Prelude to Extinction: Xenophobia Series - Book 1

The book is a very good first novel. The physics, which is the author’s forte, is well presented and thought provoking. His understanding of gas flows was flawed, but then he isn’t an engineer, so that’s a minor nit in the story that perhaps few readers will catch.My biggest problem was the lack of command structure and the immaturity of the staff of an inter stellar expedition. The characters acted, in my opinion, like middle-school teens scuffling in the hall, rather than serious professionals on a multi-decade expedition. I hope the author imbues future protagonists (and antagonists) with more believable behaviors.This author deserves encouragement. I have bought the second book in his series and am rooting for improvement in his characters.

The science in this book makes it all the more interesting to me. Karpf has a great imagination and understands how to incorporate the science, his creativity and good storytelling into a fun read. Could have used some better editing but still a worth the time.

I thought it had some character inconsistencies but it was a great story

Technical, engaging & interesting plot. Good ending. Husband enjoyed it!Print a little small.

I really like the science and ideas.I wish the characters and relationships were better fleshed out.Overall I enjoyed reading it.

Very well done. I do not believe in Einstein's Relativity, however. This is part of book. The twin paradox is clearly false. If one twin A is in a rocket ship and twin B is in a rocket ship speeding away near the speed of light, we are told that twin B ages slower compared to twin A. Nonsense. According to twin B it is twin A speeding away near the speed of light. Read Relativity carefully. Nothing is said about acceleration. Only relative motion.Also Michelson Morley in 1887 showed that there is ether and that the earth is the immovable center of the Universe. But they just couldn't bring themselves to believe it. So a new ad hoc lying theory was invented by Einstein. And hence the real reason for his celebrity.The ether is very dense, millions of tons of mass in just a teaspoon. Made of completely frictionless particles. Neutrons, protons, electrons are much less dense. This easily explains the real cause of gravity. It also solves the problem of light. Photons are ONLY particles and do not have any wave properties at all. It is the ether that is responsible for the waves of light. Physics becomes so clear when the lies of Einstein are discarded. And since physics demands verification, I demand that when a mile long concrete arm of the LIGO apparatus is "shortened" when receiving a "gravity wave" that they prove that such a massive structure "momentarily contracted". But thank you Lorentz for this unverified Lorentz Contraction fiction that has NEVER been observed, let alone verified.

The moral dilemmas the Captain faces is really what makes this book interesting. It involves first contact with two species, one very advanced, but incredibly passive, the second of which is very aggressive and operating under the Dark Forest Theory. The second are not developed in the book, logically as there is no opportunity to interact with them. But the “primitive” humans are technologically way behind the other two species. Ultimately it’s a critique of utopian social mores, but not too deep and philosophical.A couple of critical points. The author writes like scientist. The characters are a bit one dimensional and often obviously serve as a plot device or to present the counter view. I found it odd that the chief science officer was always the one saying “that’s impossible”. The Captain is way too heroic and quick to figure it all out. I didn’t get any sense of what made the main alien click, but his (?) decisions are critical to the book.But these issues didn’t prevent me from enjoying this book. If you are a fan of space operas and first contact stories there is a lot here for you. Enjoy.

This one started out with so much promise but threw it all away as the novel went on. By the 65% mark, I had grown so disgusted that I made one of my ‘life is too short’ decisions and abandoned it. I feel better for having done so.The issue for me wasn’t the plot but the persistent stupidity of the players. I found the plot intriguing right up to the point I dropped this mess somewhat reluctantly. I say reluctantly because it started out as real science fiction very much like the old days but brought up to date. The plot starts as a narrative of a 30-year mission to a nearby solar system. We join the mission roughly 10 years in when the ship is approaching an Earth-like planet.The stupidity starts right off with a silly competition to see who will be first to set foot on the planet. The captain wins by invoking his authority but instead of something interesting; he recites an idealized version of ‘One step for a man…”. This is taking place over 100 years in the future. I’d like to think that in the interval, a more interesting phrase would have shown up. It didn’t.OK that was trivial, but consider this: the landing party encounters an alien lifeform. It can’t decide whether it’s an animal or a plant. The xenobiologist whips out a knife and then cuts a large piece off of it! Great first impression for the locals to ponder. It clearly is an animal and doesn’t like the gesture. So much for we come in peace.The next act of utter stupidity sets the plot in motion for the second part of the book. I can’t describe it without giving a spoiler and likewise, I can’t go into my breaking point with this garbage without an even bigger spoiler. I did so much wish to enjoy this but cannot tolerate persistently moronic characters. My limit for idiocy was well-exceeded.I haven’t even touched on the many typos and word misusages some of which are unintentionally humorous. I admire the effort here of what’s apparently a single person’s effort but the result turned out to be a major disappointment.

OK, so, it's decently written, but the spelling errors irritated me early on (breech vs. breach? ). I gave it some leeway, but the character building (or un-building, as it would) got me off. See, everyone is juts an idiot. Granted they are againts elements of physics that have only been speculated about until now, but their conclusions are not just mornonic and immersion breaking when it comes to science... for a trained, selected crew, in their 40s, for a unique interstellar mission, they also don't seem to have a clue about team work and relationships. It's just shambles... I wouldn't even hire these guys for a fast-burn startup....

Having read the author's background in physics I now know why I found some of this book very complex. I also felt that it took way too long to get to the part of the story where we find out about the aliens.