Author Description

From AudioFile A fictional story of the Soviet space program is told through the character of Yefgenii Yeremin, an orphan who became a fighter pilot in the Korean War, and later a cosmonaut. Since the USSRs activity during the space race was shrouded in secrecy, the author finds fertile ground for speculation, as explained in his afterword. Yeremin was not a real-life person, and the Soviet moon shot depicted did not actually happen. Probably. Todd McLaren narrates admirably but isnt given a lot of opportunity to develop characters in a novel filled with technical details. He keeps it interesting, though, and the experience could be described as a Soviet version of APOLLO 13. S.D.D. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine Product Description Fascinated with the secrets still surrounding the Soviet Union's race against the Americans to put a man on the moon, Jed Mercurio proposes a compelling scenario: What if the Americans weren't the first? And with its inscrutable but intriguing hero, Yefgeni Yeremin, a brilliant Soviet cosmonaut, Ascent allows us to imagine what that terrifying journey might have been like. Yeremin, a Soviet MiG pilot, rises from the privation of a Stalingrad orphanage to the heights of the cosmonaut corps. During the Korean War, as a member of an elite squadron, he shoots down the most American fighter jets-a feat that should make him a national hero, but because the Soviets' involvement in the war is secret, Yeremin's victories go unreported. When he is recalled from obscurity to join the race to the moon, he realizes it is his chance for immortality. In hypnotic, deceptively spare prose, Mercurio tells a haunting tale that questions the power of ideology and the nature of fate. Review "Todd McLaren narrates admirably.... The experience could be described as a Soviet version of APOLLO 13." ---AudioFile About the Author Jed Mercurio trained as a doctor and joined the Royal Air