Out of the Cradle

[murphydyne]

Moonwake by Anne & Paul Spudis

A top notch juvenile, well worth the read, even for grown-ups curious about the Moon.

From the author:

Thank you for your very kind words. You let me know that "Moonwake: The Lunar Frontier" was appreciated for the very reasons we wrote it.

Anne Spudis
personal correspondance of March 17, 2006

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"Dead Man on the Moon: A Luna City Special Investigations (LCSI) Novel" by Steven Harper

Published in 2006 by Phobos Books, it weighs in at 248 pages. A few homonym errors, but the spelling and punctuation errors were minimal. Hat tip to Mark Whittington over at the Curmudgeon's Corner for bringing this one to my attention.

Noah Skyler has won a scholarship to study criminal science at Lunar University in Luna City, Mare Crisium. As part of his studies he's required to provide useful service to the community (a good idea, in my opinion) and so is quickly wrapped up in a murder investigation (then two! What's the Moon coming to?) and retained by the local performance community to stage some vaudeville comedy. He's got roommate troubles, girl troubles, work troubles, and he hasn't even been on the Moon a week.

This is a smoothly written older juvenile/college/twenty-something-aimed novel that tries to be true to the application of the forensic sciences in Lunar conditions (and succeeds as far as I'm concerned). The city is a domed marvel, and again points up the importance of having plants everywhere possible in off-Earth facilities. My favorite description is of the fish tanks:

"The screen was there, Noah had learned, to keep the fish from jumping out. In the Moon's microgravity [sic], the average trout could leap three or four meters, and a serious jumper like a salmon could easily brain itself on the ceiling".

There's also a 3-D velcroed maze called the Spider Gym similar to the one in "Growing Up Weightless", but with a touch of X-Men 'Danger Room' influence. There's also the reinforcement of TANSTAAFL: "It's the Luna rule, you know - you have to trade for everything".

The characters are developed, and the situations are the kinds of things young turk (meant in the colloquial, not derogatory, sense) teen/twenty-somethings are going to encounter. There are a few graphic adult situations, so probably not a book for younger teens. Not too much swearing, though.

I'll give this one a waning three-quarter Moon.

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"Saucer: The Conquest" by Stephen Coonts

Published in 2004 by St. Martins, it weighs in at 382 pages. Some minor spelling and grammar errors, but well-edited overall.

The story begins in mid-1947, when a band of scientists are shipped by the army to Nevada to investigate something they've found, a flying saucer. One young scientist of quick wit decides to take his research beyond what's been permitted, then disappears.

Jump to the present. Rip Cantrell and his Uncle Egg are conducting research on adapting saucer technology to modern uses. Apparently Rip found a smaller saucer in the desert in Africa and had a big old adventure in a previous book ("Saucer"). The saucer sits in the NASM in Washington, D.C., and Rip is trying to figure out how to fit an airplane with an anti-grav unit.

Meanwhile, on the Moon...ne'er do wells plot and conspire to control the Earth. It's not the UN this time around, it's the French (clearly a sign of the times in which the book was written), who have spaceplanes and have established a base on the Moon. (and have the good sense to take their wine and cuisine with them) The usual visions of empire lead to kidnappings, violence, saucer chases, saucer battles, saving the Earth, etc.

It's a brisk read, and some thought has been put into how things would work on the Lunar surface. It would probably to be helpful to have read the previous book, if only because of the amount of back-referencing.

A good half-Moon.

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"Human Resource" by Pierce Askegren
Book one in the Inconstant Moon trilogy

Published in 2005 by Ace Books, it weighs in at 280 pages. I don't recall any errors, other than refering to the artifact found as an alien one.

Erik Morrison is a really unhappy man. He's having a hard time adjusting to the 1/6th gee at Villanueva Base, a massive underground complex in Mare Crisium. He's a kind of problem solver, some would say a nettoyeur. There's problems on the Moon, and it's not just with his company's computers.

In the future, biology has been incorporated into computing devices, and recently they've been having problems with datastorms. Meanwhile, in the nearby Armstrong Base, researchers are struggling through the last gasp efforts of a publicly funded SETI project. Their representative to Villanueva has a few tricks up her sleeve, and there's good reason to think that the search hasn't been for naught.

This was a good read, and I look forward to the rest of the series. The deus ex machina of Psionics is a word I hadn't seen since my days playing Traveller. Oh wait, turns out Mr. Askegren wrote one of the Traveller novels, "Gateway to the Stars". Well whaddaya know.

