Emma Newman writes dark short stories and science fiction and urban fantasy novels. Between Two Thorns, the first book in Emma’s Split Worlds urban fantasy series, was shortlisted for the BFS Best Novel and Best Newcomer awards. Her latest novel is Planetfall—a scifi narrative about a secret withheld to protect humanity’s future.One of Newman's top five books about asteroids and their uses, as shared at Tor.com:
The Sparrow by Mary Doria RussellRead about the other entries on the list.
The Sparrow is a beautiful and heart rending novel which tells a first contact tale in flashbacks as we follow the slow, painful recovery of a Jesuit priest who is the only person to return from a mission to a planet called Rakhat. After detecting a form of music coming from the planet via the SETI project, a crew is formed to go and make contact. Their craft is made from an asteroid mostly hollowed out already by a mining company extracting minerals. I love the idea of using what is considered waste material, sticking an engine on it and hurtling across space inside it.
Also see: The 10 coolest fictional asteroids of all time.
--Marshal Zeringue
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