Synopsis
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.
Review
“I have here representatives from both our science and intelligence community, and all of you are telling me the moon- the whole fucking moon has been turned to goddamn cheese.”
I loved this book. It is an easy 5 stars for me. I first came to know of it when John Scalzi narrated Chapter 2 from it at a book signing session. I came back from the event and immediately begged Andy Peloquin. Thanks to Andy, Fanfiaddict and the power that be at Tor books, I got an ARC.
It is brilliant right off the bat. The premise is that the moon has suddenly turned to cheese. It is very hard to not be hooked by that. Plus Mary Robinette Kowal beat us all to the best review- How dare a book about a moon made of cheese make the reader cry. And yet it does. I was sure I wouldn’t cry but I did. Not that this book is emotional or heavy, it is actually very light and bloody hilarious. This has actually been the hardest book to sneak read at work because I kept having to pass off sniggers as coughs.
The writing is sharp as cheddar. I couldn’t help it but I will stick to just this one cheese-based pun and actually continue with the review. The book is actually a collection of vignettes that represent how different societies react to a potential world-shattering event. Sometimes in books where every new chapter has a new main character, it is hard to adjust to disjointed narrative structure- but it wasn’t a factor here. Scalzi’s writing and voice is so strong that I only felt compelled to continue with the story and see where it goes. Also it’s not completely disjointed, there are some recurring character interactions and an overarching plot.
Another highlight is the dialogue. I’ve mentioned it in my Starter Villain review too, the dialogue is very natural, witty, and light. One is able to connect with the characters really well because of the realistic nature and it is also a breeze to read through the book when it has a lot of dialogue.
“Wait, you’re gay?” Dave said to Alton.
“Not only am I gay, I dated your brother,” Alton informed Dave.
“Why would you do that? He’s a terrible person.”
“It was the eighties.”
“He was even worse back then!”
Not losing the readers’ immersion in a series of vignettes is extremely skillful writing and I don’t think there is a single chapter that I didn’t enjoy. My only complaint is that some of the chapters are too small and I would buy and read even novella sized portions following some of the characters in this story. So many of the chapters were excellent but special appreciations go out to the Hollywood chapter, Las Vegas story with a senator and a former sex worker, the down-on-his luck science fiction author, former rock star musicians, retirees in a coffee shop, the church chapter where the pastor questions his faith, and competing cheese stores story. It is a perfect kitchen sink drama in book form that is wonderfully packaged with twists & turns, emotional moments and lots & lots of humor.
Overall, this book is tremendously fun and an excellent escape from reality. I didn’t even get the regular dopamine hit associated with finishing a book, as I was constantly dreading the end because I didn’t want it to be over.
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