Voice, narration and perspective: 4/9. The cold narration is hard for me to resonate with.

Plot, suspense and climax: 3/9. It was boring because I never witnessed the inner struggle of the protagonist and he dealt with obstacles easily without any hesitation or resourcefulness.

In the beginning, Bok argued with the departing protagonist on whether they should save a priest that was stuck in a remote crater on the moon.

The protagonist, determined to rescue his teammate against regulations, found the priest mentioning the protagonist’s murder in delirium. The protagonist then admitted that he had killed a Russian girl in a military space task for she had intended to annihilate him first, although he knew this confession would ended his career as an astronaut.

The protagonist managed to bring the priest back and told Bok that the priest had discovered the existence of water.

Character, dialogue and interaction: 4/9.

World, wonder, and detail: 3/9. The story was weighed down by tedious sensory descriptions that did little contribution to the plot.

So what was the usage of including a hot-headed priest in a lunar exploration mission?

Was it necessary to risk a life in finding out things that satellites or rovers could facilely accomplish?

Theme, conflict, and influence: 3/9. A determined protagonist couldn’t thoroughly reveal his dilemma to the readers.

It was only through the author’s explanation in The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells that I found the protagonist could have abandoned the priest to keep his job. Really? Since the protagonist never doubted on his decision of rescue in the task, and all he needed to avoid being sacked was just to keep his mouth shut!