Shiva Descending

There are bad days, there are very bad days, and then there are days when a celestial object is heading towards Earth with enough destructive potential to make your unpaid gas bill seem suddenly rather less urgent. Shiva Descending belongs firmly in the third category.

Written by Gregory Benford and William Rotsler, this gloriously large-scale slice of disaster science fiction takes the familiar human tendency to assume tomorrow will probably be much like today and smashes it with something considerably larger than a metaphor. A massive object from space is on a collision course with Earth, and scientists, governments and assorted unfortunate civilians are left confronting the awkward possibility that civilisation may shortly become a historical footnote.

Benford, naturally, brings serious scientific credibility to the proceedings, while Rotsler helps turn the mathematics of catastrophe into a proper human drama. The result is the sort of novel in which orbital mechanics, political panic and sheer survival all compete for attention, proving that while humanity may be capable of calculating the trajectory of an incoming cosmic threat, agreeing what to do about it remains another matter entirely.

The title gives a fairly substantial clue to the mood. Shiva, in Hindu tradition, is associated with destruction and transformation, and there is certainly no shortage of either here. Cities, institutions and comfortable assumptions are all placed in jeopardy as the approaching disaster forces people to confront the rather unsettling truth that the universe does not actually require planning permission before rearranging the planet.

What makes Shiva Descending particularly entertaining is the sheer scale of its ambition. This is not a modest tale about one astronaut with a loose screw on a spaceship. It is a broad disaster epic with a large cast, international consequences and the sort of stakes that make ordinary fictional emergencies look like someone has merely misplaced the office keys. The story ranges across science, politics and personal survival, creating the satisfyingly apocalyptic feeling that absolutely everyone is having a terrible week at the same time.

Like many of the best disaster novels of its era, it also contains an appealing mixture of scientific seriousness and magnificent excess. There are calculations, predictions and sober discussions of impact consequences, followed inevitably by scenes demonstrating exactly why those calculations were worth making. Readers who enjoy their science fiction with a strong flavour of catastrophe will find plenty to admire.

This 1980 Avon edition is in Good condition. It shows the normal signs of a book that has survived several decades on Earth without being struck by anything particularly large, and remains a solid, complete and thoroughly readable copy.

Ideal for fans of classic disaster fiction, hard science fiction, cosmic threats and stories in which scientists are forced to explain extremely bad news to politicians who were hoping for a quieter afternoon. Add it to your collection today and enjoy a novel that proves the heavens may be beautiful, majestic and inspiring—but it is still sensible to keep an eye on anything coming directly towards you.

As always from Crappy Old Books—where the books may be old, the apocalypse may be imminent, but at least the postage is still comparatively straightforward.

Keep browsing: See more Science-Fiction books Other books by Gregory Benfold and William Rotsler