Kian Ryan reviewed A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke
Review of 'A Fall of Moondust' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
"A Fall of Moondust" is a relatively short novel by Arthur C Clarke (at least short compared to the books I've read around it) dealing with the sinking and recovery of a vehicle on the moon's surface.
The science is fine, just dated - moondust was a relatively common idea in 1961, and in the 1980's foreward, Clarke spends some pages explaining the ideas which existed at the time. The context is useful, but not essential, the story holds place regardless of the science.
(As a side note, I find that regards science in science fiction, those stories which cast further tend to hold more believable than those that cast near. Anachronisms such as film cameras don't tend to appear in novels set 300,000 years in the future, rather than a few decades away.)
The crux of the story is a group of tourists and their captain touring the surface …
"A Fall of Moondust" is a relatively short novel by Arthur C Clarke (at least short compared to the books I've read around it) dealing with the sinking and recovery of a vehicle on the moon's surface.
The science is fine, just dated - moondust was a relatively common idea in 1961, and in the 1980's foreward, Clarke spends some pages explaining the ideas which existed at the time. The context is useful, but not essential, the story holds place regardless of the science.
(As a side note, I find that regards science in science fiction, those stories which cast further tend to hold more believable than those that cast near. Anachronisms such as film cameras don't tend to appear in novels set 300,000 years in the future, rather than a few decades away.)
The crux of the story is a group of tourists and their captain touring the surface of the moon when their vessel sinks into a sea of moondust. The nature of the moondust makes finding and recovering the vehicle difficult. The story takes place outside and inside the vehicle.
The story outside the vehicle looks at the efforts undertaken, and the people involved in locating and rescuing the vehicle. The emphasis is on the differing types of personality required to undertake the operation and how those persons perceive their roles and interact with each other.
The story inside the vehicle is the bigger meat and looks at how members inside the vehicle co-operate and work together to keep themselves amused, and then survive as things inevitably become tougher. Each character aboard the craft is a distinct character, and Clarke takes the time to explore each character well. There is little character development, apart from the Captain, most finish the story as the same people who went in.
The overall story is pretty good. It's straight-forward, there are few unexpected twists, but it's not earth-shattering. I was surprised it was nominated for a Hugo - I would have expected there to be stronger stories available. It's enjoyable and readable, but not on a par with some of Clarke's other works.
