Primordial Threat (Exodus, #1) by M.A. Rothman

Primordial Threat (Exodus, #1) Reviews

• 
  Danny Tyran

  
  
  2066, the world is on the verge of the apocalypse. A black hole is approaching the Earth, absorbing everything, or almost, in its path. All that it does not absorb is projected with force, which causes other natural disasters all around.
  
  Burt, the character # 1 to whom the US government asks to find a solution to save humanity, could be represented as Bruce Willis if a movie based on this novel was shot.
  
  
  
  But the real hero, character # 2, of this story is Dr. Dave Holmes, a genius who predicted the black hole's arrival, but that no one believed. Even the best scientists ridiculed him, they called him deranged, paranoid, ally of the enemy, North Korea. So he fled and found a job on the moon, which allows him to prepare a rescue of the human species. While working there, despite the reduced lunar gravity, he works hard enough to muscle up by moving so heavy objects that no human on Earth would be able to lift. But since he is the only one to have figured out a solution, Burt is looking for him. I would see Marcus Forrester or Adrian Kali Turner in this role.
  
  
  
  However, Burt and the US government are not alone wanting to get hold of Dr. Holmes. A group of Jesus freaks hopes to find him to keep him from preventing the divine plans: the apocalypse, as predicted in the Bible.
  
  This action-packed novel à la Hollywood keeps you at the edge of your seat. Whenever you believe that humanity will finally get out of it, a new problem arises. Because everybody is not who they seem to be. And it is like that until the very end, which still offers us some more surprises.
  
  This novel is a really good entertainment. The author, who has a scientific background, knows his business. And frankly, I don't understand why a big publisher didn't agree to publish it.
  
  So I give it 4 and a half stars. I removed half a star only because there isn't much food for thought in it, contrarily to
  Foe by
  Iain Reid that I read lately, for example, and because the dialogues don't ring very true all the time.
  
  Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an eARC of this captivating novel.
• 
  Jim

  We've all read stories with surprise endings. There's nothing new there. It's not like O. Henry was born last week. As a matter of fact, there are few things less surprising than a big plot twist at the end of a book or movie. It happens a lot. If it's done well it works, but it's been done to death.
  
  What's a little more surprising is reading a book (I suppose it could apply to consuming any type of story, actually) and being surprised by your reaction to it. I mean, M.A. Rothman's Primordial Threat is a great story. It's well named. Things are constantly happening. Just when you think you've got a handle on the situation, things get worse. The primary threat has the potential to be world-ending. It's a miniature black hole that comes cruising right through the middle of the Solar System. It's going to end all human life and there is nothing we can do to stop it from going where it is going. The secondary threat is a group of religious fanatics that want to keep humanity from surviving the menace. It's a romping good time and oh my god is it intense.
  
  The part that surprised me though, at least about myself, is that I love a good villain. I like to root against someone I can hate. Think about it. Have any of you read Dragons of Spring Dawning? (Spoilers, I guess. I mean, the book came out in 1985, so it's not like you haven't had the chance to read it yet.) Takhisis (queen of evil/Satan analogue) is about to arrive on the world of Krynn to commit genocide on the elves and enslave everyone else. Life sucks. We've spent three books leading up to this moment and our heroes are going to lose and let this evil bitch take over the world. Except it doesn't work out that way. The world is saved and the psycho hose beast is dispatched back to the Abyss where she belongs. Partly, I was happy that the good guys won. But I was freaking ecstatic to see that wench get hers. And that's the thing that surprised me about Primordial Threat.
  
  The primary “villain” isn't a villain. It's a black hole. I'm not usually a fan of books with a mindless threat. There's a reason I don't talk much about the Dragonriders of Pern series. That reason is simple: It sucked. The threat from thread falling mindlessly from the sky was just not enough to keep me interested. I mean, the main characters are cool and it's fun watching old and new interact but UGH! Get a real villain.
  
  Somehow, Rothman manages to make his black hole work though. I mean, you can't really hate the thing. It's a force of nature just doing what it does. On the other hand, you find yourself rooting for those plucky little humans anyway. Somehow, some way, a black hole is not a dud for a villain the way thread was. The threat is real. It's immediate and it's nasty. It just works.
  
  Of course, a cast of heroes is necessary to any successful story and this book has just enough of them to work. I really feel like Primordial Threat could have turned into some world spanning, nine hundred and seventy three thousand character book with a Dramatis Personae at the end but it didn't. Listen, I'm as big a fan of David Weber's Safehold series and I love just about everything that Harry Turtledove has ever published. The fact remains that not every story works like that and I don't think this one would have. Rothman gave us just the right amount of people to move things along and avoided using too many and bogging things down.
  
