I wanted to like this book, I really did, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't connect to the characters. They were written as such caricatures and stereotypes that I spent more time rolling my eyes than nodding along. Crater, the main character, a 17 year old boy working on the moon mining for Helium-3, a source of power up there, was too naive to believe. His adopted brother, Petro, the Prince of Wales, was just unlikeable. And trying to buy into Queen Elizabeth as just a regular lady trying to get by, who goes by the unlikely nickname of Q-Bess, was too much for me. There was so much information dropped on you throughout this book that it was too much tell and not enough show;. By the end, I was getting used to all of these problems and annoyances, but not enough to want to read the next book in this series.

Because I think this book was just not for me, but might be for others if they want to give it a try, I'm giving it 2.5/5 stars.

I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. ( )

This is quite an interesting reading. The initial idea is great, a colony of humans on the moon mining the energy source (Helium-3) for an earth that is completely devastated by wars and depleted of all its natural resources. The plot is simple: Crater is a young orphan that just turned sixteen. His best friend (Petro) is a boy of his age that should be a royalty, if earth had continued its normal path. Maria is the granddaughter of the "Colonel", the owner of the mines they work on. She caught the attention of both boys and here we have our love triangle. Crater is a very kindhearted and naive boy, and after saving the life of a miner and avoiding a major accident in the mine, he was asked by the Colonel to participate in a mission with his granddaughter Maria, working as scout of a convoy carrying Helium-3 across the moon to be shipped to earth and also retrieve a mysterious package that two other persons had already lost their lives trying to retrieve it. Petro manages to be part of this convoy, as a driver of one of the trucks.
This is a full action book, magnificently written and I recommend this book to any science-fiction lover who wants to spend some hours entertained by a nice reading. It took me around 11 hours to read the whole story.

This book was written by Homer Hickam and published by Thomas Nelson in April 2012 and Amazon.com was kind enough to provide this book for me through their Vine Program for reviewing and I was not request to provide a positive review. Opinions expressed here are my own. ( )

This novel is the first in a trilogy of books called the Helium-3 series. It is, I believe, written for a young adult audience. The novel takes place on the Moon in the 22nd century, and the Moon is being mined for a valuable ingredient needed on Earth to make energy. The Moon has a Wild West feel about it. Crater is the main character, a young boy of 16. While I enjoyed the action in the book, I probably would have enjoyed it more if I were younger and more a fan of science fiction. I appreciated the science that is in the book and the fact that it all seems very possible. For that reason, I hate to term the book "science fiction." Let's just call it a futuristic novel. ( )

“Crater” by Homer Hickam is a science fiction book geared towards kids about a boy named Crater who is a miner on the moon. Crater is a naïve, but brilliant boy who lost his parents when he was a baby. He grows up on the moon under the care of Queen Bess (aka Q-Bess) along with her son Petro whom Crater considers a brother.

Crater is soon tapped by the powerful owner of the mining settlement where Crater resides, Colonel Medaris of the Medaris Mining Company, to go to another settlement on the moon to pick up a mysterious package. Crater is joined by his best friend, Petro, and the Colonel’s granddaughter, Maria, on this journey.

I was really excited to read this book when I read the description on the back. I was sad to be disappointed in it once I finished. The book starts off slow and the author sometimes runs a gag into the ground (i.e. the fact that gillie is illegal). We are following from the viewpoint of Crater, but the author will not let the reader in on some of the important things such as what is the package, why is it important. An example of this is when Maria tells Crater what is in the package, but doesn’t tell the reader what is in the package. Once I did find out what was in the package, I didn’t understand why it “wasn’t possible” that it was what it was. I didn’t understand why people were killing for it. ( )