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Alone on the Moon chronicles a Soviet moon mission through the eyes of Boris Volynov, a backup who’s been pressed into service helping Alexei Leonov (a man he despises) attempt humanity’s first lunar landing. Thoroughly researched, it’s a detailed and plausible rendition of two larger-than-life personalities facing incredible challenges. It’s also a meditation on luck, trust, the nature of observation, and the burden of being chosen—plus the way our personal narratives can shape (or poison) our perceptions of the present. Do the stories we tell ourselves shape our fate, or can we write a new chapter? The answer awaits.
The titles in the Altered Space series are wholly separate narratives, but all deal with the mysteries of space and time, progress and circularity. Each one is an ensō of words in which orbits of spacecraft, moons, planets, and people allow us fresh perspectives on the cycles of our own lives.
“Brilliant...you’ll be wildly entertained, but it’s also a terribly thought-provoking book about ambition and friendship and striving.”
― Rick Kogan, WGN Radio
"Gerald Brennan is the poet laureate of the desolation of space, a master of capturing it not as the operatic backdrop of movie science fiction, but as the darkly oppressive deadly void between worlds. Alone on the Moon is Brennan in peak form―it's Apollo 13 minus Hollywood, a very human exploration of an alternate history moon mission...right up to its nail-biting conclusion."
― David Hitt, author, Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story"A terrific story that so nearly might have been. Gerald Brennan’s tale of a Soviet mission to the moon has it all―knockout characters, a pacey plot, and enough dramatic twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. A truly great read."
― Stephen Walker, author, Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space
"Brennan has written a deeply original story imagining an alternate reality in the Cold War. An account of two Soviet cosmonauts on a dangerous mission to the moon becomes, in Brennan’s hands, a character study about ambition, luck, and courage from the halcyon days of the space race. As with his earlier book on Gagarin, Public Loneliness, Brennan has an uncanny ability to dig deeper into the world of the spacefarer in a way that is rare, satisfying, and often unsettling. A great addition to his canon." ― Asif A. Siddiqi, author, The Red Rockets' Glare: Spaceflight and the Russian Imagination, 1857–1957
"With unnerving clarity, Brennan takes us into the fictional heart of a Soviet moon landing attempt. The creative elements are breathtaking. For me, what is even more terrifyingly impressive is what is not fiction. Brennan's thorough research delves into uncomfortable truths buried in famous people and achievements. This is the story of two actual people, placed in circumstances that so easily could have taken place in reality."― Francis French, spaceflight historian
"Alone on the Moon not only looks back at an entirely plausible ‘what if,’ but also pays long overdue tribute to truly unsung heroes of early Soviet spaceflight. This book, like Brennan’s other work, had me on the edge of my seat throughout…I couldn’t put it down!"