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A review by benjiswandering
New Moon by Ian McDonald
2.0
Ian McDonald's Luna: New Moon is a hard science fiction romp through the colonization of our dear, dear friend in the sky. For a novel that I nearly gave up on twice, I stayed up far too late, with bloodshot eyes, in order to finish.
Luna: New Moon tells the story of the Five Dragons, five dynastic families that founded the lunar colonies. Industrialialsts, tech gurus, helium-3 miners, they are five powerhouses with five collective huge and shitty egos. The story follows the Corta family, told through a confession-style interview with the matriarch, Adrianna, as well as a mix-mash of views from sons, daughters, and grandchildren fighting for control or fighting to get out of Corta Helio. Tensions rise within each of the Five Dragons, as they plot and scheme to become the sole powerhouse on Lady Luna. As the story progresses it becomes evident that not all battles can be won inside the boardroom and sometimes are greatest enemies are nestled far too close.
The reason I didn't follow a specific character in my brief summary of this novel is because I'm not sure who the protagonist actually is. In reality it is the company Corta Helio and the Corta family as a collective, but looking at it like that distances us from caring about the actual characters in the book. Knife against my back, I would have to say either Lucashino, the runaway grandson of Adrianna, or Mirana an Earth-born turned pseudo-body guard, is the main character. At least, those are the two I actually gave a damn about, with minor positive feelings towards Ariel Corta.
With so many perspectives, told through short bursts, it was hard to get a grasp on the world at first. A hundred or so pages in and I felt like I finally had a grasp on who everyone was, what was happening, and who (at least I thought) to root for. If more time was spent with each character in the beginning, then I feel like I would have more of a connection with the novel and it's players. And on that note, it felt like each one of them were obsessed with sex. I understand it was a portrayal of the freedom the moon granted. And I enjoyed the retro style clothing and nods to different time periods but seriously, at least some of the characters would have been a little more modest. An elderly woman recounting her sexual exploits? Intensely?
What McDonald does flawlessly, however, is create a completely plausible and completely terrifying vision of what colonizing the moon would be. He says it over and over, the Moon wants to kill you and it knows a million different ways. I believe him (though I still think we should be going back there at some point. . . Like a decade ago would have been cool). I couldn't help but think of colonizing the Americas and the desolate conditions the pilgrims must have faced when they arrived. Not only that, but McDonald is phenomenal at capturing internal struggle within Adrianna. In the spirit of not giving away spoliers, her confessional-style interviews were essential massive chunks of backstory, however they never once felt like it. They felt raw and real.
You can't pick your family. And while the environment and the world-building were definitely the strong points of this novel, I never doubted the internal dynamics and power struggles behind Corta motivation. That, was well done. Unfortunately with so many characters introduced so quickly, forcing the first 100+ pages to be a blender-ride of who's who, I was left confused more often than not, and disenchanted with nearly everyone. When the action finally does take off however, be prepared to clear the next few hours off your schedule.
Luna: New Moon tells the story of the Five Dragons, five dynastic families that founded the lunar colonies. Industrialialsts, tech gurus, helium-3 miners, they are five powerhouses with five collective huge and shitty egos. The story follows the Corta family, told through a confession-style interview with the matriarch, Adrianna, as well as a mix-mash of views from sons, daughters, and grandchildren fighting for control or fighting to get out of Corta Helio. Tensions rise within each of the Five Dragons, as they plot and scheme to become the sole powerhouse on Lady Luna. As the story progresses it becomes evident that not all battles can be won inside the boardroom and sometimes are greatest enemies are nestled far too close.
The reason I didn't follow a specific character in my brief summary of this novel is because I'm not sure who the protagonist actually is. In reality it is the company Corta Helio and the Corta family as a collective, but looking at it like that distances us from caring about the actual characters in the book. Knife against my back, I would have to say either Lucashino, the runaway grandson of Adrianna, or Mirana an Earth-born turned pseudo-body guard, is the main character. At least, those are the two I actually gave a damn about, with minor positive feelings towards Ariel Corta.
With so many perspectives, told through short bursts, it was hard to get a grasp on the world at first. A hundred or so pages in and I felt like I finally had a grasp on who everyone was, what was happening, and who (at least I thought) to root for. If more time was spent with each character in the beginning, then I feel like I would have more of a connection with the novel and it's players. And on that note, it felt like each one of them were obsessed with sex. I understand it was a portrayal of the freedom the moon granted. And I enjoyed the retro style clothing and nods to different time periods but seriously, at least some of the characters would have been a little more modest. An elderly woman recounting her sexual exploits? Intensely?
What McDonald does flawlessly, however, is create a completely plausible and completely terrifying vision of what colonizing the moon would be. He says it over and over, the Moon wants to kill you and it knows a million different ways. I believe him (though I still think we should be going back there at some point. . . Like a decade ago would have been cool). I couldn't help but think of colonizing the Americas and the desolate conditions the pilgrims must have faced when they arrived. Not only that, but McDonald is phenomenal at capturing internal struggle within Adrianna. In the spirit of not giving away spoliers, her confessional-style interviews were essential massive chunks of backstory, however they never once felt like it. They felt raw and real.
You can't pick your family. And while the environment and the world-building were definitely the strong points of this novel, I never doubted the internal dynamics and power struggles behind Corta motivation. That, was well done. Unfortunately with so many characters introduced so quickly, forcing the first 100+ pages to be a blender-ride of who's who, I was left confused more often than not, and disenchanted with nearly everyone. When the action finally does take off however, be prepared to clear the next few hours off your schedule.