The novel reaches its peak about half way through, when Harstad really begins to push the horror/spooky side of things. As it is, I never really connected with any of the three, and I was left a little stranded.Įvery book has its moment, and 172 Hours on the Moon is no different.

Unfortunately, he chooses the former- and he misses out some prime character-moments that would really have added an extra dimension to Mia, Midoria and Antoine.

Harstad had two options when writing this: skim over the how and why of the moon mission and concentrate on the actual mission, or add perhaps another hundred pages and really flesh out the characters and bring them to life. Yet, it feels like Johan Harstad does not utilise the situations he brings his characters in to their full extent. Over one hundred pages are spent introducing the concept, the thee or four main characters and briefly summarising the training the three teenagers receive. All good and solid material to work with and introduce some dilemmas and problems into.ġ72 Hours on the Moon takes its time gaining momentum, to say the least. The initial concept itself is a good one: send three teenagers to the moon as a PR stunt on NASA’s behalf, keep them there for a week and then bring them back to Earth. 172 Hours on the Moon bucks this trend: translated from the original Norwegian 172 Timer Pa Manen, and though it is not a space opera, it is very much a sci-fi novel with heavy horror elements. A shame really, as space operas feature some of the most intriguing ideas. Sci-fi, it seems, isn’t too popular with young adult publishers right now. Do you want to set foot on the moon? Are you between the ages of fourteen and eighteen? Then perhaps you are eligible to enter NASA’s moon return program, and if you’re lucky, you’ll be one of three to spend 172 hours on the moon…

172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad