Imagine for a second what would have happened if the Soviets had gotten a cosmonaut to the moon first, if Neil Armstrong and Apollo 11 had been in a humiliating second place. Everything would have unfolded differently. America would never have let the Soviets win the space race. That would have been unthinkable during the Cold War, political suicide for any president. We’d have gritted our teeth and doubled down, poured billions into the Apollo program. HOT MOON is set in 1979 in this alternate world. The US and the Soviets both have permanent moon bases, orbiting space stations, and manned spy satellites supported by frequent rocket launches. Reagan is President and the Cold War is hotter than ever. The crew of Apollo 32, commanded by Vivian Carter, career astronaut, docks at NASA’s Columbia space station on their way to their main mission: exploring the volcanic Marius Hills region of the Moon. Vivian is caught in the crossfire as four Soviet Soyuz craft appear without warning to assault the orbiting station. It’s the world’s first space battle, with 1970s technology. In a daring move, Vivian space walks through hard vacuum back to her Lunar Module and crew and escapes right before the station falls into Soviet hands. Their original mission scrubbed, Vivian and crew are redirected to land at Hadley Base, a NASA lunar outpost with a crew of eighteen. But soon Hadley too will come under Soviet attack. With multiple viewpoints, shifting from American to Soviet perspective, from occupied space station to American moon base under siege, to US Air Force military response, Alan tells the gripping story of a Cold War in space that very nearly might have been.
From the Sidewise Award–winning author of the acclaimed Clash of Eagles trilogy comes an alternate 1979 where the United States and the Soviets have permanent Moon bases, orbiting space stations, and crewed spy satellites supported by frequent rocket launches.
Apollo 32, commanded by career astronaut Vivian Carter, docks at NASA's Columbia Station in lunar orbit en route to its main mission: exploring the volcanic Marius Hills region of the Moon. Vivian is caught in the crossfire as four Soviet Soyuz craft appear without warning to assault the orbiting station. In an
unplanned and desperate move, Vivian spacewalks through hard vacuum back to her Lunar Module and crew, and escapes right before the station falls into Soviet hands.
Their original mission scrubbed, Vivian and her crew are redirected to land at Hadley Base, a NASA scientific outpost with a crew of eighteen.
But soon Hadley, too, will come under Soviet attack, forcing its unarmed astronauts into daring acts of ingenuity and improvisation.
With multiple viewpoints, shifting from American to Soviet perspective, from occupied space station to American Moon base under siege, to a covert and blistering US Air Force military response, Hot Moon tells the gripping story of a war in space that very nearly might have been.
It's The Last of the Mohicans meets HBO's Rome in this inventive conclusion to the Clash of Eagles Trilogy from Sidewise Award-winner Alan Smale. Tasked with subjugating North America for the Roman Imperium in 1218 AD, Praetor Gaius Marcellinus lost his entire legion.but gained a powerful sense of purpose in uniting the peoples of the new world. Ending the seasons-old Mourning War between the five nations of the Iroqua and the plains-based Cahokians, Gaius was able to garner an uneasy truce between these united tribes and a Roman war machine hungry for gold and conquest. But Rome's long-standing conflict with the Mongol Horde has spilled over into North America. As the invaders of the steppes ride over the Rocky Mountains into the central plains, a massive conflict looms on the horizon like a thunderhead. This battle will change this world, and Gaius, forever.
Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell, Steve Berry, Naomi Novik, and Harry Turtledove, Alan Smale's gripping alternate history series imagines a world in which the Roman Empire has survived long enough to invade North America in 1218. Now the stunning story carries hero Gaius Marcellinus deeper into the culture of an extraordinary people-whose humanity, bravery, love, and ingenuity forever change his life and destiny. In AD 1218, Praetor Gaius Marcellinus is tasked with conquering North America and turning it into a Roman province. But outside the walls of the great city of Cahokia, his legion is destroyed outright; Marcellinus is the only one spared. In the months and years that follow, Marcellinus comes to see North America as his home and the Cahokians as his kin. He vows to defend these proud people from any threat, Roman or Native. After successfully repelling an invasion by the fearsome Iroqua tribes, Marcellinus realizes that a weak and fractured North America won't stand a chance against the returning Roman army. Worse, rival factions from within threaten to tear Cahokia apart just when it needs to be most united and strong. Marcellinus is determined to save the civilization that has come to mean more to him than the empire he once served. But to survive the swords of Roma, he first must avert another Iroqua attack and bring the Cahokia together. Only with the hearts and souls of a nation at his back can Marcellinus hope to know triumph.
A rising star in the realm of alternate history, Alan
Smale delivers fiction of broad sweep and epic scope.
Set in a world in which the Roman Empire never fell,
Clash of Eagles finds Praetor Gaius Marcellinus leading
his 33rd Legion into Nova Hesperia. But there his
conception of the world is challenged by encounters
with the Powhatani, Iroqua and Cahokiani tribes.
