Pramod V. Argade has released a science fiction epic that comments on our time¾Phool: First Contact. In this debut novel, Argade not only shows the foolishness of individuals ignoring inconvenient truths, he shows how dangerous fact denials can be on a worldwide scale.

International in scope, the novel primarily focuses on three nations, India, China, and the United States. Starting in 2030, Indian astronomer, Shakuntala “Shaku” Bakshi shares a discovery—a flower-shaped extraterrestrial object on Phobos, a moon of Mars. She names the object “Phool.”

Politicians in many countries deny Phool’s discovery, where their scientists struggle to educate the public about the importance of Shaku’s discovery. In America scientists are discredited and the head of NASA quits before being fired.

China’s president reacts to the discovery by wanting to immediately show the world his country’s prowess. He commands that three rockets be sent to Phobos with the intention of bringing the mysterious object back to Earth. The plan depends on the capabilities of a newly developed robot originally designed to be a domestic assistant. The robot’s developer openly states that his creation is not ready for such a project. Rather than allow time to tailor the robot’s programming, the president sends the robot’s inventor to prison. A less knowledgeable inventor is put in charge who does a slap-dash job of adapting the robot to the space project.

As the Chinese robot attempts to load Phool into a spacecraft, the robot falls and is crushed.

Phool wakes up and defends itself. One of the Chinese rockets contains a nuclear bomb. Phool, using a high-powered laser, cuts the rocket into pieces. Over the next few days, the flower grows and changes into what appears to be an enormous mushroom. It then takes flight toward Earth. Its arrival is expected in four months.

Right-wing news station hosts argue that the alien object must be fake news. However, behind public scrutiny those individuals plan to escape to a fortified environment when Phool arrives.

Individuals in several countries come together to communicate with the alien. India builds a fourteen-hundred-and sixty-kilometer diagonal TV across the country displaying a message of peace and hope to the approaching alien.

Will the alien befriend or decimate mankind? Or will something else occur?

Pramod V. Argade, a retired physicist and computer architect, uses his areas of expertise into the plot. Specifically, he shows how misinformation has powerful effects; and that political competitiveness and opportunistic leaders might undermine mankind’s very survival. His commentary is spot on and timely.

In the midst of the anticipated arrival of an angry alien, the book is full of subplots that come together into a cohesive whole, filling the overall story with high tension.

Readers of science fiction and social commentary will enjoy this thought-provoking debut.