Back to the Moon

Rating:
Summary: Totally ridiculous, but with fun elements
Review: Three and a half stars.

BACK TO THE MOON by Homer Hickam should be shelved in "Science Fiction Fantasy" in the brick-and-mortar bookstores, but is probably improbably in "Literature". At the very start, we have the Apollo 17 astronauts discovering the isotope helium-3 in a moon crater in 1972. Fast forward to the present. Helium-3 is a necessary component of a hydrogen fusion process that will produce unlimited amounts of squeaky-clean energy. Of course, the only local source is the moon, long since forsaken by the US space program. Bummer! Ex-NASA wonder boy Jack Medaris, now head of his own space engineering firm, Medaris Engineering Company (MEC), is hired by entrepreneurs to retrieve some of the isotope from the lunar surface before a world treaty is signed that would ban any nuclear energy-producing process, including hydrogen fusion. When Jack's robot lunar miner is destroyed by the inevitable evil conspiracy - probably the same one now boosting premium gas to $2+ a gallon, his solution is to commandeer the shuttle Columbia on the day of its launch, and take it BACK TO THE MOON to retrieve the precious helium-3 "dirt". He does all this with the help of his engineering wizards at MEC, and a smart lawyer that writes a slick contract, signed by MEC, NASA and the Department of Transportation (DOT), that ultimately makes the hijack legal. This last wrinkle really puts a twist in the knickers of the female US Attorney General, a figure obviously reminiscent of Janet Reno.

The predictable plot is nothing more than a series of ludicrously preposterous and impossible action sequences. However, the ingenuity of Hickam's space scenes, and the characters of Jack and Penny High Eagle, make the novel palatable. Penny is a spoiled, self-absorbed Ph.D. biologist, who, like the now-deceased Carl Sagan, has become more of a media personality than scientist. It doesn't hurt her image that she's also a Cherokee Indian, and the first Native American to visit the South Pole, climb Mt. Everest, and dive to the Titanic hulk. Originally added to the Columbia's original (all-female) crew as a payload specialist, she's the only one to get aboard the shuttle before Jack and his sidekick Virgil abscond with it. The initial personal interaction between Jack and the bratty High Eagle gives new meaning to the term "bicker". But, it just so happens that Jack was previously tragically widowed, and Penny is very much a "babe", so you can see where that set of circumstances is going.

Like I said, I give this work a reluctant "thumbs up". However, there was one question left dangling. One of Penny's original, space experiments was to test the effects of weightlessness on the feline sense of balance. Thus, Paco the cat gets seized along with High Eagle, and spends his time happily clawing his way around the Columbia's cabin. Now, how does one get a cat to use a litter box in zero-g?

Rating:
Summary: Hickam = Heinlein
Review: If you love Heinlein, you'll like this. If on the other hand you're one of those people who think that Heinlein creates cardboard characters to act out his right wing world view, then you won't like this either. Beyond that, there's just too much reliance on improbable circumstance and deus ex machinas to maintain a willing suspension of disbelief, which is a pity because there are some nice touches here.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, fast-paced techno-thriller!
Review: I loved Rocket Boys so had to give this one a try. From the first page, I was mesmerized! Homer gets this one going in a hurry - a destroyed space probe, then a hijacked space shuttle. Next thing you know, sparks are flying between his hero Jack and his hero-astronaut Penny High Eagle! Then they're attacked from earth, Jack and Penny take a space walk where her suit fails, then another attack and then off to the moon where they meet - yes - Star Wars - not the movie, the real thing! Then they crash on the moon and somehow Homer has actually figured out how to get them off. Makes sense, too! I loved this book and I bet you will, too! Slow-paced? Whoever wrote that must have been on speed! Oh yeah - there's a cat along for the ride, too! What a hoot! I thought I'd laugh myself silly at his antics!

Rating:
Summary: OK Adventure
Review: Here's the thing: I saw "October Sky" and thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, so I was prepared to be enthralled by Mr. Hickam's new book. Didn't happen. Oh, the writing is servicable and all and the plot is an interesting idea (stealing the Shuttle to return to the Moon), but the first half of the novel is very slow. Indeed, it almost drags a bit. Go ahead and read it, but don't blame me if you come away a little disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Back to the Moon?...Let's Go!
Review: Homer Hickam does an excellent job of strapping us into the cockpit and letting the reader experience space flight. His characters Jack Medaris and Dr. Penny High Eagle make an interesting "opposite attracts" pairing. Knowledgeable of his subject (Hickam is a retired NASA engineer), the author does a very credible job of detailing a high-tech world. Some good plot twists and building suspense make this an enjoyable read (even for a non-astronaut).

