Final Orbit, Chris Hadfield
Final Orbit, Chris Hadfield
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Final Orbit
A Novel

Author: Chris Hadfield

Narrator: Ray Porter

Unabridged: 11 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/07/2025


Synopsis

An edge-of-your-seat thriller about China's secret role in the space race—written by the New York Times bestselling author of The Apollo Murders and one of the most experienced astronauts alive.
 
Houston, 1975. A new Apollo mission launches into orbit, on course to dock with a Russian Soyuz craft: three NASA astronauts and three cosmonauts, joining to celebrate a new dawn of Soviet-American cooperation. But as NASA Flight Controller Kaz Zemeckis listens in from Earth, a deadly accident onboard the orbiting spacecraft changes everything.
 
Meanwhile, from a remote location in east Asia, the first Chinese spacecraft secretly launches. On board is China’s first astronaut, Fang Kuo-chun, whose mission puts him on a collision course with the Apollo crew.
 
As Kaz races against an enemy on the ground and for answers beyond the sky, the safety of the remaining crew hangs in the balance…

Perfect for fans of Project Hail Mary and filled with shocking twists and real history—including the fascinating story of Professor Tsien Hsue-shen, the “Father of Chinese Rocketry” and founder of China’s space program—Final Orbit accelerates to a thrilling conclusion that captures the beauty and terror of survival 270 miles above Earth, as could only be written by one of the world's most experienced astronauts.

"Another terrific thriller from a writer who is uniquely qualified to write it.” —Booklist

"Action-filled, believable drama that flows. Readers of sci-fi thrillers by Isaac Asimov, Andy Weir, and James Michener will enjoy the realism of Hadfield’s latest.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“Possibly the most realistic depiction of a battle between two spacecraft ever written.…Hadfield expertly weaves fact, fiction, and his own experiences in orbit to produce a novel that is both technical and entertaining. A master of the genre.” —New Scientist

Reviews

Goodreads review by Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) on November 16, 2025

4.0 Stars This was an enjoyable hard science fiction thriller. I previously read the Apollos Murders which I admit disappointed me. As a result, I went into this sequel with low expectations and ended up being wonderfully surprised. This was a great balance between an engaging thriller plot, facts abo......more

Goodreads review by ❀Heather❀Brown❀ on October 11, 2025

#ad much love for my finished copy @novelsuspects + @mulhollandbooks #partner FINAL ORBIT This book was EVERYTHING I was expecting the Atmosphere book to be! "Men are so simple. How the fuck do they get to run the world?,” (p. 80). ^ 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Grab a Xanax, take a shot - something, because oof, this bo......more

Goodreads review by Toni on September 13, 2025

Apollo Murders, #3 This science-fiction Cold War-era story takes us back to 1975 during the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission but in his spin, Mr. Hadfield didn’t want things to go smoothly. A depressurization accident takes half the crew of the mission and kicks of a plot to the next level bringing China,......more

Goodreads review by Kathleen on November 10, 2025

This one had me hooked! It’s pretty rare for the final book of a trilogy to be just as good, if not better, than the first. I read this practically in a day so now I’m off to touch grass so I can stop thinking about space espionage and flight for a while.......more

Goodreads review by E.A. on October 28, 2025

I wanted to give this book a rating of 4 or 5 stars, but several things caused me to reduce the rating. First, I found the start of the book disjointed as the reader is flipped back and forth between different characters and sub-plots. I also found there was too much detail and it reduced the urgenc......more


Quotes

Praise for Chris Hadfield's thrillers:

"Commander Hadfield takes us on an exciting journey into an alternate past. And who better to write about astronauts than an astronaut himself!"—Andy Weir, author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary

"A Cold War thriller packed with cosmic action… Featuring undercover spies, scheming Russians and psychopathic murderers, sometimes all at once, it teems with authoritative details about what it might be like, for instance, to throw up in space or to grapple with a deadly Soviet astronaut who assaults you during a spacewalk."—The New York Times

“A Cold War thriller unlike anything you have ever read! The Defector is a full throttle, adrenaline-laced espionage page-turner spiked with history and intrigue that will leave you wondering if what you just read could have really happened."—Jack Carr, author of the James Reece Terminal List series

The Defector is an extraordinary novel that is sure to keep readers enthralled. Brimming with detail and realism and full of pulse-pounding action, it's a well-crafted thriller that I just couldn’t put down!”—Mark Greaney, author of the Gray Man series