New book alerts, plausible space fiction

[savuporo]

Had a long holiday, plenty of time to go through a stack of sci-fi books on my kindle. Two that might be of interest for space cadets here.

http://www.amazon.com/Perigee-Patrick-Chiles/dp/1469957132/ref=sr_1_1

This is a complete space cadet pr0n, a real page turner !

I am trying not to give spoilers, but here is a mini review : This is not even Science Fiction, but more like a present day techno thriller. It does require a bit of suspension of disbelief for a moderately informed space geek.

The central plot revolves around a company offering suborbital point to point flights. Events unfold sometime around 2015-2020, as the book begins with the first flight of Orion on top of SLS, a lot of familiar vehicles on orbit now or in short future are mentioned or directly involved, SpaceX Dragon gets a nod.

I thought it was well written, good enough characters, and a bit of fun dialogue, a bit of drama, enough attention to detail and actual real life techno-babble but not too much so to detract from action.

There are a few obvious holes in the fictionalized science/engineering in here, would be fun to discuss in a spoiler thread.

http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Killer-S-Evan-Townsend/dp/1937593452/ref=sr_1_1

This one is "plausible solar system science fiction" category, IMO. Main plot is around a company called "Space Resources Inc." which, you guessed it, is the first one to start bringing asteroids back to earth Lagrange points for mining. Needless to say, not everyone agrees that this is a good idea ..

A bit too much poorly conceived political posturing ruined it a bit for me, but the plot and the world setup is interesting enough.

[Chilly]

Thanks for the shout-out!

Let me know if you want to start a separate Perigee spoiler thread. I might be able to offer some *cough-ahem-cough* informed opinions.

The original prologue was a shuttle return-to-launch-site abort, but had to change that when the shuttles went away. The Orion/SLS vibration concerns made for a pretty obvious backup plan.

About those engineering "holes"...I couldn't avoid them, although there are enough conditions imposed on the flight in crisis to allow the more informed readers to look past it (low pax count, tankering fuel  = halfway believable mass fraction).

Working on the sequel right now...anybody here willing to help fill my clue bag regarding lunar cyclers? That is why I joined L2, after all...

[savuporo]

Hah, why am i not at all surprised to find the author on NSF forums ? 

I am actually sort of bummed i had not seen the book reviewed or mentioned on Hobbyspace, TheSpaceReview, Jeff Foust's sites or any of the sites dedicated to covering NewSpace and commercial space developments, should be a must-read for most of the regulars.
I stumbled on it completely randomly browsing the Kindle store.

Thanks for the great read, looking forward to the sequel. I assume now that you got a hang of it ( and know when to make backups ) it will take slightly less than 8 years, yes ?

As for example fairly mild spoiler... One thing i did NOT get is after the issue with the flight from Moses Lake, why would they immediately go to plan B and not try again once the problem was found ? Presumably the turnaround time should have allowed it. I waved this one away with "ok, maybe they had no extra set of prototype drop tanks sitting on the shelf"

Btw, it reminded me of another older title from 2004, in a very similar setting
http://www.amazon.com/Powersat-Ben-Bova/dp/0765309238

Supposedly near future, entrepreneur and his company betting their future on operating a spaceplane.
The tech in this one is quite a bit less detailed and more far fetched, but still an OK story.

[Chilly]

As for example fairly mild spoiler... One thing i did NOT get is after the issue with the flight from Moses Lake, why would they immediately go to plan B and not try again once the problem was found ? Presumably the turnaround time should have allowed it. I waved this one away with "ok, maybe they had no extra set of prototype drop tanks sitting on the shelf"

/quote]

Short answer: because that would've been too easy, but do consider they were in a race against time. The key to writing suspense and thrillers is to keep raising the stakes. Often that leads to choices that probably wouldn't happen in real life for the sake of advancing the plot.

Perigee did get a mention from Clark Lindsey's blog when it was first released, but if anyone can help me get a copy in front of Jeff Foust, Bill Whittle, etc. it might be helpful. Michael Belfiore and Sarah Hoyt are reading it as well so hopefully they'll be willing to provide blurbs for the sequel.

[Chilly]

FYI...Perigee is now available for Barnes&Noble Nook readers: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/perigee-patrick-chiles/1108066767?ean=2940013779778

Kobo, iBooks, etc will be available very soon.

[Phillip Clark]

For what it's worth, I bought Perigee for my Kindle and thought it was an excellent read.

I hope it doesn't turn out to be right though!

[MATTBLAK]

EDIT: They are not new, but 3 novels by Stephen Baxter: Voyage, Titan, Moonseed - they are his so-called "NASA Trilogy".

[CitabriaFlyer]

Almost finished with Perigee.  Great read. Probably would not be a bad idea for the editors to start an entertainment section for books and movies.  These kind of discussions seem to come up a lot.

[Chilly]

EDIT: They are not new, but 3 novels by Stephen Baxter: Voyage, Titan, Moonseed - they are his so-called "NASA Trilogy".

I loved "Voyage". Read it a long time ago and decided that, yeah, this is the kind of book I want to write. My sci-fi tastes are pretty limited, leaning towards the Crichton style of what's at the edge of possible *right now*.

Really appreciate the kind words, everyone. Spread the word to anyone you think may enjoy it. I'm working on the sequel right now, and am spending a lot of time in the "lunar mission architecture" threads. 

P.S. Perigee is now available for Kobo readers! http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Perigee/book-arvm5BCglEu0IUJpggEV3w/page1.html?s=m8LyKJPCf0ieD2gBS8vQyA&r=2

[MATTBLAK]

EDIT: They are not new, but 3 novels by Stephen Baxter: Voyage, Titan, Moonseed - they are his so-called "NASA Trilogy".

I loved "Voyage". Read it a long time ago and decided that, yeah, this is the kind of book I want to write. My sci-fi tastes are pretty limited, leaning towards the Crichton style of what's at the edge of possible *right now*.

Really appreciate the kind words, everyone. Spread the word to anyone you think may enjoy it. I'm working on the sequel right now, and am spending a lot of time in the "lunar mission architecture" threads. 

P.S. Perigee is now available for Kobo readers! http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Perigee/book-arvm5BCglEu0IUJpggEV3w/page1.html?s=m8LyKJPCf0ieD2gBS8vQyA&r=2

I look forward to reading your book very much, Patrick!! I'd also like to recommend a short story anthology from Hadley Rille publishing called 'Return To Luna':  http://www.amazon.com/Return-Luna-Brandon-H-Bell/dp/0981924328/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342662777&sr=1-1&keywords=Return+To+Luna

This book has many fine Lunar-themed stories within and I'm also a tad biased: it has one of mine in it!

[KelvinZero]

I look forward to reading your book very much, Patrick!! I'd also like to recommend a short story anthology from Hadley Rille publishing called 'Return To Luna':  http://www.amazon.com/Return-Luna-Brandon-H-Bell/dp/0981924328/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342662777&sr=1-1&keywords=Return+To+Luna

This book has many fine Lunar-themed stories within and I'm also a tad biased: it has one of mine in it!

Just ordered Return to Luna

[Chilly]

I look forward to reading your book very much, Patrick!! I'd also like to recommend a short story anthology from Hadley Rille publishing called 'Return To Luna':  http://www.amazon.com/Return-Luna-Brandon-H-Bell/dp/0981924328/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342662777&sr=1-1&keywords=Return+To+Luna

This book has many fine Lunar-themed stories within and I'm also a tad biased: it has one of mine in it!

Just ordered Return to Luna

It looks good - but I'm surprised they don't have it out as an e-book. That's a great format for anthologies.

[savuporo]

Ordered one as well. Keep them coming : ) Anyone else read Rock Killer yet ? Id be interested to hear opinions on it.

[Chilly]

Here's a couple more to recommend, both are only 99 cents:

Moonrush: http://www.amazon.com/MoonRush-Action-Packed-Near-Future-Adventure-ebook/dp/B007V65E98/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342715715&sr=8-1&keywords=moonrush

The Frozen Sky: http://www.amazon.com/The-Frozen-Sky-ebook/dp/B0047DX0UI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342715818&sr=8-1&keywords=the+frozen+sky

Haven't read "Moonrush" yet but "Frozen Sky" was quite good, about exploring underneath Europa's ice.

[savuporo]

See, someone indeed got Jeff Foust a copy of Perigee
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2122/1

[Chilly]

See, someone indeed got Jeff Foust a copy of Perigee
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2122/1

It was me...finally got hold of him. I'm surprised he got to it this quickly!

[QuantumG]

"Man's Hope" by William Zellmann.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008C7OM0C/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

Recommend.

[savuporo]

Oh, and this is new too
http://moonandback.com/2012/08/14/2312-a-novel-by-kim-stanley-robinson-book-review/
Probably a must read.

[Chilly]

I just remembered a good one from last year, Heaven's Shadow: http://www.amazon.com/Heavens-Shadow-David-S-Goyer/dp/044102033X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1345052259&sr=8-4&keywords=heavens+war
Both authors are screenwriters ("Batman Begins" - so no slouch, there). The sequel, Heaven's War just came out.

The plot is very sci-fi but the human side of it is grounded in close to present day (like my own work - cough, cough -). The space travel tech is Ares/Orion/Altair based, and is more pro-NASA than pro-NewSpace. Nevertheless, a good read and quite imaginative.

I'll be reading Heaven's War and will post a review on my blog (http://chilesfiles.wordpress.com/) as soon as it's done. Might be slow going as I'm also well into the first draft of Perigee's sequel.

[Michael Cassutt]

I just remembered a good one from last year, Heaven's Shadow: http://www.amazon.com/Heavens-Shadow-David-S-Goyer/dp/044102033X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1345052259&sr=8-4&keywords=heavens+war
Both authors are screenwriters ("Batman Begins" - so no slouch, there). The sequel, Heaven's War just came out.

The plot is very sci-fi but the human side of it is grounded in close to present day (like my own work - cough, cough -). The space travel tech is Ares/Orion/Altair based, and is more pro-NASA than pro-NewSpace. Nevertheless, a good read and quite imaginative.

I'll be reading Heaven's War and will post a review on my blog (http://chilesfiles.wordpress.com/) as soon as it's done. Might be slow going as I'm also well into the first draft of Perigee's sequel.

The other co-author, who has actually been around NSF for some time, thanks you for the note and the kind words.  PS -- the sequel, HEAVEN'S WAR, is out from Ace now, too.  Not much space flight in it, however.

Michael Cassutt