by David A. Hardy,
Cosmos Books, PO Box 301,
Holicong, PA18928-0301, USA, 2003.
Large format paperback, 222 pp, US
$15.99. In the UK can be ordered
from bookshops or author-signed
copies by post from AstroArt Sales Page.
ISBN: 1-59224-201-4.

Reviewed for Spaceflight magazine by Clive Simpson
January 2004

It is not our normal practice to review works of science fiction in Spaceflight but on this occasion we make an exception for a first and most interesting novel by David A. Hardy, a long-standing Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society.

Mars, the setting for Aurora: A Child of Two Worlds, and its publication this autumn could hardly be more timely with the flotilla of international space craft making their way to the Red Planet for Christmas and the early New Year.

Hardy, one of the world’s foremost astronomical and space artists. whose work has regularly appeared in the pages of Spaceflight, has produced a first novel that is a captivating read not just for die-hard science fiction enthusiasts but for anyone interested in the future exploration of the planets. His intriguing and original storyline is peppered with scientific facts that create a realistic backdrop and add an eerie touch of realism to a story about the manned exploration of Mars, set in the not too distant future and cleverly linked to the London Blitz of World War II and the psychedelic rock scene of the 1970s.

The story itself creates a breathtaking vista and, as one might expect from an artist of Hardy’s standing, is full of beautiful imagery captured with the eye of an artist and conveyed in well-written prose.

For those readers of Spaceflight who want to feed their imagination, and perhaps take a slight detour off the road of mainstream science, then it is an ideal and entertaining supplement to our current wave of Mars exploration.