  These characters all not all the perfect type either. We've got one legitimate nutcase, the guy who helped her escaped from the psych ward, a president that doesn't tell the public the whole truth because it's in their best interests to not be informed and all kinds of weird problems. It provides me with an interesting conundrum: I wonder if all of these people could work together if the literal extinction in the human species wasn't in the offing. If this were an attempt at doing everyday research and possibly winning a Nobel Prize could they all hold it together? I'm not sure and honestly, it's probably a more entertaining story this way anyway.
  I don't have the background is science or engineering to really make an evaluation of the tech in this book. It sounds pretty well grounded in the hard sciences, but I'm the guy who only completed one year as a chemistry major and this is all tech that would be better evaluated by a physicist anyway. Suffice it to say that it seems to work and it feels right. There are a couple of major scientific advances featured, but it all seems to work the way it should from a layman's point of view. Part of it is even based on work by a scientist that I'm somewhat familiar with. I don't want to reveal more than that.
  
  I do have one complaint about Primordial Threat. There is a real deus ex machina moment that I find a bit annoying. I mean, here we are with this all star team of scientists and engineers and that's what it takes to get the job done? It adds a lot of tension to the story, but I still find it annoying, especially since it kind of comes out of left field. Parts of it are foreshadowed, but parts of it are not. I found myself shaking my head for a minute at one point. As a plot device, it kind of works and it does get things to where they need to be but, yeah. It's taking things a bit far in my opinion. Honestly though, Primordial Threat does work up to that point and it's nowhere near being a story ruiner.
• 
  Steve

  It's the year 2066 and scientists have just discovered that Earth, and the whole solar system really, is about to be wiped out by an incoming black hole. There have been lots of books (and movies) about Earth being hit by comets or asteroids, but shooting missiles against a black hole is pointless. Unknown to those in charge, a young genius named Dave Holmes learned about the threat nine years earlier, and he might just have a plan to save at least some of humanity - if he can be located. But there's also a religious cult, with rather incredible assets, that is set on thwarting any attempt to deny "God's will".
  
  One can't accuse author M.A. Rothman of thinking small. Not only is the threat bigger than most anything written about before, the rescue plan is similarly outsized. Yet most everything described has some basis in known science, and Rothman helpfully includes an appendix with pointers to help readers learn more. The story itself is almost more contemporary thriller than science fiction, and Rothman does a very good job blending the two. The story has numerous twists and turns, and not once was I thrown out of the story with a "Oh, come on!" The dialogue felt a bit stiff to me in places, but that's something authors learn over time. I've read quite a few new-author novels and this was definitely one of the best-written I had come across.
  
  It puzzles me that Rothman couldn't get a regular publisher to take on Primordial Threat - it really is quite good and I found it hard to put down. If I had to pick known authors to compare the style to, I'd probably pick the Niven/Pournelle joint efforts (indeed, I was reminded somewhat of Lucifer's Hammer, not just for the subject matter but also the general approach.)
  
  (Author provided a free copy through NetGalley)
• 
  Victoria Ray

  A good example of “hard” sci-fi (be ready to deal with a lot of terminology), and an intriguing plot/idea. A very slow start, but fascinating development in the middle of the story. A mix of Politics, NASA & Religion in one place. Overall- interesting but difficult read for the ‘soft’ girls like me. Also I’d add more humor and relationships in the story.
• 
  Debbie

  Primordial Threat
  M.A. Rothman
  
  Rothman’s debut, Primordial Threat, is a powerful hard science fiction novel set in the near future of 2066 about a black hole hurtling towards earth that will mean the total annihilation of the planet unless someone can find a solution. It’s chock full of real scientific data yet easy for a layman to not only understand but also appreciate, a mix of hard sci-fi and thriller and both fascinating and because of Rothman’s knowledge as a research scientist improbably probable. The backdrops are vividly portrayed by a fluent dialogue, and the tight plot drives the story with enough tech speak for the nerd but not too much to leave the remaining readers scratching their heads. The characters are genuine and likeable and there are many who share the title of “star” that makes it hard to pick a favorite. There’s also a villainous organization determined to let “God’s will” of Earth’s destruction happen that hits the thriller bulls eye and a cryptic ending that cleverly leaves a sequel option open. All in all fans of both hard sci-fi and thrillers will enjoy this non-stop action filled page-turner.
  Kudos to this debut author and I know I’ll be reading him again!
  