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfull
Review: Having just finished Back to the Moon, and having read it right after Stephen Baxter's Voyage. I am throughly convinced we should have never stopped exploring space. Homer Hickman created wonderful story, great characters and a plot that kept me reading for hours at a time. I have heard the book has been optioned for a movie, oh well can't have everything. If you are like me and grew up watching black and white tv of men walking in space and on the moon in you pajamas up late after bedtime, read this book. Oh yes, and Baxter's Voyage.

Rating:
Summary: EXCITING BOOK
Review: While the book started off some what slow it ended up being a very entertaining book. If find it interesting that many of the reviewers feel that there gut instinct about the plausability of the technology ideas involved are more accurate then the research that the author has done. The most implauable thing in the book that i can find is the idea that a senate that can't pass a nuclear test ban treaty would be willing to ban all forms of fission energy.

Rating:
Summary: An attempt at recreating the Science Fiction of the 1950s
Review: I loved the "Rocket Boys", but I wasn't sure about how good this book would be. I debated buying this book for so long that it finally showed up as a pocket book in my local grocery store. I bought it on a whim as we had just moved and I didn't have anything to read and it was probably the best way to get this book.

The flavor of the story is reminiscent of early RAH or Asimov (and I think this is what Hickam was trying to achieve with the book). The plot is basically good old American patriots going after what they think is right, despite the odds and the fact that what they are doing is somewhat illegal (but they have the vision that when everyone sees what they have done, everything will be all right). A very 50s sci-fi plot and it works quite well here.

What doesn't work well is, ironically, what I would have considered Hickam's primary area of expertise. I found the technical descriptions of how the trip to the moon was accomplished to be overly simplified and quite unbelievable. Somehow I can't believe that the three Space Shuttle Maine Engines (SSMEs) can be removed and a new, untried engine (with an ambiguous fuel supply) could be connected to the shuttle by one or two untrained people in twelve hours or so in space. I have some idea of the complexity and development/testing process of the software used in the Shuttle and willy nilly application of "patches" seems highly improbable to me to say the least. To net out my comments, if you are expecting to learn something about the shuttle, this isn't the book.

I found the pace of the book to be quite uneven with the start being quite slow and plodding and the action torquing up as the book progressed. This leaves the reader with the feeling that the book is a quick read if they get through it, but I could see people putting it down after the first 100 pages or so.

Overall, a very good first novel and a good read on a trip or waiting for a moving van - but not one you will come back to in later years.

Rating:
Summary: A delightful surprise
Review: This a great book. It reads fast and it packed with detail without becoming tediuous. I really enjoyed the story and plausible approach to space flight. A must read!

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining and fast-paced "ride" into space!
Review: There has always been a wish in my mind that our nation will again summon up the courage to return to the moon. Then along comes "Back To The Moon", which perfectly feeds off that wish and makes for a fun piece of fiction.

I was drawn to this book after reading Hickam's wonderful memoir "Rocket Boys" (aka "October Sky") last year. I wasn't sure if his fiction would be quite as engaging, but from the first page, I knew I was in for a treat.

Hickam manages to weave in all the current political and other influences preventing a return to a more adventerous space program. Add to that a shadowy group bent on permanently squashing space exploration and some other elements, and this book has all the "feel" of a Clive Cussler novel.

Like Cussler, there are some passages where the reader will have to suspend his or her sense of reality and let your imagination take control. But more often than not, that's what puts a lot of the fun and drama into a book. Hickam more than compensates with the "unbelievable" with the knowledge of the space program that only an insider could know. Plus, he also presents a lot of detailed scientific aspects to spaceflight that would make even skeptics believe that it could be possible to send a shuttle to the moon and back.

The ending was a little too cliched and "happily ever after" for me, but otherwise, it was one of the best fictional works I have read in the past year. As I said earlier, this book fed off my wish that the U.S. would renew manned missions to the moon. Hopefully there are others who will read this who also have the desire to pick up where the Apollo missions left off.