Audiobook Review The Hole

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

At a Glance: What would happen if a black hole suddenly appeared in the Solar System? Would everyone lose their minds and panic? Come together and solve the problem? This book explores the "what-if" question proposed by Brandon Q. Morris, and it takes a hard science fiction viewpoint with physics and math.

What I liked: The characters (particularly Maribel) were loveable, it didn't drag on, and the science wasn't presented in a way that was too dense.

What I disliked: The subplot about Enceladus didn't feel relevant and could have either been axed or completely expanded, while I love some of the characters there are a few that are flat/trope-heavy, and it does take a bit to start up.

Review (minor spoilers about a subplot):

Imagine, if you will, that a black hole randomly appears in the Solar System. At first, people don't notice it until its gravity can be observed and proven. After a few chapters of the characters trying to figure out if there is a problem or just an error in the data, they discover there is, in fact, a problem. A slow start, for sure. But then things really gear up, and a lot of different questions are posed: what would the world do if it were to appear?

The story follows two main points of view, Maribel, a scientist on Earth who discovers the black hole, and a crew of misfits on an asteroid mining mission (which was my not-so-favorite group of characters and the weaker viewpoint). Maribel does not seem like a Mary-Sue to me, and some people in their reviews assert that she is, but I think she is written as a good character who, more than anything, cares about science.

One thing that Brandon does really well in this novel is making every hard science problem understandable. Notably, there are several instances where the author actually gives us a great analogy to understand the problem. I am not the smartest person. However, I can understand simple comparisons, and Brandon made these difficult questions, such as the information paradox of black holes, easy to digest.

The narration did a good job distinguishing the voices with accents that I mainly enjoyed, and I was happy to get it as an audiobook. This work is part of a series from my understanding, but this felt like a much better standalone. I did have problems with the ending feeling abrupt, but it was satisfying to me.

Overall, I really enjoyed this audiobook, it was fun, exciting, and didn't drag on. The characters were well (at least, the ones I liked made up for the bad ones) written. I would recommend this book to anyone, don't let the "hard" science fiction label trip you up, it isn't written in formulas and symbols that make a lawyer like me's eyes roll.