[I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

As a NetGalley ARC, I got a digital copy, but getting a printed one is very, very tempting, since the book contains plenty of beautiful pictures: from archives, from “current” events (taken during SpaceX launches, for instance), and from art depicting projects as of yet unrealised, but that look definitely exciting.

This book takes us on a journey from the early days of space-faring into current projects, as well as what could very well be in store for the future. The space conquest started strongly during the Cold War, but it is true that after a while, those efforts kind of dwindled compared to what they could have been, what a lot of people no doubt expected them to be. I remember when the shuttle was decommissioned, and that was heartbreaking in its own way. Now, as the space industry is not relying only on public agencies but also on investors from the private sector—while I’m not a huge fan of Musk and Bezos, let’s be honest, we need people like them to carry on with the effort—may we hope that it’s not going to stop here?

“Space 2.0” is a very pleasant read, both in an entertaining and in an informative manner, and doesn’t restrict itself to covering NASA: it also presents recent and currents efforts from other agencies, whether in Europe with the ESA or in Asia with the growing importance of China and India. And while it doesn’t shy away from all the hurdles in conquering space, the past as well as the future ones, it provides plenty of technical details, and a clearly hopeful vision (complete with contacts and organisations to get involved as individuals in space-related endeavours in general).

Yes, I really want to get the printed version now. If I have one critique, it’s that I wouldn’t have minded if the book has been a little longer, with even more pictures and details!

Encounter with Tiber, by Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes, is a hard science fiction story for fans of space travel and colonization of the Moon and Mars. The long book (570 pages plus a foreword by Arthur C. Clarke and biographies of the authors) contains two related stories framed within a future historian's voyage to Tiber.

One story starts with an alternative history of the end of the shuttle program and continues into the very near future with explorations of the Moon and Mars. This story is thick with detailed descriptions of technology and includes concepts familiar to fans of Aldrin's writing, like the Mars to Earth cycler spacecraft. Indeed, long stretches of this story seems to lay a plot on top of his non-fiction book, Mission to Mars. The second story tells of humanoids (very human in nature) who came to Earth in the past, seeking a new home for their doomed race. This story is similarly full of scientific details not needed to advance the plot or understand the characters; it describes being in space.

The book also deals with the politics of space. A recurring theme in both stories is 'political pressure leads to poor decisions and tragedy'. Since Aldrin has been part of NASA's space program for so long (yes, he is that Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon), it makes me wonder about the real-life events that led to this pervasive element.

Even in moments of strong plot action, the authors will divert into technical details, which can make the book slow to read. It requires more concentration than a typical fun summer vacation book, and several times I put it down for a while.

If you are not a hard science fiction/space fiction fan, you'll find this book tedious. If you love the details a space insider can provide, you'll be fascinated.

One of my lovely students brought it in for me to borrow... will probably graze and look at pictures rather than read the copious amounts of text.

Rating: 2.5* of fiveThe Book Report: A stream-of-consciousness first novel recounting nineteen years in the life of Mattias, the kid who never wanted to be seen or heard. He got his wish all his life long, except that it cost him the love and affection of two women, the fame that could've changed his life had he pursued his talent for singing, and landed him in the tender clutches of a mental institution in the Faeroe Islands. There is a happy ending.My Review: Without a doubt, the worst title in the history of English-language publishing. The. Worst.I'm going to say three things about this book, and then move on. The first thing is, boring characters make for boring books, and boring books are bad for the publisher's image and profits. The second thing is, four hundred seventy-one pages of a boring character's boring thoughts and flat, affectless reports of tragedy and pain are approximately two times too many pages. The third thing is, THIRTY DOLLARS FOR THIS?!?Moving on.

Meandering but poetic. I came for the title and stayed for Johan Harstad's sentences and his subtle humor. [full review]