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Gunpowder Moon
An Amazon Best Books of the Year selectionBookBub Breakout Debut Novels of Winter 2018The Verge―18 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Read in FebruaryBarnes & Noble—One of 25 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Debuts to Watch for in 2018Nerdmuch—Best New Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books of 2018Bookish—Winter 2018’s Hottest Sci-Fi and Fantasy BooksLibrary Spring/Summer Best Debut Novels“Interesting quirks and divided loyalties flesh out this first novel in which sf and mystery intersect in a well-crafted plot...Pedreira’s science thriller powerfully highlights the human politics and economics from the seemingly desolate expanse of the moon. It will attract readers who enjoyed Andy Weir’s lunar crime caper Artemis.” -- Library Journal, starred review
A realistic and chilling vision of life on the Moon, where dust kills as easily as the vacuum of space…but murder is even quicker—a fast-paced, cinematic science fiction thriller, this debut novel combines the inventiveness of The Martian, the intrigue of The Expanse, and the thrills of Red Rising.
The Moon smells like gunpowder. Every lunar walker since Apollo 11 has noticed a burnt-metal scent that reminds them of war. Caden Dechert, the chief of the U.S. mining operation on the edge of the Sea of Serenity, thinks the smell is just a trick of the mind—a reminder of his harrowing days as a Marine in the war-torn Middle East back on Earth.
It’s 2072, and lunar helium-3 mining is powering the fusion reactors that are bringing Earth back from environmental disaster. But competing for the richest prize in the history of the world has destroyed the oldest rule in Safety for All. When a bomb kills one of Dechert’s diggers on Mare Serenitatis, the haunted veteran goes on the hunt to expose the culprit before more blood is spilled.
But as Dechert races to solve the first murder in the history of the Moon, he gets caught in the crosshairs of two global powers spoiling for a fight. Reluctant to be the match that lights this powder-keg, Dechert knows his life and those of his crew are meaningless to the politicians. Even worse, he knows the killer is still out there, hunting.
In his desperate attempts to save his crew and prevent the catastrophe he sees coming, the former Marine uncovers a dangerous conspiracy that, with one spark, can ignite a full lunar war, wipe out his team . . . and perhaps plunge the Earth back into darkness.
A realistic and chilling vision of life on the Moon, where dust kills as easily as the vacuum of space…but murder is even quicker—a fast-paced, cinematic science fiction thriller, this debut novel combines the inventiveness of The Martian, the intrigue of The Expanse, and the thrills of Red Rising.
The Moon smells like gunpowder. Every lunar walker since Apollo 11 has noticed a burnt-metal scent that reminds them of war. Caden Dechert, the chief of the U.S. mining operation on the edge of the Sea of Serenity, thinks the smell is just a trick of the mind—a reminder of his harrowing days as a Marine in the war-torn Middle East back on Earth.
It’s 2072, and lunar helium-3 mining is powering the fusion reactors that are bringing Earth back from environmental disaster. But competing for the richest prize in the history of the world has destroyed the oldest rule in Safety for All. When a bomb kills one of Dechert’s diggers on Mare Serenitatis, the haunted veteran goes on the hunt to expose the culprit before more blood is spilled.
But as Dechert races to solve the first murder in the history of the Moon, he gets caught in the crosshairs of two global powers spoiling for a fight. Reluctant to be the match that lights this powder-keg, Dechert knows his life and those of his crew are meaningless to the politicians. Even worse, he knows the killer is still out there, hunting.
In his desperate attempts to save his crew and prevent the catastrophe he sees coming, the former Marine uncovers a dangerous conspiracy that, with one spark, can ignite a full lunar war, wipe out his team . . . and perhaps plunge the Earth back into darkness.
306 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 13, 2018
209 people are currently reading
3784 people want to read
About the author
David Pedreira
2 books85 followersA former reporter for newspapers including the Tampa Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times, David Pedreira won awards for his writing from the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association and the American Society of Newspaper Editors. He has also served as a corporate communications director for enterprise software and telecommunications companies, and he currently co-owns a legal and executive recruiting business. He has a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of New Hampshire. He lives in Florida, plays ice hockey twice a week, and spends as much time as he can outdoors.
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March 17, 2022
We are still the beast, and we always will be. And all this stuff that we fight over—power, money, territory, helium-3—it’s little more than a carcass on an African plain.Serenity 1 most definitely deserved its name as a peaceful place. But things change. Dechert is in charge of this Level 1 Lunar outpost, and his death-free record at the base has just been liquidated with extreme prejudice, a shaped charge under a manual hatch on a lunar crawler. Ka-boom! Bad enough the damage from the charge, but blowing the hatch does a nice job of instantly removing all the breathable air from the vehicle. When a member of a man’s team is killed, he’s supposed to do something about it. It doesn’t matter that he was a loose cannon, you’re supposed to do something about it. It’s bad enough having to cope with the first murder on the moon, but, things being what they are, this one death could trigger a much larger conflict.
David Pedreira - image from his FB pages
It’s 2072 and the Earth has had a rough go of it. A thing called the Thermal Max had done a nice job of removing large chunks of excess humanity from the globe, albeit unevenly, and homo sap is getting back to some semblance of life (and power structures) before. The bright light of peace that took precedence over conflict is now going all dark side, as some nations are once again feeling their military oats. The Moon has become a crucial source of material needed to power Mother’s new power plants, the richest store of power resource in human history, and what was once a friendly lunar sharing is in danger of becoming the first exo-war. Even with tensions back home, the various national crews mining the Moon share the perils of living with a harsh mistress. Can their camaraderie intercede or even survive if mommy and daddy go at it full bore? And where does the first murder on the moon fit into this? Is it part of an international conspiracy, or something more personal?
There are some gross similarities with Andy Weir’s Artemis, namely the location, and a crime to be solved, but the similarities end there. Weir’s is largely a YA yarn with a young central character. Pedreira’s is much more a sort of political action-adventure-thriller cum procedural yarn. It features an older demographic in the characters, and, I expect, target readership. So, whodunit? And why?
Book cover image - image from Barnes and Noble
The story moves along at a nice clip, for the most part. Dechert is a decent sort, war-weary marine, with experience in the Bekaa Valley, the Middle East always being a believable warzone, in any era. He carries some battle scars and baggage with him, but nothing surprising. We are meant to see him as the grownup in the room, looking after his charges, being responsible, even when he is being pressured to behave in a less reasonable manner. He is a decent sort, and is easy to care about as he does his best in a dodgy political situation.
The Sea of Serenity - image from wikipedia
And as for that, it is a trope in much of contemporary writing that, just as the money-grubbing corporation is so often behind whatever evil-doing is going on, anyone working for government is immediately considered suspect. Political decision-making is always considered wrong, because, you know, the people on the ground always know better. I would hardly defend all political/governmental military decisions, but I bristle at the tropishness of so many tales presuming ignorance, stupidity, foolishness, and inadequacy in people who work for government. Sometimes they have a wider perspective that runs counter to what may seem obvious in a smaller theater. Sometimes they simply suck. In the same percentage as people everywhere. And just because one might be able to make more money in the private sector, that does not mean that anyone who works for government is second rate. People do make decisions based on things other than simple economic benefit. Sometimes people work for government out a sense of patriotism, or an opportunity to do some good in the world. In the era since Reagan proclaimed the Randian bible that government is always the problem, far too many writers seem to be sipping the Kool Aid without examining the ingredients. Ditto here. Although I do give Pedreira credit for attempting to show the bigger picture perspective before blasting off for his next adventure.
Crater Posidonius - Image from the British Astronomical Association
There are several interesting elements here. One is some detail on how one survives on the moon. Not nearly so detailed as the techsplaining in Artemis, or The Martian, but enough to matter, particularly regarding rail weaponry and finding water. More interesting is the internal dialectic Deck faces in attempting to walk the line between personal and national loyalty, between peacemaking and war-prep. Pedreira has had a career as a journalist, which nicely informs his portrayal of a reporter who tags along with a bigwig on a lunar visit. The gunpowder of the title is a reference to a description of the scent of moondust as reported by the Apollo 11 crew. Particularly apt here.
The action-packed sequence at the back end of the story is sweat-inducing. If you are reading a paper version of the book, you might want to use that to dampen your fingers, lest the blistering pace of page-turning ignite the book. This is a tale about two things, humanity’s bellicose nature, and action. Both are shown quite well. What is somewhat slim here is his painting of characters. Dechert is a decent leading man, but the supporting cast could definitely use some work. The reader should care a fair bit more about the imperiled crew than one actually does. Pedreira clearly has the action element down. Working on his character construction could raise the level. Gunpowder Moon, is an auspicious first novel for Pedreira and makes a fine summer read.
Review posted – 3/9/18
Publication date – 2/13/18
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s personal, Twitter and FB pages
Interviews
-----From PaulSemel.com - Gunpowder Moon Author David Pedreira
-----From MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape - Interview with David Pedreira - by DJ - some good info here
I didn’t want to get preachy or overly thematic, but I think there’s a strong undercurrent in the book about the history and nature of warfare, and how it always emerges for the same reasons: power, greed, territory, resources, and the darker side of religion. No matter how technologically advanced we get, those remain the foundations of human conflict—which is why war endures. And if anything, I wanted Dechert to be a positive voice for our future endeavors in space. We’ve shown that we can screw things up on Earth, but we’ve also shown that we can work together in space. Is it inevitable that we’ll bring the worst parts of humanity with us when we start to colonize the stars? That’s one theme I wanted to explore.
January 21, 2019
”Life is so tenuous on Luna’s desiccated expanse that staying alive is an endeavor practiced with almost religious fervor. No one ever deserts another man on the Moon. Race, creed, religion, flag---none of that crap matters. Dechert would risk his life for any Chinese digger in distress, as long as they were within range. And he knew they would do the same for him.
At least until what happened to Cole.”
The Moon---”Earth’s naked shadow.”
When survival is paramount, we are drawn together in the interest of mutual survival. We forget all the things that divide us. It is only when we have the luxury of existing at a certain level of comfort that we start to figure out ways to separate ourselves. There are plenty of natural resources for everyone on the moon. There are several countries participating in mining the moon, but the two elephants are the Chinese and the Americans; all the nations of the world have a stake in extracting enough Helium-3 to keep the lights on back on Earth.
And the Earth is still in recovery from an apocalyptic event.
”Asteroid collisions you can prepare for, carbon emissions you can legislate against, but who expected a subsea methane eruption would plunge us back into the Dark Ages for more than a decade?”
As if I don’t have enough things to worry about, now I have to add methane eruption to the list?
Caden Dechert is the chief of the U.S. mining operation on the edge of the Sea of Serenity. He is a veteran of wars in the Middle East and is reminded of his tour of duty with every breath he takes. ”The gunpowder smell of moondust filled his nostrils.”
Dechert has a good relationship with his counterpart over on the Chinese side of the moon. They have similar military backgrounds and both have no illusions about the simmering politics on Earth that could spill out into the universe, even to the moon. They have enough to worry about keeping some catastrophic event from wiping out their stations, such as solar flares or something as seemingly mundane as moondust crippling their power supply.
They don’t have time for murder.
But murder is what they got.
When that hatch explodes and kills the first surfer dude on the moon, the ramifications go well beyond just the extinguishing of a life. Dechert has dealt with death his entire adult life, but never has he had a death mean so much. ”The dead settle in our mind like cooling embers. After a time they diminish, snuffed out by the immediate, and then a puff of memory rekindles them and for a moment they are hot and near once again.”
A boot print is one of the few clues.
That explosion that blew that hatch on the moon is the equivalent of the bullet that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914. The tinder is so dry that it only takes a spark to light a conflagration that could burn up not only all the progress Earth has made recovering from the methane eruption, but could level us back to the Stone Age.
