3.0
The Killing Star
ByPublisher Description
There were always those who disagreed with broadcasting signals into the deepest reaches of outer space, because our mere existence could be taken as a threat. They were right to be concerned . . .
In the spring of 2076, just days short of America's tricentennial celebrations, every inhabited surface in the solar system gets wiped out by a catastrophic storm of relativistic bombs, flaming swords that pierced the sky. The only two survivors left on Earth exist in a submersible that had been exploring the
's final resting place on the bottom of the North Atlantic. In space, only the settlers in small, asteroid-based colonies have gone unnoticed by the aliens—for now. But any sign of life, any call for help, might bring the Intruders straight to them.
These far-flung survivors are now on their own, stalked by a ruthless, faceless enemy straight out of the nightmares of humanity's greatest minds—those lone voices whose warnings went ignored.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Killing Star Reviews
3.0
“This book is filled with some really interesting ideas, but much like other hard science fiction I've read, it struggles in terms of characterization and depth.
As a civilization, we've been leaking signals into space since the early twentieth century, yet the cosmos around us is silent. One of the concepts behind this book is the "Dark Forest" solution (although this name had not yet been coined when the book was published) to the Fermi Paradox. That is to say, the universe may be filled with life, but it goes unseen and unheard because other species are hiding out of fear of revealing themselves.
Natural selection and evolution also show us that life is ferocious and highly competitive. In "The Killing Star," Pellegrino and Zebrowski take this to an extreme: an alien species, upon detecting and locating the source of humanity's signals, sets out to preemptively eliminate us as a potential threat by sending relativistic bombs (kinetic weapons that travel at 90% the speed of light) toward our solar system.
What we're left with is a rather bleak tale about the survivors of the initial attack and their struggle to survive. Unfortunately, the characters lack sufficient depth to make me genuinely care about their survival beyond the bare minimum.
My understanding is that the scientific ideas in this book are, for the most part, quite sound. However, I don't read SF for the science alone, and this book did not deliver enough in terms of its themes or characters for me to become thoroughly invested. I still enjoyed reading it, but I don't see it being a book I reflect on much going forward.”
“Accidentally found it online and was interested in the premise of the book. It was interesting to see how different people in different situations react to the events and how their actions lead to certain outcomes.
I really thought that no-one of current humans would really get out and survive so the end was slightly surprising, however also a bit upsetting regarding the desire to control the space as much as possible aspect from the point of being outward vengeful.
Got through the book relatively quickly and it was gripping but I guess the end fell slightly flat.”
About Charles Pellegrino
Charles Pellegrino is one of the scientists who helped to create the field of forensic archaeology. He is the author of
, and has worked sites ranging from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the
and the cities of Vesuvius. With James Powell at Brookhaven National Laboratory, he co-designed the Valkyrie interstellar rocket, which makes an appearance in
and also in the
films. Pellegrino works closely with James Cameron, who, along with George Zebrowski, tends to be “a little apocalyptic.”
George Zebrowski
George Zebrowski is a science fiction author and editor who has written and edited a number of books, and is a former editor of
. Zebrowski received the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1999 for his novel
, and several of his short stories have been nominated for the Nebula Award. He lives with author Pamela Sargent, with whom he has co-written a number of novels, including Star Trek novels.
Other books by George Zebrowski
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