Eater

By Gregory Benford

Impending personal tragedy is dimming the brilliant light of Dr. Benjamin Knowlton's world. On the threshold of their greatest achievement, the renowned astrophysicist's beloved wife and partner -- ex-astronaut-turned astronomer -- is dying.

But something looms alarmingly on the far edge of the solar system: at once a scientific find of unparalleled importance that could ensure the Knowltons' immortality, and a potential earth-shattering cataclysm that dwarfs their private one. For Benjamin and Channing have discovered "Eater," an eons-old black hole anomaly that devours stars and worlds. Yet its most awesome and devastating secrets are still to be revealed...and feared.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061833014

Gregory Benford

GREGORY BENFORD teaches at the University of California and lives in Irvine, California. Benford is a winner of the United Nations Medal for Literature, and the Nebula Award for his novel Timescape. In 1995 he received the Lord Prize for contributions to science. Benford conducts research in plasma turbulence theory and experimentation, and in astrophysics. He has published well over a hundred papers in fields of physics from condensed matter, particle physics, plasmas and mathematical physics, and several in biological conservation.

Reviews for Eater

[jasonriedy_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Apocalyptic yet hopeful. The world will end, but... There is a last-moment save, but the rest of the story makes you feel that it's not so much a salvation. Cleverness saves the day and opens new horizons. There are costs. Some aspects are predictable and help you hold on to the story line. The science is either right or predictive (for the publication date, my how we move on). As someone who straddles science and engineering, the characters are quite believable. Sure, some seem caricatures, but so do some of the physical people I know. And I've seen "character development" like this in real life under far less strenuous situations. This book brought me back to Sci-Fi after a long absence. I'm not claiming it's great and timeless literature, but it's a very good read.

[sgsmitty · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book had a little bit of the ole infodump with it but otherwise it was good. Intelligent blackhole threatens earth!