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A review by branch_c
Holdout by Jeffrey Kluger
3.0
Not bad at all; this book has similarities to The Martian as well as the Gravity movie with Sandra Bullock - but more than anything it reminds me of the much less well-known Final Orbit, with its hyper-realistic depiction of space program activities and occurrences, plus the addition of Earthly plots and conflicts.
I give this about a 3.5, rounding down, mainly because I’m partial to the speculative, and this book is just so realistic that it comes across as a bit too mundane for me - I would expect fans of this sort of general realistic fiction to rate it higher. The storytelling also is a bit too straightforward and workmanlike, though certainly polished and professional.
Walli is a great character, but I’m afraid her actions, in the beginning at least, come across as strangely inexplicable. I understand it’s in an effort to keep the reader initially in the dark as to her true motivations, but that just makes it worse, because it draws attention to the mechanics of the story construction while failing to accurately portray the point of view of the point of view character. Sonia’s motivations, however, are fairly clear - it’s only the connection between them that’s initially obscure. The secondary characters, especially the Russians, and well-drawn and interesting.
Another thing that bothered me a bit was the complete lack of follow up on the initial incident at the ISS. Plenty of technical discussion of other aspects of the station’s status, but little to nothing about the results of the Progress situation. And nothing at all about the disposition of the Progress itself. But okay, I realize that wasn’t technically necessary to move the story forward.
Kluger does a fine job ratcheting up the tension as the story goes on, and it’s at an appropriately high level by the end. The resolution that the reader is pretty sure is coming is nevertheless logically justified and satisfying. Although it doesn’t have that spark that inspires me to give a rating of 4 or 5, I’d nevertheless give the book a firm recommendation for readers of non-speculative fiction. For a book without anything supernatural or wildly science-fictional, this is the way to do it.
I give this about a 3.5, rounding down, mainly because I’m partial to the speculative, and this book is just so realistic that it comes across as a bit too mundane for me - I would expect fans of this sort of general realistic fiction to rate it higher. The storytelling also is a bit too straightforward and workmanlike, though certainly polished and professional.
Walli is a great character, but I’m afraid her actions, in the beginning at least, come across as strangely inexplicable. I understand it’s in an effort to keep the reader initially in the dark as to her true motivations, but that just makes it worse, because it draws attention to the mechanics of the story construction while failing to accurately portray the point of view of the point of view character. Sonia’s motivations, however, are fairly clear - it’s only the connection between them that’s initially obscure. The secondary characters, especially the Russians, and well-drawn and interesting.
Another thing that bothered me a bit was the complete lack of follow up on the initial incident at the ISS. Plenty of technical discussion of other aspects of the station’s status, but little to nothing about the results of the Progress situation. And nothing at all about the disposition of the Progress itself. But okay, I realize that wasn’t technically necessary to move the story forward.
Kluger does a fine job ratcheting up the tension as the story goes on, and it’s at an appropriately high level by the end. The resolution that the reader is pretty sure is coming is nevertheless logically justified and satisfying. Although it doesn’t have that spark that inspires me to give a rating of 4 or 5, I’d nevertheless give the book a firm recommendation for readers of non-speculative fiction. For a book without anything supernatural or wildly science-fictional, this is the way to do it.