Welcome to Litsy!

Driving a tourist bus on the Moon, Pat Harris gets caught in a moonquake and his bus sinks in the Sea of Thirst's moondust. We follow the passengers and crew, the rescue team, and the journalists covering the story.

The moondust in the story doesn't actually exist, though it was a reasonable speculation at the time of writing. Yes, the characters were firmly rooted in the 1950s but the author still provided an exciting, suspenseful story.

TO BE THE SKIPPER of the only boat on the Moon was a distinction that Pat Harris enjoyed.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

#coffeeandabook

Belated #ClassicLSFBC
@RamsFan1963

#WeeklyFavorites

September was full of some pretty great reads.

@Read4life

96/150 I loved this kind of book when I was young, hard science science fiction was my favorite genre. After 60+ years, it does feel a little dated, but it still holds up well. It still makes for a tense, exciting read as the rescue team struggles to save the passengers & crew of the Selene. Like any good disaster movie, just when the heroes think they've got things beat, a new problem comes along to gum up the works. 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ #ClassicLSFBC

This story about a tourist shuttle trapped in a sea of dust on the moon seemed somewhat dated, in that the roles of men and women reflect very much those of the time. However, it was still a very good hard science-fiction story with a lot of tension, as the shuttle's occupants and scientists on the outside work on a rescue.

#ClassicLSFBC @RamsFan1963 @Ruthiella
#192025 #1961 @Librarybelle

A couple of questions for any who have finished this month‘s #ClassicLSFBC pick. If anyone would like to be added or removed from the tag list, let me know. 😃

🌙 Clark portrays a positive view of the future. Yes, there are sexist assumptions in it, but it also envisions a multi-cultural, peaceful human society. He also made a few predictions about human culture in the 21st century. What did he get right and what did he get wrong?

A couple of questions for any who have finished this month‘s #ClassicLSFBC pick. If anyone would like to be added or removed from the tag list, let me know. 😃

🌙 This novel definitely skews toward hard science fiction. The plot is pretty much one of problem solving with either technology or psychology. Did you enjoy this aspect of the book?

(1961) A freak accident traps a lunar tour bus under fifteen meters of moondust, resulting in a disaster-and-rescue story that somebody should have enmovied fifty years ago. The pace is rapid, suspense is maintained, and if the character development takes a back seat to the engineering -- well jeez, that's just the kind of book this is and I liked it much.

#ClassicLSFBC

#ClassicLSFBC

The SciFi book groups had fallen off my radar these last few months but @Bookwomble ‘s spoof review brought the tagged book to my attention. I really enjoyed this compact novel of a disaster on the moon. Great read.

QUOTE: “The final ‘though‘ indicated recognition of the fact that something lighter would be appreciated here - say one of the decadent but amusing comedies of the 1980s, which had invaded the airways in such numbers with the collapse of TV censorship.”

I have to admit, thus is where my thoughts went when thinking of some of the dumbest ‘80s television comedies that Clark couldn‘t have begun to imagine. 😆

#ClassicLSFBC

#ClassicLSFBC
“The Apple and the Orange“ is a wonderfully imagined historical romance about a clandestine love affair between Sir Isaac Newton & Nell Gwyn, mistress of King Charles II.
While salacious stories have been told about Gwyn for centuries, Newton was reputed to have died a virgin, so this is definitely a secret history, if not an alternate one.
Newton's cold and arrogantly irascible manner is contrasted with Nell's passion and wild ⬇️¼

"He considered the situation with a coldly critical intelligence. Now, how would the great Holmes have tackled the problem? (It was characteristic of Tom that one of the few men he really admired had never existed.)"

I love coming across a Holmes ref in an unrelated book! In this case, astronomer Tom Lawrence, assigned to the Legrange II space station, considering the mystery of missing 'Dust-cruiser", Selene.
#NoPlaceLikeHolmes #ClsssicLSFBC

I've started the September #ClassicLSFBC selection, and at 12% in, Clarke's 1961 novel is reading like a Moon-based version of The Poseidon Adventure, though that book was written in '69 and the classic disaster movie was released in '72.
I've not yet been introduced to the passengers on the stricken "dustship" Selene, but I'll be surprised if one of them doesn't need a hysteria-based slapping to snap them out of it!

#weekendreads

Excited to start three new books this weekend.

✔️ A Fall of Moondust is for #ClassicLSFBC and my first Arthur C. Clark novel.

✔️ The Joe Abercrombie is totally new to me, but obviously highly recommended by others.

✔️ Tana French is a familiar favorite. This is only book from her that I‘ve not yet read.

Very good sci-fi from over 60 years ago. It takes place on the moon where a tourist bus falls through the dust on the moon and 22 people onboard must be saved. There‘s one problem after another, both on the bus and during the rescue attempt. I liked the story but can‘t say much for the character development which is practically nonexistent.

#ClassicLSFBC

To be the skipper of the only boat on Mars was a distinction that Pat Harris enjoyed.

A good sci-fi book from 1961!

Here's my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin books for September: two of my favorite things, classic SF and running stories.

Thanks @TheAromaofBooks !

In darkness and in silence, they were sinking into the moon.