172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad
Release Date: 2012
Publishers: Atoms UK
Format: Paperback
Pages: 355
My Rating: 5/5
It's the trip of a lifetime - if they make it back alive.
Warning:Spoilers!
There's a reason we never went back to the moon.
It was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime. Mia, Antoine and Midori had different reasons to enter NASA's competition for a seat on the first shuttle to go to the moon in over forty years.
But while they all wanted to escape earth, they never realised there might not be a chance to come home ...
**************
I had previously read so much hype that was surrounding this novel and reading the blurb made me think "oooo this could be a good book" however it has taken me months to finally pick it up and read it. And all I have to say to that is WOW! I'm so glad I read this book. This novel was absolutely brilliant and just what I wanted to read as I was beginning to get into a bit of a reading slump. It is so chilling and gripping and just plain awesomeness!!!!!!
To begin with I had no clue that it was going to be a horror/thriller novel, I did expect some sort of horror or disaster to happen on the moon, as most do when you think of venturing to outer space, but not to this effect or scale.
So the story begins with NASA needing more money to help fund a few of their up and coming programmes and so they launch a global contest where teenagers between the age of 14 and 18 can apply to win a trip to spend 172 hours on the moon. Which really is one big publicity stunt as you find out along the way.
One thing I liked about this novel was that even though the big corporation is set in America, NASA, the winners are not American. The winners are Mia, Midori and Antoine. The one thing I loved about all three teenage protagonists is that they weren't super nerds, they were all stereotypical normal teenagers who overall didn't particularly want to go to the Moon.
Mia, a front vocalist in her groups punk band in Norway, doesn't apply for the chance however her parents enter her into the competition and she ends up being one of the "lucky" winners. To begin with she sees this as a bad idea but after some encouragement from her parents she sees this as promoting her band and sending them to popularity.
Midori, a Japanese Harajuku fashion girl, sees this as a chance of her way out of Japan. She's stuck in her mundane life and thinks that if she doesn't win this then she won't be able to escape and see the world.
Antoine, from France, has just been dumped by the girl of his dreams and is not quite over the relationship despite Simone having already moved on to a new guy. Antoine enters for the chance to escape the 'City of Love' and escape his ex-girlfriend and start afresh.
Throughout the first half of the book, where we learn about the winners back stories, the three teenagers travel to America and begin preparation for the trip of a lifetime.
Throughout the teenagers stories we are also giving snippets into the life of Mr Himmelfarb. Mr Himmelfarb is an elderly man who lives in a senior home, although he doesn't know that's it's not his home, so when the seniors are made to watch the broadcast of the teenagers and the cosmonauts going up into space, he begins to feel like he has experienced this before. Himmelfarb is related to what is about to happen, as it is not the first time things have gone wrong on a space expedition. However when Himmelfarb sees the drawings and diagrams of DARLAH 2 something in his mind clicks and he knows the cosmonauts are going to be in trouble. With the aid of a photograph showing cosmonaut Eugene in his space suit and another identical man without a space suit in the background of the photograph Himmelfarb attempts to contact NASA however old age takes control and he is unable to get his words out.
Although Mr Himmelfarb rarely makes it into the story, his scenes are crucial, he becomes a sort of enigma as to how he is linked to the story and the background of the space mission. Throughout the novel we learn that Himmelfarb remembers Coleman, one of the cosmonauts going to DARLAH 2 who worked previously on Apollo 17 and the events that happened on that trip. It's a shame we don't get to hear much of Himmelfarb's story or what Coleman and Himmelfarb experienced when working with Apollo 17 but this all adds to the enigma and tension of the story. As the tension leads up to the day of launch I couldn't help but keep thinking of different things that could happen to these teens and cosmonauts on the moon and with the two people in Himmelfarb's picture we begin to suspect that odd things are afoot.
One thing I really enjoyed was that NASA pay homage to the original programme Apollo 17 by having the spaceships identical to back then. The book also makes the story line seem real and believable by adding the time spent for the teenagers learning the stuff, it took a year, and although you don't read about every bit of their training you do get the sense that they now know what they're meant to be doing. Harstad also linked scientific facts into the novel as well as photos of the moon, astronauts on the moon and again diagrams and scientific elements to make the story more real and thus more believable.
To begin with I had no clue that it was going to be a horror/thriller novel, I did expect some sort of horror or disaster to happen on the moon, as most do when you think of venturing to outer space, but not to this effect or scale.
So the story begins with NASA needing more money to help fund a few of their up and coming programmes and so they launch a global contest where teenagers between the age of 14 and 18 can apply to win a trip to spend 172 hours on the moon. Which really is one big publicity stunt as you find out along the way.
One thing I liked about this novel was that even though the big corporation is set in America, NASA, the winners are not American. The winners are Mia, Midori and Antoine. The one thing I loved about all three teenage protagonists is that they weren't super nerds, they were all stereotypical normal teenagers who overall didn't particularly want to go to the Moon.
Mia, a front vocalist in her groups punk band in Norway, doesn't apply for the chance however her parents enter her into the competition and she ends up being one of the "lucky" winners. To begin with she sees this as a bad idea but after some encouragement from her parents she sees this as promoting her band and sending them to popularity.
