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The Moon King
All is not well in Glassholm. Life under the moon has always been so predictable: day follows night, wax phases to wane and, after the despair of every Darkday, a person’s mood soars to euphoria at Full. So it has been for five hundred years, ever since the Lunane captured the moon and tethered it to the city.
Now, all that has changed. Amidst rumours of unsettling dreams and strange whispering children, society is disintegrating into unrest and violence. The very sea has turned against Glassholm and the island’s luck monkeys have gone wild, distributing new fates to all and sundry. Turmoil is coming.
Three people find themselves at the eye of the storm: a former policeman investigating a series of macabre murders, an outsider artist embroiled in the murky intrigues of revolution, and a renegade engineer tasked with fixing the ancient machine at the city’s heart. Each must fulfil their role or see Glassholm shaken apart, while all are subject to the machinations of their inscrutable and eternal monarch, The Moon King.
Now, all that has changed. Amidst rumours of unsettling dreams and strange whispering children, society is disintegrating into unrest and violence. The very sea has turned against Glassholm and the island’s luck monkeys have gone wild, distributing new fates to all and sundry. Turmoil is coming.
Three people find themselves at the eye of the storm: a former policeman investigating a series of macabre murders, an outsider artist embroiled in the murky intrigues of revolution, and a renegade engineer tasked with fixing the ancient machine at the city’s heart. Each must fulfil their role or see Glassholm shaken apart, while all are subject to the machinations of their inscrutable and eternal monarch, The Moon King.
- GenresFantasyScience Fiction
347 pages, Hardcover
First published August 14, 2013
9 people are currently reading
243 people want to read
About the author
Neil Williamson
62 books39 followersNeil Williamson lives in Glasgow, Scotland, and is the author of novels and short stories in genres ranging from science fiction to slipstream.
Several of his books and stories have been shortlisted for awards: Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction (World Fantasy Award), The Ephemera (British Fantasy Award), Arrhythmia (British Science Fiction Association Award), The Moon King (British Fantasy Holdstock Award and British Science Fiction Association Award, runner-up), A Moment of Zugzwang (British Science Fiction Association Award and British Fantasy Award), Nova Scotia vol 2: New Speculative Fiction From Scotland (British Science Fiction Association Award and British Fantasy Award) Charlie Says (British Science Fiction Association Award and British Fantasy Award).
Neil's latest book is: Blood In The Bricks, published by NewCon Press in October 2025.
Several of his books and stories have been shortlisted for awards: Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction (World Fantasy Award), The Ephemera (British Fantasy Award), Arrhythmia (British Science Fiction Association Award), The Moon King (British Fantasy Holdstock Award and British Science Fiction Association Award, runner-up), A Moment of Zugzwang (British Science Fiction Association Award and British Fantasy Award), Nova Scotia vol 2: New Speculative Fiction From Scotland (British Science Fiction Association Award and British Fantasy Award) Charlie Says (British Science Fiction Association Award and British Fantasy Award).
Neil's latest book is: Blood In The Bricks, published by NewCon Press in October 2025.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
March 14, 2015
Awkward, explanatory sentences kill the intrigue. Strained character motivations just to get everybody to the right places. Overall flimsy premise that I was totally willing to buy, because fantasy, because how pretty, but I can't stop asking "Why?" Can't help wishing the blurb-writing celebs had written this instead. A first novel. Let's hope he tries again and gets advice from less busy pros.
May 18, 2014
Neil Williamson (1968-) was born in Motherwell, Scotland. He is a resident of Glasgow, Scotland, and is the author of The Ephemera (Elastic Press, 2006; Infinity Plus Books, 2011) which was shortlisted for 2007 British Fantasy Award for best collection, and co-editor (with Andrew J Wilson) of Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction (Crescent Books, 2005) which was shortlisted for the 2006 World Fantasy Award. His short story, Arrhythmia (from Music For Another World, Mutation Press, 2010) was shortlisted for the 2011 British Science Fiction Award. Williamson also plays piano in a band called Murnie in Scotland.
The hardcover edition is limited to 100 copies published on 22 April 2014, and I am not aware what the print run is of the paperback but sells currently for around twenty bucks, both are published by Newcon Press from the UK. I understand that there was also an e-book available from amaZon for about $3.50.
Glassholm, a fantasized version of Glasgow is run by the moon. The protaginist finds himself to be the Moon King, however, he knows himself to be a simple engineer not the chief honcho running a country. The pretext is somewhere in between a Philip K. Dick plot and an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Intrigue abounds, and the world must be saved.
Entertaining concepts, good writing, and a bit different. I liked it.
The hardcover edition is limited to 100 copies published on 22 April 2014, and I am not aware what the print run is of the paperback but sells currently for around twenty bucks, both are published by Newcon Press from the UK. I understand that there was also an e-book available from amaZon for about $3.50.
Glassholm, a fantasized version of Glasgow is run by the moon. The protaginist finds himself to be the Moon King, however, he knows himself to be a simple engineer not the chief honcho running a country. The pretext is somewhere in between a Philip K. Dick plot and an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Intrigue abounds, and the world must be saved.
Entertaining concepts, good writing, and a bit different. I liked it.
February 5, 2015
I really enjoyed this fantasy world and its sometimes dark inhabitants who are not always what they seem. it's cleverly and well written and combines three elements of storyline at the start which become interlinked as the story progresses. Some lovely imagery and lunar language and interpretation which makes the story both gripping and highly entertaining. Hard to put down!
September 24, 2018
There's much to enjoy in this fantasy novel from Neil Williamson with some intriguing motifs: the moon tethered to a city which is subject to monthly turbulence as a result, 'luck' monkeys who appear random in the distribution of their gifts, a King who is apparently eternal, a copper who may or may not be bent depending on who has had contact with him, an artist whose pregnancy progresses at an alarming rate, and an engineer shanghaied to fix things who becomes immersed in the fate of the city, Glassholm, itself.
The play of night/dark reminded me of Jeff Noon's "A Man Of Shadows", and like Noon's work this is a predominately literary book. The phrasing and composition is excellent, the various reveals well-timed, natural and fluid. I found the ending ran away with itself a bit - like many fantasy novels there's a lot to tie up around a 'chase' denouement and invariably there's a spot of ambiguity and a speed which I think could have been slowed, but other than this I enjoyed reading it and recommend it for multi-layered inventiveness. (Easily 3.5 stars, but no option to do this).
The play of night/dark reminded me of Jeff Noon's "A Man Of Shadows", and like Noon's work this is a predominately literary book. The phrasing and composition is excellent, the various reveals well-timed, natural and fluid. I found the ending ran away with itself a bit - like many fantasy novels there's a lot to tie up around a 'chase' denouement and invariably there's a spot of ambiguity and a speed which I think could have been slowed, but other than this I enjoyed reading it and recommend it for multi-layered inventiveness. (Easily 3.5 stars, but no option to do this).
October 26, 2021
This started out a little bit predictably, but then became quite bonkers. I enjoyed the mashup of detective noir and anarchist political unrest with secondary world fantasy with mind-controlling (alien?) city-ruler with lunar mood-magic and weird big moon-fish. I liked how the action was so thoroughly focused on the city and the islands, but the repeated reference to foreigners and ships and travel prevented it from feeling like an artificially constrained setting. I had the assumption in the back of my mind for quite a while that this was a space-colonization-aftermath type of tale, which is usually the case in stoories with repeated references to original settlers with their much better technology, which has slowly been lost or damaged and people can keep it running but not quite fix it. However, as the book progresses it seems more like just secondary world fantasy, and the colonists came over on sea-ships, rather than space-ships. Even the magic pregnancy baby--not at all my favorite plot trope--ended in an unexpected way that I'm not sure I fully followed. Bravo, Neil Williamson!
October 26, 2021
Twisty and intriguing
This was not just a whodunit, but what was dun. Something dun, so why was it done?
It is a great twisty tale of power and control, of the desire for conformity and our draw to it and resistance of it. A story of self determination and the consequences not only of ones free will but of only following orders.
This was not just a whodunit, but what was dun. Something dun, so why was it done?
It is a great twisty tale of power and control, of the desire for conformity and our draw to it and resistance of it. A story of self determination and the consequences not only of ones free will but of only following orders.
October 22, 2020
I am somewhat annoyed with myself for taking so long to read Neil Williamson's work. The Moon King was just what I needed: characters were complex and complicated, the worldbuilding ugly-beautiful, populated with whimsical grotequeries, magical, filled with descriptions that brought the city of Glassholm to life in my head.
An excellent novel that pivots on the politics of change and revolution, while reminding us with a skeleton grin that there is a conservatism behind every action, no matter how anarchic it might appear. Crammed with delightful oddness, The Moon King is shot through with shades of Clive Barker and Tanith Lee, but is all itself, darkling strange, magical, and twisted by shadows and moonlight.
February 1, 2020
Neil Williamson's first novel is exquisitely written: an unusual blend of gritty and whimsical. I can see why Jeff VanderMeer liked it: it has a similar feeling of literary fiction applied to fantasy, though with a very different, less grimy tone.
As a consequence, the pace is decidedly leisurely, without a great sense of the story driving forward. This isn't so much a criticism as an observation: rather than a page-turner, I found this a book to dip into just to savour the sparkling prose, more than to find out where the plot was going. Williamson is so skillful with metaphor that descriptive passages which, in other writers' hands, might have seemed clunky or ridiculous felt so delicious in their use of language that I regularly found myself re-reading them out of sheer pleasure. The heroine is a delightfully sparky and believable creation, and key supporting cast are observed with a rare combination of warmth and an unflinching eye.
Ultimately I found myself wanting a bit more pace and plot involvement, and some of the conceits behind it I found slightly hard to swallow (lunatropic rays, for example) - but that's more to do with my relationship with the genre than the book itself, which does what it was intended to with conviction and flair. There were also one or two errors missed by the editors which felt like banging my toe on something in the dark, but these were quickly forgotten.
Well worth a read - like having a lucid dream. I haven't read anything quite like it.
As a consequence, the pace is decidedly leisurely, without a great sense of the story driving forward. This isn't so much a criticism as an observation: rather than a page-turner, I found this a book to dip into just to savour the sparkling prose, more than to find out where the plot was going. Williamson is so skillful with metaphor that descriptive passages which, in other writers' hands, might have seemed clunky or ridiculous felt so delicious in their use of language that I regularly found myself re-reading them out of sheer pleasure. The heroine is a delightfully sparky and believable creation, and key supporting cast are observed with a rare combination of warmth and an unflinching eye.
Ultimately I found myself wanting a bit more pace and plot involvement, and some of the conceits behind it I found slightly hard to swallow (lunatropic rays, for example) - but that's more to do with my relationship with the genre than the book itself, which does what it was intended to with conviction and flair. There were also one or two errors missed by the editors which felt like banging my toe on something in the dark, but these were quickly forgotten.
Well worth a read - like having a lucid dream. I haven't read anything quite like it.
October 10, 2014
I only dip into fantasy books from time to time but had a go at this one as I know the author - and, bias apart, I really enjoyed it. The landscape of the book is markedly different from most fantasy landscapes with few of the characters able to be categorized firmly as "heroes" or "villains" - thus making them more rounded. This world has a more "gritty" substance to it than most novels of the type - and being a Glaswegian - this no doubt assisted me in feeling quite at home there. The story moves on at a good pace and is I didn't find it predictable at any point. When's the next one Neil?
May 2, 2022
A beautifully conceived world that invited me to reconsider my own. Characters that I felt I recognised as soon as they appeared, and felt an urge to catch up with. A story at once courting the wondrous yet evoking what is delightful in the everyday, the strange, the familiar. Always, always engaging, fascinating, intriguing.
No attempt to summarise or review can do this tale adequate justice. Just read it, you'll see.
No attempt to summarise or review can do this tale adequate justice. Just read it, you'll see.
January 5, 2021
I am continuously surprised by ‘advance’ eventualities in this novel as they transpire while immediately appreciating in ‘arrears’ their perfect audit trail or inevitability – and this inspiring section takes the book into a fifth gear and is the optimum example of that narrative phenomenon: where we learn, in a cave by the sea, more of the nature of the night biographies and those who keep them, some aboriginal arithmetic-counting force that only a real-time review of this narrative as a self-conscious public report can, I truly believe, match rhythm for rhythm. And the ‘cloud’, a rogue prediction at the beginning of this review, now finally reaches realisation; a cloud of insects configured like print? Scored out, smudged and parenthetical and tentacularly claused, unlike the book itself, unlike the book’s official biographies, but like the black-bound night biographies…
I am still gradually sensing that — with the bi-polarity of wax and wane, agoraphobia and claustrophobia, what I call its Four Mutualities, its bending rules to maintain the same rules: factors so typical of our own age — this book, as well as a satisfyingly complex SF and Fantasy for their own sake, full (even over-full) of plot, character and place, is, whether intentional or not, a fable for our times and, if interpreted along with the grain of its own instinctive rhythms and counter-rhythms, may one day be celebrated for that achievement.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long to post here.
Above is one of its observations.
I am still gradually sensing that — with the bi-polarity of wax and wane, agoraphobia and claustrophobia, what I call its Four Mutualities, its bending rules to maintain the same rules: factors so typical of our own age — this book, as well as a satisfyingly complex SF and Fantasy for their own sake, full (even over-full) of plot, character and place, is, whether intentional or not, a fable for our times and, if interpreted along with the grain of its own instinctive rhythms and counter-rhythms, may one day be celebrated for that achievement.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long to post here.
Above is one of its observations.
July 21, 2018
The Moon King is an exciting, imaginative and very cleverly developed fantasy world that lives under a constant orbit of the moon. More importantly, it felt like the Moon King was a look at modern Britain in a fantasy setting.
The construct that social order was on the down and crimes were on the up parallels the current feeling in Britain and the loss of British attitudes during the 1980's.
My problems with this book came down to the writing. Sometimes the descriptions were a bit vague when describing certain actions. In one scene Lottie takes a gun and shoots a bird that had been annoying her. However, it wasn't clear what she had shot. The bird, her mother or Henrik?
Particularly when it came to the science of the moon being kept above the city. Obviously all made up, but the book spent a lot of detail using fancy words to make it sound so real, that it failed to give a realistic sense of what it all meant. So you didn't actually know what they were talking about and then you'd start getting bored.
On some occasions it felt like important things were never brought up again. In one instance a character is stabbed several times. However, the next time we see him he is perfectly fine and it's never brought up. More is told about the outcome of the person who stabbed him instead.
I did enjoy a lot of this book and it's fantasy creativity. However, the writing, along with some ridiculously long chapters, really stopped me from enjoying it to the full.
The construct that social order was on the down and crimes were on the up parallels the current feeling in Britain and the loss of British attitudes during the 1980's.
My problems with this book came down to the writing. Sometimes the descriptions were a bit vague when describing certain actions. In one scene Lottie takes a gun and shoots a bird that had been annoying her. However, it wasn't clear what she had shot. The bird, her mother or Henrik?
Particularly when it came to the science of the moon being kept above the city. Obviously all made up, but the book spent a lot of detail using fancy words to make it sound so real, that it failed to give a realistic sense of what it all meant. So you didn't actually know what they were talking about and then you'd start getting bored.
On some occasions it felt like important things were never brought up again. In one instance a character is stabbed several times. However, the next time we see him he is perfectly fine and it's never brought up. More is told about the outcome of the person who stabbed him instead.
I did enjoy a lot of this book and it's fantasy creativity. However, the writing, along with some ridiculously long chapters, really stopped me from enjoying it to the full.
August 16, 2022
In hindsight, and although they are standalone pieces (set in the same world but at very different times), reading Williamson's latest novel (Queen of Clouds) first was doing things the wrong way round (even though Q of C is nominally a prequel). Had I read 'The Moon King' first, I would still have been blown away by the intricacy of his world-building, his powers of invention, his extraordinarily rich descriptions, and the quite remarkable way in which he uses words generally. Add to this a clutch of artfully created characters, and you can't fail but be on to a winner. Jeff VanderMeer is quoted on the cover as saying that this is 'one of the best debuts of this or any other year' and in 'The Moon King' we have a novel which for once lives up to the hyperbole of the cover quote! However, the follow-up novel shows a writer who has honed his craft further, becoming extremely comfortable with his style, without sacrificing any of the aforementioned traits that make 'The Moon King' such a joy to read. Whichever way round you read them, I have no doubt that reading the one will leave you hungry for the other. But if you are able, take my advice and read this book first... just so you can savour the author's journey all the more!
September 6, 2015
Neil Williamson’s The Moon King is a frustrating novel. While I really enjoyed the set-up and ideas on display, the actual execution was sadly lacking.
In relation to the world-building I acknowledge the effort Williamson invests into making the island of Glassholm a layered, believable and unique secondary world. In particular I loved the idea that the phase of the moon has a direct impact on the emotional state of the populace. Whereas the full moon brings overwhelming joy and drunken frivolity, when the moon ebbs dark thoughts emerge and everyone stays indoors. And while I did wonder whether such a bipolar society could actually function for an extended period, it was a passing thought.
I also got a kick out of the machine hidden in the dungeons of the Palace, a device that literally anchors the moon to Glassholm. (It’s the break down of this machine, and the resultant effect on the moon and the citizens of Glassholm, that fuels the novel’s plot). The scene where it’s first revealed is suitably grandiose and exciting:
But what I appreciated the most about Williamson’s world-building was that he never stopped supplying the narrative with ideas. As the novel progresses, and more is revealed about Glassholm and its mysteries, Williamson introduces a range of exciting and wild concepts including a disembodied ruler who manipulates and possesses his citizens, creatures made entirely out of the water and a very, very large fish who holds the future of Glassholm in its belly.
Given how excited I was by the ideas and Williamson’s imagination, it’s a crushing shame that I wasn’t overwhelmed by his prose or characters. The first quarter of the novel does a decent enough job establishing the world, the main protagonists and the overarching mystery, but it wasn’t enough to sustain my interest. Part of this is Williamson’s earnest writing style that distinctly lacked a sense of humour. Not that I was reading The Moon King for a laugh, but considering the book doesn’t short shrift the reader on crazy ideas (that very, very large fish in particular) a semblance of wit might have made for a more engaging read.
Then there’s our cast of characters, in particular Anton, Lottie and John Mortlock. Anton is an inventor, Lottie is an artist and John is a cop and I struggled to see them as anything but words on a page. After the initial mystery surrounding the Palace staff perceiving Anton as the Lunane, his character essentially gets dragged from plot point to plot point. Lottie has the potential to be the star of the novel but her storyline gets subsumed by the machinations of her mother’s cultish religion that believes Lottie will give birth to the Moon Queen. Her passivity isn’t helped by her constant state of denial – she refuses to see her morning sickness and her weight gain as symptoms of pregnancy, even though it’s obvious – and her inability to stop her insane mother from taking over the pregnancy. And then there’s John Mortlock, the clichéd embittered cop with the clichéd dark past. He’s saddled with an awful serial killer subplot that’s seems to be there to highlight (a) the unrest in Glassholm toward the Lunane and (b) how memories of violence among the populace have been suppressed, so much so that a police officer might investigate a murder he committed and not be aware of it. Tonally, Mortlock’s story adds a grimness to the novel that it definitely did not need.
I also had an issue with the revelation, toward the end of The Moon King, as to what the machine in the Palace actually does. The big reveal is that
While I read The Moon King I wanted to like to more. But at the end I feel like I was admiring the ideas from a distance rather than emotionally engaging with the characters or the story.
In relation to the world-building I acknowledge the effort Williamson invests into making the island of Glassholm a layered, believable and unique secondary world. In particular I loved the idea that the phase of the moon has a direct impact on the emotional state of the populace. Whereas the full moon brings overwhelming joy and drunken frivolity, when the moon ebbs dark thoughts emerge and everyone stays indoors. And while I did wonder whether such a bipolar society could actually function for an extended period, it was a passing thought.
I also got a kick out of the machine hidden in the dungeons of the Palace, a device that literally anchors the moon to Glassholm. (It’s the break down of this machine, and the resultant effect on the moon and the citizens of Glassholm, that fuels the novel’s plot). The scene where it’s first revealed is suitably grandiose and exciting:
It was an elegant behemoth of a device, a baroque construction of gleaming steel beam, arcane gearings and powerful electricals that produced a low-frequency vibration discernible through the soles of the feet. At first sight, he [Anton] thought there were some parts that might be recognisable, but making such assumptions based on guesswork was dangerous. The central portion of the construct was balanced on a framework of gimbals in such a way that the spherical body and long limb running through it that extended to the very top of the chamber could move freely in two axes. It resembled nothing so much as a brass apple that had been violently but precisely cored with an iron bar capped on each end by a smaller sphere.
But what I appreciated the most about Williamson’s world-building was that he never stopped supplying the narrative with ideas. As the novel progresses, and more is revealed about Glassholm and its mysteries, Williamson introduces a range of exciting and wild concepts including a disembodied ruler who manipulates and possesses his citizens, creatures made entirely out of the water and a very, very large fish who holds the future of Glassholm in its belly.
Given how excited I was by the ideas and Williamson’s imagination, it’s a crushing shame that I wasn’t overwhelmed by his prose or characters. The first quarter of the novel does a decent enough job establishing the world, the main protagonists and the overarching mystery, but it wasn’t enough to sustain my interest. Part of this is Williamson’s earnest writing style that distinctly lacked a sense of humour. Not that I was reading The Moon King for a laugh, but considering the book doesn’t short shrift the reader on crazy ideas (that very, very large fish in particular) a semblance of wit might have made for a more engaging read.
Then there’s our cast of characters, in particular Anton, Lottie and John Mortlock. Anton is an inventor, Lottie is an artist and John is a cop and I struggled to see them as anything but words on a page. After the initial mystery surrounding the Palace staff perceiving Anton as the Lunane, his character essentially gets dragged from plot point to plot point. Lottie has the potential to be the star of the novel but her storyline gets subsumed by the machinations of her mother’s cultish religion that believes Lottie will give birth to the Moon Queen. Her passivity isn’t helped by her constant state of denial – she refuses to see her morning sickness and her weight gain as symptoms of pregnancy, even though it’s obvious – and her inability to stop her insane mother from taking over the pregnancy. And then there’s John Mortlock, the clichéd embittered cop with the clichéd dark past. He’s saddled with an awful serial killer subplot that’s seems to be there to highlight (a) the unrest in Glassholm toward the Lunane and (b) how memories of violence among the populace have been suppressed, so much so that a police officer might investigate a murder he committed and not be aware of it. Tonally, Mortlock’s story adds a grimness to the novel that it definitely did not need.
I also had an issue with the revelation, toward the end of The Moon King, as to what the machine in the Palace actually does. The big reveal is that
While I read The Moon King I wanted to like to more. But at the end I feel like I was admiring the ideas from a distance rather than emotionally engaging with the characters or the story.
August 15, 2020
This is a book about “lunacy”. Literally.
A king “traps the moon” and it’s power and the city he rules becomes caught in the increasing cycle of madness and normalcy attached to the waxing and waning of the moon.
It’s an illuminating (see what I did there!) look at what happens when you try interfere with nature and overcome it patterns.
It’s about how absolute power corrupts and how stopping free thinking and free actions causes society to atrophy and render.
And there is a strong understory of about the problems of the patriarchy and the feminist reaction (which is not always positive)
I think there was a lot of metaphor.
I could be overintellectualising.
There is a semi-love story, some murder and mystical sea creatures
A pretty clever, well written thought out fantasy novel.
A king “traps the moon” and it’s power and the city he rules becomes caught in the increasing cycle of madness and normalcy attached to the waxing and waning of the moon.
It’s an illuminating (see what I did there!) look at what happens when you try interfere with nature and overcome it patterns.
It’s about how absolute power corrupts and how stopping free thinking and free actions causes society to atrophy and render.
And there is a strong understory of about the problems of the patriarchy and the feminist reaction (which is not always positive)
I think there was a lot of metaphor.
