Aliens on the Moon: A Novel

by Thomas King

From the #1 bestselling and award-winning author of Indians on Vacation, a witty and wry novel set in a small Ontario town where all is seemingly ordinary except for one thing—aliens have landed on the moon

In Thomas King’s new novel, the citizens of a small Ontario town face life-changing decisions. Bria’s grandmother asks her to take her great-grandmother’s rosary to Edmonton and return it in person to the pope. When she flings it into the lake, the rosary somehow hits the pope on the cheek, thousands of kilometres away. It is the same rosary. How is this possible? Thea is furious at her son for putting her in an old-age home. She should have had a daughter. A daughter would never have forced her from her home. Darlene is mixed up with the no-good petty thief Billy. When she ends up in the hospital, she finds Thea’s fanny pack on the floor. Darlene needs the $265 tucked inside, but she also wants a reward for returning the fanny pack. Herb has bought the drive-in movie theatre on the edge of town and has turned it into his home. He watches movies on the big screen while treating the parking lot as his personal driving range. Should he travel west to see his family on the reserve? Nico has a Subaru whose battery keeps failing, but there are no replacements in North America. Gary and Brenda from the dealership are having an affair. Richard wants to set up a dating profile but has no cell phone.

Just the stuff of ordinary life except for one Aliens have landed on the moon. They are watching Earth and earthlings. What is their plan? With the arrival of the aliens, ordinary life is upended in ways that are both hilarious and revealing. While some people fear the aliens’ three-part mandate to save the planet (which might have been written by a grade 9 student in the US), others think the arrival of the aliens is a golden opportunity for a deep discount weekend at Costco that could possibly rival Amazon’s Black Friday.

Genres: Canada, Fiction, Science Fiction, Indigenous, Humor

Audible Audio

Published August 26, 2025

About the author

Thomas King was born in 1943 in Sacramento, California and is of Greek and German descent. He obtained his PhD from the University of Utah in 1986. He is known for works in which he addresses the marginalization of American Indians, delineates "pan-Indian" concerns and histories, and attempts to abolish common stereotypes about Native Americans. He taught Native American Studies at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, and at the University of Minnesota. He is currently a Professor of English at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. King has become one of the foremost writers of fiction about Canada's Native people.

Reviews

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, Aliens were barely present. There were a lot of discontented people acting oddly or being boring. Had a few good laughs. The author Thomas King wrote one of my favourite books, The Back of the Turtle.

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dec 15 ~~ review asap, as always.
925pm ~~ i always seem to need at least two readings of any Thomas King book to fully 'get' what is going on, no matter how much I enjoy them the first time through.

Aliens On The Moon is no exception, so I do know there will be a reread Someday, but meanwhile I did enjoy the story very much once I got a few chapters into the book.

At first I was overwhelmed with a new character being introduced with each new chapter, but I eventually was able to remember who was who. The other thing I noticed from the beginning was that the story felt like TK was indulging in some cranky old man ranting dressed up as character's opinions, but that eased up once I got a little deeper into the book.

I also found a ton of references to current events, which tells me that someday readers of this book won't understand certain things that are vibrant for those of us living through them. The price any author pays for setting a book in present times, I suppose.

So the idea here is that aliens have landed on the moon, and while the world waits to see what will happen next, our cast of characters go about their daily lives. That's basically it, but their daily lives are not exactly full of sweetness and light. There is a lot of unusual stuff going on even without the direct involvement of the aliens.

I'm not going to say more because one of my GR friends is waiting for her library to get the book to her and I would hate to give anything away in case she reads this before she reads that.

I can't call this a favorite TK title for me, but it was still entertaining, and I liked how tidily all the threads were connected at the end.

Thank you Mr. King for all of your hard work.

[Karalee Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

As one of Mr. King’s characters suggests, this might be about “the impact of an alien invasion on the real estate business.” As a lesser, quieter theme, the eponymous alien situation could be an allegory for the current Canadian political / economic / international situation – though I’m sure it was actually penned well before the current situation evolved.

The novel contains mild observations about Amazon, Walmart, golf, drive-in movie theatres, retirement homes, feckless relatives, and frozen TV dinners. It is also occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. At no point in the story do any aliens actually appear.

I loved it.

[Zachary Sellers · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was funny, another good outing from Mr. King. I don't know if it was the audiobook, or if there are a couple pieces missing from the book, but two different events seemed not to add up perfectly to me. Maybe they happened off screen, in an odd way, or maybe they were oversights.

[Enid Wray]

I would never have thought that I would ever DNF a Thomas King title. But I have.
I have read three chapters… and I am bailing.

This is a most tiresome read. Indeed it reads pretty much the same as Indians on Vacation... but definitely the poor cousin to that title.

