Old-school moonwalker Buzz Aldrin teams up again with former Hugo and Nebula Awards nominee John Barnes to pen another near-future SF tale focused on the fate of the U.S. space program. But as with the duo's previous effort, 1996's Encounter with Tiber, Aldrin's ideas can take center stage a little too conspicuously, which, regardless of your own views on the subject, doesn't always make for the best story. Part thriller, part infomercial for the Aldrin space manifesto, The Return fumbles only in its lack of subtlety: The book's protagonist, Scott Blackstone, is a technically accomplished and charismatic retired astronaut who runs a foundation called ShareSpace, whose mission is to send everyday citizens into outer space. And what do you know--in real life Aldrin is a technically accomplished and charismatic retired astronaut who runs a foundation called ShareSpace, whose mission is to send everyday citizens into outer space. (Talk about your expert author.)

Of course you read Aldrin not because you think he's the next Ben Bova but because he's a space-race winner, a bright man with inspiring ideas. And Barnes, who's already proven himself with topnotch titles like Mother of Storms, helps Aldrin get his point across admirably, spinning a tale that begins with ShareSpace's third Citizen Observer to accompany a space shuttle mission: a legendary, recently retired basketball hero known around the globe as simply "MJ." Disaster strikes, though, while the beloved MJ is airborne, and Blackstone soon finds himself relying on his lawyer ex-wife to come to ShareSpace's defense. Was the disaster an accident? Don't count on it. --Paul Hughes

From Publishers Weekly
Reunited with award-winning SF writer Barnes (Encounter with Tiber), Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, imagines a near future when the space program is in the hands of competing private corporations. In association with ShareSpace, headed by ex-astronaut CEO Scott Blackstone, NASA is offering privileged civilians the opportunity to ride as "Citizen Observers" on space shuttle missions. The third such celebrity in space, basketball legend MJ (Michael James), has scarcely reached orbit when he and a crew member are killed in what appears to be a bizarre accident. Culminating in an emergency crash landing on Easter Island, this tragedy puts the future of the entire space program in jeopardy. Overnight, Blackstone becomes the scapegoat and--sued by MJ's mother for over $1 billion--is fired. When, mysteriously, Blackstone finds that no lawyer will take his case, his brother, Nick, v-p of rocket builder Republic Wright, revives the childhood bond of the Mars Four (Nick; Scott; Scott's ex-wife, celebrity attorney Thalia, mother of their 10-year-old son; and Eddie Killeret, Nick's counterpart at rival Curtiss Aerospace)--and persuades Thalia to represent Scott. Despite anonymous threats, the case turns in their favor when the media focus on the explosion of a Pakistani proton bomb that turns the entire ionosphere into a super Van Allen belt, knocking out all existing satellites. Enter an enigmatic figure from a secret agency tying everything to a Chinese conspiracy. After three of the Mars Four go into space on a mission to rescue the crew of a disabled space station, fade to sunset as they reunite at the beach cottage of their youth. In made-for-Disney prose, this facile effort makes a fast read. $150,000 marketing campaign; 20-city author tour. (May) FYI: Aldrin is the head of a foundation called ShareSpace, which advocates civilian space travel. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
When a terrible accident occurs on the space shuttle while the world's most beloved retired basketball player is on board, it threatens to ruin not only the life of former astronaut Scott Blackstone (in charge of a program to put ordinary citizens on selected shuttles) but the newly revitalized U.S. space program as well. As the facts behind the "accident" start coming to light, a nuclear event in Pakistani airspace knocks out every communications satellite and endangers three American astronauts on an orbiting space station. Scott teams with his ex-wife and his brother to discover who is behind this sabotage. Burying some old grudges and strengthening their relationships while clearing Scott's name in a civil trial, they also devise a plan to get the stranded astronauts back to Earth, using untested equipment, before it is too late. Ex-astronaut Aldrin and novelist Barnes (with whom Aldrin wrote Encounter with Tiber) manage to keep this straight-ahead story interesting. There is an innocent quality to this book, which has little sex, violence, or strong language; at times, it is like reading an old-fashioned boys' adventure story. Several little glitches in the dialog make it seem as if the character of the ex-wife was originally one of the brothers, but that doesn't much interfere with the story. Recommended for all public libraries.DPatrick Wall, University City P.L., MO Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times Book Review, Gerald Jonas
The Return offers dovetailing accounts of a space emergency and rescue by three narrators ... who sound like the same person.

From AudioFile
Old salts will recognize this as a "sea story" from astronaut Buzz Aldrin, himself a mariner as famous as Christopher Columbus. Fiction-lovers will marvel at Aldrin's ability to tell a great sci-fi tale. (And they will despair that it portrays no carnal activity.) Scott Brick's voice is clear and distinct; his "yuppoid" tone shows an ability to add color and vitality to text. However, he does little with his expression to help the reader overcome the confusion created by having Scott, Nick, and Thalia intermittently narrating their own stories within the novel structure. Why not at least a little falsetto for Thalia? J.A.H. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

FROM OUR EDITORS

Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin lands in the spotlight once again thanks to his explosive near-future thriller, The Return. Teamed with the award-winning John Barnes (Mother of Storms), Aldrin delivers a plausible, crackling yarn about tragedy in space, political turmoil on earth, and a perilous rescue attempt by a group of reunited childhood friends.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

On July 20, 1969, Buzz Aldrin, along with crewmate Neil Armstrong, made history as they placed humankind's first steps on the moon.

Now, in The Return, written by award winning novelist John Barnes, Aldrin offers a compelling novel about the opportunities and dangers that confront us today-and shows why we must, and will, seize the challenges before us.

When a tragic Shuttle accident kills a world-famous basketball player on his trip into space, a trip that had been planned as a PR coup for the space program, former astronaut Scott Blackstone is out of a job. Worse, he and his "Citizen Observer" program are vilified in the media, and he's being sued for a billion dollars. His older brother, Nick, research chief for a major aerospace firm, persuades Scott's estranged ex-wife, Thalia-a top-ranked attorney-to take on Scott's defense. Gradually, it begins to appear that the "accident" might not have been an accident at all.

Meanwhile, as long feared, India and Pakistan go to war-and, worse, Pakistan deploys a nuclear device high in the upper atmosphere, putting the crew of the orbiting International Space Station in iminent danger of destruction by radiation exposure. While the world's space vehicles are grounded by the radiation storm set off by the detonation, only a few weeks remain to rescue the crew, and there's no known way to do it. Save, perhaps, for a secret project of Nick's...

The Return is a story of outsized characters, global crises, and big, daring ideas...and-as told by Buzz Aldrin-it carries a ring of truth. He's been there. He's done that. And he's already helped change the world.

Dr. Buzz Aldrin was watched by the largest television audience in history as he and Neil Armstrong became the first humans to walk on the moon. He is a graduate of MIT, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and one of the world's best-known advocates for the exploration of outer space. He lives in Los Angeles.

John Barnes is the acclaimed author of Mother of Storms, A Million Open Doors, Finity, and many other novels. He lives in Gunnison, Colorado. Aldrin and Barnes have written one other novel together, Encounter with Tiber

FROM THE CRITICS

Barnes & Noble Guide to New Fiction

He's been there. He's done that. "While no Hemingway," having been an Apollo 11 astronaut, Buzz Aldrin "is certainly passionate about" the space program. In this "surprisingly good," "easily accessible," and "deftly observed" tale of high adventure, written with award-winning novelist John Barnes, outsize characters, global crises, and big, daring ideas combine to create a high-flying adventure with its feet on the ground. Dissenting booksellers said it was "like a mediocre movie of the week."

Publishers Weekly

Reunited with award-winning SF writer Barnes (Encounter with Tiber), Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, imagines a near future when the space program is in the hands of competing private corporations. In association with ShareSpace, headed by ex-astronaut CEO Scott Blackstone, NASA is offering privileged civilians the opportunity to ride as "Citizen Observers" on space shuttle missions. The third such celebrity in space, basketball legend MJ (Michael James), has scarcely reached orbit when he and a crew member are killed in what appears to be a bizarre accident. Culminating in an emergency crash landing on Easter Island, this tragedy puts the future of the entire space program in jeopardy. Overnight, Blackstone becomes the scapegoat and--sued by MJ's mother for over $1 billion--is fired. When, mysteriously, Blackstone finds that no lawyer will take his case, his brother, Nick, v-p of rocket builder Republic Wright, revives the childhood bond of the Mars Four (Nick; Scott; Scott's ex-wife, celebrity attorney Thalia, mother of their 10-year-old son; and Eddie Killeret, Nick's counterpart at rival Curtiss Aerospace)--and persuades Thalia to represent Scott. Despite anonymous threats, the case turns in their favor when the media focus on the explosion of a Pakistani proton bomb that turns the entire ionosphere into a super Van Allen belt, knocking out all existing satellites. Enter an enigmatic figure from a secret agency tying everything to a Chinese conspiracy. After three of the Mars Four go into space on a mission to rescue the crew of a disabled space station, fade to sunset as they reunite at the beach cottage of their youth. In made-for-Disney prose, this facile effort makes a fast read. $150,000 marketing campaign; 20-city author tour. (May) FYI: Aldrin is the head of a foundation called ShareSpace, which advocates civilian space travel. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Library Journal