Landing - Olivia Hawker - ★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Olivia Hawker

SERIES: A Point in Time, #3

GENRE: Short Story, Historical Drama,

RATING: 3.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A short story about a man wanting to focus on his priority, while the world wants him to focus on another priority.

Story Synopsis:

Alan is a young NASA engineer who is involved with the Apollo 11 team and focussed on the moon-landing project that's just a few weeks away. He is also a newly married man, with his young wife Carol vying with the Apollo mission for his attention. Alan can't understand how people cannot see the importance of his work. Alan's father-in-law is clear that his daughter should be at least as important as the moon in Alan's life. Will Alan need to choose between the two?

On the whole, this story is good. Interesting premise, flawed characters, steady pace. The plot is linked very well with the historical events of the 1969 moon mission. The Apollo 11 bits were the most interesting. The plot also doesn't go overboard with the number of characters.

At the same time, there are no factors by which this tale pushes the envelope. The closest it comes to novelty is that it is from the male protagonist's point of view, unlike most stories of new marriage that come to us only through the bride's eyes. I suppose the Apollo 11 bits also add some unusual elements to the tale. But beyond that, it trods the tried-and-tested path.

Alan is a surprisingly naïve character. While I did like how the author depicted the couple as being equally focused on their own needs, the narrative coming from Alan's perspective means that we cannot see Carol's inner struggles, which would have been far more compelling despite Alan's being the character with more narrative potential due to his work-life conflict.

The story tries to establish Alan as being torn between two equally important things, but are they equally important? And honestly, when the very first moon mission is just four weeks away, can we really blame one of its key engineers for being more focussed on its safety and success than on his wife? This might sound quite anti-feminist, but I felt a tad sorry for Alan for being guilttripped about Carol. After all, if Carol were the NASA engineer and Alan would have been the one complaining about her late hours, we would have raised red flags at his insensitive approach to her career. Equality and responsibility in a marriage work both ways, and isn't just the husband's onus.

Moreover, as per the theme of this story series, there is a "point in time" that rings a warning bell in Alan's mind. But the point is quite abrupt, with the turnaround in the story as well as two of its characters coming almost instantaneously. It doesn’t indicate any evident growth or maturity but more like a flip-the-switch turnaround.

In short, this is a decent story focussing on human emotions and uncertainties. But it is too predictable, and therein lies its biggest shortcoming.

A good one-time read, but not a must-read.

The is the third standalone story in the 'A Point in Time' series, and is available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers.

Content warning: miscarriage.