Book Review | When the Moon Hits Your Eye #scifi #booksky

When the Moon Hits your Eye by John Scalzi is due for publication on 27th March. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye

by John Scalzi

From the New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain comes an entirely serious take on a distinctly unserious subject: what would really happen if suddenly the moon were replaced by a giant wheel of cheese.

It’s a whole new moooooon.

One day soon, suddenly and without explanation, the moon as we know it is replaced with an orb of cheese with the exact same mass. Through the length of an entire lunar cycle, from new moon to a spectacular and possibly final solar eclipse, we follow multiple characters — schoolkids and scientists, billionaires and workers, preachers and politicians — as they confront the strange new world they live in, and the absurd, impossible moon that now hangs above all their lives. [goodreads]

My Review

Move over, Wallace and Gromet, there’s a new cheese moon in the universe (watch A Grand Day Out if you haven’t already, its quite short, but very funny.)

When the Moon Hits Your Eye is not for kids, but it is very funny until it turns serious, when it gets philosophical. Sort of Star Trek meets Monty Python meets On The Beach. Or is it Hitchhiker meets Deep Impact? As it says in the blurb, what would happen if the moon suddenly turned into cheese? Scientists, politicians, religious leaders high and low, international relations, the lives of the astronauts preparing for their life dream of landing on the moon… and low-lifes looking for any way of making money out of the chaos that ensues. The author leaves no stone unturned. From billionaires seeking oneupmanship to the LA commissioning editor interviewing film proposals one after the other, well, those are particularly funny. A little later it becomes introspective, and very gentle. I thought the ending was getting weak—and then it wasn’t.

It’s very readable, extremely enjoyable, and John Scalzi writes a mean cliffhanger. The plot with its disparate strands hangs together surprisingly well. Among the light-heartedness there are some serious questions, stupid billionaires, some of whom are in danger of bankruptcy, and some excellent pseudoscience, all of which I enjoyed. So much so that I could not put it down!

Another author to add to my ‘must read more’ list!