The first chapter was interesting, but there were a few things that really turned me off of the story.
As mentioned above, the biggest problem I had was the lack of personality in the main character. While I could see the character's seeming detachment from the events evolving into an entertaining quirk, there was no sense that the character really cared at all about.. well, anything. Strangely, the detachment spilled over from the character's view on the impending catastrophy, to his thoughts and conversations with his family, and was even apparent when he spoke with his mother about the love that he's going to attempt to find. Considering this woman seems to be the primary catalyst of the story, I don't see how a lack of emotion when the character talks about her as a good thing. In short, the lack of personality just puzzles me, and I feel it's more of a lack of early development than a gimmick the writer is using to display the character's progress in coping with his feelings and thoughts on the last days of his life.
The other problem I saw wasn't terrible, and probably wouldn't be noticed by most readers, but it made me wince. The entire "ohnoez n asteroid is going to slam into the earth!" thing is just far too played out to be used well anymore. Besides being cliche, it's also just.. not viable. Consider this: Comet Hale Bopp.. Comet Halley... Several asteroids (Eros, most notably).. all visible by the human eye. Very visible through a decent telescope. The author was correct in saying that "the powers that be" would have noticed this years ago, but there's still a pretty large problem - what about backyard astronomers? Astronomy students? Amateur astronomers? Good natured astronomers NOT working for a government agency? They all would have known years in advance as well, and even with the combined might of every world superpower, the information would get out. I know it's just a gimmick, and that the story isn't meant to be a scientifically sound piece of writing, but I can't help but see that is a massive gap in the story. I dismiss it largely as artistic license, but my annoyance over this minor detail left a bitter taste in my mouth through the rest of the chapter.
The above issues aside, the writing was good, the story seemed entertaining, and assuming the author developes the character as the story goes on, I'm sure it will be an entertaining read. I'll be purchasing the book when it's published, but I expect it to be little more than a quick and entertaining spring read.
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