Adrift on the Sea of Rains: Volume 1 (Apollo Quartet) Paperback – 15 Dec. 2014

To start with this is not the normal type of book that I would choose to read, and it is not a full length, rather a novella.Set in an alternative time line where the world suffered a third world war in the 1980′s and has been shattered by nuclear armageddon. The only known survivors are a group of US astronauts living on the moon, isolated and alone they face a rather bleak future, with only a faint hope in the form of a device recovered from the Nazi's at the end of World War IIThe above might make the book seem to be some Science Fantasy romp, but it is not, probably one of the most `hard' Science Fiction books I have read, where in many ways the emphasis is on the science. It is easy to believe that the lunar base is real, that spaceflight is real because the information we are supplied with, the description and science feels real. It is obvious that Sales knows his stuff and his research is in depth and encompassing. I would imagine it would have easy to hit the reader again and again with in a lot more detail, but he has in fact hit the balance just right. Not too much, rather just enough to give the feeling that what is being read could be real.Even the more fantastical elements of the story, in this instance The Bell are things that have been drawn from reality, or at least reported in reality. The space-station that appears towards the end of the story really existed. The technology is real. So there is that feeling that this really is an alternative universe, somewhere close to our own, where the Moon program continued well beyond where it did in our own.Unfortunately, as stated that is not the only change, and nuclear war happened too. And this plays a major part in narrative, as the main story is interspersed with `flashback' sequences, each one a little further back in time, featuring the principal character, ending with a little twist where we find the moment where our realities diverge.It is highly entertaining reading, easily capturing the depression and near despair of the men trapped on the moon, and delivering opposing emotional responses as the story continues, while giving an ending that will make you want to throw the book across the room - in a good way.In all, well written, a good story, and it made me keep reading even though it is not my normal fare? What more can I say?

This is a relatively easy read, and is quite short, not bad to occupy some time without requiring too much thought. There is a fair amount of technical jargon, to the extent that a glossary is included, though that didn't detract from the narrative for me, though I'm one of those geeky people who lived through the Apollo programme as a schoolboy and soaked this all up back then - it may be offputting to someone new to this. It's really an Apollo 'fan-fiction' novel of an alternative future timeline when the programme wasn't cancelled, when there was a 3rd World War, and there was some incredible Nazi technology to give the few remaining survivors hope. Personally I think the stretch is too big to accept when it comes to 'secret Nazi technology', and jarred with the otherwise meticulous attention to technical detail. If Dr Who had come strolling across the moon with sonic screwdriver in hand I wouldn't have been surprised.

Ian Shales's The Apollo Quartet is 4 novellas of alternate history. At the centre of each one is the continuaion of the Apollo program beyond the early '70's and what would have happened if the space program has continued.It's a fascinating concept and the first novella is an original and good story with a shocking end. It is written from the perspective of an apollo astronaut who together with his colegues are stranded on the moon after a catastrophic nuclear war on earth and try to go to another universe where human civilization still exists. Btu he's also a classic case of a cold war fanatic who even after the catastrophe he witnessed can't put aside his cold war hatred.This would have been a 4 stars review but unfortunatelly the author fills the story with so much technical detail that it makes it dificuld to read. I understand that he wanted his story to be scientificall correct but he overdone it.

(Spoilers below.)This begins well but emphatically fails to deliver. I gave up reading science fiction as I got older because I realised a lot of it was rubbish or, charitably, written for teenagers. Occasionally I am tempted back and in this case I was rewarded with a compelling idea, introduced in a competently-written and evidently well-researched package. But the one thing it lacks is a story - it's a one-liner, and a contrived one at that. It's also padded out with appendices to make up around sixteen of those promised 80 pages. Without the corny punchline this would probably work as the prologue to a novel, but as a stand-alone piece of fiction it's a disappointment.For something better, although it still suffers from the short form, look at  Zero Phase: Apollo 13 on the Moon (Altered Space)

The general scenario for this had me civilisation the offset - A small group of men, engineers, scientists, military, stranded on the moon as the Earth dies in a nuclear holocaust. The only hope of salvation lies with a 'gadget' that may help them find an alternative/parallel Earth. If they succeed, though, will they be able to reach it with their limited resources and what kind of Earth will they find?This is a tightly written and tense, atmospheric book. I don't tend to use phrases like "not a word wasted" but in this case I will. There is a sense of loss and desperation amongst the men that is palpable.You also get a backstory of the lead character that fills in the details of what leads. up to the final days of life on EarthI will say there are a lot of abbreviations both scientific and military but worry not, there's a glossary at the back.Not a long book but a lot of story all the same, and just the right length. As the first in a quartet it does the job by making me want to read the rest.A job well done.