Reviews of Moonsafe Red

The first "review" below was simply sent in a personal e-mail to me, reproduced here with its author's consent. The remainder are copied from actual reviews posted on www.goodreads.com. The originals can be found at www.goodreads.com/book/show/36220458-moonsafe-red



From Mike Foulkes, aerospace engineer and amateur astronomer:

Dear Mr. Haggath,
I am writing to you to complain about your recently published sci-fi book Moonsafe Red.
I took this with me on holiday last week, to read every so often, but found that I couldn't put the b***er down, as I wanted to find out what fiendish life threatening thing would happen next to endanger the surviviors, or which of them would be killed off next.
This resulted in grief from my partner Valerie, who made comments like:
"Will you stop reading that book and put the lights out, as I want to go to sleep."
"Stop reading that book, as we have to go out!"
Hence the complaint. So the next time you write a sci-fi book, will you please not make it an avid page turner...



From Peter Rea, lecturer on the history of spaceflight:

It has been 45 years since human footprints were left on the dusty surface of the Moon. But in the future, I'm sure, footprints will be left again. Moonsafe Red takes us to a future Moon in the 22nd Century, when thousands of people inhabit our nearest planetary neighbour. There is a city, and research stations abound. The inhabitants, many born there, are referred to as Selenites, from Selene, the Goddess of the Moon.
A spaceship leaves the Moon bound for Mars, but crashes on the Moon shortly after take-off. The narrative describes the desperate race against time to rescue the survivors. The author's obvious broad knowledge of the Moon is evident from the first chapter. He paints a picture of the Moon that harks back to the days of Apollo and humankind's first steps on another planetary body.
The fast paced action takes a group of engineers from the central region of the Moon to Tycho crater in the Southern Highlands. From this base, specialist lunar vehicles carry passengers and equipment to the crash site. The author's natural descriptive ability takes the reader along for an exciting ride. The final rescue is breathtaking, with an ingenious conclusion. This first novel by the author is a real page turner, and it leaves me wanting to go there.



From Dr. Julian Onions, professional astronomy researcher:

For a first novel, this is an incredible book. Quite the page turner, with a consuming plot. A passenger space ship crash landing on the Moon, and a race against time to save the people on board. Well worth a read. Contains a few nods back to Sir Arthur C. Clarke's novels set in similar settings, but a story all its own.



From Brian Haggath:

Full disclosure - I'm the author's Dad!
I don't normally read science fiction at all - in fact, I'm not sure if I have ever read any - and I bought a copy of this book purely to support my son.
But when I came to read it, I found that I thoroughly enjoyed it, and couldn't put it down! I found it to be an extremely gripping story and exceptionally well written, much more expertly written than many “off the shelf” paperbacks which I have ploughed through for 60 pages or so, then given up.
I was obviously fully aware of Neil's almost inexhaustible knowledge of astronomy, space travel and all associated topics, and as I have virtually none, I expected to be totally baffled, if not bored - but I was very pleasantly surprised. I understood virtually every word, and could clearly visualize every scene.
One does not need to be a science fiction addict to enjoy this book. When I finished reading it, I thought of it not as “science fiction”, but more like “science future”, i.e. something that could well have been fact, had the US Moon exploration project not been killed off in its prime.



From Dr. Jürgen Schmoll, professional instrument scientist and amateur astronomer:

When talking about Science-Fiction, many artworks are more fiction than science, and being a scientist myself, I see quite often the pitfalls. Not with this book, where science is dominating the plot! Now, you may think ( depending on your science teachers once at school ), that this may make it boring - but no, you get an intense string of events that happen when a solar flare causes a crash of a spacecraft after departing the moon, bound to Mars. You do not require a scientific background to enjoy it, but if you have one, it is a pleasure to see how the author keeps the scientific details correct while delivering an intense story.



From Paul Money FRAS, highly accomplished amateur astronomer and published author:

A stunning tour-de-force that doesn't let up in the action and is well executed.
A great read that gives you a real sense of the dangers of spaceflight close to and on the Moon in a fictional and factual setting. The author uses real lunar locations that the author, as an astronomer and Apollo exploration fan, knows well and puts to great use; you can really visualise being on the Moon as if you are part of the story.
Absolutely brilliant read, one of the best I have read for a long time, and I agree with others, it was up there with ACC and Asimov!
Well done Neil, a rollicking good adventure which kept me reading over 2 nights and I couldn't put it down.

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