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Sunfall

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Sunfall

By: Jim Al-Khalili
Narrated by: Rupert Farley
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Summary

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Sunfall by Jim Al-Khalili.

From renowned theoretical physicist, broadcaster and author Jim Al-Khalili, comes this thrilling debut novel drawing on cutting-edge science and set in a near-future full of dazzling technologies.

2041 and the world as we know it grinds to a halt. Our planet seems to be turning against itself - it would appear that the magnetic field, that protects life on Earth from deadly radiation from space, is failing . . .

Desperate to quell the mass hysteria that would surely follow, world governments have concealed this rapidly emerging Armageddon. But a young Iranian hacktivist stumbles across the truth, and it becomes a race against time to reactivate the earth's core using beams of dark matter.

As a small team of brave and brilliant scientists battle to find a way of transforming theory into practice, they face a fanatical group intent on pursuing their own endgame agenda: for they believe mankind to be a plague upon this earth and will do anything, commit any crime, to ensure that the project fails . . .

And so bring about humanity's end.

©2019 Jim Al-Khalili (P)2019 Penguin Audio
Adventure Science Fiction Fiction Scary

Critic reviews

Excellent, exactly how good science fiction should be: gripping story, beautifully told, while at the same time being scientifically well-informed. (PROFESSOR RICHARD DAWKINS)

Reminiscent of vintage Arthur C. Clarke . . . has a chilling, nail-biting authenticity. (JAMES LOVEGROVE)

The Day After Tomorrow meets Neuromancer . . . When the planet's magnetic field fails, the naked sun threatens to deliver an extinction level event now – and every century – unless a high-tech near future humanity can save itself. Sunfall is sizzling stuff. And the best informed techno-thriller you are ever likely to read. (STEPHEN BAXTER, author of the Xeelee sequence)
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I always enjoy Jim Al-Khalili's bbc broadcasts and was very impressed at his managing to create an entertaining story out of such an unlikely topic..

Clever and entertaining

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it's really refreshing to read a story where you can rely on the science being believable

some of the language is a little twee, was it never get in the way of a great story and a performance where you can almost hear Jim himself reading the novel

great story great performance

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The scientific reasoning seemed just too implausible and there to support the plot, rather than the plot being around accurate science. e.g. no manual abort, lack of explanation how the energy release would drive core flow in just the right way. Kind of enjoyable though, characters were good. Much of the science and futurology was interesting.

Science seemed dubious

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Excellent combination of dark matter, AI and magnetic reversal, with good characters and valid jeopardy.

Excellent hard sci-fi

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Good and entertaining book. Is surprisingly engaging. With a slight scientific background makes it an enjoyable experience

Science and Thriller

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