Dechert has experienced being in the middle of a war, but he has never been at the flashpoint of the beginning of a war.
Was it the Chinese?
Doesn’t make sense.
Then who was it?
Before everyone dies on the moon, maybe we should take a moment to look at the sky.”How to explain the Moon’s thunderous star field to the uninitiated? It would be like describing the yellows and reds of Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Crows to a blind man.” Maybe we all need to look at the sky more often and clear our minds of the deluge of testosterone driven patriotism. Dechert’s loyalties, never in question before, are wavering as he tries to sift through the evidence and find a solution before there is no turning back.
The American marines arrive. The Chinese equivalent of super troopers arrive. Weapons that have never been allowed on the moon are now bristling on every person’s body. Who killed Cold Benson is becoming irrelevant to everyone, except Dechert. How many times does a war start and, within a short amount of time, everyone forgets how it ever started? Why are we fighting? Ask the Hatfields and the McCoys why they hate each other. It is like we are all just waiting for a reason to give in to our most primordial instincts.
The smell of fear on the moon is mingling with the acrid stench of gunpowder, like lovers reunited over the expanse of history.
The Sea of Serenity is not so serene after murder comes to visit.
What I really enjoy about this book is how real it feels. This isn’t some science-fiction universe that exists in some future that is beyond our own scope. This future is tomorrow or next year or certainly within our life spans. President John F. Kennedy asked us to go to the moon; now all someone has to do is ask us to go to the moon and stay. I was very aware of the constant danger of eminent death. One mistake and not only will you kill yourself, but you might kill your whole team. It is a fragile and invigorating way to live. Where David Pedreira really shines is in his descriptions of pulse pounding, moon blasting action. I was so involved in what was happening that I needed my own space suit to monitor my vitals. ”Mayday, mayday, mayday”was a metronome that blasted through the comms in my dreams for several nights after finishing this book.
Buckle up, squeeze your cheeks together, pour a pitcher of Tang, and put your cell phone on silent. You won’t have time for Earthly concerns once you land on the moon.
I want to thank Harper Voyager for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
At least until what happened to Cole.”
The Moon---”Earth’s naked shadow.”
When survival is paramount, we are drawn together in the interest of mutual survival. We forget all the things that divide us. It is only when we have the luxury of existing at a certain level of comfort that we start to figure out ways to separate ourselves. There are plenty of natural resources for everyone on the moon. There are several countries participating in mining the moon, but the two elephants are the Chinese and the Americans; all the nations of the world have a stake in extracting enough Helium-3 to keep the lights on back on Earth.
And the Earth is still in recovery from an apocalyptic event.
”Asteroid collisions you can prepare for, carbon emissions you can legislate against, but who expected a subsea methane eruption would plunge us back into the Dark Ages for more than a decade?”
As if I don’t have enough things to worry about, now I have to add methane eruption to the list?
Caden Dechert is the chief of the U.S. mining operation on the edge of the Sea of Serenity. He is a veteran of wars in the Middle East and is reminded of his tour of duty with every breath he takes. ”The gunpowder smell of moondust filled his nostrils.”
Dechert has a good relationship with his counterpart over on the Chinese side of the moon. They have similar military backgrounds and both have no illusions about the simmering politics on Earth that could spill out into the universe, even to the moon. They have enough to worry about keeping some catastrophic event from wiping out their stations, such as solar flares or something as seemingly mundane as moondust crippling their power supply.
They don’t have time for murder.
But murder is what they got.
When that hatch explodes and kills the first surfer dude on the moon, the ramifications go well beyond just the extinguishing of a life. Dechert has dealt with death his entire adult life, but never has he had a death mean so much. ”The dead settle in our mind like cooling embers. After a time they diminish, snuffed out by the immediate, and then a puff of memory rekindles them and for a moment they are hot and near once again.”
A boot print is one of the few clues.
That explosion that blew that hatch on the moon is the equivalent of the bullet that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914. The tinder is so dry that it only takes a spark to light a conflagration that could burn up not only all the progress Earth has made recovering from the methane eruption, but could level us back to the Stone Age.
Dechert has experienced being in the middle of a war, but he has never been at the flashpoint of the beginning of a war.
Was it the Chinese?
Doesn’t make sense.
Then who was it?
Before everyone dies on the moon, maybe we should take a moment to look at the sky.”How to explain the Moon’s thunderous star field to the uninitiated? It would be like describing the yellows and reds of Van Gogh’s Wheatfield with Crows to a blind man.” Maybe we all need to look at the sky more often and clear our minds of the deluge of testosterone driven patriotism. Dechert’s loyalties, never in question before, are wavering as he tries to sift through the evidence and find a solution before there is no turning back.
The American marines arrive. The Chinese equivalent of super troopers arrive. Weapons that have never been allowed on the moon are now bristling on every person’s body. Who killed Cold Benson is becoming irrelevant to everyone, except Dechert. How many times does a war start and, within a short amount of time, everyone forgets how it ever started? Why are we fighting? Ask the Hatfields and the McCoys why they hate each other. It is like we are all just waiting for a reason to give in to our most primordial instincts.
The smell of fear on the moon is mingling with the acrid stench of gunpowder, like lovers reunited over the expanse of history.
The Sea of Serenity is not so serene after murder comes to visit.
What I really enjoy about this book is how real it feels. This isn’t some science-fiction universe that exists in some future that is beyond our own scope. This future is tomorrow or next year or certainly within our life spans. President John F. Kennedy asked us to go to the moon; now all someone has to do is ask us to go to the moon and stay. I was very aware of the constant danger of eminent death. One mistake and not only will you kill yourself, but you might kill your whole team. It is a fragile and invigorating way to live. Where David Pedreira really shines is in his descriptions of pulse pounding, moon blasting action. I was so involved in what was happening that I needed my own space suit to monitor my vitals. ”Mayday, mayday, mayday”was a metronome that blasted through the comms in my dreams for several nights after finishing this book.
Buckle up, squeeze your cheeks together, pour a pitcher of Tang, and put your cell phone on silent. You won’t have time for Earthly concerns once you land on the moon.
I want to thank Harper Voyager for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
March 13, 2018
I received a free advance copy of this from the publisher for review.
They say to never judge a book by its cover, but if you show me a space helmet with a hole in the visor laying on the surface of the moon…..I’m gonna read that book.
It’s the year 2072 and Earth has just begun to recover from a global climate catastrophe. Part of that comeback has been based on using helium-3 as a fuel source, and since the moon has oodles of the stuff there are now large scale mining operations happening on its surface. When Earth was in trouble all the nations worked together to do moon mining at first, but now that things are getting better everyone is ready to get back into greed and power grabs.
Caden Dechert is the chief of a small mining crew who just wants to do the work and keep his people safe, but when some of their equipment is sabotaged the American government is more than happy to point the finger at a nearby Chinese base. As things escalate Dechert may be the only person who can head off a full scale war on the moon.
There’s a lot to like in this one. It’s got a realistic and gritty portrayal of a near-future tech on the moon as well as having enough hard science to keep things grounded and relatable. The setting is well established so that you feel like you’re walking the corridors of this cramped underground moon base as well as feeling the exhilaration and terror of doing long rocket assisted hops into pitch black craters. The plot is also good with the set-up of a pretty intriguing mystery which then becomes more of a conspiracy thriller as events unfold.
I also was intrigued with the character of Dechert who is an ex-military guy who had a belly full of all the wars that popped off when Earth was at its most desperate and fighting for scant resources so he got off planet. Going to the moon to get the hell away from most people is an attitude I can relate to these days.
There’s an incredible tightness and economy to the writing so that David Pedreira is able to set up a detailed sci-fi concept as well as telling a good story. In fact, it’s just a little TOO economical. It’s less than 300 pages, and even though I’m all for an author getting it done that quickly I found myself wishing for a bit more story which came across as a little rushed at times.
It’s a good sign when the worst you can say about a book is that it left you wanting more.
They say to never judge a book by its cover, but if you show me a space helmet with a hole in the visor laying on the surface of the moon…..I’m gonna read that book.
It’s the year 2072 and Earth has just begun to recover from a global climate catastrophe. Part of that comeback has been based on using helium-3 as a fuel source, and since the moon has oodles of the stuff there are now large scale mining operations happening on its surface. When Earth was in trouble all the nations worked together to do moon mining at first, but now that things are getting better everyone is ready to get back into greed and power grabs.
Caden Dechert is the chief of a small mining crew who just wants to do the work and keep his people safe, but when some of their equipment is sabotaged the American government is more than happy to point the finger at a nearby Chinese base. As things escalate Dechert may be the only person who can head off a full scale war on the moon.
There’s a lot to like in this one. It’s got a realistic and gritty portrayal of a near-future tech on the moon as well as having enough hard science to keep things grounded and relatable. The setting is well established so that you feel like you’re walking the corridors of this cramped underground moon base as well as feeling the exhilaration and terror of doing long rocket assisted hops into pitch black craters. The plot is also good with the set-up of a pretty intriguing mystery which then becomes more of a conspiracy thriller as events unfold.
I also was intrigued with the character of Dechert who is an ex-military guy who had a belly full of all the wars that popped off when Earth was at its most desperate and fighting for scant resources so he got off planet. Going to the moon to get the hell away from most people is an attitude I can relate to these days.
There’s an incredible tightness and economy to the writing so that David Pedreira is able to set up a detailed sci-fi concept as well as telling a good story. In fact, it’s just a little TOO economical. It’s less than 300 pages, and even though I’m all for an author getting it done that quickly I found myself wishing for a bit more story which came across as a little rushed at times.
It’s a good sign when the worst you can say about a book is that it left you wanting more.
July 23, 2018
A murder mystery at the moon!
EVERYTHING STARTED WITH ONE DEATH…
In a near future, the Moon becomes a key resource to get Helium-3 from the moon dust, vital to process fuel for fusion reactors.
Each major political power with space capabilities has its own facility at the Moon, like USA, China and Russia.
Caden Dechert, manager of the American one, is a war veteran and he can’t avoid to notice that the moon dust smells just like gunpowder…
…so it’s not so rare that a murder happens.
Not matter the tense political ambiance, Dechert has been able to keep the peace with the other mining operations, however with a dead man…
…in a place where hand weapons were unnecesary…
…a madness explodes, that along with the arrival of military forces from Earth, representing each political power, now the guns are everywhere and everyone carrying them.
But the mystery remains…
…who murdered Cold Benson and why?
A murder happened at the Moon, and while you may think that it's not so easy for the culprit to escape...
...guess again!
Never the Sea of Serenity has been more in turmoil!
A great debut work full of realistic science fiction!
EVERYTHING STARTED WITH ONE DEATH…
In a near future, the Moon becomes a key resource to get Helium-3 from the moon dust, vital to process fuel for fusion reactors.
Each major political power with space capabilities has its own facility at the Moon, like USA, China and Russia.
Caden Dechert, manager of the American one, is a war veteran and he can’t avoid to notice that the moon dust smells just like gunpowder…
…so it’s not so rare that a murder happens.
Not matter the tense political ambiance, Dechert has been able to keep the peace with the other mining operations, however with a dead man…
…in a place where hand weapons were unnecesary…
…a madness explodes, that along with the arrival of military forces from Earth, representing each political power, now the guns are everywhere and everyone carrying them.
But the mystery remains…
…who murdered Cold Benson and why?
A murder happened at the Moon, and while you may think that it's not so easy for the culprit to escape...
...guess again!
Never the Sea of Serenity has been more in turmoil!
A great debut work full of realistic science fiction!
December 27, 2018
I should be the perfect audience for this book. I love infodumps. Give me five pages of detailed engineering or equations and I am a happy reader. I will happily take worldbuilding as a replacement for character. I love science fiction and I love mysteries, and I love the combination of the two enough to read through a lot of crap to find it. And, trust me, you need to be that person in order to like this book.
