LOOMING DESTRUCTION FROM SPACE!
It’s the beginning of a new golden age of space exploration. Finally, humanity is taking the commercialization of space to the next level—mining asteroids. The new gold rush of the commercial space era has begun.
Another commercial venture, an attempt to put a hotel on the Moon, is seeking the space tourism gold of the ultra wealthy. And it seems as if the dream of finally sending people to Mars is finally going to happen using a ship propelled by a powerful nuclear rocket.
But space travel isn’t cut and dry, and there is nothing routine about it. In order to mine an asteroid the goal is to bring it closer to Earth, but orbital mechanics are tricky and close to Earth proves to be far too close for comfort—with looming destruction from space about to become a grim reality. Now astronauts, scientists, engineers, and people in all the burgeoning space businesses must team together to stop the asteroid before it is too late for humanity and the planet it calls home.-Goodreads Synopsis
–S&S–
On to the Asteroid Review
A rip-roaring fun read, On to the Asteroid reads like a loving ode to space disaster movies. It has every element a lover of that particular micro-genre could want. The potential death and destruction, the heroic characters, disaster followed by disaster, and smart-alecks galore. There are multiple nods to well-known movies that will have readers grinning. It could have easily came across as unoriginal and chock full of clichés, but it doesn’t. Taylor and Johnson managed to avoid that very skillfully. 
Space is dangerous. Everyone with a bit of common sense in them knows this. Problems can easily spiral out of control. One can easily trip into another. Then, when you add to the ‘normal’ problems, a rogue agent with the time and skill to bring the save-the-earth mission to its knees… Well, let’s just say that even when you know what’s going to happen, you don’t KNOW what’s going to happen.
Overall this was a read I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend. Whilst it may not go down in the annals of notable science fiction literature, it’s a great way to pass a few hours.
Title: On to the Asteroid | Authors: Travis S. Taylor and Les Johnson | Publisher: Baen (site) | Pub. Date: 2016-8-2 | Pages: 352 | ISBN13: 9781476781525 | Genre: Science Fiction | Language: English | Triggers: None | Date Read: 2016-5-25 | Source: Received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
