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duchess's review against another edition
4.0
Hoooooooly crap, this was a super-detailed, extremely eloquent story that can be boiled down to The Godfather on the Moon. I loved the mish-mash of Earth cultures & languages, the details of Moon life, the harshness of the environment that you feel on every page. The Moon WILL kill you, unless the Five Dragons get you first.
I understand that this is the first book in a duology, so the way the ending was written is less disappointing with that knowledge. Still, it stops abruptly before the dust of the final insanity begins to settle! I had guessed the ~evil schemers~ of the plot quite a way in advance, but the semi-reveal was still fun & now I have to wait until the next book to see all the bastards DIE. (Oooh, that's another thing, McDonald isn't afraid to kill off main characters! It just takes him a while to do it.)
Definitely recommend this book, but maybe more so when the 2nd book is released. I feel like this story would benefit from being read back-to-back.
I understand that this is the first book in a duology, so the way the ending was written is less disappointing with that knowledge. Still, it stops abruptly before the dust of the final insanity begins to settle! I had guessed the ~evil schemers~ of the plot quite a way in advance, but the semi-reveal was still fun & now I have to wait until the next book to see all the bastards DIE. (Oooh, that's another thing, McDonald isn't afraid to kill off main characters! It just takes him a while to do it.)
Definitely recommend this book, but maybe more so when the 2nd book is released. I feel like this story would benefit from being read back-to-back.
3dmedia's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
inthenevernever's review against another edition
5.0
Pueden leer la reseña completa en http://inthenevernever.blogspot.com.es/2016/06/luna-luna-nueva-de-ian-mcdonald.html
"En la Luna no hay delitos, no hay robo, no hay asesinato. Solo hay contratos y negociaciones".
La Luna quiere matarte y tiene mil formas de conseguirlo, eso dice en la portada de Luna: Luna Nueva, la grandiosa novela de Ian McDonald, y es una forma bastante buena de resumir los cientos de peligros que supone para los humanos establecer allí un hogar, porque eso es precisamente lo que ha ocurrido. Buscando los valiosos recursos que esconde el satélite, cinco familias, apodadas los dragones, han establecido en la Luna un mundo nuevo, con sus propias leyes e idiosincrasia, un lugar donde todo, absolutamente todo, es negociable.
"En la Luna no hay delitos, no hay robo, no hay asesinato. Solo hay contratos y negociaciones".
La Luna quiere matarte y tiene mil formas de conseguirlo, eso dice en la portada de Luna: Luna Nueva, la grandiosa novela de Ian McDonald, y es una forma bastante buena de resumir los cientos de peligros que supone para los humanos establecer allí un hogar, porque eso es precisamente lo que ha ocurrido. Buscando los valiosos recursos que esconde el satélite, cinco familias, apodadas los dragones, han establecido en la Luna un mundo nuevo, con sus propias leyes e idiosincrasia, un lugar donde todo, absolutamente todo, es negociable.
mbrodd's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting world-building, I'll definitely read the sequel.
_luckycats_'s review against another edition
2.0
Gave it about 60% through, but couldn't get excited about the characters.
thisotherbookaccount's review against another edition
3.0
Game of Thrones on the moon? Not quite, but Luna: New Moon is entertaining nonetheless — but only if you can buy into its many quirks.
There are a lot to like about this book. The moon setting reminds me of Robert A Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but — gasp! — more developed and fleshed out than its predecessor. I love the way the economy is set up on the moon, the dynamics between the families/corporations, as well as the futuristic, hyper-imaginative world that Ian McDonald has created.
I also enjoy Adriana Corta's rags-to-riches story that's told in first person in between the chapters. Her story drives nearly everything else forward, and she is likely my favourite character in the entire book. Speaking of characters, the book mainly focuses on the Cortas, a dynastic family that hails from Brazil. Adriana Corta is the matriarch of the family, and we are introduced to her children and grandchildren, each with enough development as characters for you to know and care for them. Like I said, it is all very fleshed out and interesting.
The reason why I am not more invested is due to the fact that everybody else outside the family is severely underdeveloped. Since this book has been compared to Game of Thrones, I will use that as an example: imagine getting to know the Starks like the back of your hand, but you only have a passing impression of the Lannisters — see where I am getting at? If you want us to care about the protagonists, you also want us to know who the antagonists are. No spoilers here, but there is a twist towards the last 50 pages of this book that is cheapened due to us not really knowing who he/she is at all.
Another thing about this book is that, even though it is set in the future, there are no laws on the moon — only contractual laws. And because people literally live in highly pressurised environments, they all collectively agreed to not use guns. So you find yourself reading paragraphs of people engaging in knife fights during trial by combats — wait, this is a future world we are talking about, right? At times, Luna: New Moon feels like a medieval story transplanted onto the moon, and people are, for some reason, still using swords to work out arguments. You have to really buy into this to enjoy parts of the book.
There are a lot to like about this book. The moon setting reminds me of Robert A Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but — gasp! — more developed and fleshed out than its predecessor. I love the way the economy is set up on the moon, the dynamics between the families/corporations, as well as the futuristic, hyper-imaginative world that Ian McDonald has created.
I also enjoy Adriana Corta's rags-to-riches story that's told in first person in between the chapters. Her story drives nearly everything else forward, and she is likely my favourite character in the entire book. Speaking of characters, the book mainly focuses on the Cortas, a dynastic family that hails from Brazil. Adriana Corta is the matriarch of the family, and we are introduced to her children and grandchildren, each with enough development as characters for you to know and care for them. Like I said, it is all very fleshed out and interesting.
The reason why I am not more invested is due to the fact that everybody else outside the family is severely underdeveloped. Since this book has been compared to Game of Thrones, I will use that as an example: imagine getting to know the Starks like the back of your hand, but you only have a passing impression of the Lannisters — see where I am getting at? If you want us to care about the protagonists, you also want us to know who the antagonists are. No spoilers here, but there is a twist towards the last 50 pages of this book that is cheapened due to us not really knowing who he/she is at all.
Another thing about this book is that, even though it is set in the future, there are no laws on the moon — only contractual laws. And because people literally live in highly pressurised environments, they all collectively agreed to not use guns. So you find yourself reading paragraphs of people engaging in knife fights during trial by combats — wait, this is a future world we are talking about, right? At times, Luna: New Moon feels like a medieval story transplanted onto the moon, and people are, for some reason, still using swords to work out arguments. You have to really buy into this to enjoy parts of the book.
wintermute47's review against another edition
4.0
This book holds up well on a second reading. McDonald builds a mostly cohesive vision of a future society on the moon that in many ways feels like an outgrowth of Heinlein's "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress:" there is no law beyond the enforcement of contracts, so business, marriage, criminality all end up in the same court, where money or trial by combat resolves all contention.
Because this book was obviously written as the first in a series it's difficult to tell if some of the dangling threads are errors of if they're meant to be expanded on in the next volume. Some of them are so underplayed that I suspect the former though I'm prepared to be proven wrong.
Lastly, one complaint: I don't know if Ian McDonald vapes, but given the preposterous number of times we're told about one character's long titanium vaper, and how she snaps it to its full length and waves it around, I'd bet money that McDonald has blown some dank vape clouds.
Because this book was obviously written as the first in a series it's difficult to tell if some of the dangling threads are errors of if they're meant to be expanded on in the next volume. Some of them are so underplayed that I suspect the former though I'm prepared to be proven wrong.
Lastly, one complaint: I don't know if Ian McDonald vapes, but given the preposterous number of times we're told about one character's long titanium vaper, and how she snaps it to its full length and waves it around, I'd bet money that McDonald has blown some dank vape clouds.
jmsucherjr's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Really went back and forth on this one.
This book tells the story of a colonized moon and the power struggles of The Five Dragons, powerful corporations who control means of production on Earth's most famous satellite.
On the positive side, this book has some incredible world-building and a very twisty plot. "Game of Thrones in space", like many reviewers have said, is accurate as a colorful and expansive cast of characters navigate treacherous politics and the unforgiving physical environment of the moon herself. It does feel like a living, breathing world.
On the negative side, there was a certain opaqueness to the writing style where I struggled to stay engaged. The story moves quickly, but not enough time or detail is given to some characters who, even if they play a smaller part, end up being important to the story. I found myself constantly referring to the (very helpful) character list ahead of the novel, but even then had trouble keeping up. It doesn't help that many words borrowed from non-english languages are used liberally. A great piece of world-building to reflect the melding of cultures in these lunar cities, and you get used to it eventually, but another speed bump in an already tough-to-parse novel.
I nearly put the book down several times but ultimately am glad to have finished it, as the ending is exciting and has me interested in the sequel. The story is a bit murky at times, but still bold and adventurous in the way great sci-fi aspires to be.
This book tells the story of a colonized moon and the power struggles of The Five Dragons, powerful corporations who control means of production on Earth's most famous satellite.
On the positive side, this book has some incredible world-building and a very twisty plot. "Game of Thrones in space", like many reviewers have said, is accurate as a colorful and expansive cast of characters navigate treacherous politics and the unforgiving physical environment of the moon herself. It does feel like a living, breathing world.
On the negative side, there was a certain opaqueness to the writing style where I struggled to stay engaged. The story moves quickly, but not enough time or detail is given to some characters who, even if they play a smaller part, end up being important to the story. I found myself constantly referring to the (very helpful) character list ahead of the novel, but even then had trouble keeping up. It doesn't help that many words borrowed from non-english languages are used liberally. A great piece of world-building to reflect the melding of cultures in these lunar cities, and you get used to it eventually, but another speed bump in an already tough-to-parse novel.
I nearly put the book down several times but ultimately am glad to have finished it, as the ending is exciting and has me interested in the sequel. The story is a bit murky at times, but still bold and adventurous in the way great sci-fi aspires to be.