I could be overintellectualising.
There is a semi-love story, some murder and mystical sea creatures
A pretty clever, well written thought out fantasy novel.
June 14, 2025
This could have been good, the descriptions were so stunning, but the storyline made a lot of assumptions, almost as if I should have read another book first. So basically I still have unanswered questions mainly about the magic lore.
February 6, 2017
An odd novel. I found it a little disjointed and while there were some promising threads in it, I didn't feel like they all quite pulled together.
January 6, 2023
Just a really compelling mystery, epic world building, and an immensely satisfying pay off
June 16, 2014
Fresh from NewCon Press the Moon King is an interesting, in some ways challenging, read. Set in the island city of Glassholm, a place with a more intimate relationship with the moon than is perhaps healthy, the book follows a number of plots; focusing on a group of characters whose paths cross but each of whom has their own distinct stories within the narrative.
The moon is held captive above the city and as it progresses through its cycle the city changes, and the people change with it. This creates two dangerous times Full and Dark which are significant to the story's development. Owing to its relationship with the moon, Glassholm is isolated and considered strange within its world and, in general, the reader is given the sense that the city's inhabitants are incurious about the world beyond their island.
Essentially a mystery story, the Moon King is an exercise in peeling back the layers that make Glassholm what it is, uncovering the truth about its past. Without wanting to reveal too much, by the end of the book Williamson has answered pretty much every question and seems to have revealed every secret the city holds. It must be said that the world building is well handled, the city has a sense of layers that build up into a credible place, even if I was not always sure of how Glassholm was laid out (a map would have been useful). The legends within the book carefully feed into the narrative, establishing a true sense of myth in what feels like a post apocalyptic world, though this aspect is treated as simple historical fact; even as a few characters struggle with the legacy of ancient machinery they do not understand.
The characters are believable and solidly written, with well conceived relationships. They are nonconformists and outsiders; something that proves to be important later in the novel. Williamson proves to be an understanding author, giving a grounded and sensitive perspective of the various challenges he establishes for his protagonists without tipping into preaching or making it feel as if their travails are inconsequential.
Sadly the pace is sometimes not as engaging as it might be, I found the start of the book a struggle because of this. Also the disparate plots and characters make the beginning of the story strangely disjointed, there's no sense of connection between the various elements until later and whilst I would recommend persevering, it is a little confusing to work out how everything fits together.
All in all this a well thought piece of fiction, with a fresh perspective on the genre. If you are looking for a new challenge then this could be the book for you.
The moon is held captive above the city and as it progresses through its cycle the city changes, and the people change with it. This creates two dangerous times Full and Dark which are significant to the story's development. Owing to its relationship with the moon, Glassholm is isolated and considered strange within its world and, in general, the reader is given the sense that the city's inhabitants are incurious about the world beyond their island.
Essentially a mystery story, the Moon King is an exercise in peeling back the layers that make Glassholm what it is, uncovering the truth about its past. Without wanting to reveal too much, by the end of the book Williamson has answered pretty much every question and seems to have revealed every secret the city holds. It must be said that the world building is well handled, the city has a sense of layers that build up into a credible place, even if I was not always sure of how Glassholm was laid out (a map would have been useful). The legends within the book carefully feed into the narrative, establishing a true sense of myth in what feels like a post apocalyptic world, though this aspect is treated as simple historical fact; even as a few characters struggle with the legacy of ancient machinery they do not understand.
The characters are believable and solidly written, with well conceived relationships. They are nonconformists and outsiders; something that proves to be important later in the novel. Williamson proves to be an understanding author, giving a grounded and sensitive perspective of the various challenges he establishes for his protagonists without tipping into preaching or making it feel as if their travails are inconsequential.
Sadly the pace is sometimes not as engaging as it might be, I found the start of the book a struggle because of this. Also the disparate plots and characters make the beginning of the story strangely disjointed, there's no sense of connection between the various elements until later and whilst I would recommend persevering, it is a little confusing to work out how everything fits together.
All in all this a well thought piece of fiction, with a fresh perspective on the genre. If you are looking for a new challenge then this could be the book for you.