But I still hated it. I’m still tapping out. And I will tell you why, but first let me tell you some of the things I made it past before this book kicked me out.
There’s a moment in the very beginning where the main character, to be known henceforth as Our Hero because honestly he’s pretty much a cardboard cutout with the word HERO printed on it, says “Like I ever played basketball.” Oh! I thought. Maybe only really short people can go to the moon? Interesting! A nice worldbuilding moment! But nope. It was just a) a “white dudes don’t play basketball, because sure this book is set in 2072 but culturally nothing has change, not even our humor” joke and b) an opportunity to tell us Our Hero is white. (I knew, buddy. I knew.) In retrospect, I should have listened to this book telling me what it was and tapped out then.
Then, after a dozen more pages, I realized: wow. It’s 2072. The earth has been through the climate apocalypse. Nations are mining the moon for fuel. But somehow it’s also 1967 and we’re only sending dudes to the moon. (And these dudes are pretty much single-note characters. We have the weed fan, the black dude who works out, the dead guy, and Sir I Forgot to Make Him a Personality, plus Our Hero.)
Except, nope! There is one female character. In her first two pages, she’s sexually objectified by both her commanding officer — Our Hero! — and her closest colleague. (Our Hero wonders if the closest colleague has perhaps been overindulging in virtual porn, because it’s one thing if *he* sexually objectifies the Lone Woman, but for another dude to do it? Weird as heck.) She’s also described as Our Hero’s “security blanket.” All this, and she has to be the communications officer, too, thus suggesting she is the hardest working person in the mining station. And that’s before the space murder. After, Our Hero realizes he probably should have paid attention during grief counseling training, but since he didn’t, he turns the job over to the Lone Woman. Sure, she’s young, immature, and cynical, but she’s the *woman*! Who else is going to deal with the feelings?
So I was already very much not enjoying the book. And then we hit the two pages where Our Hero remembers killing a kid, in graphic detail, and then standing around watching him die, *because it was traumatic for Our Hero*, and I thought: nope. Nope. I am done. This is the best the author can do for characterization? Not good enough. Not even for me.
So. Here’s who you need to be to read this book: male. Straight. A big fan of infodumps and a hater of characters that are actual people. And someone who enjoys reading about graphic child killing in their science fiction mysteries. If you’ve got all that, go for it. Otherwise, I can recommend at least 4,000 books you’d be better off reading.
But I still hated it. I’m still tapping out. And I will tell you why, but first let me tell you some of the things I made it past before this book kicked me out.
There’s a moment in the very beginning where the main character, to be known henceforth as Our Hero because honestly he’s pretty much a cardboard cutout with the word HERO printed on it, says “Like I ever played basketball.” Oh! I thought. Maybe only really short people can go to the moon? Interesting! A nice worldbuilding moment! But nope. It was just a) a “white dudes don’t play basketball, because sure this book is set in 2072 but culturally nothing has change, not even our humor” joke and b) an opportunity to tell us Our Hero is white. (I knew, buddy. I knew.) In retrospect, I should have listened to this book telling me what it was and tapped out then.
Then, after a dozen more pages, I realized: wow. It’s 2072. The earth has been through the climate apocalypse. Nations are mining the moon for fuel. But somehow it’s also 1967 and we’re only sending dudes to the moon. (And these dudes are pretty much single-note characters. We have the weed fan, the black dude who works out, the dead guy, and Sir I Forgot to Make Him a Personality, plus Our Hero.)
Except, nope! There is one female character. In her first two pages, she’s sexually objectified by both her commanding officer — Our Hero! — and her closest colleague. (Our Hero wonders if the closest colleague has perhaps been overindulging in virtual porn, because it’s one thing if *he* sexually objectifies the Lone Woman, but for another dude to do it? Weird as heck.) She’s also described as Our Hero’s “security blanket.” All this, and she has to be the communications officer, too, thus suggesting she is the hardest working person in the mining station. And that’s before the space murder. After, Our Hero realizes he probably should have paid attention during grief counseling training, but since he didn’t, he turns the job over to the Lone Woman. Sure, she’s young, immature, and cynical, but she’s the *woman*! Who else is going to deal with the feelings?
So I was already very much not enjoying the book. And then we hit the two pages where Our Hero remembers killing a kid, in graphic detail, and then standing around watching him die, *because it was traumatic for Our Hero*, and I thought: nope. Nope. I am done. This is the best the author can do for characterization? Not good enough. Not even for me.
So. Here’s who you need to be to read this book: male. Straight. A big fan of infodumps and a hater of characters that are actual people. And someone who enjoys reading about graphic child killing in their science fiction mysteries. If you’ve got all that, go for it. Otherwise, I can recommend at least 4,000 books you’d be better off reading.
August 16, 2021
I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA GOODREADS GIVEAWAY. THANK YOU.
My Review: First, read this:
If we're not just meeting each other, you'll recall my oft-expressed fondness for a pacey, pleasingly noir thriller. That is indeed what we have here. It's 2072; the Moon is split between US and Chinese control; the energy extraction of Humanity's dreams has begun. Caden Dechert is a combat veteran, a polymath and a politically astute loner in charge of the mining operations on US sector of the Moon. After a gigantic disaster more than thirty years ago (Asteroid collisions you can prepare for, carbon emissions you can legislate against, but who expected a subsea methane eruption would plunge us back into the Dark Ages for more than a decade?, asks Caden rhetorically), lunar helium-3 is now the (limited; do we never learn?) resource we need to power the planet.
The thing about using the resources of another world is that it's complicated, requires humans to do complex and still-risky tasks, and exist in an environment that hates you and will kill you in a flash. Caden's job is, in part, to make sure that doesn't happen absent cataclysm...and to head off cataclysm whenever possible. To date he's been a success. Only now the Moon's a crime scene because person(s) unknown have decided to rid Humanity of an innocent waif called Specialist Cole Benson. (Unimportant detail, honestly; how often, in a thriller, does the deady really matter? That's how one knows it's not a mystery, where it matters a lot.)
What happens from there is an astonishingly fast-paced series of ripples, enacted in meeting rooms and over long, long-distance conference calls. The bureaucracy, the meetings in the face of death, all that's so completely real, so calculatedly cool. No better way to bleed off righteous anger than to have a meeting with the brass. And Dechert, despite his rage and outrage, has caught a scent he really, really doesn't like, a corruption that not even the gunpowder smell of the Moon will hide.
What a truly well-made thriller does best is direct you through misdirection. Keep that in mind, readers. Very firmly in mind.
In discovering the actual intent of the event that killed poor young Specialist Benson, Dechert grows extremely determined to bring true Justice, wearing her Nemesis hat, to the perpetrators of what he regards as appalling immoral acts in service of an unconscionable aim. You've read noir thrillers before. You know this means "badness up the food chain." And that's a discovery Dechert isn't going to let lie, quietly festering. He is, thankfully for his health, talked down off the ledge of taking immediate action. There's a new post awaiting him, one that makes the Moon look like West Virginia: He's shipped out to Europa!
The whys and the wherefores aren't utterly convincing, but I don't care, he's going to EUROPA!! A moon of Jupiter with a huge, huge ocean of liquid brine! Talk about coolness...and talk about remoteness, too, the speed of light takes just over forty minutes to get to Earth from there. That is one hell of a push-off assignment. (I'd take it in a heartbeat.)
So why am I not awarding it all five stars? Because, as much as it pains me to say it, while the tone of the book is right in that indefinable way you feel in your sinews, it's also a message that really, really concerns me at this juncture: Don't trust The Man is an evergreen trope for a reason...The Man's done a lot to earn mistrust over the millennia...but we're facing two severe crises that only The Man can fight effectively, climate change's acceleration and COVID's move from pandemic to endemic and the behavioral changes that NEED to follow on both those things. The noir-lone-wolf-iness of this tale, the one extraordinary man who can put it to rights, is not believable and not timely. That's why the other star fell off my review.
My Review: First, read this:
“I didn't realize our government considered altruism one of its core competencies," Dechert finally replied. "Is that why we're dropping a treaty that provides free helium-3 for the New Third World?" He started to unstrap his restraints. "I thought it was so we could prove to the orbital executives that we can keep up with their production demands.”
–and–
“Isn't that how most conflicts start? With a gross miscalculation of the possibilities of escalation? A village first, then a peninsula, and then a continent? It is cold up here, commander. Cold and distant. Just a point in space from their viewpoint - valuable but aesthetically detached.”
If we're not just meeting each other, you'll recall my oft-expressed fondness for a pacey, pleasingly noir thriller. That is indeed what we have here. It's 2072; the Moon is split between US and Chinese control; the energy extraction of Humanity's dreams has begun. Caden Dechert is a combat veteran, a polymath and a politically astute loner in charge of the mining operations on US sector of the Moon. After a gigantic disaster more than thirty years ago (Asteroid collisions you can prepare for, carbon emissions you can legislate against, but who expected a subsea methane eruption would plunge us back into the Dark Ages for more than a decade?, asks Caden rhetorically), lunar helium-3 is now the (limited; do we never learn?) resource we need to power the planet.
The thing about using the resources of another world is that it's complicated, requires humans to do complex and still-risky tasks, and exist in an environment that hates you and will kill you in a flash. Caden's job is, in part, to make sure that doesn't happen absent cataclysm...and to head off cataclysm whenever possible. To date he's been a success. Only now the Moon's a crime scene because person(s) unknown have decided to rid Humanity of an innocent waif called Specialist Cole Benson. (Unimportant detail, honestly; how often, in a thriller, does the deady really matter? That's how one knows it's not a mystery, where it matters a lot.)
What happens from there is an astonishingly fast-paced series of ripples, enacted in meeting rooms and over long, long-distance conference calls. The bureaucracy, the meetings in the face of death, all that's so completely real, so calculatedly cool. No better way to bleed off righteous anger than to have a meeting with the brass. And Dechert, despite his rage and outrage, has caught a scent he really, really doesn't like, a corruption that not even the gunpowder smell of the Moon will hide.
What a truly well-made thriller does best is direct you through misdirection. Keep that in mind, readers. Very firmly in mind.
The dead settle in our mind like cooling embers. After a time they diminish, snuffed out by the immediate, and then a puff of memory rekindles them and for a moment they are hot and near once again.
In discovering the actual intent of the event that killed poor young Specialist Benson, Dechert grows extremely determined to bring true Justice, wearing her Nemesis hat, to the perpetrators of what he regards as appalling immoral acts in service of an unconscionable aim. You've read noir thrillers before. You know this means "badness up the food chain." And that's a discovery Dechert isn't going to let lie, quietly festering. He is, thankfully for his health, talked down off the ledge of taking immediate action. There's a new post awaiting him, one that makes the Moon look like West Virginia: He's shipped out to Europa!
The whys and the wherefores aren't utterly convincing, but I don't care, he's going to EUROPA!! A moon of Jupiter with a huge, huge ocean of liquid brine! Talk about coolness...and talk about remoteness, too, the speed of light takes just over forty minutes to get to Earth from there. That is one hell of a push-off assignment. (I'd take it in a heartbeat.)
So why am I not awarding it all five stars? Because, as much as it pains me to say it, while the tone of the book is right in that indefinable way you feel in your sinews, it's also a message that really, really concerns me at this juncture: Don't trust The Man is an evergreen trope for a reason...The Man's done a lot to earn mistrust over the millennia...but we're facing two severe crises that only The Man can fight effectively, climate change's acceleration and COVID's move from pandemic to endemic and the behavioral changes that NEED to follow on both those things. The noir-lone-wolf-iness of this tale, the one extraordinary man who can put it to rights, is not believable and not timely. That's why the other star fell off my review.
February 12, 2018
The Moon has been a hot topic in science fiction lately. Ian McDonald has his elegantly overstuffed Luna trilogy; Andy Weir gave us an intricately detailed, but overly mechanical procedural, Artemis; John Kessel snuck under the radar with his magnificent utopian epic The Moon and the Other. The cover and description of David Pedreira’s debut novel, Gunpowder Moon, seems to promise a good old-fashioned murder mystery.
It’s a no-brainer, really. Humans have no earthly business living on the moon – any reason for being there (namely, profit) would have to come with a set of standards and protocols geared toward the safety of its inhabitants. Murder would be easy from a technical standpoint – as Weir pointed out in The Martian, space wants to kill you, so killing someone would hardly call for exceptional effort of the part of the killer. However, it is expensive to put someone on the moon. The people who get there would hardly be considered expendable, and even if motive could be established, you’d better have a damn good reason to kill someone and an even better plan, because there’s really nowhere to go afterward. You’re stuck on the moon, after all.
That Pedreira conjures up a believable motive and opportunity makes it all the more disappointing that the murder mystery angle is Gunpowder Moon’s weakest element. The story follows Dechert, commander of an American helium-3 mining operation on the moon in the year 2072. He runs a tight ship, with no accidents or deaths under his watch – a welcome departure from his time as a marine fighting in (predictably) the middle east. But a bomb goes off on one of his diggers, killing the youngest member of his team, and evidence points to a conspiracy that could spark an international incident as China and Russia also have mining interests on the moon, and control of the energy supply is the best leverage a super power has over the world and possibly the solar system.
As a mystery, the novel never really gets off the ground. The protracted setup labors over establishing character and setting, but we never really get to know anyone, except for Dechert, particularly well, and while the mining operation itself is detailed enough to be believable, I find it very hard to believe that any government could convince anyone (In this case, four men and one woman) to live in such a cramped space for several years with no down time or recreational options or that they would all manage to keep their sanity under such conditions with no alcohol or sexual activity of any kind – but that appears to be the case. Once the young miner Cole is murdered, and Dechert is compelled with some urgency to uncover the truth, the search for the killer is postponed as the American government immediately militarizes its operations on the moon in order to respond to their perception of the bombing as a Chinese threat.
This development turns out to be a blessing for the reader: as a military thriller with tense and believable depictions of what combat might be like in space, the novel almost takes off. I say almost because this doesn’t happen until about halfway through, before shifting back to murder mystery mode a few chapters later, just in time to reveal the culprit – a reveal that happens through no real effort on the part of the hero. It is, and always shall be, a terrible mistake to set up a mystery and then solve it with literally no intervention on the part of the story’s protagonist. After which, the denouement is nearly as drawn out as the beginning and is only there to set up a prospective sequel/series.
Gunpowder Moon is executed at a fairly steady pace and has its entertaining moments, but the uneven story development and humdrum worldbuilding keep it from standing out among its peers.
Thanks to the author, Harper Voyager and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read this DRC.
It’s a no-brainer, really. Humans have no earthly business living on the moon – any reason for being there (namely, profit) would have to come with a set of standards and protocols geared toward the safety of its inhabitants. Murder would be easy from a technical standpoint – as Weir pointed out in The Martian, space wants to kill you, so killing someone would hardly call for exceptional effort of the part of the killer. However, it is expensive to put someone on the moon. The people who get there would hardly be considered expendable, and even if motive could be established, you’d better have a damn good reason to kill someone and an even better plan, because there’s really nowhere to go afterward. You’re stuck on the moon, after all.
That Pedreira conjures up a believable motive and opportunity makes it all the more disappointing that the murder mystery angle is Gunpowder Moon’s weakest element. The story follows Dechert, commander of an American helium-3 mining operation on the moon in the year 2072. He runs a tight ship, with no accidents or deaths under his watch – a welcome departure from his time as a marine fighting in (predictably) the middle east. But a bomb goes off on one of his diggers, killing the youngest member of his team, and evidence points to a conspiracy that could spark an international incident as China and Russia also have mining interests on the moon, and control of the energy supply is the best leverage a super power has over the world and possibly the solar system.
As a mystery, the novel never really gets off the ground. The protracted setup labors over establishing character and setting, but we never really get to know anyone, except for Dechert, particularly well, and while the mining operation itself is detailed enough to be believable, I find it very hard to believe that any government could convince anyone (In this case, four men and one woman) to live in such a cramped space for several years with no down time or recreational options or that they would all manage to keep their sanity under such conditions with no alcohol or sexual activity of any kind – but that appears to be the case. Once the young miner Cole is murdered, and Dechert is compelled with some urgency to uncover the truth, the search for the killer is postponed as the American government immediately militarizes its operations on the moon in order to respond to their perception of the bombing as a Chinese threat.
This development turns out to be a blessing for the reader: as a military thriller with tense and believable depictions of what combat might be like in space, the novel almost takes off. I say almost because this doesn’t happen until about halfway through, before shifting back to murder mystery mode a few chapters later, just in time to reveal the culprit – a reveal that happens through no real effort on the part of the hero. It is, and always shall be, a terrible mistake to set up a mystery and then solve it with literally no intervention on the part of the story’s protagonist. After which, the denouement is nearly as drawn out as the beginning and is only there to set up a prospective sequel/series.
Gunpowder Moon is executed at a fairly steady pace and has its entertaining moments, but the uneven story development and humdrum worldbuilding keep it from standing out among its peers.
Thanks to the author, Harper Voyager and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read this DRC.
February 19, 2018
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2018/02/19/...
When I first found out about Gunpowder Moon, I knew I had to read it. I’m a sucker for a good sci-fi mystery in space, and the novel’s lunar setting further sold me on it.
But this is not just another one of your simple murder mysteries, and the main protagonist is not your typical detective. It is the year 2072, and Caden Dechert is a former Marine heading up a US mining operation on moon. He’s a good leader, drawing from his war experience back on Earth as he mentors his team and takes the new recruits under his wing, teaching them all about safety and survival on the lunar surface. Anything from a small leak in a suit to a speck of moon dust getting in the machinery can lead to fatal results, and no one is more diligent or careful than Dechert when it comes protecting his crew.
So when an explosion occurs, killing one of his young miners, everyone is shocked. No one believes it to be an accident, and sure enough, an investigation finds clear signs of sabotage. There are plenty of suspects to go around, but the top brass arriving from Earth are quick to point fingers at the Chinese, who run a rival mining company near the Americans’ base of operations on the edge of the Sea of Serenity. Dechert, however, is not so sure. He knows tensions between the countries are already on edge, with both sides itching for a fight. Unwilling to jump to conclusions—and hoping to avoid an all-out war—he launches his own investigation in search for evidence.
It’s a straightforward enough story, and in fact, Gunpowder Moon is not a very long book, its streamlined plot leaving little room for much filler or downtime. The driving pace gave this novel the feel of a high-octane thriller, making it a very quick and easy read. If anything, I thought the narrative could have used some slowing down, especially during pivotal moments where the author could have furthered increased the tensions or emphasized suspense.
To Pedreira’s credit though, he didn’t skimp on characterization or world-building. Caden Dechert was a wonderful protagonist, well-written and fleshed out. I was able to sense his commitment to his work and to his crew in everything he said and did. I also enjoyed the flashbacks to his life in the military, fighting in the Middle East. These sections gave us a deeper understanding into his personality, as well as possible insight into why he valued the status quo on the moon. War on Earth was ugly, and Dechert would do anything to stop all that death and violence from coming into his new life.
Gunpowder Moon also painted an intriguing picture of lunar life. The desolate landscape notwithstanding, everything about the moon—sights, smells, tastes, and sounds—was described and brought to life in stunning detail. That said, it’s the social aspects I found even more compelling. An entirely different culture exists on the moon that newcomers from Earth would never understand, giving a whole different dynamic to the relationships between the characters. A code of honor among lunar residents was strongly implied, especially for the miners who put their lives on the line every day. It didn’t matter who you were or where you came from; if someone was in need of help, people were always willing to give it, even if those involved were from a rival corporation or country. Thus, a murder meant that the killer had to be extremely motivated, a sticky fact that made Dechert’s quest for the truth that much more complicated and difficult.
No doubt, sci-fi fans seeking fast-paced action and clever intrigue would enjoy Gunpowder Moon. Ironically though, I found that the novel’s mystery plot actually played second fiddle to the wonderful depictions of the politics and culture of lunar life. But while the story could have been stronger, David Pedreira made up for it with excellent world-building and character development, which I felt were the book’s greatest strengths. An entertaining read overall.
Audiobook Comments: Time simply flew by as I listened to Gunpowder Moon, which featured a story that was well-suited to the audio format. Jeffery Kafer was a skilled narrator, successfully bringing out the tensions and excitement in the author’s storytelling. He seldom varied his voices for different characters though, which would have been my only criticism, but otherwise this audiobook was a great listen and I would recommend it.
When I first found out about Gunpowder Moon, I knew I had to read it. I’m a sucker for a good sci-fi mystery in space, and the novel’s lunar setting further sold me on it.
But this is not just another one of your simple murder mysteries, and the main protagonist is not your typical detective. It is the year 2072, and Caden Dechert is a former Marine heading up a US mining operation on moon. He’s a good leader, drawing from his war experience back on Earth as he mentors his team and takes the new recruits under his wing, teaching them all about safety and survival on the lunar surface. Anything from a small leak in a suit to a speck of moon dust getting in the machinery can lead to fatal results, and no one is more diligent or careful than Dechert when it comes protecting his crew.
So when an explosion occurs, killing one of his young miners, everyone is shocked. No one believes it to be an accident, and sure enough, an investigation finds clear signs of sabotage. There are plenty of suspects to go around, but the top brass arriving from Earth are quick to point fingers at the Chinese, who run a rival mining company near the Americans’ base of operations on the edge of the Sea of Serenity. Dechert, however, is not so sure. He knows tensions between the countries are already on edge, with both sides itching for a fight. Unwilling to jump to conclusions—and hoping to avoid an all-out war—he launches his own investigation in search for evidence.
It’s a straightforward enough story, and in fact, Gunpowder Moon is not a very long book, its streamlined plot leaving little room for much filler or downtime. The driving pace gave this novel the feel of a high-octane thriller, making it a very quick and easy read. If anything, I thought the narrative could have used some slowing down, especially during pivotal moments where the author could have furthered increased the tensions or emphasized suspense.
To Pedreira’s credit though, he didn’t skimp on characterization or world-building. Caden Dechert was a wonderful protagonist, well-written and fleshed out. I was able to sense his commitment to his work and to his crew in everything he said and did. I also enjoyed the flashbacks to his life in the military, fighting in the Middle East. These sections gave us a deeper understanding into his personality, as well as possible insight into why he valued the status quo on the moon. War on Earth was ugly, and Dechert would do anything to stop all that death and violence from coming into his new life.
Gunpowder Moon also painted an intriguing picture of lunar life. The desolate landscape notwithstanding, everything about the moon—sights, smells, tastes, and sounds—was described and brought to life in stunning detail. That said, it’s the social aspects I found even more compelling. An entirely different culture exists on the moon that newcomers from Earth would never understand, giving a whole different dynamic to the relationships between the characters. A code of honor among lunar residents was strongly implied, especially for the miners who put their lives on the line every day. It didn’t matter who you were or where you came from; if someone was in need of help, people were always willing to give it, even if those involved were from a rival corporation or country. Thus, a murder meant that the killer had to be extremely motivated, a sticky fact that made Dechert’s quest for the truth that much more complicated and difficult.
No doubt, sci-fi fans seeking fast-paced action and clever intrigue would enjoy Gunpowder Moon. Ironically though, I found that the novel’s mystery plot actually played second fiddle to the wonderful depictions of the politics and culture of lunar life. But while the story could have been stronger, David Pedreira made up for it with excellent world-building and character development, which I felt were the book’s greatest strengths. An entertaining read overall.
Audiobook Comments: Time simply flew by as I listened to Gunpowder Moon, which featured a story that was well-suited to the audio format. Jeffery Kafer was a skilled narrator, successfully bringing out the tensions and excitement in the author’s storytelling. He seldom varied his voices for different characters though, which would have been my only criticism, but otherwise this audiobook was a great listen and I would recommend it.
February 1, 2019
Ahoy there me mateys! This novel is a murder mystery about the first murder on the moon in 2072. It was a Library Journal Spring/Summer Best Debut Novel and also an Amazon Best Book of the Year Selection. So why didn’t I love it?
To be honest, I am not really sure. I did think that the realities of life on the moon were the best part. I loved that it felt gritty with moondust and that, despite decent technology, everything was worn and in danger of failing due to monetary constraints and politics. I loved that the geography and operations on the moon felt so real. I enjoyed the main character, Dechert’s, perspective. He was smart, diligent, and caring. I also enjoyed the Safety Engineer and the Tech Engineer who were the other parts of the main trio. I loved the moon culture. But I think the main problem of this book was the plot itself.
I just overwhelmingly found the events of the book to be rather boring. I almost gave up a couple of times. But the crew kept telling me that this was a good one so I kept going. I did find that the action picked up nicely in the second half. But overall I found the politics and explanations for the murder to be rather sub-par. I mean it has the trope where the murderer stands still and pontificates on how he did it. Sad. I also thought how the crew was saved from the baddies to be so silly. That said I did like Dechert’s negotiations at the very end and was glad the main crew was saved.
So good characters and world building. Not so good plot points. While this novel turned out to be just an okay read, I have no regrets about reading it. Maybe the audio book would have been different?
Side note: Still adore the title of this one and why it is called that. Arrrr!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...
To be honest, I am not really sure. I did think that the realities of life on the moon were the best part. I loved that it felt gritty with moondust and that, despite decent technology, everything was worn and in danger of failing due to monetary constraints and politics. I loved that the geography and operations on the moon felt so real. I enjoyed the main character, Dechert’s, perspective. He was smart, diligent, and caring. I also enjoyed the Safety Engineer and the Tech Engineer who were the other parts of the main trio. I loved the moon culture. But I think the main problem of this book was the plot itself.
I just overwhelmingly found the events of the book to be rather boring. I almost gave up a couple of times. But the crew kept telling me that this was a good one so I kept going. I did find that the action picked up nicely in the second half. But overall I found the politics and explanations for the murder to be rather sub-par. I mean it has the trope where the murderer stands still and pontificates on how he did it. Sad. I also thought how the crew was saved from the baddies to be so silly. That said I did like Dechert’s negotiations at the very end and was glad the main crew was saved.
So good characters and world building. Not so good plot points. While this novel turned out to be just an okay read, I have no regrets about reading it. Maybe the audio book would have been different?
Side note: Still adore the title of this one and why it is called that. Arrrr!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...
February 27, 2018
I’m giving it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. This is a murder mystery set on the moon. Moon related fiction seems to be a popular trend right now, but I’m not complaining.
The writing in this book was excellent. The author does a very good job of expressing the cold desolate landscape. He described various ridges, the way the moon dust levitates in the air as night turns to day, and let’s not forget the smell. Moon dust smells like cordite, or more simply, gunpowder. Hence the name, Gunpowder Moon, and for whatever reason the title and the description really stuck with me through the novel.
I also enjoyed the characters. They were mostly men, but I guess in a world where no women have actually set foot on the moon yet (ahem) I shouldn’t be all that surprised. The one woman, Lane, had a pretty major role and wasn’t cast in a stereotypical way. She was strong and fearless and makes smart decisions. I enjoyed her character arc as well as the arc of the main character, Dechert. My only complaint with Dechert was that I never really got a sense of how old he was. I kept thinking of him as an old man because he was a grizzled war veteran, but upon reflection I get the feeling he was supposed to be about middle aged. He felt very human to me. Flawed and sort of tragic.
For you hard sci-fi lovers, there was plenty of science to go around. They are mining for HE-3 deposits. There’s talk of magnetic fields and g forces and .6 gravity etc. I did find this slowed the pace occasionally because the science was above my head. (Also- I read another review on Amazon that said the science was not entirely accurate, I can’t comment on this because I wouldn’t know enough to tell you either way.)
On to the story itself, there were things I liked and things I didn’t. To start with, I didn’t really feel like this was set far enough in the future to suspend my disbelief that apocalypse level climate change happened everywhere, leading nations became the new third world nations, wars broke out, and then lunar He-3 deposits are discovered as the answer to all the world’s problems. The other result of this mini apocalypse- is apparently that everyone is suddenly very theistic (and America is of course very Christian, and top brass doesn’t really like when the people working for them aren’t). I’m not sure where this falls on the plausibility scale. I live under a rock and I know religion isn’t going away anytime soon, but to have America just become a bunch of religious zealots didn’t sit quite right with me either. (Isn’t it equally plausible that they all became atheists in the name of science?)
These are small parts of the book and only detracted from the story as minor annoyances. I did like the conspiracy theory level mystery. Layers being uncovered one after another. Evidence trickling in from various sources. The need for secure channels and evacuation plans. I love a good conspiracy theory- so I never mind a trip down the rabbit hole.
Where it lost me again, was the way the mystery was solved. It was too immediate. Too convenient. I’m not a fan of the “epiphany” as a source of solution.
The action scenes were a blast and I think the author wrote them very well. It was very reminiscent of Star Wars. Shuttles flying blind through canyons and craters, skimming the dusty lunar surface. Navigation via a basic green and black grid. These scenes were show stealers.
To sum it up: excellent writing, fantastic setting, lots of science and human characters made for a good overall story. I’d recommend this to readers of hard sci-fi or anyone in the mood for a good lunar tale.
Thank you to Harper Voyager for the ARC!
The writing in this book was excellent. The author does a very good job of expressing the cold desolate landscape. He described various ridges, the way the moon dust levitates in the air as night turns to day, and let’s not forget the smell. Moon dust smells like cordite, or more simply, gunpowder. Hence the name, Gunpowder Moon, and for whatever reason the title and the description really stuck with me through the novel.
I also enjoyed the characters. They were mostly men, but I guess in a world where no women have actually set foot on the moon yet (ahem) I shouldn’t be all that surprised. The one woman, Lane, had a pretty major role and wasn’t cast in a stereotypical way. She was strong and fearless and makes smart decisions. I enjoyed her character arc as well as the arc of the main character, Dechert. My only complaint with Dechert was that I never really got a sense of how old he was. I kept thinking of him as an old man because he was a grizzled war veteran, but upon reflection I get the feeling he was supposed to be about middle aged. He felt very human to me. Flawed and sort of tragic.
For you hard sci-fi lovers, there was plenty of science to go around. They are mining for HE-3 deposits. There’s talk of magnetic fields and g forces and .6 gravity etc. I did find this slowed the pace occasionally because the science was above my head. (Also- I read another review on Amazon that said the science was not entirely accurate, I can’t comment on this because I wouldn’t know enough to tell you either way.)
On to the story itself, there were things I liked and things I didn’t. To start with, I didn’t really feel like this was set far enough in the future to suspend my disbelief that apocalypse level climate change happened everywhere, leading nations became the new third world nations, wars broke out, and then lunar He-3 deposits are discovered as the answer to all the world’s problems. The other result of this mini apocalypse- is apparently that everyone is suddenly very theistic (and America is of course very Christian, and top brass doesn’t really like when the people working for them aren’t). I’m not sure where this falls on the plausibility scale. I live under a rock and I know religion isn’t going away anytime soon, but to have America just become a bunch of religious zealots didn’t sit quite right with me either. (Isn’t it equally plausible that they all became atheists in the name of science?)
These are small parts of the book and only detracted from the story as minor annoyances. I did like the conspiracy theory level mystery. Layers being uncovered one after another. Evidence trickling in from various sources. The need for secure channels and evacuation plans. I love a good conspiracy theory- so I never mind a trip down the rabbit hole.
Where it lost me again, was the way the mystery was solved. It was too immediate. Too convenient. I’m not a fan of the “epiphany” as a source of solution.
The action scenes were a blast and I think the author wrote them very well. It was very reminiscent of Star Wars. Shuttles flying blind through canyons and craters, skimming the dusty lunar surface. Navigation via a basic green and black grid. These scenes were show stealers.
To sum it up: excellent writing, fantastic setting, lots of science and human characters made for a good overall story. I’d recommend this to readers of hard sci-fi or anyone in the mood for a good lunar tale.
Thank you to Harper Voyager for the ARC!
May 7, 2019
In a dystopian world where the once powerful countries are now scrambling for fuel, the helium3-rich fields of the moon are a godsend. But when an American miner turns up dead, it may become the new front in a war, not just for control of the Earth, but also the galaxy.
"Cold enveloped him. He opened his eyes in Moon shadow and had to blink to make sure they weren't closed." pg 5
This is a story that could have been a thriller, but it gets bogged down in the technical aspects of life on the moon. I imagine the science is sound, but, unlike The Martian, I felt like it slowed the action down to a crawl rather than speeding it along.
The characters were problematic. There are half a dozen of them and I couldn't seem to connect with any.
"Dechert wondered for the hundredth time if the people back home had any clue what it was like to live on the Moon." pg 15
The mystery wasn't all that mysterious and is tied up in one paragraph towards the end. I was disappointed. I like my mysteries with more twists and turns, an unexpected bump or two.
"I'm going to catch a quick two hours," he said. "Wake me up if something bad happens." pg 29.
A nap was starting to sound pretty good to me too.
I read David Pedreira's bio and it seems he's a journalist, or was. I could tell from his writing. The sections read sort of like mini-news stories. Lede, information, kicker, repeat. Not that there's anything wrong with that format, but I wish the story had been shaken up somewhat.
Oh well. On to the next book!
"Cold enveloped him. He opened his eyes in Moon shadow and had to blink to make sure they weren't closed." pg 5
This is a story that could have been a thriller, but it gets bogged down in the technical aspects of life on the moon. I imagine the science is sound, but, unlike The Martian, I felt like it slowed the action down to a crawl rather than speeding it along.
The characters were problematic. There are half a dozen of them and I couldn't seem to connect with any.
"Dechert wondered for the hundredth time if the people back home had any clue what it was like to live on the Moon." pg 15
The mystery wasn't all that mysterious and is tied up in one paragraph towards the end. I was disappointed. I like my mysteries with more twists and turns, an unexpected bump or two.
"I'm going to catch a quick two hours," he said. "Wake me up if something bad happens." pg 29.
A nap was starting to sound pretty good to me too.
I read David Pedreira's bio and it seems he's a journalist, or was. I could tell from his writing. The sections read sort of like mini-news stories. Lede, information, kicker, repeat. Not that there's anything wrong with that format, but I wish the story had been shaken up somewhat.
Oh well. On to the next book!
May 3, 2018
3.5 to 4 stars. Science fiction isn’t my thing at all. However this novel intrigued me. (Btw thanks to Harper Collins for the ARC).
It’s 2072 and people live on the moon and are trying to save Earth. When one of the Americans is killed, making history as the first murder on the moon the military shows up and tries to take over production of the HE-3 that Earth needs and to start a fight with the Chinese.
What turned me off was I couldn’t get a visual inside my head of what half these things or living spaces on the moon looked like and how the mountains on the moon looked. Also some of the space jargon completely goes over my head.
Other than that not a bad read. Would recommend, especially if you’re a lover of space.
It’s 2072 and people live on the moon and are trying to save Earth. When one of the Americans is killed, making history as the first murder on the moon the military shows up and tries to take over production of the HE-3 that Earth needs and to start a fight with the Chinese.
What turned me off was I couldn’t get a visual inside my head of what half these things or living spaces on the moon looked like and how the mountains on the moon looked. Also some of the space jargon completely goes over my head.
Other than that not a bad read. Would recommend, especially if you’re a lover of space.
May 2, 2018
I put this on my "Thriller" shelf...but that's being a little generous I think.
I saw this book "touted" and read the synopsis which says (quote) "this debut novel combines the inventiveness of The Martian, the intrigue of The Expanse, and the thrills of Red Rising."
I'm sorry, it isn't and doesn't. This is a fairly standard political story with a slight mystery rolled in (who's behind the bombings and other "disasters" on the Moon at the Moon Base). Are the villains the Chinese...or is the culprit closer to home? DUH, DUH.DUH!
Yeah I figure many of you will spot what's going on here and maybe put together the clues that the main character manages to fail to put together until the very end.
So far as having the " inventiveness of The Martian " Nope. The Martian is a masterful work that rests on the writer's ability to build a complete character we all felt as if we got to know without EVER allowing the story to flag. The balance of plot and character is almost flawless in that book (
). Here the characters are never really deep, I came away not feeling (I use the word "feeling" advisedly here) I knew any of them and I wasn't invested in their well being or the situation.
In a future where the author sees the US as having become a 3rd rate nation and competing with China for dominance on the moon. The nation is led by rather stupid shallow politicians (okay so that statement could be thought repetitive) also has...well if I go on I'd be in spoiler territory so suffice it to say for me there is a lot of "been there done that" in this book.
In short (if it's not too late to say "in short") I was ready (very ready) for this one to be over. I actually was ready to drop it part way through but that would have (by my "couldn't finish it" rule) have brought the book a 1 star rating and some people hate to see a low rating if I don't actuallydrag myself through I mean read a book to the end.
Look, if you like this book (and I see a mix of ratings from 5 down) this is MY opinion of the book. I didn't hate it, but I sure didn't care for it. I think it definitely suffers from being compared to
. So in my humble opinion...didn't care for it, can't recommend it.
I saw this book "touted" and read the synopsis which says (quote) "this debut novel combines the inventiveness of The Martian, the intrigue of The Expanse, and the thrills of Red Rising."
I'm sorry, it isn't and doesn't. This is a fairly standard political story with a slight mystery rolled in (who's behind the bombings and other "disasters" on the Moon at the Moon Base). Are the villains the Chinese...or is the culprit closer to home? DUH, DUH.DUH!
Yeah I figure many of you will spot what's going on here and maybe put together the clues that the main character manages to fail to put together until the very end.
So far as having the " inventiveness of The Martian " Nope. The Martian is a masterful work that rests on the writer's ability to build a complete character we all felt as if we got to know without EVER allowing the story to flag. The balance of plot and character is almost flawless in that book (
). Here the characters are never really deep, I came away not feeling (I use the word "feeling" advisedly here) I knew any of them and I wasn't invested in their well being or the situation.In a future where the author sees the US as having become a 3rd rate nation and competing with China for dominance on the moon. The nation is led by rather stupid shallow politicians (okay so that statement could be thought repetitive) also has...well if I go on I'd be in spoiler territory so suffice it to say for me there is a lot of "been there done that" in this book.
In short (if it's not too late to say "in short") I was ready (very ready) for this one to be over. I actually was ready to drop it part way through but that would have (by my "couldn't finish it" rule) have brought the book a 1 star rating and some people hate to see a low rating if I don't actually
Look, if you like this book (and I see a mix of ratings from 5 down) this is MY opinion of the book. I didn't hate it, but I sure didn't care for it. I think it definitely suffers from being compared to
. So in my humble opinion...didn't care for it, can't recommend it.
March 7, 2018
DNF. Took three chapters before we met a non-male character. Three sentences into that, one of the men is staring at her ass. A couple paragraphs later, we get a detailed description of her appearance (the only other character with such a description was the token POC, naturally) culminating in the main character reflecting on her beauty. Sigh. Goodbye forever. It's 2018 and I don't want to read about white men anymore. Don't @ me.
September 3, 2024
Very solid moon mining murder military adventure. Not particularly deep, in character development or plot intricacy. But the whole story took place over maybe two weeks so it didn't suffer for it. Rich technical details and tense action scenes. All round a very enjoyable distraction while I photoshopped too many pictures at work. Good times were had by all.
July 23, 2020
I've been a fan of science fiction stories taking place on Luna since I read Tongues of the Moon. Moon-based science fiction is seeing a bit of a revival lately. Between the recent
Artemis
and
New Moon (Luna #1)
series (my reviews) there have been more books with the Moon as a setting in a shorter period of time than there have been since The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. This book is one of the recent crop.
Writing was OK. I found a couple of sentence fragments. The book would have benefited from more careful editing. Descriptive prose was better than dialog. Action sequences were well handled. Frankly, I felt the dialog to be wooden . The characters also seemed only to have one voice. There is no sex. Violence is moderate, but not graphic. Body count is relatively low considering the number of Red Shirts available.
There were only a small number of characters. The action revolves around the crew of a small, moon, satellite mining base (Sea of Serenity 1). Dechert was the protagonist. He’s a standard ex-military action hero type. He’s the over-qualified boss. Briggs (Lane) is the prickly, unconsummated love interest. Quarles is the stoner, genius (Deus Ex Machina on legs). Benson is the surfer-dude who dies. West and Thatch are guys along for the ride, or to drive the moon buggies and shuttles. There are a number of supporting characters: The Chinese moon base commander (Lin Tzu), Standard, the mining company ‘suit’ and “The Commodore” (Yates) the old man who knows better. He's a character whose purpose I never understood. I think the author may have written himself into the story as the Reuters reporter. These characters are well within known tropes-- too much so.
Plot is a mashup of space colonization, ‘whodunnit’ and political thriller. Frankly, it was one genre too many. I liked the ‘man-against-nature’ conflict of lunar colonization. I also liked the Locked-room mystery of who murdered Cole out on the surface. The complication of the extra-legal plot around a shift of world political power engineered by an anonymous, right-wing group is where the book jumped the shark. The future international political scenario spun from it was a needless complication. Although it led to setting up a military science fiction ‘moon battle'. (I could have done without it.) There was no return to the 'whodunnit' until the last 50-pages. The story started-out strong as a small story and then ground to a slog beneath the weight its subplots. Also, ending with a criminal confession was a cop-out.
World building has interesting. The moon was realistically enough rendered. Although, in reality I would expect teleoperation of the lunar mining operation. With credible AI that would have made a small, remote, manned base like Sea of Serenity 1 unnecessary. That the Earth and the States have been beaten-up pretty badly in the Thermal Maximum event (Climate Change) was interesting. Although, adding this minor post-apocalyptic plot line was unnecessary. I frankly thought that it was even more unlikely that the lunar infrastructure and exploration of the solar system could be as far along as described given the: climate degradation, population migrations, famines, and wars.
It’s 2072. The tech was unremarkable. I had the odd thought that that technology had remained peculiarly static up till the world of the book's future. I was surprised that something unrecognizably new has not been invented and was in common usage? I also thought the lunar battle was too like a new millennium , Blackhawk Down-like helicopter insertion than something truly futuristic. Why would you want a man-in-the-loop flying that mission, given the level of tech and automation?
This story had some good ideas. In addition, I didn’t figure out ‘whodunnit’, until the author’s reveal. Cui bono failed me because the author intended it as a political thriller with a faceless, right-wing, secret organization as the antagonist-- not a murder mystery. However, the story was too cluttered and too rough in its implementation. At about the half-way point I lost interest. I slogged on just to see if there were going to be any naughty bits between Dechert and Briggs.
Folks interested in lunar-set science fiction should look-over my list: Moon-based Adult Science Fiction . I personally recommend New Moon.
Writing was OK. I found a couple of sentence fragments. The book would have benefited from more careful editing. Descriptive prose was better than dialog. Action sequences were well handled. Frankly, I felt the dialog to be wooden . The characters also seemed only to have one voice. There is no sex. Violence is moderate, but not graphic. Body count is relatively low considering the number of Red Shirts available.
There were only a small number of characters. The action revolves around the crew of a small, moon, satellite mining base (Sea of Serenity 1). Dechert was the protagonist. He’s a standard ex-military action hero type. He’s the over-qualified boss. Briggs (Lane) is the prickly, unconsummated love interest. Quarles is the stoner, genius (Deus Ex Machina on legs). Benson is the surfer-dude who dies. West and Thatch are guys along for the ride, or to drive the moon buggies and shuttles. There are a number of supporting characters: The Chinese moon base commander (Lin Tzu), Standard, the mining company ‘suit’ and “The Commodore” (Yates) the old man who knows better. He's a character whose purpose I never understood. I think the author may have written himself into the story as the Reuters reporter. These characters are well within known tropes-- too much so.
Plot is a mashup of space colonization, ‘whodunnit’ and political thriller. Frankly, it was one genre too many. I liked the ‘man-against-nature’ conflict of lunar colonization. I also liked the Locked-room mystery of who murdered Cole out on the surface. The complication of the extra-legal plot around a shift of world political power engineered by an anonymous, right-wing group is where the book jumped the shark. The future international political scenario spun from it was a needless complication. Although it led to setting up a military science fiction ‘moon battle'. (I could have done without it.) There was no return to the 'whodunnit' until the last 50-pages. The story started-out strong as a small story and then ground to a slog beneath the weight its subplots. Also, ending with a criminal confession was a cop-out.
World building has interesting. The moon was realistically enough rendered. Although, in reality I would expect teleoperation of the lunar mining operation. With credible AI that would have made a small, remote, manned base like Sea of Serenity 1 unnecessary. That the Earth and the States have been beaten-up pretty badly in the Thermal Maximum event (Climate Change) was interesting. Although, adding this minor post-apocalyptic plot line was unnecessary. I frankly thought that it was even more unlikely that the lunar infrastructure and exploration of the solar system could be as far along as described given the: climate degradation, population migrations, famines, and wars.
It’s 2072. The tech was unremarkable. I had the odd thought that that technology had remained peculiarly static up till the world of the book's future. I was surprised that something unrecognizably new has not been invented and was in common usage? I also thought the lunar battle was too like a new millennium , Blackhawk Down-like helicopter insertion than something truly futuristic. Why would you want a man-in-the-loop flying that mission, given the level of tech and automation?
This story had some good ideas. In addition, I didn’t figure out ‘whodunnit’, until the author’s reveal. Cui bono failed me because the author intended it as a political thriller with a faceless, right-wing, secret organization as the antagonist-- not a murder mystery. However, the story was too cluttered and too rough in its implementation. At about the half-way point I lost interest. I slogged on just to see if there were going to be any naughty bits between Dechert and Briggs.
Folks interested in lunar-set science fiction should look-over my list: Moon-based Adult Science Fiction . I personally recommend New Moon.
April 7, 2018
A solid political hard scifi that has does some things well but wont set the scifi world on fire. The plot is pretty standard, with a resoltuion that seemed pretty cliched. It was resolved relatively easily. I however like the science behind the moon and its mining. The novel is getting some comparisons to Artemis. I feel like they are completely different in style and structure. Only common feature is the setting being the moon.The characters are a little one dimensional and didnt really capture anything different between each person. The writing was well done but just not my style. It had a procedural newspaper type feel, given that the author wrote for some newspapers it makes sense. Reccomend for hardcore Scifi fans however just gets a pass mark for me.
April 4, 2018
I put this on my "Thriller" shelf...but that's being a little generous I think.
