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adrian_1987's review against another edition
3.0
Un libro (en mi opinión) para nada memorable
Es una lectura muy lenta y las ganas de seguir leyendo se me fueron super rápido. Perdí bastante tiempo con este libro y no es la obra maestra que se ha dicho que es.
Me molestó que son muchos personajes y cuesta recordar a cada uno de ellos y el desarrollo tan austero que estos tienen. No llegamos a conocerlos como se debería y cuando . Ni siquiera todas las historias y confesiones de Adriana lograron que me conmoviera lo suficiente. No hay otra forma de decirlo mas que "Los personajes son super planos"
Otro defecto que encuentro es que hay cambios de lugar de forma muy constante y como no se especifica, eso causa confusión. Hay que mencionar también que la trama avanza super lento por esto mismo y hasta cierto punto se torna insoportable. Hay que aclarar que la “acción” comienza después de la página 100. Todo lo que se dice antes de esa página es puro contexto y si acaso algo de emoción en el intento de asesinato a Rafa Corta.
Este libro no me ha dado razones para continuar con los dos libros que le siguen. Creo que el problema radica en que McDonald quiso contar mucho en tan pocas páginas. 400 y tantas páginas que tiene esta edición donde se trata de contar una historia que envuelve a 5 familias y los problemas que conlleva vivir en la luna no son suficientes. Adicionando que los 11 capítulos (leí el libro en mi iPad y no sé si sea exactamente igual al físico) se dedican dos o tres a Adriana Corta cuando ni siquiera es la personaje principal. Todas las explicaciones, amoríos, experiencias, etc, no son suficientes para poder entenderla al 100.
Es catalogado como el Juego de Tronos del espacio y aunque la temática es un poco parecida, no hay nada que me haga querer seguir leyendo los libros.
Es una lectura muy lenta y las ganas de seguir leyendo se me fueron super rápido. Perdí bastante tiempo con este libro y no es la obra maestra que se ha dicho que es.
Me molestó que son muchos personajes y cuesta recordar a cada uno de ellos y el desarrollo tan austero que estos tienen. No llegamos a conocerlos como se debería y cuando
Spoiler
Adriana Corta muere ni siquiera se siente porque no me dieron tiempo de conocer y encariñarme con ella. Sufrir más con la muerte de Carlinhos porque tuvo un desarrollo ligeramente más profundoOtro defecto que encuentro es que hay cambios de lugar de forma muy constante y como no se especifica, eso causa confusión. Hay que mencionar también que la trama avanza super lento por esto mismo y hasta cierto punto se torna insoportable. Hay que aclarar que la “acción” comienza después de la página 100. Todo lo que se dice antes de esa página es puro contexto y si acaso algo de emoción en el intento de asesinato a Rafa Corta.
Este libro no me ha dado razones para continuar con los dos libros que le siguen. Creo que el problema radica en que McDonald quiso contar mucho en tan pocas páginas. 400 y tantas páginas que tiene esta edición donde se trata de contar una historia que envuelve a 5 familias y los problemas que conlleva vivir en la luna no son suficientes. Adicionando que los 11 capítulos (leí el libro en mi iPad y no sé si sea exactamente igual al físico) se dedican dos o tres a Adriana Corta cuando ni siquiera es la personaje principal. Todas las explicaciones, amoríos, experiencias, etc, no son suficientes para poder entenderla al 100.
Es catalogado como el Juego de Tronos del espacio y aunque la temática es un poco parecida, no hay nada que me haga querer seguir leyendo los libros.
starryjoy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I don't think this was book for me, but it was written well and the shifting between perspectives gave a nice breather between sections. If you're looking for The Godfather/[Insert mafia family here] in space, this book and series is for you.
lucardus's review against another edition
4.0
Als Auftakt einer Trilogie lässt sich McDonald relativ viel Zeit, so dass man tatsächlich nach dem ersten Drittel etwas hängt, später nimmt das Buch dann Fahrt auf und mündet in einem ... Finale, das den Grund bereitet für die Fortsetzung. Ich hätte mir etwas mehr SF gewünscht und etwas weniger Intrige, einiges erinnert doch sehr an Dune, andererseits macht McDonald aus dem Setting "Mond" mehr als man von einem toten Felsen erwarten könnte. Insgesamt bin ich sehr zufrieden, wenn es auch nicht die Dichte von River of Gods oder The Derwish House erreicht. Aber das liegt wohl am Konzept, das über drei Bände halten muss.
