Hole in the Sky - by Daniel H Wilson (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A gripping sci-fi thriller and Native American First Contact story. Heliopause is a real place-the very outer edge of our solar system where the sun's solar winds are no longer strong enough to keep debris and intrusions from bombarding our system. It is the farthest edge of our protected boundary (it was recently crossed by Voyager), and the line beyond which space experts look for extraterrestrial presences. This is where Daniel Wilson's fascinating novel begins. Weaving together the story of Jim, a down-on-his-luck absentee father in the Osage territory of Oklahoma, and his daughter, Tawny, with those of a NASA engineer, a misfit anonymous genius who lives in military isolation analyzing a secret incoming "Pattern," and a CIA investigator tasked with tracking unexplained encounters, Hole in the Sky explores a Native American first contact that pulls all five characters into something never before seen or imagined"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

A gripping thriller--and Native American first contact story--from the New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse, Daniel H. Wilson, who is a Cherokee Nation citizen and has worked as a threat forecaster for the United States Air Force.

"Hole in the Sky is mind-bending... indigenous knowledge collides with science fiction in a thrilling page-turner."--Sterlin Harjo, filmmaker and writer, Reservation Dogs

On the Great Plains of Oklahoma--in the heart of the Cherokee Nation--a strange atmospheric disturbance is noticed by Jim Hardgray, a down-on-his-luck father trying to reconnect with his teenaged daughter, Tawny. At NASA's headquarters in Houston, Texas, astrophysicist Dr. Mikayla Johnson observes an interaction with the Voyager 1 spacecraft and concludes that something enormous and unidentified is heading directly for Earth. And in an undisclosed bunker deep in the earth, an American threat forecaster known only as The Man Downstairs intercepts a cryptic communication and sends an urgent message to the president and highest-ranking military brass: "First contact imminent."

Daniel H. Wilson's Hole in the Sky is a riveting thriller in the most creative tradition of extraterrestrial fiction. First contact comes to life through a Native American lens, with adrenaline-charged, stunning results. Hole in the Sky is a propulsive read that asks probing questions about nonhuman intelligence, the Western mindset, and humans' understanding of reality.

Review Quotes

Praise for Hole in the Sky

"A first contact story, Hole in the Sky seems a familiar tale. Yet in its telling, Daniel H. Wilson chooses the road less traveled by. Wielding immediate prose and Native mythology, Wilson draws on his own deep roots to weave a story that is not only thrilling and personal, but an important addition to the landscape of science fiction."
--Pierce Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Red Rising series

"Incredible... Hole in the Sky is not only a thrilling, brilliant page-turner, its pages also turned me into the kind of reader I always want to be--deeply involved and curious about the world and the story unfolding before me, as if by magic--the kind of reader who can't stop reading, who dreads the book coming to an end even while I can't stop making my way toward it, who goes back and starts all over to figure out how it was done. Here we have a highly original premise about alien contact--no small feat unto itself--which also manages to seamlessly fold in Indigenous lives and knowledge. Every character here is alive, and there are so many stunning sentences I had to stop underlining. The story is killer. I love it. Run don't walk to read this book."
--Tommy Orange, New York Times bestselling author of There There and Wandering Stars

"Hole in the Sky is mind-bending.... Indigenous knowledge collides with science fiction in a thrilling page-turner."
--Sterlin Harjo, filmmaker and writer, Reservation Dogs

"An expertly constructed, tightly-paced novel packed with ideas, populated with vivid characters, and suffused with heart and intelligence. Daniel Wilson is a talented storyteller, with a gift for crafting imaginative and entertaining narratives, and Hole In The Sky is no exception. Captivating and full of wonder."
--Charles Yu, National Book Award-winning author of Interior Chinatown

"Part thriller, part horror, Hole in the Sky is an Indigenous tale of first contact in the vein of Arrival that asks us what is reality and what is a dream and if there is a difference. Strange and wondrous and terrible all at once."
--Rebecca Roanhorse, New York Times bestselling author of Black Sun

"Hands down one of the best books I've read in a couple of years. Daniel H. Wilson has crafted a technotradish ride into the future in the most harrowing and engaging ways imaginable. Tightly tuned, sharply researched, and warm in all the best ways, you'll want to clear your schedule because this is a sit-down-and-read-the-whole-thing-right-now kind of book. Bravo, Mr. Wilson!"
--Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., bestselling co-editor of the Never Whistle At Night series

"This book doesn't whisper. It roars from the edges of space, memory, and grief. Hole in the Sky is Indigenous sci-fi at its rawest: part cosmic threat, part broken father-daughter elegy, part fever dream of classified government failures. The humanity here is bruised, sharp-tongued, and holding on. And the fear? It's in the blood. This one gets under your skin and stays there."
--Shane Hawk, bestselling co-editor of the Never Whistle at Night series

About the Author

DANIEL H. WILSON is a Cherokee citizen and author of the New York Times bestselling Robopocalypse and its sequel Robogenesis, as well as How to Survive a Robot Uprising, The Clockwork Dynasty, and The Andromeda Evolution (an authorized sequel to The Andromeda Strain). He earned a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as master's degrees in machine learning and robotics. Wilson lives in Portland, Oregon.