Nomad: Volume 1 (The New Earth Series)

Is this the end of the world or will mankind survive in sufficient numbers to recover and rebuild. The science behind this story is pretty gripping, drawing the reader in, making them question how they would feel and behave. Would they even want to know. Domesday hurtles towards them and only a few know what that reality could be. Earth could be totally destroyed or any survivors could be subject to unknown horrors, a true fate worse than death. Astronomer Ben Rollins gets drawn into tracking the unseen, 'the Nomad', working to narrow down the horrors that await. His daughter Jessica gets drawn into the scientific maze. Will Ben find a way to save humanity, even a small number of individuals, or will all his efforts prove worthless. I really enjoyed this book. The narrative was compelling and the characters drew me into their world. I look forward to the follow-up.

Not a bad book, pretty frightening really if Nomad really does exist. The science was well researched and very convincing, the characters were well rounded and with a storyline running parallel to the science. It has all the hallmarks of a winning combination, this is my first foray into Mathew Mathers work and it does not disappoint. The best part it's a freebie on Amazon download it and scare yourself silly. Fab

For the first book: 3 stars For the series: 2 stars I started these books after reading Matthew Mather's first Atopia book - which I thought was excellent and showed him as a really talented writer. Very quickly after starting this, I realised Nomad was not going to following in those footsteps. However, it did look like it might be a decent, plot-driven thriller. It's not. If you're reading the first book and thinking: this seems okay, maybe the follow-ups will be even better - my advice is stop right now. The first book, which is three stars if we're being generous, is the best of the series - and it's still highly flawed. As another reviewer noted, the draw is all in the impending interstellar disaster affecting the earth; the novel, however, somewhat bizarrely chooses to focus on a rather stupid and boring side story involving a family blood feud that only serves to distract from the main events. Saying that, the first book is certainly not terrible and the science behind it is both fascinating and well-researched. This was what led me to continue with the follow-ups. I won't give away any spoilers, but, unfortunately, the following three books are very, very poor. They feel lazy and rushed, highly repetitive and are littered with typos. They don't seem to have been edited, the characters are one dimensional (evidenced most strongly by the fact that every single person in the whole book speaks in exactly the same manner). I can honestly say that if any of the characters from the smallest all the way up to the main character had been killed at any point, I would not have cared in the slightest. These three books should have been condensed into one volume - and then there might have been a semi-decent two part series. As it is, we have one not very good book, followed by three lazy and rambling follow-ups. Even if you liked the first book, I'd recommend stopping at its end as you only have disappointment waiting.

A very enjoyable read - clever science, believable characters, good dialogue, loads of action - and it pulls no punches - this is proper Armageddon mash-up stylee. I took this down to the coast with me, and apart from enforced time in the pub, I never put it down. A total page-turner. There have been hundreds of similar-looking plots ... asteroids and wot not, heading towards earth, oh dear, what do we do ... but not many as good as this one, and with as many plot twists. It is the human angle that kept me gripped, with personal and global disasters all running in parallel, then changing orbit and starting to dovetail, to collide. Cannot wait for part two.Well done Mr Mather!

I've had this ebook for a while and at last got the chance to read it. It was certainly worth reading and the science was explained nicely so didn't detract from the real story. For me the inserts of people who had gone through the event before it had happened was a bit distracting from the flow of the story. If it wasn't for that I might have given 5 stars as the book was good and certainly a warning for the future.

Very scary end of the world tale

This novel is another tour de force from Matthew Mather. I was engrossed from the first page and couldn't put it down. It combines an exciting fast paced adventure story on a human scale with a potential world wide apocalypse that as is usual with Mather is based on meticulous scientific research so the scenario is scientifically plausible.

Not sure what I expected to find when I started reading. I dip into SF whenever I want a rest from my 100 must read list. This was a great story. The science was believable and had just enough explanation to avoid becoming a science journal! The thriller element added a good side plot to the extinction event. Overall a good read.