tregina's review against another edition
4.0
So basically, this is pretty awesome. Stylistically it's a bit jumpy for my taste in places, but overall it's really different and really satisfying. I know when I want to pick up the next book immediately that it's done something very right.
arjohnson5623's review against another edition
4.0
New Moon has a lot of jargon, a lot of characters, and a lot of things to keep track of from the very first pages. I felt a little lost for about the first third, maybe even the first half of the book as I learned this new language. There was some time committed to flipping to the glossary in the back or the character list in the front in order to refresh my memory on who had showed up, or learn a new word, but once I had that all down the words flowed well and the story was riveting. I liked the diversity of the Moon, that Lunar life wasn't dominated by any one race or culture from Earth. The society that McDonald built in between these pages is definitely worth not only reading but being immersed in.
amblygon_writes's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book in 2015, but completely forgot to add it since I read it as a physical book and lately I've been reading mostly ebooks and it's just so easy to check what I last read on the Kindle app.
Anyway, I wanted to try to write a review (well, not really a review, but more like share some thoughts) since I thought it was a great book. The ideas are fantastic - I love the concept and I love the environment McDonald created. The writing is fun, the style is good, and he really added some great details as well! I think the only thing that's preventing me from giving it a full-out five star rating is that I felt a bit detached from most of the characters; just didn't really find a connection. Some of their decisions sometimes seemed a little out of character to me.
All-in-all, this was an exciting read and I'm really glad I picked this up (and got it signed) at an event in London. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for this author's future work!
Anyway, I wanted to try to write a review (well, not really a review, but more like share some thoughts) since I thought it was a great book. The ideas are fantastic - I love the concept and I love the environment McDonald created. The writing is fun, the style is good, and he really added some great details as well! I think the only thing that's preventing me from giving it a full-out five star rating is that I felt a bit detached from most of the characters; just didn't really find a connection. Some of their decisions sometimes seemed a little out of character to me.
All-in-all, this was an exciting read and I'm really glad I picked this up (and got it signed) at an event in London. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for this author's future work!
teokajlibroj's review against another edition
3.0
This book had potential and I liked the set up of 5 rival families on the moon, but unfortunately the execution was poor. For a start there is a huge range of characters and the POV jumps between countless people. Unfortunately, this means I didn't get attached to anyone or get to know them. The various plots crowded each other out and meant none were properly developed. To be honest, not much happened for most of the book and ending felt rushed and shoved in just so something dramatic could happen.
The world building felt like a first draft, there were some good ideas but they weren't explored. Supposedly there is no law, only contracts, but there was no exploration of how society would function under this. At the beginning, it looked like we would get a view of life for the poor, but this was quickly dropped and never mentioned again. The non-English words didn't add depth, they just felt disorientating, probably because I don't know Portuguese (but why would a Brazilian family use Korean management titles?).
Also, was all the sex really necessary? Was there any point to that very long and very detailed masturbation scene? Would it have been possible for even a single person to talk to a non-relative without sleeping with them?
The world building felt like a first draft, there were some good ideas but they weren't explored. Supposedly there is no law, only contracts, but there was no exploration of how society would function under this. At the beginning, it looked like we would get a view of life for the poor, but this was quickly dropped and never mentioned again. The non-English words didn't add depth, they just felt disorientating, probably because I don't know Portuguese (but why would a Brazilian family use Korean management titles?).
Also, was all the sex really necessary? Was there any point to that very long and very detailed masturbation scene? Would it have been possible for even a single person to talk to a non-relative without sleeping with them?
kluidens's review against another edition
5.0
I may never look at the moon the same way again. Ian McDonald has taken that barren ball of white-gray rock and textured it with genius near-future technology, startlingly sensuous settings, and as much tightly-packed drama and cultural diversity as an over-crowded city of immigrants.