This one gets a waning three-quarter Moon

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"Earthdark" by Monica Hughes (1925-2003)

Published in 1992 (copyright 1977) by Mammoth, it weighs in at 122 pages. It's a British publication (the author is Canadian), so I couldn't find any errors.

Kepler Masterson is fresh back on the Moon from a brief sojourn on Earth. Born and raised on the Moon, he thought he'd be happy to get back, but how are you going to keep the kid down on the farm when he's been to gaie Paris? He chafes at the confinement of the base in Mare Imbrium, and finds everything dull and colourless when compared with the vibrant beauty of Earth, even his chosen future-bride.

So in the best tradition of British boy's adventure tales, Kep takes off on a harmless jaunt that turns far more sinister when a flare sends him in a mad dash to Aristarchus, where the LEMCON facilities are in the process of sucking up everything they can out of the Moon before packing up and leaving. There he stumbles upon sinister forces at work, and a complot that leads to Earthdark, beyond the furthest visible point (through libration) on the limb of the Moon that can be viewed from Earth. No more LOS radio communication, no more blue marble forever in space. What he finds there is a great wonder.

This is a fun juvenile that really isn't dated in any way. Suitable for all ages. Definitely worth a waning three-quarter Moon.

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"Astronauts in Trouble: Master Flight Plan", by Larry Young, Charlie Adlard & Matt Smith.
Comprising "Live From The Moon", "Space: 1959", and "One Shot, One Beer"

Published in this form in 2003 by AiT/PlanetLar, it weighs in at a whole bunch of pages (they aren't numbered and I'm not counting). The three titles were originally published seperately in comic book /graphic novel form in various incarnations.

In "Live From the Moon", the intrepid Channel 7 newsteam are onsite when HayesCorp decides to announce its plans for the Moon on the 50th anniversary of the first landing. A potentially devastating attack by eco-terrorists advances the timetable a bit, and the journalists find themselves unexpectedly doing live updates on the way to the Moon. Mr. Hayes gets his just rewards, the Mob launches a nuclear attack on the Moonbase (they picked them up at a Ukrainian garage sale), and the Channel 7 team gets the scoop.

"Space: 1959" tells the tale of the Channel 7 team's forebearers, back in the early days of the channel. A rubbed-out janitor leads the team to Peru, where ultra-patriot Col. Macadam has secretly been assembling an advanced missile to the Moon. Russkies confound things, and the colonel soon finds himself on a one-way trip to the Moon, while the Channel 7 team finds itself with a story they can never tell.

"One Shot, One Beer" is a bar fly tale set ten years after the first story. Cool Ed's is the only place within 240,000 miles to get a pint of Guinness, and many are the tales told there, including the inside scoop on the setting up of the HayesCorp Moonbase.

There are a couple of shorts at the end as well. The commentary is interesting, and provides some nuance to the 'pulp' comic feeling of the series. Not quite as refined in the storytelling as the Planetes series, the AiT stories nevertheless provide a refreshing alternative to the usual scientist/engineer/military-type on the Moon.

Makes me wonder if the first journalist to the Moon will be the one recording the private arrival of people there in the not too distant future.

This one gets a waxing three-quarter Moon.

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"Double Planet" by John Gribbin & Marcus Chown

Published in 1988 by AvoNova, it weighs in at 220 pages. Few noticeable errors.

In the latter part of the 21st century the world has been devastated by some kind of disaster at Lagrange Station and EMP that dealt a severe blow to our technological progress. The Moon was abandoned to focus resources on stopping masses of people from dying. The fascist overstate this time around is the Reunited Nations, which grapples with worldwide challenges.

As if that weren't bad enough, there're off-world challenges as well. A comet, the Dragon, will be making a close pass, though everyone can see that it will miss the Earth. Only the RN has the computing power to understand what will happen during its outbound trajectory three years later.

A mission is scrambled using the last of the world's space assets to pay a visit and deflect the comet before it can do damage. A text book pilot, Frances Reese, leads the trio of teams to the comet. But does she have ulterior motives? And why then would the Secretary-General send the very last space asset (50/50 chance of success) to the Moon, abandoned so long ago?

Eery presaging of what's going to happen with MN2004 (now called Apophis, IIRC), and offers perhaps an alternative solution to a real-world problem. It's certainly an above average story, so I'll give it a waning three-quarter Moon.

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'The Moon Colony" by William Dixon Bell

Published in 1937 by Goldsmith Publishing, it weighs in at 247 pages. This is old school publishing, there were no errors.

