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rdelrosso2001
Jul 25, 2015rdelrosso2001 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is about the fourth time I have read this! I really love this book -- on many levels: (1) Hard SF. The Astrophysics of Black Holes is always fascinating! (2) Domestic Politics. Even though Benford wrote it in 2000, it seems weirdly "prophetic", with the mysterious "U" Agency playing the role that the NSA would play after Sep. 11, 2001. (3) International Politics: Very Realistic-- the rivalry human have between themselves, even as we contemplate being swallowed up by this "thing", this "Eater". (4) Human struggle: the astronaut Channing is dying: Whenever I read her parts, I think only Charlize Theron could play her in the movie version. And there should be a movie Version! (5) Eater as Metaphor for Global Warming. Most of the politicians cannot tell a Black Hole from a White Dwarf. Just as most Politicians in 2015 cannot tell you which 3 Isotopes of Carbon are in our atmosphere's CO2, and which one is of human origin. (Well, most leaders do not even know that the 3 Isotopes are C12, C13 and C14, or what an Isotope even is. ) I thought I lost the book July 20th, when I came home from a 5-day Hospital stay! (Getting better) This book kept me SANE in the Hospital, even though I read it years ago. When I thought I lost it -- I felt like someone just cut off my right arm! This book makes me want to learn how to write the Screenplay of "Eater: The Movie". One character says: "Listen, this isn't like in that movie where Bruce Willis stays behind on the Asteroid and blows it up! This is the Real Word! You cannot STAND on this thing! That thing is not a Big Giant Rock! It's a Black Hole and it's intelligent! I thinks! And it thinks the Earth looks DELICIOUS!