Midori, a Japanese Harajuku fashion girl, sees this as a chance of her way out of Japan. She's stuck in her mundane life and thinks that if she doesn't win this then she won't be able to escape and see the world.
Antoine, from France, has just been dumped by the girl of his dreams and is not quite over the relationship despite Simone having already moved on to a new guy. Antoine enters for the chance to escape the 'City of Love' and escape his ex-girlfriend and start afresh.
Throughout the first half of the book, where we learn about the winners back stories, the three teenagers travel to America and begin preparation for the trip of a lifetime.
Throughout the teenagers stories we are also giving snippets into the life of Mr Himmelfarb. Mr Himmelfarb is an elderly man who lives in a senior home, although he doesn't know that's it's not his home, so when the seniors are made to watch the broadcast of the teenagers and the cosmonauts going up into space, he begins to feel like he has experienced this before. Himmelfarb is related to what is about to happen, as it is not the first time things have gone wrong on a space expedition. However when Himmelfarb sees the drawings and diagrams of DARLAH 2 something in his mind clicks and he knows the cosmonauts are going to be in trouble. With the aid of a photograph showing cosmonaut Eugene in his space suit and another identical man without a space suit in the background of the photograph Himmelfarb attempts to contact NASA however old age takes control and he is unable to get his words out.
Although Mr Himmelfarb rarely makes it into the story, his scenes are crucial, he becomes a sort of enigma as to how he is linked to the story and the background of the space mission. Throughout the novel we learn that Himmelfarb remembers Coleman, one of the cosmonauts going to DARLAH 2 who worked previously on Apollo 17 and the events that happened on that trip. It's a shame we don't get to hear much of Himmelfarb's story or what Coleman and Himmelfarb experienced when working with Apollo 17 but this all adds to the enigma and tension of the story. As the tension leads up to the day of launch I couldn't help but keep thinking of different things that could happen to these teens and cosmonauts on the moon and with the two people in Himmelfarb's picture we begin to suspect that odd things are afoot.
One thing I really enjoyed was that NASA pay homage to the original programme Apollo 17 by having the spaceships identical to back then. The book also makes the story line seem real and believable by adding the time spent for the teenagers learning the stuff, it took a year, and although you don't read about every bit of their training you do get the sense that they now know what they're meant to be doing. Harstad also linked scientific facts into the novel as well as photos of the moon, astronauts on the moon and again diagrams and scientific elements to make the story more real and thus more believable.
The tension through the second half of the book was unreal, I think I read the second half and finished the book all in one sitting as I couldn't physically put the book down!! I was too addicted to what was going to happen. As soon as they get to DARLAH 2 on the moon immediately bad stuff begins to happen. Which makes you realise that going into outer space is a terrifying and scary ordeal. I mean anything could happen and you can only rely on the people that are next to you and the metal space ship that is protecting you from dying!
As all the strange happenings begin to take their toll we read more about the identical characters and how they are affecting the cosmonauts stay. Two adult cosmonauts are trapped in. Nadolski and Antoine attempt to get to DARLAH 1 but fail due to facing their other selves and everything begins to build to a crescendo.During this crescendo Coleman educates the teens of the 'Wow! signal' and as the story progresses we realise that the teenagers have had some sort of interaction involving the 'Wow! signal' 6EQUJ5 and the way Harstad has included this makes perfect sense with the story. Midori, when on her way to fly to America, had to find departure gate J5 in the airport. However no one has any recollection of it. When Midori meets an unexpected guest in the bathroom from a haunting old Japanese tale she thinks nothing of it and heads for the J5 departure gate.
Similarly Antoine, before he flies to America, goes on vacation with his family and during his vacation he witnesses a plane crash to which the only letters on the plane he sees is QU. When telling his parents who were in the other room they declare they saw and heard nothing, making Antoine believe that he could have hallucinated and thinks nothing of it.
Mia, who has just flown to New York, visits Central Park at night and is taken on a tour by a homeless man who knows the hotel and park well. As their tour comes to an end Mia notices something on the homeless mans back that wasn't there before, 6E, the homeless man shrugs it off along with Mia. However Mia finally puts the pieces together after Coleman has told the story of the 'Wow! signal' and everyone is pretty much doomed.
The ending is by far the best part of the book. Best plot twist ever to the point where I had to re-read the ending a second time to fully acknowledge what just happened. It was shocking and breathtaking and totally unexpected. I was absolutely speechless, it was the best ending I have ever read! After those final pages it has made me realise that the Moon is a terrifying place; it's conveyed brilliantly. I like how the ending links back to the beginning about Darlah 2's creation and Operation DP7. One thing I would have liked to know is what Sander had written in the letter to Mia and what happened after Mr Himmelfarb died. I'd love to know the aftermath of this novel but at the same time I don't.
The two black pages, with white writing at the very end, totally blew my mind when reading it. I was shocked and yet it still left questions unanswered. It informs the readers that people do go back to the moon and they keep a log of what they see from DARLAH2 and how only a few of the cosmonauts and teenagers are mentioned. I loved Mia's letter, it was kind of heartbreaking - imagine being in her position, knowing your never going back to Earth and you have limited oxygen left.
Overall if you haven't already - READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!
Enjoy x
Author's Website: Johan Harstad
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