I saw this book "touted" and read the synopsis which says (quote) "this debut novel combines the inventiveness of The Martian, the intrigue of The Expanse, and the thrills of Red Rising."
I'm sorry, it isn't and doesn't. This is a fairly standard political story with a slight mystery rolled in (who's behind the bombings and other "disasters" on the Moon at the Moon Base). Are the villains the Chinese...or is the culprit closer to home? DUH, DUH.DUH!
Yeah I figure many of you will spot what's going on here and maybe put together the clues that the main character manages to fail to put together until the very end.
So far as having the " inventiveness of The Martian " Nope. The Martian is a masterful work that rests on the writer's ability to build a complete character we all felt as if we got to know without EVER allowing the story to flag. The balance of plot and character is almost flawless in that book (
). Here the characters are never really deep, I came away not feeling (I use the word "feeling" advisedly here) I knew any of them and I wasn't invested in their well being or the situation.
In a future where the author sees the US as having become a 3rd rate nation and competing with China for dominance on the moon. The nation is led by rather stupid shallow politicians (okay so that statement could be thought repetitive) also has...well if I go on I'd be in spoiler territory so suffice it to say for me there is a lot of "been there done that" in this book.
In short (if it's not too late to say "in short") I was ready (very ready) for this one to be over. I actually was ready to drop it part way through but that would have (by my "couldn't finish it" rule) have brought the book a 1 star rating and some people hate to see a low rating if I don't actuallydrag myself through I mean read a book to the end.
Look, if you like this book (and I see a mix of ratings from 5 down) this is MY opinion of the book. I didn't hate it, but I sure didn't care for it. I think it definitely suffers from being compared to
. So in my humble opinion...didn't care for it, can't recommend it.
I saw this book "touted" and read the synopsis which says (quote) "this debut novel combines the inventiveness of The Martian, the intrigue of The Expanse, and the thrills of Red Rising."
I'm sorry, it isn't and doesn't. This is a fairly standard political story with a slight mystery rolled in (who's behind the bombings and other "disasters" on the Moon at the Moon Base). Are the villains the Chinese...or is the culprit closer to home? DUH, DUH.DUH!
Yeah I figure many of you will spot what's going on here and maybe put together the clues that the main character manages to fail to put together until the very end.
So far as having the " inventiveness of The Martian " Nope. The Martian is a masterful work that rests on the writer's ability to build a complete character we all felt as if we got to know without EVER allowing the story to flag. The balance of plot and character is almost flawless in that book (
). Here the characters are never really deep, I came away not feeling (I use the word "feeling" advisedly here) I knew any of them and I wasn't invested in their well being or the situation.In a future where the author sees the US as having become a 3rd rate nation and competing with China for dominance on the moon. The nation is led by rather stupid shallow politicians (okay so that statement could be thought repetitive) also has...well if I go on I'd be in spoiler territory so suffice it to say for me there is a lot of "been there done that" in this book.
In short (if it's not too late to say "in short") I was ready (very ready) for this one to be over. I actually was ready to drop it part way through but that would have (by my "couldn't finish it" rule) have brought the book a 1 star rating and some people hate to see a low rating if I don't actually
Look, if you like this book (and I see a mix of ratings from 5 down) this is MY opinion of the book. I didn't hate it, but I sure didn't care for it. I think it definitely suffers from being compared to
. So in my humble opinion...didn't care for it, can't recommend it.
April 26, 2018
2.5 stars. This is billed as a murder mystery set on the moon, and isn’t that a great cover image? I found it an okay read, but I suspect other fans of science fiction will enjoy it more.
The setting is great, even if the author is too much in love with the technology he has invented. The writing in itself is quite good, except that there was something lacking about the characterization. I didn’t think there was much heart to the story, and the characters never felt like real people.
The plot technically does include a mysterious murder, but the book focuses on the protagonist’s efforts to figure out who is trying to start a war between the US and China, which both have mining interests on the Moon. This story is set after an apocalyptic event on Earth which occurred when “two trillion tons of methane hydrate had bubbled out of the Pacific Rim with almost no warning”, but still humans are implicated: “Climatologists called the catastrophe a cleansing of an overpopulated and overheated planet.”
My trade paperback edition has a binding error and it was frustrating that the most exciting action of the book takes place in the section where the pages are out of order (pages 184-212).
There’s a prominent female character, “a woman on a Moon full of men”, and there’s something a little Heinleinian in the way the book treats her. “Whoever finds the secret to summoning a woman’s power when it’s most needed will rule the universe.” Really? But to be fair, the excellent marine pilot is a woman and her gender is barely noted.
The setting is great, even if the author is too much in love with the technology he has invented. The writing in itself is quite good, except that there was something lacking about the characterization. I didn’t think there was much heart to the story, and the characters never felt like real people.
The plot technically does include a mysterious murder, but the book focuses on the protagonist’s efforts to figure out who is trying to start a war between the US and China, which both have mining interests on the Moon. This story is set after an apocalyptic event on Earth which occurred when “two trillion tons of methane hydrate had bubbled out of the Pacific Rim with almost no warning”, but still humans are implicated: “Climatologists called the catastrophe a cleansing of an overpopulated and overheated planet.”
My trade paperback edition has a binding error and it was frustrating that the most exciting action of the book takes place in the section where the pages are out of order (pages 184-212).
There’s a prominent female character, “a woman on a Moon full of men”, and there’s something a little Heinleinian in the way the book treats her. “Whoever finds the secret to summoning a woman’s power when it’s most needed will rule the universe.” Really? But to be fair, the excellent marine pilot is a woman and her gender is barely noted.
December 11, 2017
I was provided a galley of the book by the publisher.
A murder mystery on the moon. It's as simple as that, and as awesome as that. Dechert is the chief of a lunar mining operation. He's not young. He's had substantial military experience. He's on the moon to get away from that past and to be the gruff father to his eccentric crew of misfits. But when incidents of sabotage crop up and one of his miners is killed in an explosion, the higher echelons of American forces blame a rival Chinese mining operation without genuine evidence, drawing the two nations to the brink of war--a war both sides seem to want. Dechert investigates a murder that could be the first of millions.
This book is everything that I hoped Andy Weir's Artemis would be. It's smart and savvy, based solidly in real science but still totally approachable to laymen. Dechert is easy to relate to as a protagonist, and you can't help but love his strong bonds with his quirky crew. His experience makes him a fantastic investigator like the greats of the genre. The book is a fast read, too. It hooked me from the start and I had to read through in about a day.
A murder mystery on the moon. It's as simple as that, and as awesome as that. Dechert is the chief of a lunar mining operation. He's not young. He's had substantial military experience. He's on the moon to get away from that past and to be the gruff father to his eccentric crew of misfits. But when incidents of sabotage crop up and one of his miners is killed in an explosion, the higher echelons of American forces blame a rival Chinese mining operation without genuine evidence, drawing the two nations to the brink of war--a war both sides seem to want. Dechert investigates a murder that could be the first of millions.
This book is everything that I hoped Andy Weir's Artemis would be. It's smart and savvy, based solidly in real science but still totally approachable to laymen. Dechert is easy to relate to as a protagonist, and you can't help but love his strong bonds with his quirky crew. His experience makes him a fantastic investigator like the greats of the genre. The book is a fast read, too. It hooked me from the start and I had to read through in about a day.
February 24, 2018
That was fun. Highly recommended for fans of Cormoran Strike and military fiction: Dechert leads a team of quirky alpha men (and one clever not too girly woman) in a constant battle against the lunar elements. Now he has to try and keep them safe from a murderer, and possibly, a war.
A strong space mystery, the tone and cast are reminiscent of the first book in The Expanse. A tad broody, but it's mostly fast paced and cynical and a promising first novel.
ARC from publisher
A strong space mystery, the tone and cast are reminiscent of the first book in The Expanse. A tad broody, but it's mostly fast paced and cynical and a promising first novel.
ARC from publisher
February 26, 2024
Virš Giedros jūros giedras dangus.
Va, būtų labai simboliškas pavadinimas šitam romanui.
2072-ieji, po Žemę ištikusios katastrofos jėgų balansas gimtojoje planetoje kiek pasikeitė. Iš jos padarinių galėtų padėti išsikapanoti Mėnulyje kasamas helis-3. Bet ir čia ne viskas klostosi gerai. Pagrindiniai konkurentai – JAV ir Kinija. Cadenas Dechertas vadovauja vienai helio-3 gavybos stočiai Giedros jūroje – Mare Serenitatis. Kai akivaizdžiai žmogaus rankomis surengto sprogimo metu žūsta vienas iš jo pavaldinių, padėtis ima kaisti ne dienomis, o valandomis. Į stotį atvyksta desantininkų būrys, kinai, atrodo, irgi nesnaudžia. Dar akimirka kita – ir prasidės tikrų tikriausias Mėnulio karas, kuris garantuotai išsiplės ir į Žemę. Tačiau Decherto neapleidžia įkyri mintis, kad kažkas čia ne taip. Deja, laikas, per kurį jis galėtų viską išsiaiškinti ir sustabdyti beprasidedančias žudynes, nenumaldomai tirpsta.
Nežinau, kas su šita knyga (arba su manim) ne taip. Atrodo, viskas yra. Charakteriai, veiksmas, intriga. Ir vis tik kažkaip iki galo neužkabina. Bet prikišt irgi nerandu ką.
Tai tegul būna trys iš penkių. Labai stiprūs, garantuoti. Bet trys.
Va, būtų labai simboliškas pavadinimas šitam romanui.
2072-ieji, po Žemę ištikusios katastrofos jėgų balansas gimtojoje planetoje kiek pasikeitė. Iš jos padarinių galėtų padėti išsikapanoti Mėnulyje kasamas helis-3. Bet ir čia ne viskas klostosi gerai. Pagrindiniai konkurentai – JAV ir Kinija. Cadenas Dechertas vadovauja vienai helio-3 gavybos stočiai Giedros jūroje – Mare Serenitatis. Kai akivaizdžiai žmogaus rankomis surengto sprogimo metu žūsta vienas iš jo pavaldinių, padėtis ima kaisti ne dienomis, o valandomis. Į stotį atvyksta desantininkų būrys, kinai, atrodo, irgi nesnaudžia. Dar akimirka kita – ir prasidės tikrų tikriausias Mėnulio karas, kuris garantuotai išsiplės ir į Žemę. Tačiau Decherto neapleidžia įkyri mintis, kad kažkas čia ne taip. Deja, laikas, per kurį jis galėtų viską išsiaiškinti ir sustabdyti beprasidedančias žudynes, nenumaldomai tirpsta.
Nežinau, kas su šita knyga (arba su manim) ne taip. Atrodo, viskas yra. Charakteriai, veiksmas, intriga. Ir vis tik kažkaip iki galo neužkabina. Bet prikišt irgi nerandu ką.
Tai tegul būna trys iš penkių. Labai stiprūs, garantuoti. Bet trys.
March 9, 2018
Good, gritty near-future novel of mining, mayhem and murder on the moon, which morphs into bad political stuff. Well-written, good character sketches, nice touches of moral ambiguity. Well, sort of. I particularly liked the ending. A worthy debut, and one of the better novels on living and working on the moon that I've read. Recommended reading: 3.8 stars.
Linda Nagata liked it: https://hahvi.net/?p=6556
"An excellent near-future thriller. This one’s got it all — realistic technology, an all-too-believable political conflict, and characters to care about — in a fast-paced story set amid the moon’s austere beauty.”
Linda Nagata liked it: https://hahvi.net/?p=6556
"An excellent near-future thriller. This one’s got it all — realistic technology, an all-too-believable political conflict, and characters to care about — in a fast-paced story set amid the moon’s austere beauty.”
May 5, 2019
In 2072 the moon is populated by several international companies mining the moon's soil for a substance known as Helium-3, a nonradioactive solar isotope that is easily contained and used to power reactors on Earth.
Caden Dechert is in charge of the American mining company. Things appeared to be running smoothly until one of Dechert's crew member is found dead. Suspecting that the death was not an accident, Dechert races against time to find out the truth behind this lunar murder.
"The gunpowder smell of moondust filled his nostrils, and his head hurt too much to work the mystery."
Gunpowder Moon is my sci-fi monthly book club pick, and I have to say I'm pleased we chose this novel. Sci-fi meets whodunnit mystery, Pedreira's writing keeps you guessing until the end in this fast-paced story. I particularly enjoyed the tension he built in the book. As for character development, Dechert was by far the best. All the other characters felt a bit flat throughout the story. Pedreira did an excellent job researching the topic and moving the story nicely. This is not a very long book, and at times I wished that the sci-fi parts regarding the moon had been better explored. Overall, Gunpowder Moon was an interesting read.
"That's the moon, commissioner: hours of boredom followed by a few seconds of terror."
Caden Dechert is in charge of the American mining company. Things appeared to be running smoothly until one of Dechert's crew member is found dead. Suspecting that the death was not an accident, Dechert races against time to find out the truth behind this lunar murder.
"The gunpowder smell of moondust filled his nostrils, and his head hurt too much to work the mystery."
Gunpowder Moon is my sci-fi monthly book club pick, and I have to say I'm pleased we chose this novel. Sci-fi meets whodunnit mystery, Pedreira's writing keeps you guessing until the end in this fast-paced story. I particularly enjoyed the tension he built in the book. As for character development, Dechert was by far the best. All the other characters felt a bit flat throughout the story. Pedreira did an excellent job researching the topic and moving the story nicely. This is not a very long book, and at times I wished that the sci-fi parts regarding the moon had been better explored. Overall, Gunpowder Moon was an interesting read.
"That's the moon, commissioner: hours of boredom followed by a few seconds of terror."
January 7, 2020
In the second half of the 21st century, there are HE3 mines on the moon, a clean energy source. Terra has been severely hurt by global warming, but not in any vague way. There were sudden, huge climate changes due to methane being released by the thawing of old layers off the coast of Washington state. That's a real possibility according to this article. (Another article says nitrous oxide may be a bigger danger, but that came out after this book was published.) Pedreira then sketches the economic & political impacts through scattered references - no data dump! I love it when actual science is used this well in a book.
There's a good mystery leading to a lot of tensions & some great action. All of it was very realistic until it got a bit out of hand at the end. His shuttle was a bit too convenient & well fueled. So, it wasn't perfect, but still a really good adventure on the moon full of excellent characters driving a very tense situation.
Jeffrey Kafer did a fantastic job narrating this. His voice & tone was that of a noir crime novel that enhanced the bleak atmosphere of the moon & the situation. I would have enjoyed this in text a lot, but Kafer was truly a great bonus.
There's a good mystery leading to a lot of tensions & some great action. All of it was very realistic until it got a bit out of hand at the end. His shuttle was a bit too convenient & well fueled. So, it wasn't perfect, but still a really good adventure on the moon full of excellent characters driving a very tense situation.
Jeffrey Kafer did a fantastic job narrating this. His voice & tone was that of a noir crime novel that enhanced the bleak atmosphere of the moon & the situation. I would have enjoyed this in text a lot, but Kafer was truly a great bonus.
April 1, 2018
**** Review to come. ****
May 2, 2018
Alright, let's distill this book down to the main points and save everyone some time:
-war is bad
-non-soldiers don't know war is bad
-sometimes war is kind of fun though
-but it's still bad
-people who are in war are sad
-people who used to be in war are still sad
-people die in war and its sad
-softy bureaucrats do bad stuff with war
-women are magical creatures
-space is dangerous
That's the bulk of it. This book seems like what you get when you enjoy sci-fi and war novels so you try and write your own, but have nothing new or personal to say about it. Instead, build it with the distilled generalizations and one-dimensional characters that you can get from averaging together all the other similar books you've read. The plot isn't that far from the first Mission Impossible movie, more or less predictable from no more than 25% of the way in, and the rest of the book is just a slog to see which of the 3 predictions you've made is actually the right one.
But of course, it wouldn't be a terribly dull book without terribly mediocre writing. I can't be bothered to go find all of the terrible analogies sprinkled throughout the book, but there's at least one whopper below. So let's wrap up with my favorite three quotes:
1. If she could muster a little charm, she might deflect the concentration of this trio, put them off their guard a bit, but Lane remained as quiet and cold as alabaster - no surprise at all. *Whoever find the secret to summoning a woman's power when it's most needed will rule the universe*, he thought. And he knew it wouldn't be him.
Mega barf. But it wouldn't be shitty sci fi if there wasn't some weird putting-a-woman-on-a-pedestal, so who's surprised.
2. Dechert pulled the hatch open and put a foot inside the circular opening. "Lane?" She turned around. "Yes?" "I thought you should know. Nietzsche was wrong. God isn't dead." "He isn't?" No. He just has shitty representation back on Earth."
I have more thoughts on this excerpt than are worth saying, so I'll keep them brief: that's not at all how that quote is intended, why does Dechert feel that he's the authority on the validity of centuries-old philosophy or conclusive existence of God, why did the author think that this was a good thing to write, and where were the editors who should have shut down this terrible piece of dialogue. Blech.
3. "A weapons ban in space?" Yates said, chuckling. "Isn't that like asking for world peace?" Dechert shrugged and returned to his seat. "It's like a one-night stand in Vegas. It might not matter a month after it happens, but it feels pretty damn good in the moment."
Jesus Christ.
I was going to give this book 3 stars, but it got, like, hype so I was excited to read it, and the actual reality of what it is was so disappointing that I'm gonna bump it down one more. Do not recommend.
-war is bad
-non-soldiers don't know war is bad
-sometimes war is kind of fun though
-but it's still bad
-people who are in war are sad
-people who used to be in war are still sad
-people die in war and its sad
-softy bureaucrats do bad stuff with war
-women are magical creatures
-space is dangerous
That's the bulk of it. This book seems like what you get when you enjoy sci-fi and war novels so you try and write your own, but have nothing new or personal to say about it. Instead, build it with the distilled generalizations and one-dimensional characters that you can get from averaging together all the other similar books you've read. The plot isn't that far from the first Mission Impossible movie, more or less predictable from no more than 25% of the way in, and the rest of the book is just a slog to see which of the 3 predictions you've made is actually the right one.
But of course, it wouldn't be a terribly dull book without terribly mediocre writing. I can't be bothered to go find all of the terrible analogies sprinkled throughout the book, but there's at least one whopper below. So let's wrap up with my favorite three quotes:
1. If she could muster a little charm, she might deflect the concentration of this trio, put them off their guard a bit, but Lane remained as quiet and cold as alabaster - no surprise at all. *Whoever find the secret to summoning a woman's power when it's most needed will rule the universe*, he thought. And he knew it wouldn't be him.
Mega barf. But it wouldn't be shitty sci fi if there wasn't some weird putting-a-woman-on-a-pedestal, so who's surprised.
2. Dechert pulled the hatch open and put a foot inside the circular opening. "Lane?" She turned around. "Yes?" "I thought you should know. Nietzsche was wrong. God isn't dead." "He isn't?" No. He just has shitty representation back on Earth."
I have more thoughts on this excerpt than are worth saying, so I'll keep them brief: that's not at all how that quote is intended, why does Dechert feel that he's the authority on the validity of centuries-old philosophy or conclusive existence of God, why did the author think that this was a good thing to write, and where were the editors who should have shut down this terrible piece of dialogue. Blech.
3. "A weapons ban in space?" Yates said, chuckling. "Isn't that like asking for world peace?" Dechert shrugged and returned to his seat. "It's like a one-night stand in Vegas. It might not matter a month after it happens, but it feels pretty damn good in the moment."
Jesus Christ.
I was going to give this book 3 stars, but it got, like, hype so I was excited to read it, and the actual reality of what it is was so disappointing that I'm gonna bump it down one more. Do not recommend.
March 18, 2018
I received an advanced copy from Harper Voyager in anticipation of a fair review.
Gunpowder Moon started out slow and was heading for a 2 Star level but it picked up about a third of the way through and the final third was excellent, exciting, edge-of-the seat -- really showed the potential of this new author. I'm giving it 4 Stars with the expectation he ups his game on the next one.
Strong point: I really liked his attention to detail on the challenges and everyday living on the moon. You get a solid feeling on how difficult it would be moving around and supporting various activities. Some of the characters are developed well. Dechert and Lane are two strong ones.
Weak point: The conspiracy behind the initial murder and follow-on events is a bit weak on motivation. The military mission needed to be beefed up. He used military special forces in the story and he might have benefitted from more expert input on technology. Dude, "PRF" stands for pulse repetition frequency, not pulse "recurrence" frequency (Ch 18).
This is a short book, less than 300 pages. But he has a potential foundation for a real "space opera" with the environmental catastrophe on Earth and the need for moon and solar system resources to save humanity. Has an "Expanse" flavor to the story and the characters but will need a lot more detail to realize. Looking forward to his next book.
Gunpowder Moon started out slow and was heading for a 2 Star level but it picked up about a third of the way through and the final third was excellent, exciting, edge-of-the seat -- really showed the potential of this new author. I'm giving it 4 Stars with the expectation he ups his game on the next one.
Strong point: I really liked his attention to detail on the challenges and everyday living on the moon. You get a solid feeling on how difficult it would be moving around and supporting various activities. Some of the characters are developed well. Dechert and Lane are two strong ones.
Weak point: The conspiracy behind the initial murder and follow-on events is a bit weak on motivation. The military mission needed to be beefed up. He used military special forces in the story and he might have benefitted from more expert input on technology. Dude, "PRF" stands for pulse repetition frequency, not pulse "recurrence" frequency (Ch 18).
This is a short book, less than 300 pages. But he has a potential foundation for a real "space opera" with the environmental catastrophe on Earth and the need for moon and solar system resources to save humanity. Has an "Expanse" flavor to the story and the characters but will need a lot more detail to realize. Looking forward to his next book.
January 24, 2019
Could have been more interesting w more science fiction and less politics. I mean, we KNOW the politics, so let's get to the stuff we don't know. Also, this book came out in 2018 and is set in 2072 and is UNBELIEVABLY sexist. There are a total of two women that we see on the moon. The one on "our" station is subjected to ongoing mental commentary from the (male) narrator regarding her appearance. She later is given a promotion due to his recommendation. Presumably she would not have received this on her own. The generals back on Earth are describes as a row of men. No women, apparently, though I believe we already, in 2018, have generals who are women. Bullshit like this cost this guy a star.
did-not-finish
March 9, 2018DNF at Page 58
Disappointing.
The premise is fine, if not terribly original. Typical cast set-up, cookie-cutter protagonist, and it might still have been an ok read for a brain-fried evening but for Lane.
Or, more precisely, Pedreira's portrayal of Lane through Dechert's gaze.
I've read a fair bit of SF. I'd like to think my tolerance for eyeroll-worthy descriptions of The Woman™ is alright. But here it's just the nail in the coffin. Neither the plot nor the writing are strong enough to keep me reading.
Not for me.
Disappointing.
The premise is fine, if not terribly original. Typical cast set-up, cookie-cutter protagonist, and it might still have been an ok read for a brain-fried evening but for Lane.
Or, more precisely, Pedreira's portrayal of Lane through Dechert's gaze.
I've read a fair bit of SF. I'd like to think my tolerance for eyeroll-worthy descriptions of The Woman™ is alright. But here it's just the nail in the coffin. Neither the plot nor the writing are strong enough to keep me reading.
Not for me.
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