Customer Reviews

Fall of Moondust

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Long before Arthur Hailey (Airport) or The Poseidon Adventure, there was this book. In some ways this may be the ultimate `disaster' book of science fiction, done with impeccable attention to science, and a very plausible (at the time it was written) setting.

The Selene is a rather unique ship, built to travel on surface of a lake composed of nothing but dust, the end result of billions of years of slow erosion of the Lunar surface by continuous heating/cooling and the impact of meteorites. When this book was written (1961), this was a very plausible hypothesis, and is still not completely out of the question for isolated areas of the moon that we haven't explored yet. Due to a rare large moon-quake, the ship, and all its passengers, is suddenly buried some 50 feet below the surface, totally cut off from the world.

The story revolves around what four separate people do about this situation: Harris, Selene's captain; Lawrence, the engineer in charge of the rescue effort, Lawson, an introverted astro-physicist who reaches the limelight due to his involvement in initially finding the crash site, and a reporter tracking the greatest rescue attempt ever.

For Harris, and the other twenty people trapped in the ship, we see not only a reasoned response to the disaster, but a calmness and degree of civility between the people that might seem, at first glance, to be unrealistic. But when you look at the actual response of many people in similar disaster scenarios (think the Titanic), what is portrayed here is actually quite probable. The character sketches of the passengers cover a pretty wide range of personality types and professions, and add strong elements of believability and relevance to the story. Harris's growth as an individual and his involvement with the ship's stewardess are, perhaps, a little weak and clichéd, but the general interaction of all the trapped people provides its own level of suspense to the story.

The real story, though, lies more with Lawrence and the problems he faces in figuring out how to perform this rescue in such a hostile environment - and it's not just one problem, for it seems as soon as he figures out a way to handle the current crisis, new problems emerge. Each problem clearly derives from real science, and the whole thing is carefully plotted to keep the suspense alive.

I guess this book was somewhat ahead of its time, as Hollywood never picked up on this book. Or more likely, Hollywood didn't know what to do with a science-fiction concept grounded in real science (never Hollywood's strong point), even though the basic plot seems like it was just tailor-made for screening. So all we have is this taut, suspenseful book, very unique within the science-fiction world.

---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

A Fall Of Moondust, by the late Arthur C. Clarke (Childhood's End, Dolphin Island) is really a suspense disaster story that takes place on the moon, science fictional in the setting and the author's speculation, clever at the time, that deep dust in the low-gravity craters would be similar to liquid water on Earth. And so the premise is that a "boat," carrying passengers across a crater on the moon, sinks in the dust. Rescue operations are oviously trickier than on Earth, communication through the dust seemingly impossible. Suspense mounts as engineers devise means to locate the boat, communicate with it, provide air, and commence rescue operations all while the passengers await their fate. One of my favorite sf novels due to the effective blend of suspense, the clever sci-fi idea, and Clarke's scientific accuracy.

This is an astounding book from the greatest Science Fiction writer of all time. Reading large scale "space operas", one would expect that the action in this novel is not as gripping since it revolves around a very confined area. Most SciFi writers are able to convey a story, but fall through on their deficiency in technology. Sir Arthur C. Clarke never misses a step when he describes the extremely thrilling story, and so skilfully describes the surrounding technologies and landscapes. What absolutely unbelievable is that this book was written even before the lunar landings in 1961, but all his observations of the moon, the computer technology, descriptions of plasma drives still holds to this day. This novel was one of his most successful, and Clarke has since been humoristically called the "prophet" since the manned and un-manned space flights seem to confirm his observations of space and our nearby planets. He never quantizes technologies, but describe how the story actually revolves in the future technology environment. Where Gibson in "Neuromancer" wrote about the main character "..stole 4Mb of hot ram..." one immediately sets the story to the 90'ties when 4 Mb of Ram was significant memory, even if it was supposed to be in the far future. Clarke never makes such mistakes, making this novel, written in 1960, as relevant today as it was then. In "A Fall of Moondust". Add to this the uncanny ability to explain the action so well it is almost as watching a movie whilst reading the story, this is one book that is highly recommended.