I actually stumbled on this book while playing the fiction part of Universe Sandbox ². I'm usually not much of a reader but found the idea so interesting that I had to get the book. I read through it in the stretch of a few days and now I can't wait for the next part.

This is the beginning of what is not called as the apocalypse genre. But here the apocalypse is based on something very scientific. The author uses the voyager anamoly, a little known (at least I had not heard of it before) space trivia. The voyager spacecrafts accelerated being the solar system for reasons not completely understood. The author has used this as the basis of his book and has explained various theories and the physics behind it succinctly. A great read. I am yet to begin the second book. Probably it will have less physics and more human relationship thing. But I loved the first part thoroughly.

Scary, very interesting story. You even learn some astronomy. Looking forward to the next installment of this series. Worth it!

I love it!! Good story, good plot, good science, what's not to like?!!!

La parte scientifica di questo libro è accurata, precisa, tecnica. Realistica, anche troppo visto che si tratta di un libro a sfondo apocalittico e quanto narrato potrebbe benissimo accadere. E in quanto realistico, gli scienziati non preparano cariche esplosive nucleari da piantare su un asteroide o scudi spaziali per deflettere il misterioso corpo celeste in rapido avvicinamento: tutti i loro sforzi sono volti allo studio di quanto sta accadendo, per tentare di capire se ci sia o meno un futuro per la terra dopo che Nomad sarà passato attraverso il sistema solare. Nozioni di astronomia a profusione, ma senza che il tutto diventi pesante o noioso. Anzi! Questa è la parte migliore del libro, quella meglio riuscita. La scientificità e lo studio, non per nulla l'autore ha collaborato con autorità nel campo per assicurarsi della veridicità di quanto scritto. Complimenti per l'impegno! Purtroppo ciò che è molto meno curato è la parte più di fiction. Va bene la storia di Jess e il suo tentativo di riunire i genitori, va bene la loro disperata lotta per ritrovarsi dopo essersi mancati a Roma. Ma la faida? Mi piace l'ambientazione italiana, ma se un americano deve ambientare una storia in Italia, e anzi in Toscana, non deve limitarsi a descrivere la bellezza dei nostri paesaggi. Capisco che sia pittoresco, ma un vecchio nobile toscano non ha sovranità territoriale nel suo castellino. E sopratutto non esistono faide familiari vecchie di secoli che si protraggono a oggi dopo sgarbi fatti nel rinascimento. Pittoresco, ma non esiste. E sopratutto, mentre arriva la fine del mondo e tutto va a rotoli, quando restano pochi giorni prima dell'Apocalisse, tutto quello a cui questi riescono a pensare è vendicarsi degli ultimi discendenti della famiglia rivale? E metà del personale al servizio del Barone discende dalla famiglia rivale? E sopratutto, una cosa che mi ha dato un fastidio immenso... hai chiesto la consulenza al direttore del SETI, a un professore universitario in Astrofisica, a un ricercatore del centro spaziale di San Diego, a un ricercatore del CERN... chiedere una lettura veloce a qualcuno italiano avrebbe fatto male? Le parti in italiano sono orrende, avrebbero avuto una loro plausibilità se fosse stata la protagonista americana che provava a parlare italiano a pronunciare certe castronerie, ma vengono messe in corsivo, pronunciate da italiani. Senza parole. Addirittura l'isola del giglio diventa isola gigli, ripetuto più e più volte all'inizio dei capitoli lì ambientati. Cavolo, documentazione enorme (con tanto di simulatore progettato ad hoc e reso disponibile per i lettori) sul versante scientifico, e a quanto pare google translate usato di corsa per la parte italiana. E la faccenda della vendetta ancestrale è francamente ridicola, crolla il mondo ma restano lì con la pistola puntata, devono vendicare secoli di faide e far fuori il barone, non se ne esce. Ogni volta rispuntano fuori per la faida, la faida, la faida. E basta! Interessante l'ipotesi astronomica, deludente la storia. Peccato.