REVIEW: Fire in the Sky

Fire in the Sky
Author: Gordon L. Dillow

Stories about an asteroid striking the earth and causing complete destruction have been popular for decades now. Not to mention documentaries, podcast episodes, youtube videos.....  It's ingrained in pop culture that someday the Earth will be struck by a gigantic rock from space, and life as we know it will end. BOOM!

Fire in the Sky examines this pop culture phenomenon....adding in a lot of scientific fact about past asteroid strikes, what would really happen in case of a large asteroid hitting the planet, and how (or if) we can protect ourselves. Some of the facts surprised me. For instance, at least once a year an asteroid enters Earth's atmosphere causing a blast comparable to the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Smaller blasts occur at least once a month. I had no clue that asteroids enter the atmosphere that often and basically explode. I guess I just always assumed they blazed to earth as shooting stars. I never guessed some asteroids/meteors explode with apparent gusto. Yikes!

I will admit that I've watched all of the movies based on the apocalypse coming in the form of a large rock from space. It makes for a very suspenseful and enjoyable disaster action flick. I'm glad I took the time to read this book and learn actual facts about asteroids and what might happen if The Big One is coming our way. Dillow presents the facts in an interesting way, without any unnecessary melodrama. I read this book slowly....one chapter at a time....and gave my brain time to soak in the information. I enjoyed learning about what makes up an asteroid and where they come from, asteroid detection technology, what happens when an asteroid enters the atmosphere, the history of asteroid strikes on the Earth, and how many asteroids might be floating around out there that are big enough to take out the planet. Very interesting!!

I found this book interesting and informative, not alarming. I'm not going to look up at the night sky in fear...waiting for the end. But, the chance is there that someday a big lump of space rock might come close enough to cause concern. I'm glad that the science is there to at least try to avert an impact. The dinosaurs didn't fare so well....but at least we will get to attempt to stop the destruction this time.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Scribner via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**