Julian Epworth flies for Atlantic-Pacific Airlines, and someone has been stealing their cargo planes. He sets up a trap to find out where they're coming from, only to find that his litle sister has secreted herself in the plane and together they are in for a non-stop flight into danger! A cascade of crises leads from the arctic reaches of the north to Mare Vaporum on the Moon, to deep inside where a terrifying new world of danger awaits! A mad genius and a Lunar queen with galactic ambitions team up to dominate the universe, and only Julian and Joan can stop them! (with the aid of a few hundred thousand Selinites!)

Ahhh, a good old fashioned adventure tale told with verve and vigor. In the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, with a strong dose of H.G. Wells, this is an amazing story given the time in which it was written. The author pays his respects to Goddard and the German rocketeers, and presages the bunny hop on the Moon, as well as IR goggles (though his use UV). There is no doubt in my mind that Robert A. Heinlein read this book at some point, as I thought often of his works while reading it.

This one gets a three-quarter Moon for its Verne-ian efforts at scientific accuracy, though the exposition is really only a halfish Moon.

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"Tom Swift: Moonstalker" by Victor Appleton

Published in 1992 by Archway Paperbacks, it weighs in at 165 pages. One or two homonym errors.

Tom Swift, boy genius inventor who can solve any problem, is hard at work with his dad's company, Swift Enterprises, on the next generation of space shuttles while slogging through high school. In his spare time he's solving the problem of atmospheric interference in astronomical observations using a laser that is focused into the atmosphere and its distortions analyzed to adjust the received image for greater resolution. (I'm pretty sure I've seen this idea somewhere else, and it's different from adaptive optics)

While testing his equipment he spots something in orbit that shouldn't be there. Analyzing the markings (it's a base 14 number system - it must be alien!) leads to a trip to Hertzsprung Crater (2.6N, 129.2W) on the Moon. Just as they're passing over the crater, contact is lost from both ends, and the danger level kicks into overdrive as only Tom can save the day! And there's another surprise find on the Moon!

A modern juvenile, we shouldn't forget that Tom Swift has already been to the Moon, in 1958's "Tom Swift in The Race to the Moon". The series has been thoroughly updated for Gen X/Y and put in a modern setting. It does take a bit of an anti-corporate stance, including:

"His face grew even redder. 'But there's a clear danger. A gutted space program would leave the field open for a few ruthless types to take over the High Frontier. With a monopoly over space travel, they'd have a stranglehold on humanity's future.'"

At least this time around the bad guys aren't the UN. It's a fairly generic rendering about on par with the Hardy Boy's trip to a space station. I'll give it a waning half Moon.

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Short Story Break:

"You Will Go to the Moon" by William Preston. Published in Asimov's Science Fiction, July 2006, it weighs in at 11 pages. Be sure to also check out the editorial on Moon Day.

The protagonist is a homebody. He was upset when his parents moved to Arizona, and he's upset that his parents are moving to the Moon. He's concerned for his mother, whom he senses does not really want to go, but also for his understanding of his family. After a while he goes to pay them a visit on the Moon, and realizes a few things about family. After his return, he realizes that truly, you can never go home again.

An interesting meditation on mortality, the story left me a bit unsatisfied. The concept of retiring to the Moon is one of the things I included in my "25 Good Reasons to go to the Moon" (also later at Space News) because it is sensible. The heart would be relatively stronger in the lesser gravity, but would of course have to be maintained as such lest it quickly atrophy.

The title is in reference to the 1959 book "You Will Go To The Moon" by Mae and Ira Freeman, which is intimately familiar to many, many Baby Boomers. In a sense then the story reflects on the manner of said going not necessarily being the one that everyone expected.

I'll give it a waxing half Moon.

[murphydyne]

"A Woman in Space" by Sara Cavanaugh
A Tiara Novel

Published in 1983 by Ace/Stoneshire (orig. 1981 by Nordon in U.S.), it
weighs in at 187 pages.

I hope y'all appreciate the suffering I go through on this project. I found that I could only read this book in short snippets, it was that painful. Much reference is made to feminism. Why I don't know. The protagoniste, Capt. Carol Collins, is a very poor role model for feminism. She is a very good role model for the need for heavy medication and institutes where one can relax.

The U.S. is trying to set up facilities on the Moon, but missions keep disappearing in a triangular area defined by Mare Vaporum, Mare Serenitatis, and Mare Tranquilitatis. (Everyone pull out their Moon maps. You can see there's a kind of -triangular- area defined by the rims of the mare). Since the prior missions were all male, maybe things would work differently if they sent a woman. Said level of intelligence is maintained throughout the work.

