Scudrunners

Just finished Chris’ new book. Its excellent. Highly recommended for aviation and space buffs as a good read over the holidays.

Like a cross between a Tom Clancy novel and The Right Stuff.

I understand the book is 95% factual, but, are there really any " dark" secrets
about the space race and the Cold War that we don't already know?

Its about a fictional Apollo 18 mission. I would not say its 95% factual, I'd say its 95% fiction with a 5% backdrop of real history.

Its a like a good Tom Clancy or spy novel pitting the USA/NASA/Apollo against their Soviet counterparts with plenty of action amid details of the various vehicles. I'd say its 95% Tom Clancy and 5% The Right Stuff. Anyway read the first chapter in a book store before buying it, it describes a Phantom mission and accident which sets the stage for the main character.

I always thought Chris's career was filled with irony that we weren't allowed to point out.

Wasn't he a cold warrior fighter pilot, opposing the Soviet Union ... which then put him in space?

From his wiki page:

Hadfield flew CF-18 Hornets with 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron, flying intercept missions for NORAD. He was the first CF-18 pilot to intercept a Soviet Tupolev Tu 95 long-range bomber in the Canadian Arctic ...

On December 19, 2012, Hadfield launched in the Soyuz TMA-07M flight for a long duration stay on board the ISS as part of Expedition 35

No irony there, no sir!

I'll probably get banned from Canada for pointing this out, but ... too late! Oh well, I didn't intend
to visit North Korea, Canada or Venezuela any time soon anyways.

cgzro wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 06, 2021 2:56 pm

Its about a fictional Apollo 18 mission. I would not say its 95% factual, I'd say its 95% fiction with a 5% backdrop of real history.

Its a like a good Tom Clancy or spy novel pitting the USA/NASA/Apollo against their Soviet counterparts with plenty of action amid details of the various vehicles. I'd say its 95% Tom Clancy and 5% The Right Stuff. Anyway read the first chapter in a book store before buying it, it describes a Phantom mission and accident which sets the stage for the main character.

I was referring to Chris Hadfield own comments
"I think people will be shocked how much of this book is real,"
Regardless of how much fiction is in the book I'm sure the technical content makes it a good read

Nothing disappoints me more than a coveted author that doesn’t know the nuances of his/her story telling.

I was told the Jack Reacher series is really good. I barely got through the first novel. The author was describing something firearm related that wasn’t true in the least bit. Thankfully, it was a library book, and I didn’t spend a dime.

Jack Carr does wonders in his series about a former Navy SEAL gone ass-kicker. A great author, because he was a SEAL and knows how to describes nuances accurately.

I imagine the same with Mr (Col?) Hadfield.

I’ll give it a read.