Too Far From Home

February 26, 2007
In February 2003, the space shuttle Columbia, returning from the International Space Station, exploded after re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, killing its seven passengers. Three other astronauts were left stranded aboard the ISS after the launch program was suspended in the wake of the tragedy. Jones follows the three aboard the space station and charts their eventual return home. Davies delivers a serviceable if lackluster performance. His voice is pleasant enough, but his narrative style is a bit bland. There are a number of dramatic scenes throughout the story that Davies simply recounts rather than dramatizes. Since most, if not all, of the dialogue between the ISS astronauts and mission control was probably recorded, not using them in the audiobook is a missed opportunity to really bring the story to life. Jones's tale of compelling human drama is fascinating, but the narrator doesn't quite have "the right stuff." Simultaneous release with the Atria hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 26).

Starred review from February 1, 2007
Although NASA declined to assist in the preparation of this book, possibly fearing critical treatment, independent writer Jones has produced a first-rate account of the Expedition Six mission to the International Space Station. U.S. astronauts Ken Bowersox and Don Pettit and Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin anticipated a 14-week stay at the station, from November 2002 to March 2003. Instead, their mission morphed into a five-month-long test of human endurance. Their plight as marooned spacemen stemmed from the intervening explosion of the "Columbia" space shuttle and the grounding of the remainder of the fleet. In a somewhat graphic and always gritty writing style, Jones recounts the onboard personal trials and triumphs associated with the survival of these men and the lot of the families they left behind. As a backdrop to his core narrative, he offers a concise yet engaging treatment of the competing American and Russian space programs. In the end, a "Soyuz" space capsule connected to the hull of the space station was the only hope for a safe return to Earth. Jones's heart-stopping account of the astronaut's harrowing descent toward the steppes of Kazakhstan caps a most engrossing read. Recommended for all aerospace collections and all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 11/1/06.]John Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Cleveland

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2007
In an up-close and personal style, with occasional Tom Wolfe-like flourishes, Jones depicts the life of the modern astronaut who boards the space shuttle and flies to the International Space Station (ISS). The experience of launch and living in orbit receive all-questions-answered coverage, from making wills to eating to using the toilet, given as preliminaries to Jones' main drama: telling of the predicament of two Americans and a Russian who were aboard the ISS when the space shuttle " Columbia "was destroyed in February 2003. Although not exactly stranded by the subsequent suspension of shuttle flights--the ISS had a Soyuz lifeboat--Kenneth Bowersox, Don Pettit, and Nikolai Budarin had to adapt operationally and emotionally to an extended mission until, after terrestrials debated and dismissed the idea of abandoning the ISS, the Russians could launch a replacement crew. Jones, who obtained the cooperation of Bowersox and his crewmates, captures their feelings of separation from Earth and delivers space travel's ever-present risk in a kinetic rendering of their harrowing return home.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)