The physics are wonky (for a deep space rendezvous, "Start reversing your engines to break your ship, and use full flaps down."), the mental processes of Capt. Collins unfathomable. The whole thing is a wreck that has been hacked together. Genre-wise I believe this one would be considered a 'romance novel', sort of, or bodice-ripper, as my Mom would affectionately refer to them. If the book wants to be erotica, taking more than a hundred pages to get to the action is not the way to do it.

This one is such a New Moon at apogee it isn't even funny.

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"The Trouble with Tycho" by Clifford D. Simak

Copyright 1961, published by Ace Books, it weighs in at 115 pages. well edited.

It's been a few decades since humanity first visted the Moon, and a number of small bases have sprung up to support the prospectors in their work. Chris Jackson is a prospector based out of Coonskin in Pictet Crater (43.6S, 7.4W), though there are also towns in Schomberger Crater (76.7S, 24.9E) (Crowbait) and Archimedes Crater (29.7N, 4.0W) (Hungry Crack).

On returning from a lichen-hunting trip near Tycho Crater, Chris runs into the stranded transport of Amelia, who's had the misfortune of having a micrometeorite puncture her windshield and control panel. She can't go back to town for help as she had sneaked onto the Moon underneath the radar, so to speak. She tells Chris of a secret treasure in Tycho crater from the lost "3rd Lunar Expedition" and he agrees to help her out.

Returning to town to stock up on supplies, he also finds out that his contract has been leased out to a researcher who wants to study the lichens found on the Moon, and the microbes therein that seem to have palliative affects on certain mental instabilities.

So things get more complicated quick, and there's also the fact that Tycho is known to be haunted, because missions keep disappearing there. Nevertheless, they take the plunge...right in to an inhuman trap. Can human ingenuity save the day? Will Chris and Amelia ever make it out alive? Are they tough enough for the escape?

I would classify this one as an older juvenile/twentysomething level book. The author keeps the pacing brisk, and there's a fair level of scientific plausibility in the plot elements.

I'll give this one a three-quarter Moon.

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"The Man Who Sold The Moon" by Robert A. Heinlein

Copyright 1950, my copy is by Baen Books, the story (novella, really) weighs in at 115 pages.

This review is in honor of Dr. Peter Diamandis winning the Heinlein Prize administered by the Trustees of the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust, and who will receive $500,000, a gold Heinlein Medallion, the Lady Vivamus Sword (as described in Heinlein’s book Glory Road) and a Laureate’s Diploma. He openly admits that this story had a huge influence on him, and has been known to distribute copies at the NASA Academy at Goddard.

Delos D. Harriman is an entrepreneurial spirit trapped in a world of conservative business. He's nurtured any number of companies to success and can tap vast sums of capital. But it's still not enough. He partners up with some other millionaires and makes a push for the Moon. What's notable is that he's not doing it for his own benefit, but because it is important for humanity.

To get there he has to needle, cajole, mislead, puff, deceive and even outright lie to secure the capital and support he needs to make it happen. And he does make it happen, laying the first step to humanity reaching for the stars.

A brilliant work for the time, and one focused on the private enterprise more than the scientific accuracy of the work, though of course RAH closely adheres to known constraints of physics.

This legendary story is clearly a Full Moon.

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"Requiem" by Robert A. Heinlein

Written in 1940, my edition is Baen Books, and the story weighs in at 22 pages.

One really can't talk about "The Man Who Sold The Moon" without also noting the original story, written a decade earlier, which sums up the end of days of D.D. Harriman.

While he took humanity to the Moon, he was always denied the opportunity to go there himself by his business partners, who recognize his personal importance to the venture. Frustrated to the end of his days by this prohibition he cooks up a scheme that will get him there on the sly.

A touching story, it lacks the heft of its sequel/prequel, and so only gets a three-quarter Moon.

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"The Bellman" by John Varley

Published in June, 2003 in "Asimov's Science Fiction", it weighs in at 22 pages.

Lt. Anna-Louise Bach is a police officer on the Moon. The Moon has recently been the location of a number of murders of pregnant women, and as Lt. Bach is well on her way to having a child herself she becomes one of the 'baits' used to try to lure the killers out. She gets a lot more than she bargained for.

This is one disturbing novelette. I would definitely NOT recommend it for women who are pregnant. The subject matter is one not normally associated with the Moon, and while policiers often involve a bit of gore, this story was particularly lurid.

I'll give this one a waning half Moon.

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