Crater

Written by Homer Hickam

Narrated by Adam Verner

A sixteen-year-old must battle his way across a thousand miles of deadly lunar terrain and face genetically altered super warriors in his quest to recover an astonishing object that will alter the lives of everyone on the moon . . . and beyond.

It’s the 22nd Century. A tough, pioneering people mine the moon produce energy for a desperate, war-torn Earth. Sixteen-year-old Crater Trueblood loves his job as a Helium-3 miner. But when he saves a fellow miner, his life changes forever. Impressed by his heroism, the owner of the mine orders Crater to undertake a dangerous mission. Crater doesn’t think he can do it, but he has no choice. He must go.

With the help of Maria, the mine owner’s frustrating but gorgeous granddaughter, and his gillie—a sometimes insubordinate clump of slime mold cells—Crater must fight both human and subhuman enemies to complete his mission.

New York Times bestselling author Homer Hickman (Rocket Boys) will take you on a hold-your-breath adventure across the moon, and you’ll never look at the night sky the same way again.

• The first installment of the Helium-3 series 
  • Book #1: Crater
  • Book #2: Crescent
  • Book #3: Crater Trueblood and the Lunar Rescue Company
• Book length: 75,000 words

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Sep 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781401606220

Homer Hickam

Homer Hickam (also known as Homer H. Hickam, Jr.) is the bestselling and award-winning author of many books, including the #1 New York Times memoir Rocket Boys, which was adapted into the popular film October Sky. A writer since grade school, he is also a Vietnam veteran, a former coal miner, a scuba instructor, an avid amateur paleontologist, and a retired engineer. He lives in Alabama and the Virgin Islands.

Reviews for Crater

[jwitt33 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to like this book, I really did, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't connect to the characters. They were written as such caricatures and stereotypes that I spent more time rolling my eyes than nodding along. Crater, the main character, a 17 year old boy working on the moon mining for Helium-3, a source of power up there, was too naive to believe. His adopted brother, Petro, the Prince of Wales, was just unlikeable. And trying to buy into Queen Elizabeth as just a regular lady trying to get by, who goes by the unlikely nickname of Q-Bess, was too much for me. There was so much information dropped on you throughout this book that it was too much tell and not enough show;. By the end, I was getting used to all of these problems and annoyances, but not enough to want to read the next book in this series.Because I think this book was just not for me, but might be for others if they want to give it a try, I'm giving it 2.5/5 stars.I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.

[hobbitprincess · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is the first in a trilogy of books called the Helium-3 series. It is, I believe, written for a young adult audience. The novel takes place on the Moon in the 22nd century, and the Moon is being mined for a valuable ingredient needed on Earth to make energy. The Moon has a Wild West feel about it. Crater is the main character, a young boy of 16. While I enjoyed the action in the book, I probably would have enjoyed it more if I were younger and more a fan of science fiction. I appreciated the science that is in the book and the fact that it all seems very possible. For that reason, I hate to term the book "science fiction." Let's just call it a futuristic novel.

[heatherms · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

“Crater” by Homer Hickam is a science fiction book geared towards kids about a boy named Crater who is a miner on the moon. Crater is a naïve, but brilliant boy who lost his parents when he was a baby. He grows up on the moon under the care of Queen Bess (aka Q-Bess) along with her son Petro whom Crater considers a brother.Crater is soon tapped by the powerful owner of the mining settlement where Crater resides, Colonel Medaris of the Medaris Mining Company, to go to another settlement on the moon to pick up a mysterious package. Crater is joined by his best friend, Petro, and the Colonel’s granddaughter, Maria, on this journey.I was really excited to read this book when I read the description on the back. I was sad to be disappointed in it once I finished. The book starts off slow and the author sometimes runs a gag into the ground (i.e. the fact that gillie is illegal). We are following from the viewpoint of Crater, but the author will not let the reader in on some of the important things such as what is the package, why is it important. An example of this is when Maria tells Crater what is in the package, but doesn’t tell the reader what is in the package. Once I did find out what was in the package, I didn’t understand why it “wasn’t possible” that it was what it was. I didn’t understand why people were killing for it.