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Moonstruck
Will our first contact with aliens be the dawn of a new tomorrow—or the last act in human history?
The moon has suddenly acquired its own satellite: a two-mile-across starship that represents a hitherto unsuspected Galactic Commonwealth. The F'thk, a vaguely centaur-like member species for whom Earth's ecology is hospitable, have been sent to evaluate humanity for prospective membership. The F'thk are overtly friendly but very private—"Information is a trade good." As Earth's scientists struggle to understand their secretive appraisers, odd inconsistencies emerge. As troubling as those anomalies is the reemergence of a bit of insanity humanity thought it had outgrown: cold war and nuclear saber-rattling. The Galactics' arrival may signify the start of a glorious new era, or it may presage the cataclysmic end of human civilization. Which outcome do the aliens really desire.... And what will they do if humanity refuses to play its assigned role?
The moon has suddenly acquired its own satellite: a two-mile-across starship that represents a hitherto unsuspected Galactic Commonwealth. The F'thk, a vaguely centaur-like member species for whom Earth's ecology is hospitable, have been sent to evaluate humanity for prospective membership. The F'thk are overtly friendly but very private—"Information is a trade good." As Earth's scientists struggle to understand their secretive appraisers, odd inconsistencies emerge. As troubling as those anomalies is the reemergence of a bit of insanity humanity thought it had outgrown: cold war and nuclear saber-rattling. The Galactics' arrival may signify the start of a glorious new era, or it may presage the cataclysmic end of human civilization. Which outcome do the aliens really desire.... And what will they do if humanity refuses to play its assigned role?
- GenresScience Fiction
MP3 CD
First published February 8, 2005
3 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Edward M. Lerner
120 books58 followersI'm a physicist and computer scientist (among other things). After thirty years in industry, working at every level from individual technical contributor to senior vice president, I now write full-time. Mostly I write science fiction and techno-thrillers, now and again throwing in a straight science or technology article.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 5, 2017
Again I found the ideas really great & the delivery less so. Part of that is the narrator. I just don't care for him much & his mispronunciations drive me slightly nuts. More is on the author, though. The story drags in a lot of places & the characters don't really pop. Nothing awful, just a rather long story that doesn't really get my motor running.
The ideas, though! Fantastic ones. Really well done, especially the technology. That's why this gets 3 stars instead of 2.
The ideas, though! Fantastic ones. Really well done, especially the technology. That's why this gets 3 stars instead of 2.
July 16, 2010
This first contact themed book came with blurbs of praise on the front and back by Brin and Sawyer, writers I used to respect. Ok, that is a little harsh, but suffice it to say I did not share their feelings about Moonstruck. I will give the book some credit. For example there was good pacing and the continuity was sound. The guy obviously knows his physics. The beginning and the end of the book did have some ideas that were intriguing enough that I was able to look past the amateurish writing style. He started out building to what seemed would be an interesting plot about the true motives of the aliens, but my hopes started unraveling at about chapter 8. I almost put the book down for good when I found out what the alien's secret was, but I pushed through. It got interesting again from about chapter 30 to the end and actually turned into some surprisingly good science fiction.
There was one 'what the heck' moment that still sticks out in my mind. Right after the main character realizes the answer to one of the lesser mysteries, Mr. Lerner writes, "I see, said the blind man, as he picked up the hammer and saw." This punny cliche was so incongruous with the rest of the text that I had to read it again to make sure I wasn't misreading it. I would have fit if it were dialogue spoken by the nerdy protagonist, but no, that little gem was all Lerner.
There was one 'what the heck' moment that still sticks out in my mind. Right after the main character realizes the answer to one of the lesser mysteries, Mr. Lerner writes, "I see, said the blind man, as he picked up the hammer and saw." This punny cliche was so incongruous with the rest of the text that I had to read it again to make sure I wasn't misreading it. I would have fit if it were dialogue spoken by the nerdy protagonist, but no, that little gem was all Lerner.
January 5, 2020
A fair science fiction story and a relatively quick read. I don't have too much to say about it. I did find the concept somewhat original, but almost kind of too far-fetched.
