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Voyage (NASA Trilogy #1)

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 509 ratings · 33 reviews

Kennedy survived. Like many alternate history stories, that's the premise of Stephen Baxter's Voyage. But in Baxter's version of the past, that one altered fact is the propellant that drives humanity into space, beyond the primitive lunar landings of the 1960s. Spurred by a JFK who champions space flight and a Nixon administration that backs NASA, humans reach Mars in 1986...more

Paperback, 608 pages

Published 2010 (first published 1996)

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Jan 06, 2013 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science, fiction, engineering, alternate-history, technology

It is difficult to classify the genre of this novel--but it comes closest to "alternate history". In this story, J.F. Kennedy does not die, and Richard Nixon chooses not to develop the space shuttle program, but instead to launch a manned spacecraft to Mars. The story is jam-packed with engineering and science, peppered with occasional politics. While it focuses on a few characters--primarily NASA's first woman astronaut (a PhD geologist) and a few engineers, the main character is really the eng...more

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Mar 27, 2011 Andreas rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Definitely my favorite Baxter. Unlike most Baxter fare, there is no “big thinking”, no Xeelee, no looming destruction of the universe. It is, quite simply, a novel of what might have been (and very nearly was) if NASA had been allowed to continue in the footsteps of Apollo all the way to Mars. It is written in parallel perspectives, looking at the mission itself as it runs its course, and at the preparations, political wangling and engineering that precede it. The heroine, Natalie York, is follo...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Arun Divakar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The seeds to all good literature lies in two words : what if ? Take an occurrence in human history and imagine an alternative outcome to it and voila ! you have material for a good book in your hands. These flights of fantasy are what makes alternative history books some of my favorite reads.

Here is an America where JFK survived the assassination attempt. Shattered and bound to his wheelchair, he urges the space program onward. A world where the Nixon administration did not drop the guillotine...more The seeds to all good literature lies in two words : what if ? Take an occurrence in human history and imagine an alternative outcome to it and voila ! you have material for a good book in your hands. These flights of fantasy are what makes alternative history books some of my favorite reads.

Here is an America where JFK survived the assassination attempt. Shattered and bound to his wheelchair, he urges the space program onward. A world where the Nixon administration did not drop the guillotine on the manned Mars program and finally in 1985, the USA lands a trio of people on Mars. I found this premise very very interesting and Baxter did deliver a colorful roller coaster ride in all of these 600 pages ! Much more than telling the story of three astronauts who go to Mars, the author here focuses on NASA. This then means the focus is on this technological organization and how it tides over many an obstacle in putting men on Mars. The human factor of this novel is quite unmissable and perhaps its biggest strength. With such a backdrop, it would have been easy for the author to slip into technical jargon and give the reader a long technical manual (read Tom Clancy !) and put his characters on the Mars. Baxter however goes the other way. He tells us of the men and women who build the launch vehicles. Those who obsessively pursue this one goal of pushing beyond the envelope of technology, the astronauts who lay down their lives for the bigger goals of technocracy and many more unnamed faces intricately linked with the organization called NASA.The novel spans the story of the first such manned space flight which lands on the red planet and how the mission comes to be. There is jargon yes but the author keeps this to understandable levels and the focus is mainly on people and circumstances. As befits a novel of such scope, the focus is not placed on a few individuals but more on an ensemble cast.

The brightest flash of brilliance in the book is in the character named Joseph Muldoon. He is the equivalent of Edwin Aldrin in real life and perhaps the most pivotal character who drives the story forward. I liked him precisely for his all-American nature and the way he bulldozes his way through all the garbage to get to what matters : completion of the mission. Through the span of this tale careers rise and fall, people come and go and politics keeps poking its fingers in places it has no reason to and all this makes the story a great deal interesting. There is also the story of the three-men crew : Stone, York and Gershon who finally make it to the moon. When I was reaching the end of the book it stuck me quite odd that way back in 1980's it would have been rather impossible for such a crew to break free of the barriers of orthodoxy and prejudice to fly out of Earth orbit. Wondering why ? Read on and find out for I ain't letting the cat out of its bag where its all cozy and comfy !

It took me a long time to finish this book. I couldn't find a logical reason for this as I moved at quite a stiff pace but still the book mocked me with its size of unread pages. The interest level for sci-fi in my reading list is also steadily climbing. Earlier I read up on Asimov and grumbled my way through Heinlein and applauded my way through Clarke but now this book makes me want to read more of sci-fi ! Recommended !(less)

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Sep 10, 2012 Bill H rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I can't even classify this as Science Fiction... this is Engineering Fiction. Eng-Fi, is that a thing? It should be.

Anyway, I ate it up: an alt-history take on how the US might've gotten to Mars in the 80s if it had taken that direction right after Apollo, instead of the Shuttle and Space Station and Hubble and the variety of planetary probes we've built instead. And Baxter doesn't sell this as a unequivocally better direction, either -- the story's not that simple-minded, not at all.

Also, space...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Andrew added it

This is the first of Stephen Baxter's novels I've read, although I have read a short story or two. It was very different to the futuristic space travel sci-fi cliche, and I really appreciated that in the story. Alternate reality earth where the space program takes a different turn, headed for Mars instead of the space shuttle program. In places I got bogged down in the technical language and acronyms, but this was balanced well with some strong character development. Looking forward to my next c...more

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May 02, 2012 Brent Werness rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, hard-sci-fi, favorite-fiction, sci-fi

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really enjoyed this book, but it had a few issues. First off, this is about as hard of sci-fi as hard sci-fi gets. It is essentially an alternate history novel where the choice was made after the moon lander to pursue a Mars landing instead of the shuttle and the ISS. It does a very convincing job on describing the politics and engineering needed for such a task, and is a good read because of that. However it is not without its flaws.

The first, and biggest, problem is that Baxter really steals...more I really enjoyed this book, but it had a few issues. First off, this is about as hard of sci-fi as hard sci-fi gets. It is essentially an alternate history novel where the choice was made after the moon lander to pursue a Mars landing instead of the shuttle and the ISS. It does a very convincing job on describing the politics and engineering needed for such a task, and is a good read because of that. However it is not without its flaws.

The first, and biggest, problem is that Baxter really steals a lot of elements directly from the actual history of NASA: events, characters, and individual lines of dialog from mission transcripts. This makes it feel very authentic (because, well, it all actually happened in slightly modified form) but to a space history savvy reader (his clearly intended audience), it seems very cheap. For instance: parts of the Apollo-N accident read exactly as lines from the Apollo 13 transcript, or the trouble with the MEM Earth orbital test in which Gershon (one of the main characters) proves himself is nearly identical to the difficulties encountered by Neil Armstrong in Gemini 8, or the crew photo of Apollo-N identical in spirit to the "praying over Apollo" photo of Apollo 1. He should have drawn his inspiration from less well known events if he wanted to take this route since reading things so obviously inspired sometimes took me out of the story.

The second problem was that the writing was every so often lazy and repetitive. The worst offender for me was the way that he repeated on four separate occasions that their rocket ride just got smoother because they were outrunning the sound of their own engines. It was clever the first time, but it really stuck out the next three times.

However, I don't want you to think that the writing was bad. In fact, I found the Apollo-N failure scene particularly effective at expressing not only the action itself but the shifting mind states of those involved with the astronauts believing the test was working well while the ground controller who designed the engine understood exactly what is going on from just a few out of place numbers. I additionally want to commend him on taking a very even handed approach with the alternate history. It is all too common to read such a book where they proclaim "if only this one thing were different we'd live an a space paradise!" Baxter instead paints the image of an alternate NASA perhaps even worse off than our own with no planned missions after the one Mars landing.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.(less)

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Dec 21, 2008 Matthew rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scientastic

After Apollo 11, a special task force gave Nixon three choices for the future of the space program: robots only, the space shuttle, and Mars. Nixon chose the shuttle; this book is a what-if that imagines the development of human spaceflight if Nixon had chosen Mars instead. There is a great deal of technical detail, which isn't really my thing, but this book also takes a very sophisticated and balanced examination of the complexities of what such a decision might mean. In addition to the dream o...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Martin L. Cahn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a great novel. The only reason I give it 4 stars and not 5 is because of how technical it is. That's interesting by virtue of the alternate but very plausible spacecraft developed in this timeline of reaching Mars. Unfortunately, those details can slow down the narrative a bit in places.

SPOILER:

Although I loved the space shuttle program, I agree with the author that his alternate timeline would have been preferable. It would have been worth it, to me, to have given up that program in ord...more

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May 15, 2012 Mariadel Carmen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Voyage" by Stephen Baxter. Quite realistic. It reads like a history textbook, and gets bogged down in needless details. Some of the technical descriptions are long and very boring. It was hard to read. I would say save yourself the trouble and skip this one unless you like long history/biographic type narratives. I only got through it because I was listening to it on audiobook.

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Sep 23, 2011 Ryan rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book blatantly recycles events that happened in the real space program; and literally rips off events and characters wholesale from other books, most notably ANGLE OF ATTACK by Mike Gray. JK Lee is Harrison "Stormy" Storms; right down to the wife who tries to commit suicide by overdosing on meds; or how he keeps the program going by cheating on his time cards.

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Jan 02, 2013 Doug Wilcox rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Although I love the hard science and overall premise of this book, for a Baxter story, this one is exceedingly slow moving. About halfway through the book things pick up a bit, and it becomes more interesting, but if I hadn't oft dreamed of traveling to Mars, I would probably not have made it that far.

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Mar 05, 2012 Buzz Ryan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book is probably one of the only alternative history works I enjoyed. What pulls the entire thing together through out the novel is the little things the characters do that are just so real.I look forward to re-reading this one again someday.

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Mar 31, 2012 Glenn Capuano rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A good look at how close America actually came to going to Mars, and what might have been. Quite realistic, but gets bogged down in minutiae, some of the technical description gets a bit boring.

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Apr 05, 2012 Krait rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

In this realistic novel, Baxter puts forward a compelling alternate history in which Nixon chooses Mars instead of the space shuttle. Spurred on by JFK, who is only wounded in the assasination attempt in 1963, the book explores the possible politics, decision points, engineering, and human challenges that could have happened, and would have seen men land on Mars as early as 1986.

Although this is alternate history, Baxter has got the right tone and mix of story elements to nearly convince you tha...more

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May 27, 2011 Don rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this a few years back. Author shows how America had the ability to conduct a Mars mission if they would have chosen that over the Space Shuttle program.

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Nov 06, 2012 Clay Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very well done work involving a manned mission to Mars. Excellant character development and good pacing. Good interweaving of historical events.

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Jan 25, 2010 David R. rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An execrable confection. Baxter "reinvents" history but it simply isn't all that plausible outside of space hardware. He shamelessly steals plot material, both retelling the better known incidents from Project Apollo and ripping off Arthur Clarke's breathless PC nothings from "2010". And he populates the pages with exceptionally foul mouthed people who are little better than cartoon cutouts. Not recommended.

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Jul 10, 2009 Jason Miller rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the story of what would of happen, if they skipped the Shuttle program and went from the Apollo missions to a man mission to Mars

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Mar 01, 2012 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction

Baxter's alternate history tale of a manned mission to Mars is interesting but reads somewhat dry. Much of the book is told from the point of view of Natalie York who becomes (in this alternate history) America's first woman in space along with the first person to set foot on Mars.

It's an interesting book and tries to look at both the benefits and disadvantages to the space program if Nasa had proceeded down that path. Worth reading but a little depressing given that in the 16 years since it's...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Daniel Hamad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For how much the book is supposed to be influenced by the idea of JFK surviving, it sure doesn't say much about him.

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Jul 18, 2009 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f

Excellent alt-history of sending a manned mission to Mars in the 1980s. Baxter goes into great detail regarding the technology, rocketry, and NASA politics to show how it could really have happened.

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May 17, 2013 John Rivers rated it 5 of 5 stars

Finished Voyage by Stephen Baxter. Just amazing. As brilliant an alt history of the space programme as Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell was for magic. Can't wait to read sequels and listen to the BBC radio adaptation. I even shed a tear at the end.

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Jan 30, 2009 Evan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a great book! It is very exiting and the charecters come from all walks of life

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Sep 01, 2011 Warren Watts rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

An excellent "what if" piece of speculative fiction. What if the manned mission to Mars hadn't been canned? Great book!

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Jul 28, 2011 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: summer-2011, radio-4x, published-1996

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 13, 2012 Mairi Cameron rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club

Loved this book, I think I'm going to just accept it as a history textbook and ignore the real history, we really should have gone to Mars!

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Aug 20, 2009 Jonathanstray Stray rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Space geek loved it.

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Jan 18, 2010 Larry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very good!

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Aug 18, 2008 Katy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People who like space technology, detailed alternative histories, or general Baxter fans

Shelves: weaver-library

Typical Baxter. If you really like his writing style, extremely detailed alternative histories, or are into the space program and people on Mars, this is the book for you. The major premise is that JFK was shot but not murdered, and his background support of a 'flags and footprints' mission structure continues through the years. Perhaps one of the best parts of the book is the afterword, where Baxter explains where his book deviates from reality and why he thinks things went the way they did.

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Jul 24, 2011 Michael Taylor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An interesting "what if?" of an American voyage to Mars, if the heavy involvement in Vietnam had not happened.

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About Stephen Baxter

Stephen Baxter is a trained engineer with degrees from Cambridge (mathematics) and Southampton Universities (doctorate in aeroengineering research). Baxter is the winner of the British Science Fiction Award and the Locus Award, as well as being a nominee for an Arthur C. Clarke Award, most recently for Manifold: Time. His novel Voyage won the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Novel of the...more

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Voyage (NASA Trilogy #1)

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