It is, after all, populated entirely by immigrants. This is the moon a century from now, and a century of development has grown the population to a mere 1.7 million humans. Everyone is layered into a few artiMcDonald, Luna New Moonficial cities, from fresh-off-the-boat “Jo(e) Moonbeams” with clumsy terrestrial bulk to second- and third-generation inhabitants, whose light, elongated skeletons render them elegant but fragile.
Low-gravity life leads to low-density bones: Luna is sprinkled with clever details like this. What other lunar nuances does McDonald take into account? Organic matter is precious, so bots sweep the streets for stray skin-flakes and the impoverished sell their piss to scrape by. Without a protective atmosphere, the landscape is expose
d to a steady sleet of solar radiation that drives the wealthy into the deepest abodes while the poor working classes are forced to live in apartments near the surface.
Note the classism, which is at the heart of McDonald’s story. This is a book about the moon, yes, but only insofar as it casts light on human nature. The fun questions—how does a dirt-bike race play out in a vacuum? How are cocktails poured in low gravity?—are secondary to the crucial central question: when humans start from scratch in a stark new land, lawless and lethal, how will they structure their society?
If you were hoping that humanity’s migration to an empty orb would offer a fresh chance at utopia, think again. People bring their problems with them, and human hierarchies are as unforgiving as the moon’s airless regolith. Five families have risen to power as the moon’s main capitalist producers, and they rule like mafia dynasties complete with backroom deals, hired knives, and political marriages. There is no pretense of democracy in this new order, nor is there civil law or criminal law. Only contract law applies, and it’s settled in courts that are blatantly for hire. This may leave laid-off laborers to gasp their last breath in back allies, but money and therefore favorable rulings are no issue for the five families or, as they’ve come to be known, the Five Dragons.
At least this lunar dystopia is progressive in terms of ethnic equality. Like corrupt descendants of the Planeteers, the Five Dragons hail from five Earth continents, though they’re far more interested in exploiting lunar resources than protecting them. The Brazilian Corta Hélio mines helium-3 while the Australian McKenzie Metals refines rare earth minerals for export. The Asamoah family of Ghana manages sweltering underground greenhouses, the Suns of China design sophisticated AI and robotics, and the Russian Vorontsovs run lunar transportation systems. Each family depends on the others, both for the resources they sell and for the critical genetic diversity they offer via intermarriage in such a limited environment. And yet most are hell-bent on conquering the others. Assassination attempts, sabotage, and family feuds drive the story forward at the breakneck speed of a six-gee moonloop capsule.
Ah, the story. It sprawls, subplot upon subplot with a cast so extensive that the book is obliged to open with a five-page character list. And yet it never loses, confuses, or drops the pace. Marina is perhaps the most relatable as a Jo Moonbeam who brings an earthy outsider’s perspective to the warring families and their lunar lifestyle. But each scion of the Corta family is fully developed as the narration leaps from one to the next and ties their dramas together. Several lunar subcultures are given their due as well, from musicians to sports clubs to newly-melded religious cults to a mysterious pack of “wolves.”
If that wasn’t enough to pique your interest, there’s plenty of sex up there. This is another realm where the lunar dystopia is progressive. The concept of a neat spectrum from heterosexual to homosexual is so old-fashioned, so terrestrial, you see. Marriages are same-sex as often as not. And in a world where marriage contracts are strategic and temporary, everyone has as many amors as he, she, e, or né cares to take on (unless she prefers to remain autosexual). One or two of McDonald’s sex scenes seems gratuitous, but most provide further insight on the nature of this future society, and in their varying degrees of intimacy and discomfort they feel terribly human.
That is the wonder of sci-fi at its best, isn’t it? It is so otherworldly and yet so familiar. Luna pulls it off with panache. Capitalist competition and dynastic rivalries on that lump of dead rock a quarter of a billion miles above the only planet known to support life? It could happen. And the vivid descriptiveness found in these chapters could convince you that it’s destined to happen in the next hundred years—I know I’ll be contemplating that possibility with a shiver the next time I look at that pale globe in the night sky.
