A Native American first contact story and gripping thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse
"Thrilling and personal... an important addition to the landscape of science fiction."—Pierce Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising
"Hole in the Sky is mind-bending… indigenous knowledge collides with science fiction in a thrilling page-turner."—Sterlin Harjo, filmmaker and writer of 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 single father trying to reconnect with his teenage daughter, Tawny. At NASA’s headquarters in Houston, Texas, astrophysicist Dr. Mikayla Johnson observes an interaction with the Voyager 1 spacecraft on the far side of the solar system, and she concludes that something enormous and unidentified is heading directly for Earth. And in an undisclosed bunker somewhere in the United States, an American threat forecaster known only as the Man Downstairs intercepts a cryptic communication and sends a message directly 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. Drawing on Wilson’s unique background as both a threat forecaster for the United States Air Force and a Cherokee Nation citizen, this propulsive novel asks probing questions about nonhuman intelligence, the Western mindset, and humans’ understanding of reality.
Genre: Science Fiction
"Thrilling and personal... an important addition to the landscape of science fiction."—Pierce Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising
"Hole in the Sky is mind-bending… indigenous knowledge collides with science fiction in a thrilling page-turner."—Sterlin Harjo, filmmaker and writer of 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 single father trying to reconnect with his teenage daughter, Tawny. At NASA’s headquarters in Houston, Texas, astrophysicist Dr. Mikayla Johnson observes an interaction with the Voyager 1 spacecraft on the far side of the solar system, and she concludes that something enormous and unidentified is heading directly for Earth. And in an undisclosed bunker somewhere in the United States, an American threat forecaster known only as the Man Downstairs intercepts a cryptic communication and sends a message directly 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. Drawing on Wilson’s unique background as both a threat forecaster for the United States Air Force and a Cherokee Nation citizen, this propulsive novel asks probing questions about nonhuman intelligence, the Western mindset, and humans’ understanding of reality.
Genre: Science Fiction
Praise for this book
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
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