  SUMMARY:
  With less than a year before the Earth is swallowed by an enormous black hole Dr. Burt Radcliffe head of NASAs Near Earth Object Program and his second in command Dr. Neeta Patek are scrambling to find a way to save the planet. This threat isn’t exactly news to them, in fact a colleague of theirs tried to warn about it four years ago. But no one believed him and as a result he was shunned, humiliated and disgraced. After being called crazy he was forced into a psychiatric hospital where soon after he disappeared without a trace. If he could be found they just might have a fighting chance, without him they’re doomed because the earth has no defense for this kind of foe.
  Meanwhile there are a group of religious zealots spreading propaganda about this threat being God’s will and they have no problem causing death and destruction to see that a solution isn’t found.
  
  
  
• 
  Manish Sinha

  3.5/5
  
  A lot of it was cliche. A brilliant scientist who is misunderstood who is surrounded by other brilliant scientists and there is one.. that another one brilliant scientist who does not see eye to eye with this brilliant dude. The storyline is cheesy and fun. You can call it trash Scifi, but it too has its place. Lots of dues ex machine, but we are talking about bending space-time, so a little bit of dues ex machine didn't hurt anyone. The ending was a cliff hanger which can be made into a different book.
  
  While I think this book could be made much better without all the cheesy takes, I think the author specifically catered to this crowd. We need diversity in space opera. We need books for all kinds of tastes and while I personally don't prefer these kinds of books, I must admit I do enjoy reading them.
• 
  Scooby Doo

  DNF 15% The science in the story seemed just wrong to me, though I'm not an astronomer. Characters are pretty cardboard.
• 
  Ian Miller

  A first novel in the hard science fiction genre, but hard does not mean "difficult". The author introduces an almost bewildering number of future technical achievements to overcome the threat, but they are handled gently, they are mentioned for anyone interested, but overall they have little description other than in an annex at the end. This means that the hard part of the story is actually off-stage, but believe me, that is where it should be. The author is right to relegate that.
  The threat is a primordial black hole, about half the mass of the sun. This is presented as the ultimate threat, and in some ways it is oversold. A black hole is indeed terrifying near the event horizon, but this is a small black hole. A worse threat would be a small K type star (or the top end of the M type). The reason is because they have the same mass, the gravitational effects would be the same, but the star also has a heat field. It may seem awful to be stretched like spaghetti at the close vicinity of a black hole, but at the same distance from the centre of gravity for our star, you would be in the middle of a thermonuclear reaction. The two give exactly the same gravitational effects, but one has a lot more.
  It is a little difficult to describe the plot without spoiling, but basically our heroes devise a means by which they can survive, provided they can develop a lot of very special technology in time. In practice the probability of all this working in time is, in my opinion, zero, but the author is onside so maybe we can, and the solution proposed is genuinely imaginative, if not exactly practical. Opposing these valiant efforts is a death cult who see religious salvation in being swallowed by the darkness. The story revolves around heroic efforts at technical development, with not very many details, but enough generalizations to get the drift, together with local level encounters with the death cult. My personal view is that in reality, the authorities would not be so sanguine about the cult, and their slackness leads to bigger problems, but because the obvious has been omitted, for me ther e was no real tension from it. The "world building" is for effect; for worry worts, this could not happen. Such a gravitational mass outside Saturn's orbit would not drastically affect the asteroid belt and the number of asteroids heading for Earth just could not happen – there are not enough, and with the trajectories as described, the scenario could not happen and is just there for tension purposes. Characterization is reasonable as long as you accept superhuman savants working on the project, while some of the others are a bit stereotyped. But overall it is quite a good read, and this author could be worth watching, especially if he stops watching miniseries on TV.
• 
  Andrew Hindle

  Only after reading this book, I found that Rothman has some impressive connections and endorsements from well-known traditional authors, and that this book is a hundreds-of-reviews-bearing bestseller in its own right. Rothman is, but for a foolish trip-up of fate and a critical blunder of the traditional publishing machine, a traditional bestselling author slumming it with the lowly self-pubs.
  
  But none of that really matters. He's done everything right in this book, and he deserves the acclaim he's gotten. Before discovering any of these things about him I had already read, and thoroughly enjoyed, his story. And so all I can do is sing its praises. I just don't carry a tune particularly well so bear with me.
  
  This exciting and engaging tale of global impending Armageddon (it really did have a Deep Impact on me and I'd read it 2012 times ... okay sorry, but what you have to remember about those movies is, they were fucking great and this would be at least as good and Emmerich should absolutely make it after he's finished with Moonfall) is backed up with some storybook but otherwise intriguingly solid science, or at least science-fiction, which is why we're here after all. We are introduced to our main characters and they're all highly distinctive and readable in their own ways.
  
  The main protagonists of the story are a primordial black hole that's about to destroy the solar system, a bunch of apocalyptic doomers who want it to happen (of course), and Greg. Fucking Greg, I swear to God. Look, not to spoil it but someone should have shot Greg in the face the first time he made a cunt of himself. Shot him right in the face, and replaced him with a packet of macaroni wearing a hat. Then the worst character would have been the black hole.
  