The author dedicates the book to "hard" science fiction authors, but I would place this book less in that category and more in the "pulp" genre.
I'd probably recommend it to someone who's a die-hard science fiction completionist, but not for the average reader.
The author dedicates the book to "hard" science fiction authors, but I would place this book less in that category and more in the "pulp" genre.
I'd probably recommend it to someone who's a die-hard science fiction completionist, but not for the average reader.
June 26, 2023
Okay, yeah, uh huh, people going about their business when the aliens show up. First contact, they’ve got advanced tech, they're weird looking and they want us to join their Galactic Federation of Love and Humbuggery, are willing to take our application if we humans can Prove Ourselves Worthy.
Seen this movie …
… but, in this case, no, you haven’t. You have not at all.
This is a book you could easily dismiss as ‘been there, done that’ regurgitation of tried-and-true scifi tropes and nope, it ain’t. It is a very different first contact novel than ones you have read before. And I am tipping the hat to Lerner because you really don’t know that until about a ⅓ of the way in, which I guess a lot of people will say is far too along in a novel before things change. We want everything up front and right now! Like reading is a screenplay or something.
So what is there about the first third that should keep a reader’s attention long enough to stumble into the clever and rather well-hidden motivations of our visitors and, thereby, completely change the novel?
Well, really, nothing. Other than a basic love of reading and the genre and a well-turned phrase which, uhm, isn’t that what we people who claim to be readers find attractive about reading? Because, I tell ya, as a veteran reader you’re going to lay into this and convince yourself, eh, nothing special, nothing new, and then you’re going to get ambushed. And you will be happy.
Kyle Gustafson, science advisor to the President, is at Cape Canaveral observing a shuttle launch alongside his pal Sergei Abatov, science advisor to the President of Russia … wait, what? … when the shuttle explodes halfway into orbit. Now I would immediately cast a gimlet eye at the Russian but, no, that’s not it. All the television networks in the world are taken over by an announcement from space advising interstellar visitors will land in two days for a parlay. Earth laboratories locate the source of the network signals, a gigantic alien mothership orbiting the moon and then a craft lands at Reagan airport and the aliens emerge. They look like octopus centaurs of some kind and seem quite affable, offering the world an opportunity to join the Galactic Federation, which is teeming with all kinds of advanced alien civilizations, some of them so alien a human can’t even comprehend their form, much less their culture. The F’thk- careful how you pronounce that- are tripping all over themselves to help us with the application.
Kyle, as science advisor, is in the middle of all this and does what any science advisor would do in attempting to verify the story but things don’t add up. The F’thk aren’t all that forthcoming about basic things, like what they eat, and supposed toxins they are exposed to don’t show up on scans. Also, that mothership is in a rather odd orbit. Gustafson recruits a team of other somewhat skeptical people, including Darlene Lyons, a State Department official with her own set of doubts and yes, of course, she will become the romantic interest. But not yet. First them F’thk have some ‘splainin’ to do. But they don’t. And Kyle and his team are looking like a bunch of spoilsports who refuse to accept that the emperor is wearing beautiful clothes.
And then things get odd.
So, yes, this is one of those first contact novels where the aliens have ulterior motives. But this particular group has some rather odd motives and, no, it has nothing to do with terraforming us or To Serve Man. It’s just different. And sorry to disappoint all you people who believe aliens will be noble sophisticates. These guys are a bunch of jerks. With one or two exceptions.
And I like that you don’t get to it until everything else has been set up and is running along lines you expect. That’s good plotting, a defiance of that “everything in the first five pages” MFA-driven nonsense. It’s hard to find a novel these days that hasn’t become formulaic. But it’s especially delightful to pick up a novel that seems formulaic and isn’t. Nice work.
Heck, you don’t even get to understand the title of the book until it’s almost over.
Good on ya, Mr. Lerner.
Seen this movie …
… but, in this case, no, you haven’t. You have not at all.