This is one of Clarke's better novels. The scope is smaller than his usual work, and the plot feels a bit like a catastrophe movie, but it's very well executed.

A sightseeing shuttle is trapped below 15 meters of dust while travelling on one of the Moon's craters. The rest of mankind are working out a way to dig them up again, while they're slowly running out of calm and oxygen...

The scientific details of the accident, its subsequent terrors, and the rescue operation, are as always authoritative and clearly explained. Very believable.

Characterization was never Clarke's strongest point, and it's a bit cheap here too. Usually, it's not that important in hard SF, but here I feel it would be in order. The trapped people could have been fleshed out to make us care for them more. I came to associate their names with their professions rather than with their personalities. There are some really awkward "romantic" moments between the captain of the shuttle and the stewardess, and the humour attempts are downright cringeworthy. Clarke has the characters "bursting with laughter" over a couple of jokes that are simply embarrassing to read.

Also among the trapped is a "legendary explorer" (more or less presented as the greatest hero of the space age) who always knows what to do, and of course a brilliant physicist with the sole purpose of telling us what troubles he foresees. Including those two in the story I consider outright cheating on Clarke's part.

Of the outside characters, we are constantly told (as opposed to SHOWN) that Dr. Lawson, although helpful to the cause, is obnoxious and without social virtues, but he ended up being my favourite character simply because he wasn't so damn likeable all the time (Clarke's heroes are usually great leaders without a single human fault, or curiosity-driven university nerds, who, if Clarke had his way, would always get the girl).

Anyway, along with the science forming the backbone, Clarke's expertise in storytelling is what really makes this book shine. We follow the parallel storylines of the trapped people and the people on the outside working against and around the clock to save the shuttle. Nature has an endless amount of nasty tricks in store for the trapped ship, and Clarke presents them at just the right time, when you think all is safe for the moment. He makes it feel like you're there yourself, and that I would say is the mark of success in this kind of story. The final stage of the rescue attempt is really thrilling, and I'm not usually impressed with cheesy Hollywood scenes of that kind. But he pulls it off really well, and I finished the book feeling satisfied.

What makes this book fall slightly behind stuff like "Rendezvous with Rama" or "Childhood's end" is mainly that the setting is so small (and realistic!) that the ending becomes predictable. In his other books you often have NO IDEA how the story is going to unfold. Here there are only two possible ends - they live or they die. But he made that question interesting too, and so I recommend the book.

This was one of the first science fiction stories I ever read, as a keen young 11 year old, and I have never forgotten it. It is a classic of the genre, and is still believable and interesing today.

The characters are well drawn, and the science is detailed and interesting. I guess it is comparable to a good old fashioned disaster story, and it is this element that would make the story appealing even to those who don't care for science fiction.

Arthur C Clarke has always been a great writer, and this is a wonderful story. It will keep you riveted until the very end.

A Fall Of Moondust, by the late Arthur C. Clarke (Childhood's End, Dolphin Island) is really a suspense disaster story that takes place on the moon, science fictional in the setting and the author's speculation, clever at the time, that deep dust in the low-gravity craters would be similar to liquid water on Earth. And so the premise is that a "boat," carrying passengers across a crater on the moon, sinks in the dust. Rescue operations are oviously trickier than on Earth, communication through the dust seemingly impossible as the passengers await their fate. One of my favorite sf novels due to the effective blend of suspense, the clever sci-fi idea, and Clarke's scientific accuracy.

This is somewhat of an anamoly in Clarke's canon. At a contrast to his usual philosophical-tinged works, this is an honest-to-goodness thrill machine. Fortunately, Clarke's pen is as mighty as ever, and we are spared the usual, dime-a-dozen, run-of-the-mill action stories of this type that pollute the science fiction landscape. Here we have a suspenseful narrative that is both well and tightly written, while also being scientifically strict. While it is true that the "dust" that Clarke describes does not exist on the Moon-at least not that we know of-it is still very plausible, and there are no leaps of faith that need to be made during the course of this book, in terms of its climaxes and resolutions. This has all the intelligence that you would expect from Clarke. He also did something here that he has not always done, but which was fortunat here because it was essential to the story's being good, and that was including an interesting and believable cast of characters. These are not cardboard cut-outs, and they bring the human element into hard science fiction, which, unfortunately, is often all too lacking. This is a classic. If you are tired of the cornball, cliched type of SF "disaster" story that is all too prevalent and want something better, then look no further.

Though it's a little low on deep thoughts, this is one of Arthur C. Clarke's more reliable and readable space operas. The themes aren't that compelling and the story is based on a now-discredited theory about seas of dust on the moon (note that it was published in 1961, before we ever saw the moon up close and personal). But this is an exciting and dependable disaster thriller, and for fans who are okay with this book's lack of Clarke's usual cosmological philosophy, all should be happy with the read. Clarke managed to avoid standard disaster clichés and delivered a strangely plausible tale of heroism and horror backed by real science (notwithstanding that weird old dust) and believable interactions amongst characters trapped in a mishap together for days with no guarantee of survival. While this book is not high on Clarke's list of immortal classics, and it doesn't reach his great philosophical heights, it also avoids over-reaching and provides more excitement and empathy than standard sci-fi thrillers. For fans wishing to dive into Clarke's more obscure and under-appreciated works, be sure to give this under-achiever a chance. [~doomsdayer520~]

In this classic disaster yarn the all-too-human crew of moon ship Selene and its 22 passengers are trapped in a vast dust bowl on the lunar surface, and it's up to Chief Engineer Lawrence to find a way to get them out before it's too late. There are lots of twists and turns as various setbacks arise, and plenty of practical science and engineering, despite the fact it's now known that no such dustbowls exist, but that doesn't really matter because the main attraction is trying to figure out how they'll get out of each successive crisis. There are plenty of secenes with Lawrence, and with a newshound who thinks he's got the scoop of the century, and with a disagreeable astronomer whose infra-red observations save the day, but much of the book takes place onboard Selene where we get to see a cross-section of humanity and how they react to their deadly predicament. Suffice it to say that on the whole, Clarke's passengers behave like typical Brits, and for many American readers, this is always the most endearing aspect of his work. His characters (and the scientists particularly) have an unflappable reserve that sustains them through all adversity. They are reading books and putting on plays in circumstances in which Americans would be eating each others' flesh. Not to say that these characters' behavior is unbelievable - just different - almost National Geographic different.

As for the prose, Clarke is often as dry as the dust on which the moon ship Selene sails, but his science is just about impeccable and he knows how to tell an engrossing story. This entire book is basically a tightly interwoven set of technical puzzles. Once the mainstay of science fiction, puzzle stories challenge the reader to solve the technical problem posed - kind of like the "whodunit" of the detective genre. Selene systematically works its way through each successive danger only to face another one, but each arises naturally from the laws of physics as they apply to the given situation; there's no melodrama or coincidence here. Not many readers will be able to guess how these problems will be solved, but Clarke makes sure that we're on the edge of our chairs waiting to find out.

Many of Clarke's most famous works feature a philosophical bent that takes them beyond the mundane: the classics "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Childhood's End" come quickly to mind. Unfortunately there's nary a hint of such in this book. The man-against-nature conflict in this novel is clever, well-thought-out, and admirably executed, but it's still a puzzle story and nothing more, and a largely dated one at that.
Clarke's legions of fans will certainly enjoy this book, but the few ideas in it are no longer very relevant. If you're looking for a pleasant diversion that will make you think more about physics than about humanity, Captain Harris has an exciting ride in store for you.

This book has you almost falling off of your seat. Just when you think that everything is over you find out that it has just begun. One thing that I like about this book is that there is logic behind everything that happens. It is not one of those books in which things happen for no reason. That is one of the reasons it is so suspensful