They're trapped 15 meters below the surface with no way of communicating with the outside-and time-and breathable air-is running out. Twenty-two people, the passenger and crew of the tourist boat Selene, are caught in 'a fall of moondust' on the Sea of Thirst. Rather this is a suspenseful book of disaster and rescue-more The Poseidon Adventure than 2001. So many might find this book prosaic compared to his more cosmic, ambitious works. If you're looking for that Clarke, you might want to put this book down and go find Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama, The City and the Stars or 2001: A Space Odyssey, either the book or film. But for her, that's what she loved-the idea of all of us as star children, of a apotheosis of space and the heavens. She loved to tell the story of how she took me to see 2001: A Space Odyssey in theaters when I was a toddler and ruined it for her by squalling during the psychedelic scenes-it's actually one of my oldest and most traumatic memories. She loved the transcendental in him, the religious flavor in his futuristic science fiction.

I'm probably unique in this, but to be honest this is my favorite novel by Clarke, despite it being very atypical for him. with some superbly ingenious and exciting new twists.” - Daily Express Read more “Expertly told and cruelly exciting to the end.” - The Sunday Times “The best book yet about man’s most dramatic journey, the most exciting science fiction novel for years.” - Evening Standard Nominated for the Hugo Award in 1963, this brilliantly imagined story of human ingenuity and survival is a tour-de-force of psychological suspense and sustained dramatic tension sure to appeal to fans of Andy Weir’s The Martian. While time runs out for the passengers and crew, rescuers find their resources stretched to the limit by the unpredictable conditions of the lunar environment. But when a prototype tourist craft called the Selene encounters a moonquake, the ship plummets under a vast body of liquid-fine moondust called the Sea of Thirst.

A “superbly ingenious” classic of space survival from the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey-one of science fiction’s most influential grandmasters ( Daily Express).Įxpanding the Moon’s population hinges on building a thriving tourist industry.

A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke