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A review by thisotherbookaccount
Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald
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.