Allen Steele

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/lunar-descent-by-allen-steele/

This is the first novel by Allen Steele that I have read in full – I read the two sections of Coyote that were Hugo finalists, but never sat down to read the full thing. I confess that I got it purely because it is set in 2024, 33 years after the publication date of 1991. The world is not so different from the present day except that there is a functioning lunar industrial colony, churning out special components for Earth’s booming electronics industry. The colony is badly run, and our protagonist, a disgraced former astronaut with addiction problems, is sent to sort things out. He is joined by a tough female NASA security agent and a hacking genius who specialises in undetectable electronic crime. It’s rather a good romp, inevitably reminiscent of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but from a rather more obviously left-wing point of view (and I’m not saying that is a bad thing).… (mer)

This whole book is an homage to the "golden age" of Sci Fi. And in some ways that's nice... but I found myself not liking it more and more because it (perhaps intentionally?) faithfully replicates some of the great weaknesses of "sci fi of a certain age": characters are thin, plot runs and jumps over what are kind of holes, what would be emotional in real life is handled at great remove, etc.

The references to e.g. Asimov and Heinlein are obvious, but others are less so (e.g. to Asimov's Foundation and Sagan's religious anti-project protesters/terrorists) but get to a point where I felt like, "Yes, I get it..."

I'm torn: two stars or three? But forced to pick, I'm saying two.… (mer)

Innanzitutto, dovete capire che lo spazio cosmico non e' propriamente quello che si vuol far credere... (12)

Lo spazio e' grande, ma Allen Steele spazia un po' troppo nel raccontare nulla.

Forse un giorno troveranno degli ometti verdi, chissa'...
Lasciate che vi dica che cos'e' "la piu' grande delle scoperte". La sto guardando adesso, alta, al di sopra dell'orlo del crepaccio. E' lo spettacolo del sorgere della Terra, cosi' come lo videro Borman, Lovell e Anders per la prima volta alla vigilia di Natale del 1968, quando l'Apollo 8 sbuco' dal lato opposto della Luna. (363)

… (mer)

Son los hombres y mujeres que están construyendo el futuro: los obreros de la construcción a gravedad cero, los pioneros que erigen la primera estación orbital del espacio en medio del hostil y a veces mortífero vacío. Un trabajo en el que cualquier momento de descuido puede significar una catástrofe.
Pero lo más duro de su trabajo no está en la construcción en sí, sino luego.
Porque, cuando la estación está terminada, es cuando surgen los problemas: aburrimiento, nostalgia y sobre todo los dolorosos recuerdos de la vida que dejaron allá abajo, en la Tierra.
Eso, a los grandes jefes militares que presiden la operación, no les importa. Creen que tienen a sus hombres de ahí arriba completamente controlados. Creen que no representan ningún problema.
Pero están equivocados…
Con Descomposición Orbital, Allen Steele se sitúa en primera línea de los actuales escritores de ciencia ficción hard, con una obra a veces divertida, a veces dramática, pero siempre apasionante, un auténtico homenaje a los hombres que, con todas sus miserias y debilidades, han sido, son y serán héroes.… (mer)