Tag Archives: space race

Book Review: An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton

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Title: An Infinite Love Story
Author: Chanel Cleeton
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: July 7, 2026
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

When an astronaut is lost in space, his wife relives their epic love as she attempts to unravel what truly happened to him, in this sweeping love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s Space Race, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes.

When Joe Mitchell launches into space, the world is watching. It’s 1968, and the country waits with anticipation and excitement for another successful mission, another celebration as America sets its sights on the Moon. And then comes the knock at the door.

Joe Mitchell’s spacecraft has lost contact. He and his fellow astronauts onboard are feared to be dead. It’s his wife Vivian’s worst nightmare come to life, her grief suddenly taking center stage as the nation waits and mourns. In her quiet moments, Vivian relives their memorable story, unable to accept that this is the end to a love that felt as though it was written in the stars.

As the investigation surrounding Joe’s lost spacecraft intensifies and the mishap is written off as an operator error, Vivian is determined to clear her husband’s name and uncover the mystery of what happened in space. When someone starts sending Vivian messages—messages she believes only Joe could send—she begins to wonder if their love is stronger than space and time, and she’ll do whatever it takes to bring her husband back to her.

Space exploration and space-related historical fiction are always favorite topics for me, so picking up An Infinite Love Story seemed like an obvious choice. And while I found a lot to love about this book, its foray into a more speculative resolution didn’t quite work for me.

An Infinite Love Story is, as the title promises, first and foremost a story about love. When Vivian meets Joe in the early 1960s, she’s a hard-working reporter trying to break into the boys-club DC newsroom business. Despite her obvious talents, she’s too often shoved aside or assigned to coffee-making duties rather than getting to sink her teeth into real reporting. One of Vivian’s hard and fast rules for her personal life is no dating pilots — her own childhood was a blur of being dragged around the country as her mother pursued one risky relationship after another, after Vivian’s fighter pilot father was killed in action when she was quite young. Vivian wants a career first and foremost, and maybe a safe, quiet dating life on the side.

All that changes when she meets Joe Mitchell, the stereotypical fighter pilot whose charisma and good looks dominate whatever room he’s in. Joe and Vivian share an instant spark, but she’s absolutely not interested… and yet, each time they meet, they find that they can’t resist or walk away from the connection that draws them together. Even once they’re married, Vivian is unhappy with Joe’s career, as his dream of getting selected as an astronaut finally comes true and he begins his NASA training. And yet, she can’t help but support him, despite the pain of knowing that the man she loves works at a job that entails daily risk and uncertainty.

When Joe is assigned command of the first mission to orbit the moon, he’s elated and Vivian is fearful. With launch approaching, he makes a promise:

“Fine, let’s take the issue of whether or not I’m a great pilot and try it this way—have I ever broken a promise to you?”

“No.”

She’d learned that early on in their relationship—that when Joe gave his word about something, he meant it, wholly, completely. It was one of the things she admired most about him.

“Then I’ll make you a promise now. I’ll always come back to you. Always.”

“You can’t make a promise like that. No one can.”

“I can and I will.”

The day after launch, the worst possible news arrives: Mission Control has lost contact with the spacecraft. No communications, no telemetry, no signals at all — it’s just gone. Vivian refuses to believe it. If something terrible had happened, wouldn’t there be evidence? Debris? Something in the communication history to indicate a problem? But as days pass, the world seems ready to accept the tragic fact that the mission has failed and the spacecraft is lost. Vivian’s worst fears have come to pass — but then odd things begin to happen. Moved objects, a note in Joe’s handwriting, a strange book showing up on his nightstand. Is she imagining things, or is Joe somehow out there, trying to reach her?

First, what I really enjoyed about An Infinite Love Story: I’m always fascinated by stories set during the space race, whether faithfully recreated historical fiction or alternate versions (see my comments on The Calculating Stars and AppleTV’s For All Mankind as examples). By using a dual timeline to show Vivian and Joe’s early courtship starting in 1961, interwoven with the failed mission in 1968, the book provides readers with a good sense of the focus and fervor associated with the space program as well as the expectations and burdens placed on astronauts’ wives and families.

But… where I struggled with this book has to do with the more “woo-woo” aspects, specifically what Vivian perceives as Joe’s communication after the disaster and her belief that he’s still out there somewhere. While her experiences and investigation are interesting, I didn’t buy the resolution, and felt that the conclusion betrays some of the sentiment so important to the rest of the story. I suppose some readers will have quite an opposite reaction and will find the ending uplifting and hopeful. To me, it was simply not believable or palatable, and made my overall experience of the book a bit of a letdown.

An Infinite Love Story held my attention, and I came to truly care about the characters. Plot choices later in the story made this a less successful read for me, but I still found much to enjoy earlier on.

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

TV Time: Star City (AppleTV)

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After binging my way through five seasons of For All Mankind on AppleTV, I wasn’t quite ready to leave that alternate history / science fiction world… and fortunately, I didn’t have to. This year, AppleTV introduced a spin-off series, Star City, which covers roughly the time period of For All Mankind‘s first season — but with a very different focus and tone.

