Reviewed by Pennell Paugh
May 16, 2026 (San Diego) – San Diego writer 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?
Below is an excerpt from the novel:
“’On behalf of ISRO, I am here to present compelling evidence of an extraterrestrial object on Phobos, a moon of Mars.’
“Dr. Shakuntala Bakshi, a thirty-year-old female astronomer from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), said these words in front of an astounded audience of over two hundred dignitaries. Just a few minutes back, she’d been contemplating walking out of the hall in protest before being introduced by the prime minister of India. She wished “the PM,” as the people in India referred to him, had agreed with her recommendation to hold off on making this announcement until others corroborated her discovery.
“She was speaking in an ornately decorated hall at the famous Vigyan Bhavan, or Science Center, the huge government conference center in New Delhi. It amazed her how she had gotten to this moment over a period of just one very long day.
“At 10 a.m. this morning, Shaku, as she preferred to be called, had been at work finishing up her notes to document the momentous discovery she’d made during the night. By then, she’d spent over twenty-six hours in her office at the ISRO in Bengaluru and intended to call a cab to go home and get some sleep. Instead, the Director of Public Relations had walked in with a directive.
“’The prime minister wants you to announce your discovery this evening in New Delhi.’
“’But it hasn’t been corroborated by other astronomers yet.”
“The Director ignored her objection …
“Given no choice, she [Shaku] followed instructions and worked frantically to prepare a speech while on the flight.”
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 leaderships 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.
Pramod V. Argade is an author, physicist, and computer architect. His novel examines the fragile boundary between scientific progress and human judgment. Trained as a physicist and shaped by decades designing advanced semiconductor technologies, he brings real-world depth to his fiction.
Holding a master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and a Ph.D. in physics from Boston University, Argade is the inventor and co-inventor on eighteen U.S. patents. Phool: First Contact draws on his science, technology, and multicultural experiences to explore what happens when discovery moves faster than wisdom and humanity’s greatest obstacle becomes its unwillingness to confront uncomfortable truths. Learn more at PramodArgade.com.