Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
402nd out of 1,173 books
—
8,383 voters
172 Hours on the Moon
It's been decades since anyone set foot on the moon. Now three ordinary teenagers, the winners of NASA's unprecedented, worldwide lottery, are about to become the first young people in space--and change their lives forever.
Mia, from Norway, hopes this will be her punk band's ticket to fame and fortune.
Midori believes it's her way out of her restrained life in Japan.
Antoine...more
Mia, from Norway, hopes this will be her punk band's ticket to fame and fortune.
Midori believes it's her way out of her restrained life in Japan.
Antoine...more
Paperback, 368 pages
Published
April 5th 2012
by ATOM
(first published September 15th 2008)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
the mooooooon! in spaaaaaace!!!
important distinction: this is not a sci-fi novel,it is a horror novel set in space.
and it needs to be said: the premise of this book is bananas. buh.na.nuhs.
so, NASA decides to go to the moon again. and to select three teenagers to accompany trained astronauts up there. for publicity. and ostensibly this mission is to get tantalum seventy-three from the moon, but really, REALLY - it is because some fucked-up shit happened there that was all covered up, and they wa...more
78 likes · like · see review
view all 32 comments
"To the moon, Alice!" --The Honeymooners (1955)First of all, if I was ever going to read a book based solely on its cover, it would be this one. That eye, that desolate, lunar landscape, that solitary, shadowy figure.
In space, no one can hear you scream. --Alien (1979)
Magnificent, yes? Also, the premise of this one had me at "hello, we're going back to the moon. And there's something wicked bad there. And you probably won't make it back alive." Space horror is the bomb. Unless you're talking a...more
13 likes · like · see review
Apr 11, 2012
Kelly
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2012,
ya-fiction
This was so much fun. So much fun.
172 Hours on the Moon is a scifi thriller, and while it lacks character development and forces readers to suspend a lot of sensibilities, the action, pacing, and downright chilling aspects of the story make it worthwhile.
Three teens are being selected to go to the moon as part of NASA's attempt to regain funding and rebuild their program. They choose teens since they're not going to remember what happened last time there was a mission to the boom (cue ominous m...more
172 Hours on the Moon is a scifi thriller, and while it lacks character development and forces readers to suspend a lot of sensibilities, the action, pacing, and downright chilling aspects of the story make it worthwhile.
Three teens are being selected to go to the moon as part of NASA's attempt to regain funding and rebuild their program. They choose teens since they're not going to remember what happened last time there was a mission to the boom (cue ominous m...more
Oh my god what.
I think maybe this was actually written by an alien rather than a Norwegian. At first I just assumed the peculiarly flavorless dialogue was a result of the translation process, but the way that no character at any time behaves the way an actual human would--there's just no other explanation.
Alien wrote this.
The end.
(the end, by the way, I did enjoy since (view spoiler). Yay!)
I think maybe this was actually written by an alien rather than a Norwegian. At first I just assumed the peculiarly flavorless dialogue was a result of the translation process, but the way that no character at any time behaves the way an actual human would--there's just no other explanation.
Alien wrote this.
The end.
(the end, by the way, I did enjoy since (view spoiler). Yay!)
6 likes · like · see review
172 HOURS ON THE MOON is frightening. The hold-me-I'm-shaking-I'll-never-look-at-the-universe-the-same-way-again type of frightening. Call it whatever you'd like: nightmare-inducing, chilling, fear on paper. Whatever you do call it, 172 HOURS ON THE MOON is bound to scare the crap out of you.
I mean, unless you're one of them.
172 HOURS ON THE MOON is 355 pages of pure terror written by Johan Harstad, a Norwegian man who obviously must've gone to the moon and experienced these things to write abou...more
I mean, unless you're one of them.
172 HOURS ON THE MOON is 355 pages of pure terror written by Johan Harstad, a Norwegian man who obviously must've gone to the moon and experienced these things to write abou...more
11 likes · like · see review
Jan 19, 2013
Victor
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites,
i-recommend
I have been wanting this book ever since Raeleen hauled this book in one of her videos. I had some great expectations for this book, but I was let down by three things. One being that the first killings were very tame and not gross and disgusting like I expected. Second, the insta love between Antoine and Mia was annoying. Third, the twist at the end made everything confusing.
Some things that in this book that I really liked was that the pacing was very good. It's a surprisingly quick read. Sec...more
Some things that in this book that I really liked was that the pacing was very good. It's a surprisingly quick read. Sec...more
3 likes · like · see review
When I was a kid, during Nickelodeon’s golden age, they used to always air these commercials for space camp. Like any reasonable 9-year-old, I desperately wanted to go. Alas, it was not meant to be. Cuz, you guys, after reading 172 Hours On The Moon by Johan Harstad translated by Tara F. Chace, I am convinced that space is sinister, so maybe not going to space camp is a blessing.
Read the rest of my review here
Read the rest of my review here
3 likes · like · see review
What an interesting horror story - and one with very little chance of a sequel (I hope!).
NASA, for various reasons, has decided to go back to the moon but they need an excuse and a way to gin up public interest. The excuse is a search for a mineral that would give America the edge in nanotechnology, the public interest angle is that three teens (between the ages of 14-18, of a certain height, in good physical and psychological health) will be chosen as passengers. In reality they're gong back t...more
NASA, for various reasons, has decided to go back to the moon but they need an excuse and a way to gin up public interest. The excuse is a search for a mineral that would give America the edge in nanotechnology, the public interest angle is that three teens (between the ages of 14-18, of a certain height, in good physical and psychological health) will be chosen as passengers. In reality they're gong back t...more
I'm pretty sure my mind actually just exploded.
3 likes · like · see review
I am a huge sucker for science-fiction books, and everyone knows that. I love sci-fi (and post-apocalyptic, too) above anything else, and the first word that popped to mind when I stumbled across 172 Hours on the Moon on Goodreads was literally: "Whoa." It had to be the synopsis and creep-tastic cover that drew me in. Fortunately, though, 172 Hours on the Moon proved to be a great read!
In 172 Hours on the Moon, NASA is losing money and popularityn No one has visited the moon in decades, due to s...more
In 172 Hours on the Moon, NASA is losing money and popularityn No one has visited the moon in decades, due to s...more
Originally reviewed at Minnesota Reads.
It’s 2019 and NASA needs to go back to the moon. You see, when they were bouncing around on the moon in the 60s and 70s, they weren’t doing it for the photo op. They were building a secret research facility in the Sea of Tranquility to investigate mysterious signals received on Earth from the moon. Before they could really investigate, the public lost interest in missions to space and their budget was cut, so they never actually used the research facility.
B...more
It’s 2019 and NASA needs to go back to the moon. You see, when they were bouncing around on the moon in the 60s and 70s, they weren’t doing it for the photo op. They were building a secret research facility in the Sea of Tranquility to investigate mysterious signals received on Earth from the moon. Before they could really investigate, the public lost interest in missions to space and their budget was cut, so they never actually used the research facility.
B...more
There aren’t a lot of things that scare me, but outer space is one of them. It’s so vast and empty (except for the planets, stars, space junk, etc.) and nobody truly knows what could be lurking out there. So it’s not a surprise that I found 172 Hours on the Moon to be really, really creepy.
The first part of the book takes place on earth, and this is the slower part of the book. It’s kind of like the pre-game stuff: the introduction to the contest, meeting the winners, etc. All of the characters...more
The first part of the book takes place on earth, and this is the slower part of the book. It’s kind of like the pre-game stuff: the introduction to the contest, meeting the winners, etc. All of the characters...more
2 likes · like · see review
The plot is set in 2019 (oh god, when I read it seemed so far away!) when NASA, in need of funding, announces that they will launch a new mission to the moon. In order to get the funding, they have to gain public interest, which they do by allowing three teenagers go along with the astronauts. They are chosen through a contest, and the winners are: Mia from Norway, Antoine from France and Midori from Japan.
The real reason behind the launch, is to find out what actually happened to the bases ther...more
The real reason behind the launch, is to find out what actually happened to the bases ther...more
2 likes · like · see review
Being Norwegian myself, I was excited to pick up a book written by a Norwegian man living in Oslo. Since this book was originally written in Norwegian and then translated into English, I will be gracious and not spend a long paragraph going on about how the prose and dialogue were stilted and stiff.
Instead, I will sadly list the other things that made this book a disappointment for me.
1 The Characters. I love characters, and they're one of the main things I judge a book by. Where the character...more
Instead, I will sadly list the other things that made this book a disappointment for me.
1 The Characters. I love characters, and they're one of the main things I judge a book by. Where the character...more
172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad had an inventive concept, a good plot, and nicely balanced characters. All in all, a good book.
NASA has decided to send three teenagers up to the moon for publicity, in order to get better funding for future missions. These three teenagers are chosen via a worldwide lottery. One of the winners is Mia Nomeland from Norway, whose parents signed her up for the lottery. She doesn't initially want to go as she has plans for her band to become big, but her parent...more
NASA has decided to send three teenagers up to the moon for publicity, in order to get better funding for future missions. These three teenagers are chosen via a worldwide lottery. One of the winners is Mia Nomeland from Norway, whose parents signed her up for the lottery. She doesn't initially want to go as she has plans for her band to become big, but her parent...more
In this book NASA has decided that they want to send another team up to the moon. Public interest and funding has been waning significantly over the years so, in their infinite wisdom, they have come up with a plan to have a lottery to select three teenagers from around the world up with a team of astronauts to the site of the original moon landing. It is clear to the reader that there is more to this trip than meets the eye and that this is not a trip that should be happening.
This book was tra...more
This book was tra...more
Well, I wish someone had told me this before I started reading 172 hours on the moon,
This book was incredibly, unbelievably weird. I honestly don't understand how it could have been so successful - there are genuinely scary bits (but even these are really, really weird - an undead woman living in a toilet cubicle? Really? REALLY?) but mainly massive plot holes (view spoiler)...more
This book was incredibly, unbelievably weird. I honestly don't understand how it could have been so successful - there are genuinely scary bits (but even these are really, really weird - an undead woman living in a toilet cubicle? Really? REALLY?) but mainly massive plot holes (view spoiler)...more
My daughter told me to read this book, that it started slow but got really good, really scary. I never found it so. The characters were card board cutouts: the Norwegian toughy, the French romantic, the Japanese fashionista. They never expanded beyond that. I think the biggest problem I had was I could not suspend my disbelief enough to follow along. They were supposed to have three months of training but this is never described and then when they are on the spaceship/space station they sound li...more
Fifty years after the first man walked on the moon, we’re going back. What’s more, in honour of the occasion three teenagers will be chosen in a lottery to accompany the astronauts and become the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth people to set foot on the moon’s surface. Norwegian Mia, the Japanese Midori and Antoine, from France are three of millions of teens worldwide to register for the lottery, and chance or fate steps in – they’re going to be a part of man’s return to the moon!
This incre...more
This incre...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Jan 14, 2013
Faye (The Social Potato)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
2012,
adaptation,
adventure,
horror,
young-adult,
to-review,
thriller,
supernatural,
stand-alone,
space,
science-fiction,
psychological,
mystery,
multiple-povs
Can also be read on The Social Potato.
In space, no one can hear you scream.
*shiver*
Thirty minutes after finishing this novel, I still feel the chills running down my spine. I've always loved space, y'know? I grew up in the countryside where I could get a clear view of the stars, and I would oftentimes spot a meteorite here and there, flashing brightly for a second or two before it disappears in the void that we call the outer space. Endless hours of star gazing has made me a bit ambitious. I've...more
In space, no one can hear you scream.
*shiver*
Thirty minutes after finishing this novel, I still feel the chills running down my spine. I've always loved space, y'know? I grew up in the countryside where I could get a clear view of the stars, and I would oftentimes spot a meteorite here and there, flashing brightly for a second or two before it disappears in the void that we call the outer space. Endless hours of star gazing has made me a bit ambitious. I've...more
AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...more
Premise: I actually haven’t read a lot of sci-fi recently, but the summary was very intriguing, and it seemed like it would be a thriller, as the isolation and unfamiliarity of the moon is the perfect place for things to go wrong.
Characters: Although almost half of the book was given for developing the three teenagers, I don’t think they were given enough personal identity. I could sympathize with the need to get out of their home towns and away from their boring lives to see the world, but the...more
Characters: Although almost half of the book was given for developing the three teenagers, I don’t think they were given enough personal identity. I could sympathize with the need to get out of their home towns and away from their boring lives to see the world, but the...more
SAY WHAT???
Really. That was my exact reaction when i finished the book. It is creepy to say the least. It scared the hibbie jibbies out of me and i truly and madly was convinced for a moment that the Moon might actually be hell.
I am glad i read the book because i learned a couple of new things ( like where the phrase "Houston, we have a problem" originated from.yeah because that is totally important for me to suceed in life .) The premise is effing great which is what made me pick up the book i...more
Really. That was my exact reaction when i finished the book. It is creepy to say the least. It scared the hibbie jibbies out of me and i truly and madly was convinced for a moment that the Moon might actually be hell.
I am glad i read the book because i learned a couple of new things ( like where the phrase "Houston, we have a problem" originated from.
Review by Madison
Nobody has been to the moon in over 40 years; to create the funding required for a return trip NASA makes a huge decision. 3 teenagers are going to get to go to the moon, but there is a reason that there hasn’t been a return trip to the moon. When they head to a space station, DARLAH2, that supposedly never existed things start to go wrong.
Chilling and filled with suspense, you constantly wonder if any of them will make it back to earth alive.
I loved this book, especially the wa...more
Nobody has been to the moon in over 40 years; to create the funding required for a return trip NASA makes a huge decision. 3 teenagers are going to get to go to the moon, but there is a reason that there hasn’t been a return trip to the moon. When they head to a space station, DARLAH2, that supposedly never existed things start to go wrong.
Chilling and filled with suspense, you constantly wonder if any of them will make it back to earth alive.
I loved this book, especially the wa...more
127 hours robbed me of my sleep, which ultimately means it's a good book. It's about NASA sending 3 teenagers up to the moon - chosen in a lottery. There's Mia, from Norway, who went up so her band could get famous, Midori from Japan, looking to escape the country and live in New York. And then there's Antoine, a broken hearted French boy who wants to get as far away from his ex as possible. Obviously. The first part of the book is on earth about their background stories, meeting eachother, etc...more
By Johan Harstad, Grade B+
At some point in our lives, we all develop an unhealthy obsession with aliens and UFOs and what not, spending hours on internet research and refreshing the NASA website like a madman. Outer space is a big dark nothing shrouded with mystery and naturally, offers our imagination a free ticket to conjure all sorts of possibilities, ranging from a parallel universe to finding our negative halves on the moon. This particular treat by Johan Harstad does much to fuel that imag...more
At some point in our lives, we all develop an unhealthy obsession with aliens and UFOs and what not, spending hours on internet research and refreshing the NASA website like a madman. Outer space is a big dark nothing shrouded with mystery and naturally, offers our imagination a free ticket to conjure all sorts of possibilities, ranging from a parallel universe to finding our negative halves on the moon. This particular treat by Johan Harstad does much to fuel that imag...more
I think I stumbled on Johan Harstad's 172 Hours on the Moon when I was looking for John Barnes' Losers in Space; both novels share the plot element of young people trying to get off of Earth to boost their social standing. Aside from that, they could scarcely be more different. In the alternate history underlying Harstad's novel, a secret moon base called DARLAH 2 was built during the Apollo yearsd. A present-day mission will return to investigate the abandoned base. If this sounds a bit like an...more
Aug 27, 2012
Lisa Delaine Youngblood
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-for-tayshas-2011-12
In this implausible plot, NASA sends three teenagers whom they have chosen through a lottery to the moon to a previously secret space station. Despite the fact that the moon station project had been abandoned due to strange and troubling events, NASA determines that sending teens will garner worldwide attention and support for the failing space program.
Possibly this version is simply an unfortunate translation or poorly paced audio. Regardless this "reads" as a repetitious plot with one-dimensi...more
Possibly this version is simply an unfortunate translation or poorly paced audio. Regardless this "reads" as a repetitious plot with one-dimensi...more
The book has been recommended by a reviewer in a national newspaper - "It must be good, let's give it a go" I thought. I requested it from the library and was already 12th in the queue. The copy arrived quite quickly and I read first few pages. I have a habit of checking quickly the last page too. It sounded intriguing, so continued reading. First half of the book dragged without giving much clue why and how 3 teens are supposed to go to the moon. Harstad assumes that readers know about space ex...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| This is a good book | 2 | 9 | Feb 16, 2013 05:21pm | |
| SPSV Mrs. Rodgers...: Kyle Deleon | 1 | 5 | Oct 07, 2012 07:24pm | |
| Same book cover model | 2 | 24 | Apr 12, 2012 04:14am |
Johan Harstad is a 31-year-old Norwegian author, graphic designer, playwright, drummer, and international sensation. He is the winner of the 2008 Brage Award (Brageprisen), previously won by Per Petterson, and his books have been published in over 11 countries. In 2009, he was named the first ever in-house playwright at the National Theatre in Oslo. His first novel Buzz Aldrin, What Happened To Yo...more
More about Johan Harstad...
Share This Book
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...
“Wieder hob sie den Blick und richtete die Lampe auf ihr Gesicht. Sie schaute zum Fenster hinüber. Ihre Züge waren jetzt fast noch deutlicher. Sie konnte die Details um ihre Nase studieren, den Mund. Die Haare. Sie sah nicht gut aus. Resigniert schaltete sie die Lampe aus und ließ sie sinken.
Und da sah sie es.
Ihr Spiegelbild verschwand nicht.
Es blieb im Fenster hängen, noch deutlicher als zuvor.
Eine Sekunge lang ließ sie sich davon einfach faszinieren.
Sie schnitt eine Grimasse.
Aber das Spiegelbild veränderte sich nicht.”
—
1 person liked it
More quotes…
Und da sah sie es.
Ihr Spiegelbild verschwand nicht.
Es blieb im Fenster hängen, noch deutlicher als zuvor.
Eine Sekunge lang ließ sie sich davon einfach faszinieren.
Sie schnitt eine Grimasse.
Aber das Spiegelbild veränderte sich nicht.”