  This book definitely feels like a product of its time. The breakdown of (admittedly stupid and ignorant) people's trust in science, and the pandemic of the early 2020s has convinced me that this story, ultimately, would not have worked. It's fiction, in its purest and most optimistic form (in fact, it sounds very like the book written by John Cusack's character in 2012, which adds a layer of fun to it). Nobody would believe the scientists - or enough people wouldn't - and the politicians would not stop being self-serving, and the operation would tank, and we would all die. And that's good. We deserve to. Rothman had better get busy writing more books because this wasn't enough to convince me of the general worthwhile-ness of humanity.
  
  We are treated to some very satisfying scenes as the end-of-the-world scenario plays out. We see actual leadership and selflessness, to a degree that bordered on the political porn of Designated Survivor. None of this would actually happen but it's so fun to pretend it would. This book is about Earth being threatened by a rogue black hole and the most unbelievable thing about it is the number of people who aren't giant pieces of shit. That's where we're at right now, folks.
  
  I did have to ask, why wasn't the same tech being used (quite aside from the fact that it was all hidden and under wraps) to send out evacuation colonies or just exploration teams in every damn direction? Seems like, yes, we had a quite literal "all the eggs in one basket (and also the entire farm and every chicken capable of laying eggs that has ever and will ever exist)" situation going on, and only a very fixed amount of specific resources (ie. graphene), but a lot of parallel projects could have happened. That would probably have added unnecessary threads to the plot, but maybe we could have done it instead of the cop thread? I mean, the cop thread was fine but it didn't super tie into the rest of the story. Meh. Oh well.
  
  The series of events surrounding "Frank", and their emergency fallback power supply, was all a little bit out-there but damn it, I liked it. It allowed a bit of high-stakes tension with the Brotherhood and still gave us the Great Big Sci-Fi we love to see. Yes, this was all really enjoyable and I wouldn't have had it any other way. While it could be tweaked, it was really fine. I look forward to the movie.
  
  Sex-o-meter
  
  Some babies are born, which (I'm no scientist but) to me suggests that there might have been some people having The Sex. But seriously, there's not really time for sex in this story. The world's about to end, people! Fuck later. Jesus Christ. I'll give this book a Bambi out of a possible Thumper on the ol' sex-o-meter.
  
  Gore-o-meter
  
  A whole bunch of deaths, some angry mob action, a guy loses a couple of fingers and the fabric of space-time gets torn a new arsehole, but ultimately this isn't a gory one. One flesh-gobbet out of a possible five for Primordial Threat.
  
  WTF-o-meter
  
  There's classic WTF of a big golden-age sci-fi quality in this book. No wonder Niven and Benford and Anderson like this, it's the sort of stuff they write - and it's at least as good, in my opinion. Maybe even better. Megaengineering, and huge cosmic stakes. These aren't so much true WTFs, but it makes for a fantastical and escapist read that was really enjoyable. There's inspiring WTFery of the "could space really do this to us?" variety (the answer is yes, yes it could, without even looking up from its metaphorical sudoku), and exciting WTFery of the "could human science really achieve this?" variety (the answer is ... ehh ... no, not really, but it's fucking neat), and horrifying WTFery of the "are people really like this?" variety (I think we all know the answer to this one). I'll give it a Ringworld and a Rama out of a possible Bowl of Heaven.
  
  My Final Verdict
  
  An interesting and imaginative story with a very cathartic ending for those readers (I would like to think it's most of us, at this point) who are frustrated with evangelical doomsday cultists and their apparent desire to just fucking kill everyone. My initial instinct was to give Primordial Threat four and a half stars. I want to elevate that to five purely because of the simple and beautiful relationship between Dave and Bella. After finding out more about the story's background and advantages, my next instinct was to deduct again, but that's completely unfair of me. My unbiased and open-eyed take on this story was five stars, and five stars is what it gets. Excellent job and a really good read.
• 
  Payal Sinha

  Black Holes have always attracted me and I have read numerous articles on it. So, when I read the story based on the threat of black hole- well it was the ultimate treat for me. The story has a movie like quality and I could actually envision each and every scene. There is an urgency that seeps through to you in most of the initial pages. The black hole is looming within the horizon ready to eat up everything in its path and heading straight for the Sun- and yes Earth is in its path of destruction. The problem is that if the news leaks out then the whole world would lose its order and people would start a self destruction mission. There is very little time to escape the black hole (if at all that is possible) and keep the secret safe within the scientific community. Here rival nations unite to deal with this looming threat and top minds meet to fathom a way out of the problem. The book is simply brilliant and would keep you spell bound.
• 
  Sheila

  Fast-flowing action and increasing tension make it hard to put this novel down, while well-timed reminders keep the reader in tune with various characters as the plot flits into and out of their lives. There’s a discredited scientist hiding out on the moon, a military man longing to spend more time with family, men and women on the brink of scientific discoveries and new relationships, and even touches of politics and terrorists. It’s a heady mix, but primarily it’s a “hard” science fiction tale, modeled on real science, and amply proving that science is both useful and fun.
  
