• Lunar Discovery

  • Discovery Series, Book 1
  • By: Salvador Mercer
  • Narrated by: Mark Boyett
  • Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (2,160 ratings)

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Lunar Discovery  By  cover art

Lunar Discovery

By: Salvador Mercer
Narrated by: Mark Boyett
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Publisher's summary

What lies on the dark side of the moon could change the course of humanity forever.

When a Chinese rover discovers an alien technology on the dark side of the moon, it is up to Richard "Rock" Crandon and his NASA team of scientists and engineers to devise a way to return before the Chinese and Russians.

Forced to deal with bureaucratic oversight and a complex team of personalities, Rock Crandon pushes his team to their limits.

With pressure mounting, the world is pushed closer to conflict and war as the NASA team finds itself seriously behind in the newly initiated space race. The future of mankind, its ideological and technological advances are at stake, as the world's super powers race to discover what lies on the dark side of the moon.

Who will get there first, and at what cost?

©2015 Salvador Mercer (P)2016 Podium Publishing

What listeners say about Lunar Discovery

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Tech savvy people beware

I stopped listening after ten minutes. This is supposed to be a book about technology, and it contains three howlers in the first ten minutes, including one in the first sentence. They were: "Oxygen in the atmosphere caught fire," "A species that had literally no culture" (followed by a member of that species giving a verbal command to prepare for battle.) And then the final straw: "The voltage must be less than one megawatt."

If these don't bother you, the writing quality seems fine, the narrator is good, and the story may be interesting.

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69 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Somehow comes off as a Tom Clancy book in space.

Not stellar, a lot of USA and NASA chest thumping. Very light on the sci-fi.

Some characters do nothing for the story other then ask for clarification for simple concepts and be "not very nice" (ehm, every NSA member). This book seems like it is always holding your hand, wasting alot of time on overblown explanations ham fisted into the dialog (comes off about as natural as a rabbit laying eggs).

The characters are not very well devoloped (there are alot of them however) and it became hard to care if the "good" guys pulled it off in the end.

It is too bad as the idea was neat and the audio performance was great but this book was a dissapointment.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Modern-Day Space Race Science Fiction

I liked the idea of the space race to the moon from the description and I definitely wasn't disappointed with my decision to purchase this book. The writing and the story really delivered a great listening experience.

The book begins with a Chinese moon rover being disabled by a powerful signal from the surface of the dark side of the moon. Analysis of the signal and it's strength leave only one possibility: An extraterrestrial source.
The three major space powers, China, Russia, and the United States begin a race to build a spacecraft and be the first to reach the alien artifact on the moon.

The book is full of science, espionage, engineering, and adventure. The powers must not only figure out how to reach the moon first but also how to prevent sabotage from one of the other powers.

Mark Boyett has been one of my favorite narrators. He has narrated several other books series that I have listened to and he was definitely another motivation to purchase this book. Great performance.

This book was good enough that I didn't want to put it down. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Must Read.

I read and listen to a lot of books, with sci-fi and mystery thrillers (Agent Pendergast) being my drugs of choice, so I'l am not a novice to Audible. In my humble opinion this book is on par, if not above "The Marian." The plot is well thought out and plausible. The action is steady and not over powering. You are left on the edge of your seat and may find yourself overfilling your dog's bowl or shushing your spouse. The best part is Salvador keeps you intrigued and wanting more. Questioning, what if? You are not sidetracked by character building. Salvador stays true to the story and displays very good research and subject knowledge.
I highly recommend this book to any and everyone, particularly lucky fools new to Audible. This book will definitely get you hooked!

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Decent story, obvious stereotypes, poor science.

Lunar Discovery reads like a story that should have gone through another round or two of editing. The author uses multiple systems of measurement in scientific and military settings (miles, clicks, kilograms, etc.), and has a heavy dose of seemingly scientific dialog that reads like it came from a paraphrased series of Wikipedia articles. Examples are that missions to the moon are somehow planned, developed, and implemented in a matter of months. Another is an apparent blast wave from a nuclear explosion above the surface of the moon.

There is no atmosphere in space. There would not be a blast wave.

Each chapter begins with "in the near future", as if the reader needs constant reminder that "In the near future, Day 10" and "In the near future, Day 11" would be wildly different periods of time if "In the near future" weren't present. If the timeline jumped around from chapter to chapter, then it might be helpful, but the timeline appears to only advance day-by-day in a forward direction. We can add.

Names are hilariously stereotypical among the American, Chinese, and Russian characters.

I want to like this story, but the lack of polish and the "meh" level of narration is posing a challenge.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Surprising start to a promising series.

If you could sum up Lunar Discovery in three words, what would they be?

Dynamic
Interesting
Original

What was one of the most memorable moments of Lunar Discovery?

The rescue scenario ( not a spoiler, as it can't be a series if they all die) is compelling listening.

Have you listened to any of Mark Boyett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I don't recall any, although I know I have listened to his work in the past. He is very good in this offering.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The dynamics between some of the characters are moving at times.

Any additional comments?

Some glitches in the production ( I listen on headphones, and there was some background noises ). There is also a lack of proper research, with naming conventions abit off, and the never ending repeating of the time setting is redundant.

All that said, this is a unique, slightly derivative but nonetheless solid beginning to a series that I will be sure to listen to through to the end. A solid credit worthy sci fi investment.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

This book is about human tech...

...which is fine and interesting, but by the title I assumed there would be fascinating alien concepts and tech. I think that's the true test for space fiction. Requires a lot of creativity! There's only a tiny bit of that in this story. Maybe in the next book?

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

I couldn't finish it.

I'm not one to write bad reviews because I'm just such a huge fan of the genre. But this isn't Sci-fi. It's...just bureaucracies trying to out do each other. Overly technical at times and it just doesn't move. Nothing much happens. I wish the author and publisher the best of luck but I can't recommend anyone invest your time or money into this book.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Captivating

Looking forward for the second audio recording! Great performance by Mark, worth getting for that alone!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Wow

I made it about 23 chapters and then it completely lost me in a moment. The chinese government is acting so irrationally and unrealistically that I can’t even listen anymore. Even sci-fi requires a basis in reality.

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3 people found this helpful