In For All Mankind, the space race is presented from the perspective of NASA and its astronauts, in an alternate version of history where the Soviets reached the moon first. Star City takes us into the heart of the Soviet Union’s space program, going back to the moon landing and the years following it, but taking place primarily within the USSR and its high-security facility (Star City) where scientists and cosmonauts live and work.

In its eight-episode first season, Star City introduces us to a fascinating mix of characters, from the Chief Designer — an inspired, inspirational engineer who dreams big and shows an idealism that can’t be broken — to KGB enforcer Colonel Roskova, up-and-coming spy Irina Morozova, engineer Sergei Nikulov, and a group of absolutely compelling (and often heartbreaking) cosmonauts. (And for For All Mankind viewers, it’s both gratifying and disconcerting to see younger versions of certain familiar characters here in Star City.)

It’s remarkable how much tension, drama, character development, and overall plot complexity this show manages to fit into such a limited batch of episodes. Well-crafted dialogue and set pieces draw viewers in and create a sense of investment in each character’s story arc.

Star City is a far bleaker viewing experience than For All Mankind — not surprising, given its setting in the Soviet era, where every move is monitored and consequences are dire. Engineering errors and unsuccessful missions don’t only lead to debrief analyses — they can also result in banishment to a gulag or worse. What seems at first glance to be a steno pool of secretaries is actually the surveillance team — row after row of women listening to and transcribing recordings from the homes of seemingly every cosmonaut and scientist in Star City.

For All Mankind‘s hallmark is a mix of edge-of the-seat space moments and compelling character stories, and Star City delivers both. The grim tone makes for a challenging viewing experience at the start, especially for those who expect more of the uplifting moments that For All Mankind also provides. As the series progresses, it becomes more and more absorbing and impossible to look away from, and the sense of constant menace hanging over every moment ratchets up the tension from episode to episode.

There’s no announcement yet about whether there will be a season 2. I hope there will be. Season 1 ends spectacularly, and I’m dying to know what’s next for these characters… but the final moments are depicted in such a way that if we’re left to draw our own conclusions, I’ll still be satisfied with the series.

Star City could work on its own, but I do recommend watching it after For All Mankind (or at a minimum, FAM‘s 1st season) for context and grounding in the alternate history world it presents. While I didn’t love seasons 4 and 5 of For All Mankind as much as the earlier seasons, overall it’s a phenomenal series, and I highly recommend both For All Mankind and Star City. They’re absolutely worth it!

Check out the season 1 trailer:

TV Time: For All Mankind; seasons 1 – 5

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This week marks the end of my For All Mankind binge. Overall, this is a fascinating, absorbing (but sometimes maddening) show. With one season still to come (possibly in 2027), I’m glad that I took the time to dive in and watch seasons 1 – 5. Here’s my season by season breakdown of the show and my reactions to each.

Warning: Spoilers ahead! I won’t divulge specifics about plots twists, character fates, etc — but talking about the general premise for the show and each season is unavoidably spoilery. In fact, I had no idea what I was getting into when I started season 1, and loved the major twist… but I’d guess that anyone who’s aware of this show and has seen any of the trailers has at least some basic knowledge of what to expect.

Let’s jump right in.

SEASON 1

Setting: Earth and the Moon, 1970s

Here’s where I got my biggest and best surprise: Before starting this show, all I knew was that it was a series about the space race. Period. So imagine my surprise and delight to learn at the end of the very first episode that this is alternate history. It’s 1969, the world is watching the moon landing… and instead of hearing Neal Armstrong’s famous words while taking his first steps on the moon, we hear… Russian.

That’s right, in the world of For All Mankind, the Soviet Union gets to the moon first, a huge embarrassment for NASA, but also just the kick in the pants that the US needs to invest much more heavily in its own space program.

The season focuses on NASA’s moon program, ultimately landing astronauts on the moon and setting up the beginnings of a moon colony adjacent to a crater where ice has been discovered. To accelerate the program and keep up with the Russians, the astronaut corps accepts women, which is where the mix of characters becomes fascinating. We have the type of tough-guy fighter pilot astronauts we’d expect, but also daring women who’ve fought for the opportunity to fly and now go to space.

Season 1 does an excellent job of immersing us in the lives of the astronauts, their families on Earth, the scientists and dreamers of NASA, and an immigrant family who becomes involved with the space program as well. The personal elements add emotional weight to everything that happens. Absolutely fabulous characters.

The alternate history is fascinating. This is our world, but different. What does it mean for the greater society and political environment that the US lost the space race? We get news coverage and snapshots that show the impact, from an earlier end to the Vietnam War to the passing of the Equal Rights Amendment to Teddy Kennedy winning the 1972 presidential election.

Still, it’s the emotional beats (plus space adventures!) that make this season so incredibly powerful.

