Arthur C Clarke was fond of saying "The Future ain't what it used to be". I know what he means.

On LT Recommendation I had a look at Back to the Moon a new book of "hard" science fiction that feels like an old book.

In fact it reminds me of nothing so much as Clarke's A Fall of Moondust which was written a LONG time ago.

This is what Isaac Asimov use to call a "Solve the Equation" book. Set up a (science or engineering) problem, gather a crew, then show step by methodical step how to solve the problem -- with Science!

In this case a Chinese moon mission fails spectacularly and an American mission has to be quickly jury rigged into a search and rescue mission. The characters are fine but pretty shallow, but the story drives on from "Hurrah! We did it!" to "Oh No, Now What?" with energy and intelligence and solid if not fancy writiing.

If it isn't actually grand opera (or even Space Opera) its a fun read and i enjoyed it. Going to keep an eye on what these authors are up to. ( )

Space is dangerous but worth the effort
SPACE travel is dangerous but worth the risk. ( )

As an American space effort prepared to return us to the lunar surface, a message is received from a manned Chinese space craft trapped on the moon. The Americans try to rescue them. Lots of complications in an entertaining near future story that includes private space firm and s NASA Orion program. Great entry of its type. ( )