  In a world that’s about to be torn apart, how much do you tell the populace? How do you deal with a doomsday cult determined to make that destruction real? And how do you save a planet from a black hole!
  
  The solution’s intriguing, the science is sufficiently convincing to have me checking Google over and again (and nicely supplemented by real facts in an afterword), and the settings are varied and well imagined, from the strangeness of a lunar base to almost normal scenes in Seattle and New York, to the jungles of Ecuador. Moderate future history (the story’s set not too far from today), believable inventions based on present day science, convincing political mis-alliances, and cool details of weapons, computer security, and space exploration, all provide the background for a tale that blends questions of why we care for each other with why we care for our planet. And care we must.
  
  It’s a cool tale with multiple threats, clever science, neat future history and a fine cast of characters, highly recommended.
  
  Disclosure: I was given an ecopy and I offer my honest review.
  
• 
  Mar

  Sometimes, sci-fi and post-apocalyptical novels fall into the trap of creating an over-the-top story with lots of fantasy details and with so many technicalities that the plot becomes secondary. Well, that certainly is not the case with Primordial Threat by M. Rothman. I was delighted to find a rather simple premise (but with a good scientific background) that relies heavily on good characters and strong dialogues.
  The characters are intense and deep, making us feel their intensity and a sense of urgency that a true “end of the world” situation should feel. The story does not feel rushed and it has a very good pace, with some interesting twists and some very creative passages. The entire novel has a nice flow, always keeping you interested and intrigued with some detail or side story. A really good and strong novel that I highly recommend.
  
• 
  Per Gunnar

  The reason this book ended up on my list is because one of my favorite authors, Larry Correia, organized a Book Bomb for this particular book. When Larry recommends a book it’s usually a sign that the book is a generally good one and the book blurb sounded fairly interesting so I went for it.
  
  I would put this book in the science fiction/disaster/apocalypse category. As you can read in the book blurb a black hole is about to devour the solar system which of course would make it a really bad day for everyone involved. The danger was already recognized by one of the main protagonists, Dave Holmes, and he even devised a plan to avoid disaster but, of course, some political ass-wipes (one in particular actually) interfered by wrecking his career.
  
  This is the part of the book that is not really my cup of tea. The world is about to go to hell and there is a bunch of morons running around sabotaging the efforts to save the day. That just frustrates the hell out of me even though it also leads to the best part of the book which is when the main ass-wipe gets what he deserves…twice!
  
  Obviously the book spends a lot of time on the preparations for evading the black hole and the politics involved in getting a whole world work for their salvation. For once we get a US president who is both capable and does not shy away from kicking ass when need be. Both domestic and international asses. Too bad it’s just fiction.
  
  The solution devised by the famous Dave Holmes is quite, well, extraordinary to say the lest but then the author set the bar quite high by throwing a black hole at the solar system in the first place. I guess it is not out of the realm of plausibility, in the context of a science fiction book of course, but it is advancing Earth’s technological capability by such a huge amount, literally, in the blink of an eye that it does become slightly incredible.
  
  As I mentioned I did have a bit of a problem with these fanatical ass-wipes sabotaging the efforts of saving Earth. I always have a very short fuse when it comes to religious fanatical assholes but I also had a bit of a problem with the relative ease by which these people managed to inflict devastating damage. I mean, in one chapter we’re told that small armies were guarding the power stations needed and in the next they just roll in and blow shit up.
  
  Otherwise the book was quite well done. The characters were well done, the dialog were well done and there was generally enough going on on each page to retain my interest. The author is a relatively new one in the beginning of his career as far as I understand it and, after reading this book, I think I will definitely keep a lookout for any future books from him.
• 
  William Marshall

