The Return

Rating:
Summary: Techno- Mystery from an Alternate History.
Review: Although somewhat light in detail of characters and plot, "The Return" is a fine read of what the U.S. Space Program COULD be leading to. The ideas and dreams of one of America's Finest show, in a well thought out, suspenseful tale of International intrigue that leads from Low Earth Orbit through the morass of the Media and the National legal system, to the intricate spiderweb of Worldwide interagency espionage and skullduggery!
An excellent means of entertaining oneself on a weekend away from it all, at home or on vacation, or sending self off to one's own Dreamland!

Rating:
Summary: Too Little On Too Much
Review: Mr. Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon long before he started writing books. He was one of the handfuls of men ever to go so far from this planet, and among an even smaller group to walk on another world. He was part of the last great space project Apollo, a project that had a goal other than simply circling the Earth in low Earth orbit. He is clearly a man very frustrated with the deterioration of exploration of space, and he makes that clear in this work of fiction.

"The Return", is full of irony as it involves damage to a shuttle named Columbia. This is not cheap opportunism as this book was released a few years ago. This book attempts to include several large events in far too few pages. An event takes place and then is often resolved with little if any detail shared between the event and its resolution.

The work often has an annoying style that has a character involved in a dialogue and then commenting on what they are about to say, are saying, or have said. It leaves the reader feeling as those the same material is covered more than once. Meaningless issues like what type of fast food can cover more than a page or two, and in a book of 264 pages, that is an interminably long time.

I would be much more interested in reading non-fiction from Mr. Aldrin about how he feels America can effectively once again begin the exploration of space. I would like to know what he thinks about the Space Shuttle, The International Space Station, and whether these are worthwhile programs, and if not, what programs should be pursued.

Not many have the experience of Mr. Aldrin and I wish he was using the time that produced this book, to further the exploration, or at least the intelligent discussion of the exploration of space.

Rating:
Summary: Makes me wish this was reality and not fiction!
Review: This story from Buzz Aldrin reads almost like an alternate US space history - one in which the government allowed private business to take up the space tourist business. What makes this story a little more poignant is that the space shuttle Columbia places a significant role in the story. The pace keeps the reader flipping from page to page, and the storyline makes you want to believe that this type of R&D is really happening in the private sector. My only gripe is that Aldrin could have been a little more creative in creating one of the main civilian characters instead of simply using a caricature of Michael Jordan.