Luisa H

With many countries closely following the movements of 3I/ATLAS, this might be the perfect time to read Daniel H. Wilson's latest novel, "Hole in the Sky." It approaches "first contact" from the perspectives of a dysfunctional Cherokee family living in the area of the Mounds of Spiro, Oklahoma, and of socially impaired U.S. government bureaucrats and specialized military personnel.

Wilson is a talented author, but this novel is definitely not for everyone. It gets into the weeds – strange Native ancestors, enormous underground tunnels, humans melding with sentient tech, "perversion of the future of war" with violent humanoid-robot soldiers, reality "conjured from our worst fears," prayerful offerings, life, death (including a dead soul returning to life), and even, possibly, the apocalypse.

Don't read too fast and skip over his descriptions and the phrases used to describe things existing in circumstances of "incalculable chaos." You also might want to brush the dust off your books on ontology.