  The story had all the basic elements of a good science fiction story that I enjoy, but I'm having trouble explaining why it rarely held my attention. Although the author advertised it as a thriller, it didn’t have the un-put-down-ability factor.
  However impossible his science ideas were, they were very cool and were the better parts of the story.
  The characters were likable and had enough flaws, complexities, and self doubts to make them interesting. He included minorities with nonstereotypical personalities, which was nice.
  I would have liked to have learned more about the antagonists since a good villain needs to have started out as well-meaning and then taken a wrong path. We never find out much about them.
  The author doesn’t seem to know much about his own books and recently said he never used an f-bomb and uses euphemisms like crap instead of real swear words in his books. I pointed out to him he used three f-bombs and s**t 40 times in this book. He used “crap” 26 times. The new sequel, Freedom’s Last Gasp, has the same number of f-bombs. I have no problem with swearing in books, but how could he not know? Weird.
  The book was optimistic and showed how government and society could work together to overcome adversary. I don't know if the author really believes this or more likely, he has changed since he wrote the book in 2018 and he now has a very anti woke, anti Ukraine, pro 2nd amendment view of the world. Although he is Jewish, he recently said Jewish people who feel harmed by Kanye West are pathetic excuses for human beings. It's sad to see, but I'm used to reading and enjoying books by flawed authors.
  The ending was satisfying and opened up new questions that made me want to read more. I’m glad he didn’t leave on a cliff-hanger like so many first-in-a-series books. If it weren’t for the reviews that indicate his politics have insinuated the sequel, I would read it. I would recommend it as a good, but not great, Sci-Fi.
• 
  Réal Laplaine

  Primordial Threat, by M.A. Rothman, is a pure science fiction thriller, right up there with Asimov. This is a thinker, a story that demands one follow the dots of brilliant science, forced into reality by the collective realization that our world is about to be decimated by an impending asteroid shower and an approaching black hole. While some of the concepts presented require a stretch of the mind, they have their roots in science, just as plausible as nuclear physics appeared to thinking minds before Einstein and others of his ilk came along and turned the theoretical into reality. It’s a good read, a solid read, with lots of dialogue and tidbits to entice the imagination. The debacle facing Earth is not fiction, in as much as the chances of a critical impact by a vagrant asteroid, or more, is certainly on the table, and is something we should be planning for so that we’re prepared to deal with it; and Primorial Threat most certainly offers up a feast for the reader to consider.
• 
  Alik

  Smart, interesting, entertaining. Those are the words I would use to describe Primordial Threat. A pretty neat sci-fi read on the premise of a black hole threatening our existence.
  
  I really liked the beginning and middle of the book. Things were set up great, detailed and full of intrigue.
  
  Most works of literature set in the near or distant future tend to describe the world as drastically different, with so much technological advancement you'd expect its characters to be half robot. However, Primordial Threat describes a much more believable future earth with some interesting nuances (which Rothman again does a great job explaining). I just wish I enjoyed the last part of the book as much as what preceded it.
  
  All in all, Primordial Threat is a good one. Loved the plot, storyline and build-up (as well as the diverse set of characters). A good, new look at modern sci-fi.
• 
  Grady

  “The rover’s telemetry readings say it is 14.3 miles away.”
  
  Author M.A (Michael) Rothman is the first member of his family to be born in the United States. His Hungarian grandfather was a WW II refugee and his family fled the Nazi occupation. Michael is an engineer who focuses on computer technology – system software design – and his designs are embedded in all modern computers distributed be the major companies in the world. He has stated ‘Whether it is deeply embedded devices such as missile guidance systems or vehicle navigation systems or general-purpose PCs such as laptops or even gaming consoles, I’ve worked with just about all types of “computers” throughout my career’. As for his writing, he has published two books to date – PRIMORDIAL THREAT and PERIMETER – both with themes of technology and international intrigue. .
  
  The polished skill with which Michael relates his intriguing and immensely involving story showcases both his mastery of technology as well as his obvious travels and knowledge of global intrigue. But he steps further into the spotlight with his introduction of chief character Burt Radcliffe by not only making him a brilliant scientist but one coping with an important unknown, well defined in his opening paragraphs – ‘““Doctor Radcliffe, I was wondering if you could take a look at the data I just got from my latest survey. Something’s not right.” Carl, one of the new hires for 2066, loomed over Burt’s desk, sounding puzzled. Not unexpected, since he’d been on the job for less than a week. “Did you talk to Jake Parish?” Burt didn’t even look up. “He’s maintaining the database for all the Near-Earth objects.” “He’s on sabbatical.” “Oh.” Burt looked up from his own stack of astronomical survey data and took in Carl’s six-and-a-half-foot form. He noticed the man’s concerned expression and sighed. Even though Burt was only fifty, he’d found himself getting more and more cranky when people wasted his time. Trying to keep the annoyance from his voice, he carefully measured his words. “What exactly do you mean, something’s not right? Can you be a bit more specific?” Carl hesitated for a moment, then placed two printouts on Burt’s desk. He pointed at an image from one of the observatories and explained, “Well, as you can see, this was the survey image I took yesterday.” Burt leaned closer, scanned the text describing a surveyed comet, its location, and its approximate size. Below the text was a dark image showing nothing but empty space. “I was surveying the area where comet Kowalski C/2011 S2 was supposed to be, but there’s nothing in the imaging system’s field of view.” Carl tapped the other image. “Here you can see the same region but this time I used the Hubble2 satellite, and I got nothing there as well.” Burt felt anger building within him as he turned his attention to the terminal on his right. There was no way an object multiple miles across had simply disappeared. He typed the name of the comet and yesterday’s date. The data, projected at eye level, showed the space object’s uneven shape, chemical composition, trajectory and estimated location. He glanced at the printout and compared the coordinates. They matched. With a huff of frustration, he handed the papers back to the confused researcher. “This doesn’t make any sense. Take this to Doctor Patel and have her double-check your information.” The young researcher’s eyes widened when Burt mentioned Neeta’s name. With some effort, Burt suppressed a smile. Neeta Patel was one of the other department heads at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs, and she was known for having much less patience for wasting time than he did.’
  
