BOOK REVIEW | WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE | JOHN SCALZI

 

BOOK REVIEW | WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE | JOHN SCALZI

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi flies you to the moon with his most fantastic tale to date: When the Moon Hits Your Eye

 The moon has turned into cheese.

 Now humanity has to deal with it.

 For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now... something absolutely impossible.

 Astronauts and billionaires, comedians and bank executives, professors and presidents, teenagers and terminal patients at the end of their lives -- over the length of an entire lunar cycle, each get their moment in the moonlight. To panic, to plan, to wonder and to pray, to laugh and to grieve. All in a kaleidoscopic novel that goes all the places you’d expect, and then to so many places you wouldn’t.

 It’s a wild moonage daydream. Ride this rocket.

REVIEW

John Scalzi goes all Irwin Allen in his new novel When the Moon Hits Your Eye.

In this new book, Scalzi runs with the absurdist premise of what would happen if the moon inextricably turns into cheese and what effect this would have on the population of Earth.

Now whilst the premise may seem utterly bonkers, Scalzi deftly turns away from the action of the moon turning into a molten lump of dairy to focus upon the lives of a number of different people and manages to inject the book with a surprising amount of pathos and heart.

The book itself doesn’t focus on a narrative arc but instead introduces a wide range of characters and different scenarios and how the general public, politicians and other officials deal with the situation. Some of these can be quite comical, some can be heart warming and others can be quite scathing, especially towards the political and corporate institutions that interfere with our everyday life.

Whilst The Moon Hits Your Eyes may not resonate with everyone, the book was an enjoyable one that highlights how we as a society deal with forces outside our control.