 |
Seeking a career change, engineer and widower Tom Cortel signs up for training at NASA and is recruited to be an astronaut. Along with his lady love, Diana Berry, and two others, Tom is assigned to a flight to Jupiter, which is scheduled to return the crew in fourteen months. Soon into the flight, however, the ship carrying them crash lands. Tom and Diana survive the crash. The other two, who are in the front of the ship, are killed. Since there is no radio communication with Earth, all of the crew are believed to have died, and Tom and Diana learn how to sustain themselves in their new environment. Their situation is made somewhat easier and more enjoyable by elements of science fiction. They have food, drink, oxygen, and the ability to leave the ship and meet other characters.
Crapanzano adds dimensions to the story that differ from much of the standard fare in science fiction. For example, Tom and Diana are born-again Christians. Their romance—treacle-sweet and, at times, too pervasive—is essentially platonic. During those scenes, the reader hears the echo of young people's romances of decades ago, when the right partners find each other. The book could benefit from some additional editing, but the story is a good read for those who are attracted to space travel, science fiction, and romance in conjunction with a Christian worldview. The book was a tour de force for the author, and there is much to appreciate in the story, including the virtues of kindness, forgiveness, courage, sacrifice, and loyalty as well as love for family, friends, teammates, and other kinds of partners.