The Moon and the Desert

Neuroscientist Hampson (The Human Side) excels at making difficult technical material approachable to layreaders, but flounders a bit with plotting in this uneven space romp inspired by Martin Calder’s 1972 novel Cyborg and the television series The Six Million Dollar Man. Glenn “Shep” Shepherd is the monitoring medical officer on Moonbase in 2039 when he rescues a trapped colleague from a fire on a lunar rover and is himself so severely injured that he requires an “extensive rebuild” with mostly experimental prosthetics. Shep’s demanding rehabilitation is spurred by his burning desire to go to Mars, but his hoped-for position is stolen by his former lover and now rival, Yvette Barbier. On her return from Mars, Barbier and her crew fall mysteriously ill, and Shep overcomes political and bureaucratic problems to wangle a dangerous rescue mission. Science-minded readers will relish the passages of extrapolated medical and psychological procedures, but the character interactions, particularly their often Grade B dialogue and stilted romantic maneuvers, suffer by comparison. This is hard science fiction with a vengeance. (Mar.)