Phases of Gravity Author:Dan Simmons Richard Baedecker's chance to be an astronaut was, without a doubt, one to be envied by many, but is his strange encounter with a woman who has the ability to uncover enigmas of his past and future equally coveted? Richard Baedecker, an ex-astronaut, must have thought that walking on the moon would be the greatest challenge in his life, until h... more »e meets a mysterious woman who leads him through his past to find higher meaning. Baedecker is challenged by his past and throughout his journey confronts his troubled son and the woman he loves. He searches his past through his almost forgotten childhood, his move to Oregon to the death flight of the Challenger. He confronts two fellow astronauts, one who claims to have found the truth and one who has found a mystery in death. Richard Baedecker once walked on the moon, but everything the ex-astronaut has ever done seems only a simulation, a preparation for something bigger. Vivid, compelling and brilliantly written, this is an exploration of the human heart and a journey through regions more remote than the moon. Original to say the least.« less