This is a book you could easily dismiss as ‘been there, done that’ regurgitation of tried-and-true scifi tropes and nope, it ain’t. It is a very different first contact novel than ones you have read before. And I am tipping the hat to Lerner because you really don’t know that until about a ⅓ of the way in, which I guess a lot of people will say is far too along in a novel before things change. We want everything up front and right now! Like reading is a screenplay or something.
So what is there about the first third that should keep a reader’s attention long enough to stumble into the clever and rather well-hidden motivations of our visitors and, thereby, completely change the novel?
Well, really, nothing. Other than a basic love of reading and the genre and a well-turned phrase which, uhm, isn’t that what we people who claim to be readers find attractive about reading? Because, I tell ya, as a veteran reader you’re going to lay into this and convince yourself, eh, nothing special, nothing new, and then you’re going to get ambushed. And you will be happy.
Kyle Gustafson, science advisor to the President, is at Cape Canaveral observing a shuttle launch alongside his pal Sergei Abatov, science advisor to the President of Russia … wait, what? … when the shuttle explodes halfway into orbit. Now I would immediately cast a gimlet eye at the Russian but, no, that’s not it. All the television networks in the world are taken over by an announcement from space advising interstellar visitors will land in two days for a parlay. Earth laboratories locate the source of the network signals, a gigantic alien mothership orbiting the moon and then a craft lands at Reagan airport and the aliens emerge. They look like octopus centaurs of some kind and seem quite affable, offering the world an opportunity to join the Galactic Federation, which is teeming with all kinds of advanced alien civilizations, some of them so alien a human can’t even comprehend their form, much less their culture. The F’thk- careful how you pronounce that- are tripping all over themselves to help us with the application.
Kyle, as science advisor, is in the middle of all this and does what any science advisor would do in attempting to verify the story but things don’t add up. The F’thk aren’t all that forthcoming about basic things, like what they eat, and supposed toxins they are exposed to don’t show up on scans. Also, that mothership is in a rather odd orbit. Gustafson recruits a team of other somewhat skeptical people, including Darlene Lyons, a State Department official with her own set of doubts and yes, of course, she will become the romantic interest. But not yet. First them F’thk have some ‘splainin’ to do. But they don’t. And Kyle and his team are looking like a bunch of spoilsports who refuse to accept that the emperor is wearing beautiful clothes.
And then things get odd.
So, yes, this is one of those first contact novels where the aliens have ulterior motives. But this particular group has some rather odd motives and, no, it has nothing to do with terraforming us or To Serve Man. It’s just different. And sorry to disappoint all you people who believe aliens will be noble sophisticates. These guys are a bunch of jerks. With one or two exceptions.
And I like that you don’t get to it until everything else has been set up and is running along lines you expect. That’s good plotting, a defiance of that “everything in the first five pages” MFA-driven nonsense. It’s hard to find a novel these days that hasn’t become formulaic. But it’s especially delightful to pick up a novel that seems formulaic and isn’t. Nice work.
Heck, you don’t even get to understand the title of the book until it’s almost over.
Good on ya, Mr. Lerner.
August 14, 2022
I enjoyed the alien viewpoint bits quite a lot but somehow the writing didn't click to give me maximal enjoyment. Perhaps I'll try again one day, but even with that this was 'good' because it's Lerner.
November 26, 2017
A great, classic first-encounter novel for the 21st century: think Childhood's End, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and To Serve Man, served up with the cutting-edge media savvy of Jon Stewart. Lerner writes with grace, surety, humor, and political wisdom that draws on sources ranging from Damocles to Churchill. I snapped up this novel on Cape Cod Bay one summer, and learned anew why I relish science fiction.
November 21, 2009
Interesting concepts, but line many hard science fiction novels, while the science was good the characters were flat. Plot moved along at a good pace, though.
September 16, 2011
A little too herky-jerky and fast and loose with plausibility. Some good stuff, some terribly banal stuff. You'll finish it, but it won't stick with you.
November 2, 2015
Not bad with some nice touches but feel it could have been a short story/novella or an outer limits/twighlight zone episode.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews