Books like The Apollo Murders — picked by fans

Smale is a fantastic award-winning writer of alternate history, and in Hot Moon we get to see that skill combined with his day job as astrophysicist for NASA. But above all this is an action story of the Cold War turning “hot” on the moon.

There are other alternate Apollo tales (e.g., For All Mankind), but I don’t know of any that have this level of space combat. Smale’s sprezzatura with the scientific details is such that I was never pushed out of the story by their complexity or by doubt in their correctness.

And like all of Smale’s work, Hot Moon never loses track of the importance of the “who” experiences technological change versus the change itself.

I’m looking forward to the next book in this series!

I recommend this book because it captures everything I love about Arthur C. Clarke, that sense of vast, quiet wonder, where the universe feels enormous and ancient and full of secrets we may never fully understand.

This story of a massive alien craft drifting through our solar system pulled me in with its scale alone, but what stayed with me was the mystery. Clarke never shows you the aliens, just like in 2001: A Space Odyssey, only the technology, the structures, the hints of something far beyond us. I loved that restraint, that feeling of standing at the edge of something we can sense but not grasp.

Readers who enjoy epic, contemplative science fiction will feel right at home here. And it fits my theme because it honors the unknown, the same quiet mystery I explore in my own writing.

The first time I read it—and yes, there have been a few times—I could not put this book down.

Romy Silvers is the only crew member to survive an accident during interstellar travel, and she’s got the trauma to prove it. Her only communication with other people is by email. At first, she’s ecstatic when she finds out another ship has been sent to join her. But then the messages from Earth start getting weird.

The author does a brilliant job of casting doubt as to how much of what’s going on is real—and how much is in Romy’s head. I wouldn’t have thought being alone in space could be so terrifying, but the tension and feeling of creeping dread did not stop until the ending—which left me reeling.

“If you can dream it, if you believe it and work hard for it, anything is possible.” This passage is why I absolutely love this book. This is repeated several times throughout this beautiful picture book that is based on the life of astronaut, Dr. Mae Jemison. Mae’s parents were very supportive of her dream of going to space, but Mae’s teacher suggested that perhaps she become a nurse rather than an astronaut. She proved her wrong! Mae also became a doctor, a Peace Corp medical officer, and the first Black female astronaut. Mae is definitely among the stars!

Simply put, my baby is obsessed with this book.

She’s still a little too young for actual picture books but loves board books. Anything with lift flaps is a huge hit. Where’s the Astronaut? does one better, it has lift flaps and a mirror! The flaps are made of felt which makes them extra durable. I’ve been fueling my little girl’s love of space from birth, so this board book was a must. I love the bold, geometric art style and all the big, smiling characters (including a space dog!).

When we get to the page with the mirror, she likes to lean in, almost touching her nose to the page, and giggle at her reflection in the book.

“Weightlessness is like a new toy you get to unwrap every day, again and again — and it’s a great reminder, too, that you need to savor the small stuff, not just sweat it.” One of many lessons learned offered by the Canadian astronaut (yes, the one who sang a creative version of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”) and flew on both the American Shuttle and Russian Soyuz. Like other next-generation astronauts influenced by the Apollo era, Chris reveals a non-jargon view about training and spaceflight with international crews. As Commander of the International Space Station during Expedition 34/35, he writes, “… don’t assume you know everything, and try to be ready for anything” is wisdom that can be related to here on Earth and up there in space.” 

This picture book is pure eye candy. I want to frame and hang every page on my wall.

The dog characters are perfectly dopey, and Aiko’s over-the-top expressions throughout the book made me laugh. The story reminds me of something straight out of a kid’s wild imagination.

The book has a mysterious air about it as the plot builds to become more ridiculous with every page turn.

Pelevin exploded onto the Russian literary scene in the 1990s, propelled by a postmodern sensibility and satirical flair. In his masterpiece, Omon Ra, the Soviet space program becomes a metaphor for all the lies and cant of post-War communism. The Politburo cannot admit it trails the US in rocket technology. So it trains naïve recruits to secretly pilot “unmanned” one-way space missions. In fact, it’s even stranger than that, but no spoilers here. Hilarious satire, while at the same time weirdly true to life. A tale of pimply youths and slogans, empty sacrifices, moon landings, and port wine guzzled in garages.

When NASA’s manned spaceflight program began, engineers focused on technology to launch men, sustain them in orbit, and eventually take them to the Moon and back. But U.S. Presidents approved the program to improve America’s image, not for scientific purposes. They wanted to counter the successive shocks of the USSR’s first artificial satellite and first person in space. This wasn’t about bragging rights, but to deter emerging nations from choosing communism over democracy. NASA launches welcomed media and US astronauts were sent abroad, guided by the State Department. They gave unscripted speeches, so listeners could relate to them as regular folks. After John Glenn orbited Earth, his Friendship 7 capsule went on tour, drawing 4 million visitors in Bombay alone. Operation Moonglow explains the unspoken politics that drove early NASA.

This book has two concepts that have stuck in my memory for years: the uplifted space-faring squid and the end-of-universe-scouring of astronomical bodies into perfectly smooth spheres. How many stories take the notion of the future to its logical extreme by showing the cosmos literally withering away countless eons downstream?

This book directly shows such a far-flung world, an endgame to which almost no science fiction story ventures. Mind uploading occurs in the novel in the far future of humanity, less so in much of the novel’s storyline in the near future, but I included it in this list because the book itself is fantastic and Baxter genuinely leans into a future in which mind uploading is an inevitable and expected outcome.