stiennon et al. - the rocket company

this novel is classed as science fiction, but i am more inclined to call it non-fiction. the authors are an aerospace engineer (patrick stiennon) and an aerospace consultant (david hoerr), and they have patented some of the elements of the spaceship presented in the novel.

the plot revolves around a group of seven million/billionaires (only one of whom is even given a name),  who wish to go into business in space launch services. from there on it reads more like a technical paper and a business proposal than a novel; there are long stretches where one character, usually an aerospace engineer, monologues about some aspect of spacecraft design. there is no characterization almost at all and the characters merely serve as mouthpieces for the authors. in my opinion the novel format doesn’t work too well and i would rather this was a series of essays, and at least references and sources could have been included. i also believe that the type of people who will read this novel, would have enjoyed a series of essays just as much (but I suppose a novel is more marketable).

since the book basically presents the design of a space launch system from  the ground up, there are plenty of juicy technical details, for example: what should be the liquid oxygen tank be made of? aluminium isogrid structure, cold-rolled high-strength steel or some composites (followed by  a description of the pros and cons of each approach as well as the history of how each of these materials was developed and used in the past).  beside the technical details, of which there are plenty, the novel addresses production, marketing and legal issues as well. Let me just illustrate what i mean by quoting the beginning of chapter 13 (page 113):

"[...] i have been wondering why you didn't specify kerosene instead of methane - kerosene seems to be the hydrocarbon fuel of choice for everybody else". tom responded, "those are good questions, and they deserve good answers. you know, i think you could use some historical context - the story of rocket propellant development is rather fascinating - and understanding it is important to what we are doing here. in fact, why don't we go talk to peter down in the propellant chemistry section?"

and this is followed by a chapter-long discussion of various rocket fuels, their history, availability and cost.

one serious beef that i had with the novel is the use of imperial units instead of metric. i realize this is for the benefit of the american audience, but most modern astronautics books and college or university classes that I own use either metric units or both.

i own the paperback version and it features gorgeous line drawings by doug birkholz (industrial designer).

i really enjoyed this novel, but i would not recommend it for everybody; you have probably figured out already from this description whether you are interested or not.