This is not one of my favorite Christopher books. It felt dated and the story didn't really suck me in like most of his books do.

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The year is 2068, and life in the moon's Bubble is boring. When Marty's best friend is forced to move back to Earth earlier than planned, fifteen-year-old Marty is left alone. Everything changes when Marty befriends a classmate named Steve. As an orphan, Steve is used to being an outcast and a loner. It isn't long before Steve and Marty's new friendship leads to trouble. Having skipped school, the pair takes a crawler out to the abandoned First Station.

What starts out as a quick and harmless adventure quickly goes awry when the crawler skids out of control. The friends awake to find themselves in a cave beneath the moon's surface. Much to their surprise they find food, oxygen, plants, another human, and alien life. At first the place seems magical, but the more they consume, the more obedient they become to the alien creature in charge. As the days go by, it becomes harder and harder to resist submitting to the creature. Before forgetting who they are, Marty and Steve make a plan for their escape. However, the creature just might have other plans for them.

The Bottom Line: This is classic science fiction at its best. I remember reading and rereading this book in grade school during the 1970s, and I have been searching for a copy to own ever since. I'm happy to write that the book has retained its magic. The themes of friendship and believing in yourself are just as current today as when it was written. Very highly recommended for kids in middle school. Also, highly recommended for adults interested in sci-fi.

This review also appears at the Mini Book Bytes Book Review Blog. ( )

This is very much a juvenile Sci-Fi book... sort of a "Hardy Boys on the Moon". It is well written and interesting look of two boys that find a paradise on the moon. They are trapped in a mind controlled but friendly environment. Without spoiling the plot too much the paradise is alien created and the boys escape its hold but the book ends with no resolution and you are left wondering what happens when the boys return to their home base. The alien presence is benign and has no ambitions beyond its moon environment...but would it be left to exist as it has for many millennia.

It would be a good book to spark a conversation between an adult and their early teenaged child. ( )

A wonderful Shangri-La, or Garden of Eden, story with a great lesson about the drawbacks to living in such a place. I've read it both as a child and as an adult and it is equally good from either perspective. ( )

A well-loved book from my childhood, from the author of The Tripods. Re-read and enjoyed in 2010. ( )