SEASON 2

Setting: Earth and the Moon, 1980s

As we’ll come to expect each season, we open with a time jump to the next decade. The Jamestown Colony on the moon is well established and has expanded from the tiny, claustrophobic unit of season 1. Astronauts rotate in and out of Jamestown as Apollo missions continue. The discovery of key minerals on the moon has changed life on Earth, and advances in technology bring private corporations into the business of space exploration. Meanwhile, the Cold War makes its mark on the moon, as territory is divided between the US and USSR, and a competition for resources leads to each country sending armed troops to the moon to protect their own interests.

The main characters from season 1 are back, older and some in positions of greater authority, with new family configurations and personal life complications. We’re so invested in these people by now that anything that goes wrong (and plenty does) feels personal.

Honestly, I was on the edge of my seat throughout this season, and the finale left me more emotionally wrung out than anything else I remember watching in recent years. No spoilers about what happens… but it’s intense, to say the very least.

SEASON 3

Setting: Earth and Mars, 1990s

Another ten years have passed, and the US, the USSR, and private company Helios are in a three-way race to be the first to Mars. Some intense space scenes open the season, which feels like tradition at this point. We also open with the expected montage of news clippings, showing us in super-fast speed what’s happened since we last checked in. Politically, Gary Hart is President, following the presidency of Ronald Reagan; culturally, one piece I loved is learning that John Lennon survived an assassination attempt. Space exploration and the technological advances that it has provided have led to demonstrations on Earth, as coal and other former industries have become obsolete, leading to mass unemployment. While there’s excitement about reaching Mars, a growing segment of the population demands that Earth’s needs come first, and the protests threaten to turn violent.

On Mars, there’s an initial settlement of astronauts and cosmonauts as the US and USSR are forced to share resources in order to survive. The interpersonal dynamics are outstanding, and the drama ratchets higher and higher as significant dangers loom. Again, can’t get too specific without spoilers, but the season ends with shocking events, some joyous and some tragic.

SEASON 4

Setting: Mars (mostly), 2000s

Here’s where the show starts to lose me a bit. Yes, we get the opening new montage, learning that Al Gore is President, Bill Clinton is a political has-been (having never made it to the presidency in the wake of scandals), and gay marriage is the law of the land. But the show’s focus on space exploration has given way, perhaps inevitably, to storylines about living on Mars. It’s less alternate history, and much more standard sci-fi fare — shades of both Battlestar Galactica and The Expanse, in terms of showing off-planet human society and living conditions.

While some of the original characters are still around, 30 years have passed since the first season, and much of the focus has shifted to new characters, including family members of some of the originals. For at least one of the O.G. characters, there’s a personality change that seems unsupported by everything we formerly knew about this person, and I didn’t like it.

Mostly, though, the problem with season 4 is that the focus is mainly on labor unrest and social stratification, and not the challenges of continued space exploration. The workers want rights, better wages, and living conditions. The powers that be want to exploit every resource Mars has to offer for the benefit of Earth, even if it means that the Mars colony becomes irrelevant. Add to that the introduction of someone intended to become a new lead who I found unappealing (and whose storyline, mainly about smuggling, did not show him in a particularly good light), and we end up with a season with not enough space drama and too much emphasis on class and economic struggles.

SEASON 5

Setting: Mars (mostly) and Titan, 2010s

Another 10 year time jump! And now we see how much has changed on Mars. The news from Earth is not that interesting — what matters is that Mars is mining iridium, incredibly valuable on Earth, and that the combined Earth powers (known as the M-6) want to exploit it even further, even if it means that the “Marsies” (the hundreds of workers who live on Mars, along with their families) may see their way of life destroyed.

The last of the O.G. characters fade away, and the next generations and newer characters are firmly in the lead. Armed conflict between the M-6 and the Marsies becomes inevitable, and we see the terrible devastation when things come to a head.

Season 5 is better than season 4… but overall, I think the show has lost the power of its first three seasons, which played up the awe of seeing the space programs develop and the incredible dedication of the people involved. By seasons 4 and 5, the show is just too similar in feel to other sci-fi franchises — yes, with differences, but essentially, it’s become a show about human life on other planets. It’s moved so far beyond our reality that it’s lost the element of surprise and delight that come from seeing alternate versions of our own history. Yes, it’s entertaining, but somehow less special. (And it doesn’t help that one of the lead characters is a total dud, but maybe I’m in the minority on that issue).

Looking ahead: Season 6

Setting: Presumably, Mars and Titan, 2020s… ??

Not much is known yet about season 6, other than that it will be the final season for the series — which makes sense, as it brings the timeline more or less into alignment with ours. Despite the letdown of the last two seasons, I will absolutely want to see how it all wraps up!

Do I recommend For All Mankind?

Overall, yes. The first few seasons are (excuse the pun) stellar. I loved the presentation, the storytelling, and the characters, was on the edge of my seat for so many of the episodes, and felt totally invested every step of the way. The same was not true while watching seasons 4 and 5 — but even so, I was interested enough to see how the various conflicts played out, and still want to know what’s next.

The show has a terrific, talented cast and many, many breathtaking space sequences and moments of exhilaration and terror. The alternate history (particularly during seasons 1 – 3) make for a fascinating speculative look at all the “what ifs” of our own world and how small alterations might have huge impacts.