August 16, 2014
I ended up with mixed feelings about Neil Williamson's debut novel, The Moon King, loving the setting and the premise, quite enjoying the beginning, and mostly responding to the often lyrical prose, but finding as my reading went on that my appreciation was beginning to dwindle. In the end, I'd say it's an impressive first novel in many ways, very impressive actually, but one that shows some first novel cracks that widen as the novel progresses.
The setting is the island city of Glassholm, founded 500 years ago by "The Lunane," he who saved their civilization half a millennium ago by capturing the moon and tethering its orbit to the city. Since then, the population's moods and behaviors wax and wane with the moon: the people are depressed and listless during The Dark, and hedonistically carefree during The Full. But it isn't just the people who respond to the moon's phases — food ... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
The setting is the island city of Glassholm, founded 500 years ago by "The Lunane," he who saved their civilization half a millennium ago by capturing the moon and tethering its orbit to the city. Since then, the population's moods and behaviors wax and wane with the moon: the people are depressed and listless during The Dark, and hedonistically carefree during The Full. But it isn't just the people who respond to the moon's phases — food ... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
June 5, 2014
I liked the steampunk country the author created and the fact that not everything was explained, but left to the imagination. However, that's where the positives ended for me. I struggled to finish this book, mainly because I couldn't get into the heads (or hearts) of any of the characters. Possibly too many questions were left unanswered too, but the real reason was that the story dragged so much in the middle of the book with the author trying to create tension with multiple story lines, but never quite achieving that goal. Almost junked, but can't say I'm glad I stayed the course. This is an author I'd not rush back to.
August 17, 2016
This is a hugely confident and well-told tale, with a fascinating mix of steampunkish fantasy and crime distilled into a solid core of fantastical fiction. The world draws you in and tantalises you with curios just out of reach, making you want to learn more.
The world of The Moon King is quite unlike anything else, one where the moon has been tethered to the city and the populace's emotions wax and wane under it's influence. It has been this way for centuries, but all things change, and machines and minds fail...
The world of The Moon King is quite unlike anything else, one where the moon has been tethered to the city and the populace's emotions wax and wane under it's influence. It has been this way for centuries, but all things change, and machines and minds fail...
March 19, 2015
This is a multi layered book full of boundless imagination, mystery upon mystery slowly unravelling through a somewhat dense plot. I hate to be negative about it, there are so many great ideas tumbling over each other but...I found it rather boring. At times it's perhaps too obscure for its own good and I never really felt involved with any of the characters. In truth I had to force my way to the end and felt a sense of relief when I got there. There's potential here (it's a debut novel after all ) but as it stands I'm sad to say I didn't get much from this one.
April 17, 2016
Started out strong with a great setting and intriguing characters but sadly gets dragged down as the book goes on. Found the last third to be particularly hard to get through. I wanted to like the book more but could practically feel my enjoyment of the story deteriorate with each page by the end. Went from a 4 star experience to a 2 star experience rather quickly.
April 6, 2015
Very inventive - what a wonderful imagination! End felt a bit lacklustre, however. I bought the book on Kindle, and the edition seemed to have a number of typographical errors (including missing parts of sentences) which limited my enjoyment a little.
May 24, 2015
Fascinating idea, this and the characters were well-drawn, though I did feel that in some places the narrative was rather muddled, and leapt from one POV to another without much telegraphing, which detracted from clarity. But on the whole a novel fantasy with lots of potential.
August 25, 2015
steampunk island
An interesting tale of a society's life under the shadow of their god king. Things start to fall apart and mysteries are uncovered which are fantastical and imaginative. An entertaining read.
An interesting tale of a society's life under the shadow of their god king. Things start to fall apart and mysteries are uncovered which are fantastical and imaginative. An entertaining read.
August 31, 2015
I really enjoyed the first two thirds of this. The setting is excellent, the characters engaging and the plot intriguing. Unfortunately it fell away a bit at the end, as some of the balls that had been juggled nicely fell to the ground. Good read though, worth investigating .
August 9, 2014
Took a chance on this one?
Given up half way through, wandered off!
Given up half way through, wandered off!
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