What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I believe I read this in the late 80s, and it wasn't a very old book. The story takes place in the future on the moon. There are colonies there. The names of the colonies and locations on the moon are all small town American names rather than futuristic Sci-Fi designations, because apparently the people living there feel so isolated from the Earth that they want things to sound familiar.

There are also many ghosts inhabiting the moon. I forget why. They may not be of humans. I'm not sure. Anyway, the one scene I remember from the book happens toward the end. The main character and a woman are away from the cities and walking around on the moon in spacesuits. They must hurry to reach a city even though both are exhausted. The ghosts are trying to prevent them from reaching safety. Eventually they make it.

Diana, thanks. It's definitely not the Martian Chronicles, which I've read (and seen the mini-series), but I can certainly see the similarities between it and my description.

Could it be something by H.M. Hoover? I've only read a couple of her books (I think they're mostly out of print) but she has several YA sci-fi with variations on that kind of plot.

I'm a huge fan of H.M. Hoover. This definitely wasn't by her. Not only wasn't it well-written, but there was also a bit of sexism.

The Moon Colony by William Dixon Bell, 1938

The Wanderer by Fritz Lieber. 1964

Summary:Dramatizes the varied reactions of people from all parts of the world when a stray planet enters the solar system and contacts Earth.

No, it's not either of those. The book I read didn't have aliens in it, although it may have had ghosts of aliens.

What about The Darkangel Trilogy?

Hmm, that's not it either. It wasn't part of a trilogy, and was a fairly short book. The moon hadn't been terraformed at all. People needed spacesuits to leave the cities.

I'm still looking for this book.

Still looking?

Maybe Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress or The Cat Who Walks Through Walls? I don't remember any ghosts though.

You'll have better luck jogging someone's memory if you come back and 'bump' this thread every month or two. Consider this your free bump for January, and come back sometime in Feb. with anything else you remember, or just type 'bump' as a comment.

Neither of Heinlein's books fit the description, other than they are set on the moon.

Are you saying it's not the Martian Chronicles because it feels different from Bradbury or because the specific events aren't in it? Because I vaguely recall reading other Mars stories in other Bradbury anthologies.

Michele wrote: "Maybe Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress or The Cat Who Walks Through Walls? I don't remember any ghosts though."

Michele, I've read "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress," so I can say that is not it. I'm pretty sure it wasn't by Heinlein, as it was probably published in the 80s, and wasn't nearly well enough written to have been by him.

Serendi wrote: "Are you saying it's not the Martian Chronicles because it feels different from Bradbury or because the specific events aren't in it? Because I vaguely recall reading other Mars stories in other Bra..."

Serendi, I'm pretty sure this was not by a big-name author. Also, it takes place on the moon and not Mars.

There was a Phillip k Dick one about hallucinogen products in moon colonies that kid of morphed into a bizzare transcendental psychic thing, in the style of Ubik, but not that book.

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch!!!!

Thanks, Oliver. I'm pretty sure that's not it, though.

bump for summer - come back in a couple of months to give it another one, ok?

Thanks for the bump. :)

Still looking?

This might be a bit off, but it reminds me a little bit of Moonwind by Louise Lawrence. This was published in 1986. The 'ghosts' were astral beings that lived on the moon.

Lobstergirl wrote: "Still looking?"

No response in 3 years. Moving to Abandoned.

SBC wrote: "This might be a bit off, but it reminds me a little bit of Moonwind by Louise Lawrence. This was published in 1986. The 'ghosts' were astral beings that lived on the ..."

Interesting. That is a definite maybe for me. The book came out at about the right time, takes place on the moon, and has a male and female main characters. One of the editions has a cover that is not utterly unfamiliar to me. None of the reviews I could find give enough information for me to be able to confirm it though. I've put it on my "to read" list, so I'll remember to eventually track down a copy and find out for sure.

Thank you!

Here is Amazon's description of Moonwind by Louise Lawrence - SBC's suggestion. The text is rather long, so I copied it into an html spoiler tag:

(view spoiler)[Grade 5 Up Lawrence has created another excitingly different and poetic tale of two teenagers in the 21st Century who win a trip to the first lunar base and are forever changed. Seventeen-year-old Gareth Johns, a Welsh poet, and Karen Angers, a gum-chewing American girl, approach their adventure with different expectations. While Karen is wowed by the sites and attempts to capture them in camera shots, Gareth tries to experience for himself the moon's isolation. A counterpoint to the story of Gareth and Karen is the desperate struggle of Bethkahn, an astral being who has been stranded on the moon for 10,000 years. Her only hope is to repair her ship with the help of a human. Against all physical instincts, Gareth comes to her aid by repairing the ship's stabilizer, and after experiencing the lunar "syndrome" he wrote his essay on, he decides to shed his physical being and join the lovely Bethkahn in her journey to the stars. In this tightly written novel, Lawrence has interwoven myths about the moon, a theory of astral evolution, social criticism, and a character undergoing adolescent hardships. This is a hauntingly poetic tale, bittersweet in its ending, and very thought provoking. (hide spoiler)] There are different cover Images.

Thank you, Kris. I read that synopsis on Amazon. It seems like a definite possibility, and things match up. The problem is that it doesn't mention any of the details that I specifically remember. And the fact that the male character sheds his physical being and travels to the stars at the end seems off, as I remember the two main characters both making it back to a moon base.

It's still a maybe for me. Eventually I'll read Moonwind and find out for sure. That probably won't be any time soon, but I'll come back here and post what I discover.