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auroradomani 's review for:
Luna: New Moon
by Ian McDonald
I was torn on how to rate this - I'm thinking between a 2.5 and a 3, so I rounded up to be generous because I don't hate this book at all, but it leaves a lot to be desired.
The overall premise - five dynastic families fighting it out on the moon for power and resources - has a lot of potential. It's clear the author spent a lot of time on the world building, but unfortunately it was rarely presented the way it should have been.
There is a LOT of new jargon to go along with this world and for the most part I could infer what it meant, but with so many new terms and not much explanation to go along with them, it became confusing at parts. A lot of the terms are from other languages than English. There is a glossary but: 1) I really hate a necessary glossary in a work of fiction, and 2) the glossary, along with table of contents, were the last items in the ebook so I didn't even realize it existed until I finished the book.
If you're not going to throw me a bone here and there by integrating the worldbuilding, at least take the lazy way out and introduce a character who is completely new to everything and has to have things explained. The closest we got to that was Marina but even she had been there for a while and knew what was what.
What disappointed me most is that opportunities to delve into these new aspects were passed over in favor of gratuitous sex scenes that did little for the overall story. Several subplots are introduced and never explained(reverse werewolf? experimental children?) It's possible the author means to flesh them out in book two, but they're clearly important and I felt frustrated that all I got were vague references by the characters, with no explanation to sate my curiosity. It felt like when someone makes a comment, you ask for clarification, and they say, OH I CAN'T TELL YOU. WELL FINE THEN. Why even say anything?
This book is written in multiple POVs, which I typically enjoy. However, the jumps between characters' perspectives here was not done with any rhyme or reason. We would get a paragraph or two from one character, then with no warning, jump to another character in a totally different scene. It was hard at times to keep up with whose perspective I was reading. Many times, we would be in a character's perspective long enough to see one little interaction with another character that didn't even further the plot, then jump to another character. This disjointed style made it hard to connect with any of the characters and it also didn't help the plot feel any more cohesive.
Perhaps this is part of why the characters felt so flat and lifeless. I didn't dislike any of them, to be honest, but I felt like they were a list of character traits rather than actual people. A lot of times the dialogue felt unnatural and forced. Adriana was my favorite and her flashback chapters were the ones that kept my eyes glued to my screen.
Overall the writing was okay. There were several typos and I think this entire book really needed a good run through an editor. Not sure that I'll be picking up number two. The ending was pretty intense and I'd love to know how this all plays out, but I don't know if I want to go through another 400 pages to know. Maybe if it becomes a TV Show it'll work better in that format.
The overall premise - five dynastic families fighting it out on the moon for power and resources - has a lot of potential. It's clear the author spent a lot of time on the world building, but unfortunately it was rarely presented the way it should have been.
There is a LOT of new jargon to go along with this world and for the most part I could infer what it meant, but with so many new terms and not much explanation to go along with them, it became confusing at parts. A lot of the terms are from other languages than English. There is a glossary but: 1) I really hate a necessary glossary in a work of fiction, and 2) the glossary, along with table of contents, were the last items in the ebook so I didn't even realize it existed until I finished the book.
If you're not going to throw me a bone here and there by integrating the worldbuilding, at least take the lazy way out and introduce a character who is completely new to everything and has to have things explained. The closest we got to that was Marina but even she had been there for a while and knew what was what.
What disappointed me most is that opportunities to delve into these new aspects were passed over in favor of gratuitous sex scenes that did little for the overall story. Several subplots are introduced and never explained
This book is written in multiple POVs, which I typically enjoy. However, the jumps between characters' perspectives here was not done with any rhyme or reason. We would get a paragraph or two from one character, then with no warning, jump to another character in a totally different scene. It was hard at times to keep up with whose perspective I was reading. Many times, we would be in a character's perspective long enough to see one little interaction with another character that didn't even further the plot, then jump to another character. This disjointed style made it hard to connect with any of the characters and it also didn't help the plot feel any more cohesive.
Perhaps this is part of why the characters felt so flat and lifeless. I didn't dislike any of them, to be honest, but I felt like they were a list of character traits rather than actual people. A lot of times the dialogue felt unnatural and forced. Adriana was my favorite and her flashback chapters were the ones that kept my eyes glued to my screen.
Overall the writing was okay. There were several typos and I think this entire book really needed a good run through an editor. Not sure that I'll be picking up number two. The ending was pretty intense and I'd love to know how this all plays out, but I don't know if I want to go through another 400 pages to know. Maybe if it becomes a TV Show it'll work better in that format.