  It is this quality of prose that carries his novel to success. The plot is well outlined in the synopsis – ‘The year is 2066 and the world is oblivious to the threat it faces. The fate of humanity lies on the shoulders of Burt Radcliffe, the new head of NASA's Near Earth Object program. He's been rushing the completion of DefenseNet, a ring of satellites that are both part of an early-warning system as well as the means to eliminate incoming threats. Yet Burt knows that despite the world's best efforts, nothing can be done about the alert he's just received. Coming out of deep space is a danger that's been approaching since the dawn of time. A black hole. An unstoppable threat that promises death for all in its wake. Dave Holmes was a modern-day Einstein. As the original architect of DefenseNet, he'd had visions of this Primordial Threat before he disappeared, yet he'd left behind no details on how the problem might be solved. Can Holmes be found, and if so, will his solution even work? The world has less than a year to find out.’
  
  At the end of the novel Michael offers some scientific factual information that heightens the readers interest not only in this novel but also in the series. Writing of this caliber, having created a mesmerizing lead character whose skills as a human being are staggering, suggests that this book could easily be adapted as a screenplay for a fine motion picture. Having read both of Michael superb novels this reader awaits the inevitable screenplay transformation. Highly Recommended.
  
• 
  Wampuscat

  This novel gave me some great flash-back moments to when I was young and reading exciting science based sci-fi that drew me into the genre. I only wish I still had the naivete of an uncritical reader so that I could ignore the little foibles I saw... Not many, but a few. The book is a winner though because I was into it from cover to cover.
  
  A little less than 50 years from now, the Earth is in the path of a black hole and nothing can stop it. So what do you do? You science the shit out of it! And that is all the details I can tell you without spoilers.
  
  So, I'm going to get past my 'complaint' phase first to get it out of my way. I like this book, and I'm giving it 4 stars because I WANT to give it 4 stars. I refuse to let my nit-picky side bring it down lower, but I at least have to acknowledge what those nits are, so here goes. There are a lot of convenient pre-emergency events that had to have happened for there to be a chance at survival in this situation (for values of 'survive'). There are at least TWO different Deus Ex Machina moments that had me shaking my head. There are plot points that are contrived to engender those. The 'villian' (not the black hole) is also a contrivance to keep the difficulty level set to high. Also, the 'As you know, Bob's' are an absolute plague at the start. These are the 'critical reader' points that I wish I could be less attentive to like when I was younger. I would never have even noticed this 25-30 years ago.
  
  Oh, and no spoilers, but the last chapter should have been left off. It's a cliffhanger setup for a sequel revealed at the last minute. It should have been used as the prologue of the the next book instead. I believe I would have had that opinion even as a youngster.
  
  The character development is great, and I was truly invested in the welfare of the top six. The plot is decent. There are a few hurry-up-and-get-to-the-point moments of 'as-you-know-Bob' type exposition at a inconvenient moments that affected the pacing, but that is offset by the next challenge being hot on its heels. The science used is backed up fairly well, and the afterword of the book even gives a summary of the main ideas as they exist in reality today. The pace of the story is good and kept me wanting to read the whole thing. The writing style and descriptiveness is on par with any comparable sci-fi book you might find out there.
  
  The best part of the book is the 'big concept' science that goes into the survival plans, and how they are pursued for implementation. You just gotta love ... well, again, no spoilers ... but trust me, if you're a sci-fi fan, you'll love it!
  
  I give this one four stars and call it a Big Think Nostalgic Read!
• 
  John Purvis

  "Primordial Threat" eBook was published in 2018 and was written by M. A. Rothman (
  http://www.michaelarothman.com/). Mr. Rothman has published two novels. 
  
  I received an ARC of this novel through
  https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Language. The story is set on Earth in 2066. While there are several characters followed, the primary character is the brilliant scientist Dave Holmes. 
  