It is, after all, populated entirely by immigrants. This is the moon a century from now, and a century of development has grown the population to a mere 1.7 million humans. Everyone is layered into a few artiMcDonald, Luna New Moonficial cities, from fresh-off-the-boat “Jo(e) Moonbeams” with clumsy terrestrial bulk to second- and third-generation inhabitants, whose light, elongated skeletons render them elegant but fragile.
Low-gravity life leads to low-density bones: Luna is sprinkled with clever details like this. What other lunar nuances does McDonald take into account? Organic matter is precious, so bots sweep the streets for stray skin-flakes and the impoverished sell their piss to scrape by. Without a protective atmosphere, the landscape is expose
d to a steady sleet of solar radiation that drives the wealthy into the deepest abodes while the poor working classes are forced to live in apartments near the surface.
Note the classism, which is at the heart of McDonald’s story. This is a book about the moon, yes, but only insofar as it casts light on human nature. The fun questions—how does a dirt-bike race play out in a vacuum? How are cocktails poured in low gravity?—are secondary to the crucial central question: when humans start from scratch in a stark new land, lawless and lethal, how will they structure their society?
If you were hoping that humanity’s migration to an empty orb would offer a fresh chance at utopia, think again. People bring their problems with them, and human hierarchies are as unforgiving as the moon’s airless regolith. Five families have risen to power as the moon’s main capitalist producers, and they rule like mafia dynasties complete with backroom deals, hired knives, and political marriages. There is no pretense of democracy in this new order, nor is there civil law or criminal law. Only contract law applies, and it’s settled in courts that are blatantly for hire. This may leave laid-off laborers to gasp their last breath in back allies, but money and therefore favorable rulings are no issue for the five families or, as they’ve come to be known, the Five Dragons.
At least this lunar dystopia is progressive in terms of ethnic equality. Like corrupt descendants of the Planeteers, the Five Dragons hail from five Earth continents, though they’re far more interested in exploiting lunar resources than protecting them. The Brazilian Corta Hélio mines helium-3 while the Australian McKenzie Metals refines rare earth minerals for export. The Asamoah family of Ghana manages sweltering underground greenhouses, the Suns of China design sophisticated AI and robotics, and the Russian Vorontsovs run lunar transportation systems. Each family depends on the others, both for the resources they sell and for the critical genetic diversity they offer via intermarriage in such a limited environment. And yet most are hell-bent on conquering the others. Assassination attempts, sabotage, and family feuds drive the story forward at the breakneck speed of a six-gee moonloop capsule.
Ah, the story. It sprawls, subplot upon subplot with a cast so extensive that the book is obliged to open with a five-page character list. And yet it never loses, confuses, or drops the pace. Marina is perhaps the most relatable as a Jo Moonbeam who brings an earthy outsider’s perspective to the warring families and their lunar lifestyle. But each scion of the Corta family is fully developed as the narration leaps from one to the next and ties their dramas together. Several lunar subcultures are given their due as well, from musicians to sports clubs to newly-melded religious cults to a mysterious pack of “wolves.”
If that wasn’t enough to pique your interest, there’s plenty of sex up there. This is another realm where the lunar dystopia is progressive. The concept of a neat spectrum from heterosexual to homosexual is so old-fashioned, so terrestrial, you see. Marriages are same-sex as often as not. And in a world where marriage contracts are strategic and temporary, everyone has as many amors as he, she, e, or né cares to take on (unless she prefers to remain autosexual). One or two of McDonald’s sex scenes seems gratuitous, but most provide further insight on the nature of this future society, and in their varying degrees of intimacy and discomfort they feel terribly human.
That is the wonder of sci-fi at its best, isn’t it? It is so otherworldly and yet so familiar. Luna pulls it off with panache. Capitalist competition and dynastic rivalries on that lump of dead rock a quarter of a billion miles above the only planet known to support life? It could happen. And the vivid descriptiveness found in these chapters could convince you that it’s destined to happen in the next hundred years—I know I’ll be contemplating that possibility with a shiver the next time I look at that pale globe in the night sky.