High Vacuum
High Vacuum is a science fiction novel by Charles Eric Maine. It was first published in 1957 by Ballantine Books.
 Cover of High Vacuum | |
| Author | Charles Eric Maine |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Ballantine |
Publication date | 1957 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 192 pp |
Synopsis
The first manned Moon ship, Alpha, runs out of fuel just before landing in the Mare Imbrium and crashes, killing one of the four-man crew and marooning the rest. The novel follows the castaways as they struggle to survive and return to Earth.
Critical reception
In the June 1958 issue of Science Fiction Stories, Damon Knight wrote,
"Maine's style is stiff and pompous, but it moves the story along purposefully; his characters are oversimplified but vivid and forceful at times...The only thing really wrong with the book, in fact, is the science in it. Maine's physics is bad, his chemistry worse...The gross errors in this novel are in the area of common knowledge (as if a Western hero should saddle up a pueblo and ride off down the cojone): any one of them could have been corrected by ten minutes with a dictionary or an encyclopedia."