Moongate by William Proctor and David J. Weldon, M. D. is a novel for the science-minded individual.The novel is set a few years into the future and presents some realistic predictions of technology that could conceivably develop by then, if some of it is not already here. Moongate is heavy with technology and suspense.
Scott Andrews is the central character. His job is to coordinate the construction of a laser-based fusion generator on the moon that will produce enough energy to allow Earth to forgo its dependency on fossil fuels for electricity.
An international team of scientists is headed for final training in Houston. Before all of them can arrive one of the members is killed in a car accident. His substitute is a Russian scientist with some suspicious philosophies. Andrews is unhappy with the new member and his associate, but there is nothing that can be done at that point without delaying the mission.
A series of accidents casts doubt on the success of the venture as the book unfolds. Scott Andrews receives information from his assistant back on Earth that exposes a secret, secondary experiment some of the team is planning. Can Andrews stop the experiment in order to focus on the primary mission in time?
Then the group receives a mysterious message. What does it mean? Who sent it? What impact will it have on the final outcome of the mission?
As a long-time fan of good science fiction, it was nice to finally read a book not chocked full of foul language and sexual scenes. Actually, this was the first book in the science fiction genre that I purchased and read that was published after 1963. It was in 1969 that I bought and read Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. It ruined science fiction in book form for me. After that I refused to buy anything with a publication date in the mid-60's and beyond.
Oh, it wasn't that I didn't want romance mixed with my science fiction. I'm all for romance in any genre, but why the need for crude vulgarity and sexual explicitness? I was excited a couple of years ago to realize that writers were producing science fiction and fantasy in the inspirational markets. Maybe I could start reading science fiction again. I bought Moongate at the American Christian Fiction Writers conference in Denver in 2004. I just got around to reading it. If you could see my stack of books-to-be-read you would understand. Also, I've been concentrating on suspense in order to write suspense.
Though the writing in Moongate was a little stiff and technical, I enjoyed the story. One of the secondary characters, Michael James, really caught my attention. I believe Michael James is a cross-over character from a novel by William Proctor titled The Last Star. This character interested me enough that I want to track down and purchase a copy of The Last Star in order to read it.
Moongate gave me hope that there is more good science fiction out there and more to come. I know now where to look for it - in the Christian bookstores.
kmparis
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