A down and out space futurist finds himself leading ten astronauts on a secret mission to the Moon. He and three crewmen crash in Shackleton Crater in the Moon's South Pole while the others establish a base near the equator in Central Bay. Political intrigue, world war, Apollo relics, a Japanese robot dog, and a race with the Chinese, round out this story of endurance. It concludes with a twist so unpredictable it is appropriately set near the lunar North Pole.
Originally written as a screenplay, the planned movie poster describes it best: In the fourteenth year of a new century, the fate on an embattled earth is in the hands of men marooned in Shackleton Crater. If you think this is a one hundredth anniversary retelling of the 1914 British expedition to Antarctica you are correct. If you think you already know how this story ends, you are off by a quarter of a million miles.
Shackleton Crater is a space survival story, a struggle with the elements (the lack thereof), and like the movies, "Gravity" and "Apollo 13," the author has taken great care to portray the scenarios, science, and equipment accurately. The one leap of artistic license in the story has characters able to live in the cold trap on the floor of the crater, which with current space suits would be impossible. Personal and psychological histories are also true to the historic record.
The author was, for two decades, a freelance space journalist who diligently prepared for a career in the major news field that the Space Shuttle program promised to deliver. His knowledge of some of the content in this story (politics, some machinery and a few personalities) was gathered first hand.
Clever parallels keep the story close to Ernest Shackleton's, SOUTH, his detailed account of the Endurance expedition. Though set in the future, the novella teaches about twentieth century exploration, in Antarctica, outer space, and on the Moon, and in a way, about exploration in general. Determined to make sure his readers remember the name of Ernest Shackleton's life boat (and the Scottish benefactor, James Caird, who helped back the Endurance expedition), the author names his main character, "Timothy" James Caird.
"Shackleton Crater" was originally published along with four other stories in a collection entitled, A Slaughter Of Ornithes. Almost immediately advisors in the publishing business counseled an independent release. This stand-alone edition is the result and uses the same cover art. The technically minded may object to the illustration (with light in the crater), but the author wanted a moonscape showing "a" crater, an astronaut, and some wreckage.

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• Science Fiction & FantasyScience FictionHard Science Fiction

• Publication Date: December 1, 2013
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 80 Pages
• File Size: 662 KB