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bsparks2112 's review for:
Luna: New Moon
by Ian McDonald
For me, this was a book that had quite a lot going for it, but didn't quite add up to more than the sum of its parts. I did enjoy it, though, despite being perhaps a bit nonplussed. In the positive column, McDonald has a strong and compelling authorial voice, with a weight and occasional lyricism in his prose that makes reading this a pleasure. And his depiction of a future version of the moon, with its warring corporate dynasties and technocratic/borderline dystopic ways of life that have arisen as a result of its colonization and the harshness of its environment, is richly imagined and fleshed out with lots of compelling detail - its languages, social mores, and economic systems range from the exotic to the downright byzantine. This almost overwhelming level of detail and complexity extends to the cast of characters, with dozens of names, relationships, and personal histories for the reader to keep track of. Ultimately, this led to one of the book's negatives for me - it became a somewhat burdensome task just to remember who everyone was and how they were related. (Helpfully, there is a character list in the front matter of the book, which I found myself going back to constantly throughout the course of the story.) And maybe because of the ever-present moments of confusion trying to keep these names straight, the story that plays out between these characters never quite grabbed me. It seemed to be pretty slowly-paced towards the beginning, with a lot of stage-setting and introductions, before much of anything compelling happened. This didn't last through the whole book, to its credit; several plot twists land with the force of a sledgehammer at various points. But I can't help thinking that they could've been more effective if the character work had been differentiated just a bit better, or if the introductory, expositional sections had been a bit more brisk. Honestly, I'm conflicted even on that point; it's in some of those sections where McDonald exercises some very effective prose and interior characterization, but it also has the effect of slowing down the story's momentum. I guess I couldn't fully get on board with the story's rhythm. But, also to its credit, once it gets up to full speed, it barrels toward a pretty thrilling conclusion with some bold gut-punches saved for the ending stretch. I'd definitely be interested in continuing the series to find out what happens next, despite the flaws of this first entry.