Back to the Moon

Rating:
Summary: Superbly crafted, vastly entertaining
Review: I just got a chance to see and meet Homer in Capitola, California of all places. A very personable man and a great writer. I took Back to the Moon home (I live on the beach) and began to read. Loved every minute of it. He said it was a beach book - it is and a lot more!

Rating:
Summary: Escape velocity paced, hardcore technothriller!
Review: It's good to see that the realities of our political struggle to stay "spacefaring" are recognized. This is a fine summer-type novel with larger than life characters, a plot worthy of Ian Fleming or Tom Clancy, as well as a much needed wakeup call to our own NASA and politicians at every level. If you like your space facts hard, your characters bold and gritty, and your plot line hanging right there at the edge of plausibility, give this a read. It will blaze like a midnight shuttle launch. I'm not quite sure an earth orbiting Soyuz could match trajectories with a spacecraft inbound from a lunar trajectory, but anyone with enough bravado to get a novel all the way to that point should be given a bit of license!

Rating:
Summary: A superbly written and informative technothriller.
Review: Mr Hickam has written one of the best technothrillers to come out in recent years. Along the lines of Tom Clancy and Dale Brown this author's grasp of the style necessary to rivet the reader is amazing. It is very informative about the space industry and poses many pertinent questions that our leaders should answer. The only drawback to this book is that it should have been 447 pages longer than it is. I could have read on and on. It will be a great movie, too.

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Summary: Wow! Beam me up, Homer
Review: This is a great story. I read it nearly without stopping. Jack Medaris and Penny High Eagle are great characters. Paco, too. I want to read more about them. Can't wait for the movie!

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Summary: First cat in space!
Review: This is a great book! I went to bed with an advanced copy prepared to just look it over. Fast forward til morning when I finished. I got up and told my husband - I just read a book that we're going to see as a movie, mark my words! I can't wait to see how they get the cat to float in space. I loved the love story, too. I actually teared up when Jack Medaris found what he found on the moon - can't say too much or I'll give the plot away. Anyway, want to enjoy a thriller which is also a love story which also tells you a whole lot about getting into space and staying there? You can't go wrong with this book.

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Summary: Back to the Moon is a glorious epic of heroism and hope.
Review: If Robert Heinlein and Tom Clancy had ever written a novel together, they might have produced something close to Back to the Moon. A rocket engineer and an American Indian astronaut "borrow" the space shuttle Columbia on an epic adventure back to the Moon, on a quest to save the future and redeem the great dream of space exploration. Almost thirty years since man last walked on the Moon, the fact that people have not been back has remained a blot on civilization. This story shows one way that blot can be wiped out. With enough technical detail, suspense, memorable charectors, and twists and surprises to satisfy all, Back to the Moon is a must read.

Rating:
Summary: Love in space!
Review: Hickam's command of the language and his inside knowledge of NASA makes Back to the Moon a unique book while also being a great read. I learned so much about how the people inside NASA really think in this book. None of his characters are cardboard like in most techno-thrillers. I feel like I know each and every one of the people in this book from old gruff Sam the head of mission control to Cecil the lawyer. I especially liked Cecil. He's a hoot! But Hickam's tale is also a love story, too, and a damn good one. Not only is there love between the hero Jack and the beautiful Amerindian science reporter aboard the shuttle but there is also the memory of love still with his dead wife who was also a rocket scientist. I loved the reporter, too - Penny High Eagle. A great name! I read the advance copy in one long reading, not at the beach, but while waiting for my husband to finish his practices at a tennis resort. I predict this is going to be the perfect book for the summer doldrums. Can't wait for the bound-to-be movie!

Rating:
Summary: Back To The Moon
Review: I have recently finished Mr. Hickam's book "October Sky" and I have to say it was great. I am sure "Back To The Moon" will be equally exciting and entertaining

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Summary: Strap me to the rocket and let's go!
Review: Having grown up in the "Shuttle" generation, I was promised that space travel would safe and available to everyone thanks to this "Magnificent Flying Machine" called the Space Shuttle. Now as an adult working for a NASA contract, I can see that the agency has lost some of the vision it had in the Apollo days (due to shrinking budgets and short ranged objectives) when plans called for moon bases in 10 years and missions to Mars in 20. Hickman captures the "counting orbits" complacency that has fallen on the manned space program since Apollo beautifully in his book and inspires us to get out of the rut and go to the stars. The politics of both space travel and international energy needs are shown to the reader in a frighteningly true manner. Hickman weaves a tale of love, suspense, revenge, and dirty politics with a touch of ideology that the reader just cannot put down. The chapter/section formatting lends itself to the thinking "Oh, I'll just read another section; it's only three pages" which happens at least 5 times whenever you try to put the book down. The author has referred to this as a beach book. The problem with reading it at the beach is that you'll finish it the first day because you just cannot put it down. It is nice to know that there are still people out there who feel the direction we should be going is up...and Back to the Moon!

Rating:
Summary: Hickam does it again! Back to the Moon soars!
Review: I loved Rocket Boys and asked for an advance copy of Homer Hickam's novel Back to the Moon. I heard it was different from Rocket Boys. It is in every way but one - it's a page turner that's hard to put down. It's got everything - adventure, action, a great love story. I learned a lot about the space business, too, from a real insider. Cape apes, pad rats, they're all in here. Jack and Penny are a couple of great characters. Now that they've gone to the Moon, let's ask Mr. Hickam to send them to Mars! I heard he calls this a beach book. It is in the very best sense of the word. Open this book up, sit down, and you're go for launch for one fun read!