: Xenophobia Series - Book 1

by Andreas Karpf

Earth’s first interstellar mission … An alien colony in ruins … Their fight for survival has only just begun. Called “True Science Fiction” … A must-read!
When Jack Harrison climbed down the short ladder from the airlock and stepped onto the debris covered soil, the ground crackled with the sound of dried leaves and twigs. Warm sunlight shined through his helmet, making him almost forget the decade he just spent captaining Earth’s first ship to another star system. The serene tropical surroundings, though, stood in stark contrast to the long abandoned structures that lay nearby.

Evidence points to a massacre – the systematic extermination of an alien colony hundreds of millennia ahead of humanity. Time, however, has erased any trace of the attackers. Jack and his crew barely start probing the ruins before their curiosity betrays them as an abandoned alien device cuts them off from their main ship. Lost and short on supplies, survival soon becomes their only goal. Even their short-lived rescue by an alien race, who themselves are under siege, offers little hope. As they struggle to find a way home, signs begin pointing to a danger darker than any they could have foreseen. Jack knows that playing it safe may no longer be an option – but his only other choice is to confront a threat that they don’t even begin to understand.

339 pages, Hardcover

Published July 25, 2022

About the author

Andreas Karpf is an experimental physicist with a life-long interest in the space program. He enjoys a good space adventure, but lives for the hard sci-fi novel set in a plausible future that doesn't get weighed down by too much technology - a story that takes him for a ride and dream about what may lie ahead for humanity.

As an undergraduate, he earned a degree in Physics and Astronomy, and minored in English. This led him to begin his career as the assistant editor for a physics magazine. He moved into software development, designing business applications. His love of science, though drew him back into Physics where he earned his doctorate and has pursued a research career. Andreas' work focuses on designing new spectroscopic techniques to detect trace gases in the atmosphere. His interests are varied and include art and Taekwondo (where he's a 4th degree black belt). Through his different positions his love of writing has persisted, leading to his debut novel, "Prelude to Extinction." Here he's combined his scientific background with his deep belief in keeping his audience both engaged and entertained. It is his desire to keep his readers thinking and involved in the adventure that drives his writing.