  Earth has advanced with commercial space efforts as well as scientific research throughout the Solar System. Burt Radcliffe has just been appointed as the new head of NASA's Near Earth Object program when an Earth-shattering discovery is made - a black hole is headed towards Earth. Earth has DefenseNet, a ring of satellites to repel killer asteroids, but they will provide little protection from the black hole. 
  
  An urgent search is begun for options. Before he was ousted in disgrace as head of the International Science Foundation, Dave Holmes had instigated several programs, including DefenseNet. What was viewed as wasteful spending then, seems to the groundwork to save the Earth from a disaster like the approaching black hole. Can Holmes be found? Will he, can he, lead the way to save Earth?
  
  While the scientific community around the world works on measures to save the Earth, there is a growing and powerful segment of the population that wants to stop them. Their view is that the black hole signals the foretold 'End of Days'. They see any effort to evade the black hole as sacrilege.  Only if humanity lets the end come, will they be saved. The group is willing to go to any length to stop the efforts to save the planet. 
  
  I thoroughly enjoyed the 10 hours I spent reading this 461-page science fiction thriller. I like the overall plot. I also liked the characters created for the novel. However, both seemed a little weak. The cover art is OK, but I think a better image could have been chosen. I give this novel a 4.4 (rounded down to a 4) out of 5.
  
  Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at
  https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/. 
• 
  Ben

  Entertaining sci-fi
  
  Primordial Threat is about a yawning black hole speeding toward sour solar system, absorbing, destroying everything before it. The scientists h ave less than a year to save everything and everyone-if they can figure out a viable plan.
  But there already is such a man. He is hiding out on the Moon colony. Years previously he had been harassed by a jealous colleague out of his his job, but he escaped to work as a hard rock miner on the moon. But he has been secretly developing a way to fight just such an eventuality as the one heading to doom the world.
  Mr. Rothman, the author of Primordial Threat has written an exciting novel with enough hard science to satisfy those who thrive on it and such, plus everything that the casual lover of sci-fi loves. There is along with dangerous wizardry that could literally move the Earth, and its entire population, to another solar system, there is the danger that comes from a terror/religious cult that tries to sabotage any attempt to save the Earth from a kind of Judgment day scenario. But it's book is not all about scientific lore, there are enough about the lives of the characters, their loved ones, and their sacrifices to humanize the novel.
  I found the novel enjoyable and entertaining. The hard tech stuff was not totally in my understanding, but it was explained well enough to be plausible. The personalities of the primary characters were fleshed out for the reader to feel interest in and compassion for them.
  With the understanding that Primordial Threat is not about Space Marines, Space zombies or " One eyed, one-horned , flying Purple People Eaters, I recommend the book to all lovers of the Sci -fi genre.
  
• 
  Mike Franklin

  Primordial Threat and M A Rothman came recommended by Gregory Benford.
  
  A relatively small black hole is detected entering the solar system and by the time it’s done it’s likely the Earth and probably even the Sun will be destroyed. A radical solution is needed to save humanity and this book sets out to provide it. So long as the reader is prepared to accept the concept of the Alcubierre drive as plausible then this is mostly good sound hard science fiction though scaled up to such an immense scale that it does stretch the reader’s suspension of disbelief. The characters are a little cliched and often rather more concerned with their own egos than saving humanity, but then something along those lines is so often true of a lot of books (and reality?). Overall, a fairly solid piece of writing and rather better than most of the self-published works I’ve had the misfortune to read (or attempt to read) over recent years, but it did suffer from two severe deus ex machinas; a completely unexplained device invented by an unknown scientific genius who happens to be the new leader of North Korea (a bit bizarre that one!) which just happens to work perfectly with another unexplained device created by two, now dead, twin savants that no one has been able to understand since. I shall probably try the sequel though that seems less well regarded.
  
• 
  Hugo Saravia

  Science vs Religion-Oops!
  
  I'm not against doing away with religion but if that is truly all religious forms of practice, but any form of religion wether radical or not will carrie the seeds of righteousness, so to try to distinguish one from the other or favor one for other when basically they both pray to the same wizard in the sky, for me that is such a turn off in a science fiction novel. That's me and my personal choice about how I feel about religion, having said that I did enjoy the science part of this novel which touched on a lot of hypothetical theories trending in academia circles these days. Not bad for a first, I don't know that I would read anything else from this author as I found some of the scientific fact explanations a little too much for amateurs or people with no interest in science whom I'm sure would pick this book on a whim considering its title, which is what made me notice it immediately. Overall, the execution is good as it actually delivered in the end some interesting ideas about what it would be like to experience first hand an encounter with a primordial threat.