It features the same snark. The same lessons. It’s pretty much just the same same… substituting new characters and a different location. It feels like a retread - and it definitely feels forced.

And let’s not talk about the fact that the print copy is around 250 pages. There’s really not a lot to bite into. And… the text is printed in something like 24 pt font - huge (which normally I’d be appreciative of). There is as much white space on pages as there is text.

This feels like a half assed effort - like little more than putting Thomas King’s name on a book because we know that it will sell.

[Sooz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas King’s usual fare of quirky humour. There are a lot of characters and it can be a little hard to keep them all straight. It was enjoyable but ultimately not all that remarkable.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This definitely wasn't my favorite Thomas King book. It did have his trademark humor and I liked all the Canadian settings. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I think I wanted more of a clear plot and less of the scattered family drama with an alien twist. Told from multiple POVs, we get to see what life for different members of one Indigenous family (all which are living across Canada) is like in a world where Aliens have settled on the moon and the world lies in wait for what they decide to do next. It was good on audio and King does a great job capturing the anxieties and feelings of hopelessness many feel in the existing world. Overall just an okay read for me though.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.2/5 Thomas King I love(d**** you before I knew you were a pretendian thanks for wasting our time) you but this one wasn’t for me. Some storylines I would have liked to see more fleshed out, like Bria and the rosary, but most I was uninvested in. The Tr*mp jabs were some of the more enjoyable moments. There were about as many aliens in “Aliens on the Moon” as there were ducks in “Ducks” (Kate Beaton).

[Jed Palmater · Rating 4 out of 5]

King is witty as ever in this lightheaded story about everyday life, weaving in metaphors for reflection and humour when it’s needed. There’s a reason he remains my favourite author.

The only reason it’s not 5 is because I don’t like it when a book ends abruptly.

[Christy]

4.5

[Petra Willemse · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read and it will feel familiar to those familiar with King’s work. I felt like needed more depth or just even more before I could give a higher rating.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
A great read for those who enjoy King’s character development and interactions. So much happens, and also nothing happens.

[CyGrrl · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF
I was unable to engage in the characters and plotline so after reading more than a quarter of this book, I quit on it.

[Heather Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the Canadian and current pop culture references. It had some funny moments but few aliens.

[Donna Marlatte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wryly funny, wryly hapless and a bit sad. A light read from an author I like a lot.

[Peyton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was exactly what I thought it was going to be: a look at people living their lives and reflecting on them. The book did start off humourous my, but it quickly fell to meh. The characters are all intertwined and going through different experiences. The book start with aliens on the moon and ends with the aliens leaving, but it has nothing to do with aliens (which is obvious from the description). I wish the humour could have stayed at that the book would have been less of a brick of societal commentary.

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m kind of ambivalent about this novel. It was funny in some place.it took me a long time to get to know some of the characters and although their issues in the story were temporarily resolved I would have liked to get to know them better. All in all though it was an entertaining read.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly absurd. I loved this new novel from Thomas King, which I’m seeing as his last ditch effort to have people see the absurdity of the way things work when humans are involved. King uses humour to point out all manner of issues and complaints. This feels so relatable, if you’ve ever thought you’ve seen something clearly but the system is going full steam ahead with irrelevant or self-sabotaging plans…..

In the end, I felt some sympathy and understanding for most of these characters, and accompanying sadness. I will be pondering the characters and moving parts of this story for a long time.

[Linda Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely weird. Aliens had almost nothing to do with this story and indeed with humanity and wisely got out of Dodge after monitoring us for a while. Meanwhile small town life goes on and on, with almost no degree of separation amongst the characters. They all come in contact with each other somehow. Laugh out loud funny in spots.

[Geonn Cannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little slice of life story, spread across a series of characters in a small Canadian town. Would I want to spend much time with any of these people in real life? Hell no. But I enjoyed watching them run around a bit (maybe the READERS are the aliens on the moon, whooooa).

[Robin Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really well written, very visual and descriptive writer. I loved all the characters, this was my first time reading anything by Thomas King and I am going to read more of his books! He has great humor, overall was a super good book.

[Scott Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amusing novel that spans Canada, dealing with the mundanity of human experience while aliens land on the moon. I could have used more aliens.

[Matt Randle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly enjoyable book.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

rounded up from 3.5. Never comes together in a truly coherent way

[Lorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas king always makes me laugh … and think

[Liz W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more so a book about humans acting wild in the present threat of aliens. Still entertaining to read with the wryness typical of Thomas king characters

[Teresa Mills-Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my least favourite King book. It lacked forward momentum for me.

[Tom Forbes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comedy is hard and the book demonstrates that truism. The set of characters and their stories is more sad than funny.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny; lots of hilarious scenarios; an enjoyable read.

[donna_ehm · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 50%