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Operation Otherworld #2
Operation Luna
Poul Anderson, recently the winner of the Nebula's Grandmaster Award for lifetime achievement, returns to the world of his acclaimed novel Operation Chaos with the tale of one family's mission to the moon. Ginny Greylock and Steven Matuchek are partners an Earth quite unlike our own. For starters, Ginny is a licensed witch and Steve is an engineer and werewolf. Steve moonlights by working on a spacecraft in the Arizona desert, a project which soon discovers that there is life on the moon. Neither Steve nor the US government has any inkling as to the nature of the moonsprites, and everyone is anxious to make contact. But when the time comes to test the spacecraft, a host of bugs, snafus, and angry spirits conspire to prevent the launch. It's a recipe for perfect lunacy as Ginny and her clan struggle to figure out who, or what, is sabotaging the greatest magical and scientific achievement of the century.
438 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
9 people are currently reading
494 people want to read
About the author
Poul Anderson
1,623 books1,110 followersPseudonym A. A. Craig, Michael Karageorge, Winston P. Sanders, P. A. Kingsley.
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.
Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]
Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.
Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.
Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]
Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.
Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 6, 2021
Stylistically and conceptually, this novel has a lot in common with Operation Chaos (which Barb and I read back in 2015, and re-read earlier this year, before our just-completed read of this one), to which it's a sequel. (Goodreads lists two other books as part of the author's Operation Otherworld series, but I don't regard them as such, since they're about entirely different characters, set in a different world, and apparently only related thematically.) Again, our narrator is werewolf and engineer Steve Matuchek (though here Anderson abandons the conceit that Steve's broadcasting his thoughts blindly in a trance state, as an attempt to communicate with residents of possible alternate worlds --such as this one). And again, the focus is on Steve and his wife, white witch Ginny. My review of the first book (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) explains the premise of the couple's alternate 20th-century world, and introduces the characters and their earlier world-saving adventures. I recommend reading the books in order; the pleasure in experiencing this one is greatly enhanced by already knowing and liking the main characters (who for me were old friends).
When this book opens, it's some 20 years after World War II. and 13 years after the end of the first book. Ginny's now 42 --a strong, smart woman in her prime-- and Steve's presumably just a bit older than she is. Their daughter Valerie is now 14, and a budding white witch in her own right, and they have two younger kids as well. The family now lives in Gallup, New Mexico, where Steve's involved with the U.S. space program, Project Selene, which is aiming for a near-future moon landing. (Of course, in their world, the lunar craft now ready for a test flight is horse-shaped, and powered by four magic-endued metal broomsticks....) But Steve and Ginny, and his former bosses at Nornwell, believe the moon can be reached more cheaply and with a more low-tech option, and they've set up a shoestring private program, Operation Luna, to explore that possibility. That may come in handy, because Project Selene is being targeted for sabotage by forces unknown, which can command formidable supernatural powers. Once again, our hero and heroine will need to step up to the plate and do battle with evil for high stakes --even cosmic stakes, since space is involved.
Besides bringing back a few familiar characters, such as Ginny's familiar Svartlaf (who's now pretty old in cat years, but still spunky!), Anderson regales us with a number of new ones. These include Ginny's much older brother, astronomer Dr. Will Greylock; Alger Sneep of the IRS (Inquisition for Revenue Securement), a character Dickens would have appreciated; and an over-1,000-year-old, sentient talking sword, who calls himself Fotherwick-Botts. (Long story!) Unlike my Goodreads friend Georgann, I liked the sword, and found his dialogue a scream; indeed, there's a very rich vein of delightful dry humor all through this book (as in the first one), which greatly enhances it. The author also enriches the book by drawing on his considerable knowledge of world mythology, here tapping into three distinct traditions: Viking lore, the religion of the Pueblo Indians, and Japanese/Chinese folk beliefs. (He incorporates all of this into a theistic worldview that's respectful of the monotheistic faiths.) Characteristically, he also sends a good message with more than one strong female character who can handle physical, moral and intellectual challenges.
My rating here was not quite as high as for the first book: four and a half stars, but rounded down (since Goodreads doesn't allow half stars) to give pride of place to the earlier one. Still, I liked it better than Georgann and some other readers did, though I understand their criticisms. At 438 pages, this novel is considerably longer than its predecessor (which Goodreads says is 282 pages long --I don't have my copy in front of me). Since this book has a strong suspense/mystery element, with an unknown human accomplice of the villains wreaking life-threatening havoc and a LOT of evidence pointing to Will Greylock as the culprit, the tension sustained over a book this long can be uncomfortable. Anderson indulges in a good deal of world building and some explanation of how various features of his magic system work, which I like, but which isn't to the taste of those readers who mainly crave action; and there aren't as many action scenes here as in the earlier book. What mainly pulled my rating down, in comparison, was the presence of more religious profanity here, and some instances of off-color humor, which I considered gratuitous. (Of course, in reading this out loud to Barb, I either skip or paraphrase that content --which improves her estimate of the book. :-) ) But despite these caveats, I still really liked it overall, and would recommend it.
When this book opens, it's some 20 years after World War II. and 13 years after the end of the first book. Ginny's now 42 --a strong, smart woman in her prime-- and Steve's presumably just a bit older than she is. Their daughter Valerie is now 14, and a budding white witch in her own right, and they have two younger kids as well. The family now lives in Gallup, New Mexico, where Steve's involved with the U.S. space program, Project Selene, which is aiming for a near-future moon landing. (Of course, in their world, the lunar craft now ready for a test flight is horse-shaped, and powered by four magic-endued metal broomsticks....) But Steve and Ginny, and his former bosses at Nornwell, believe the moon can be reached more cheaply and with a more low-tech option, and they've set up a shoestring private program, Operation Luna, to explore that possibility. That may come in handy, because Project Selene is being targeted for sabotage by forces unknown, which can command formidable supernatural powers. Once again, our hero and heroine will need to step up to the plate and do battle with evil for high stakes --even cosmic stakes, since space is involved.
Besides bringing back a few familiar characters, such as Ginny's familiar Svartlaf (who's now pretty old in cat years, but still spunky!), Anderson regales us with a number of new ones. These include Ginny's much older brother, astronomer Dr. Will Greylock; Alger Sneep of the IRS (Inquisition for Revenue Securement), a character Dickens would have appreciated; and an over-1,000-year-old, sentient talking sword, who calls himself Fotherwick-Botts. (Long story!) Unlike my Goodreads friend Georgann, I liked the sword, and found his dialogue a scream; indeed, there's a very rich vein of delightful dry humor all through this book (as in the first one), which greatly enhances it. The author also enriches the book by drawing on his considerable knowledge of world mythology, here tapping into three distinct traditions: Viking lore, the religion of the Pueblo Indians, and Japanese/Chinese folk beliefs. (He incorporates all of this into a theistic worldview that's respectful of the monotheistic faiths.) Characteristically, he also sends a good message with more than one strong female character who can handle physical, moral and intellectual challenges.
My rating here was not quite as high as for the first book: four and a half stars, but rounded down (since Goodreads doesn't allow half stars) to give pride of place to the earlier one. Still, I liked it better than Georgann and some other readers did, though I understand their criticisms. At 438 pages, this novel is considerably longer than its predecessor (which Goodreads says is 282 pages long --I don't have my copy in front of me). Since this book has a strong suspense/mystery element, with an unknown human accomplice of the villains wreaking life-threatening havoc and a LOT of evidence pointing to Will Greylock as the culprit, the tension sustained over a book this long can be uncomfortable. Anderson indulges in a good deal of world building and some explanation of how various features of his magic system work, which I like, but which isn't to the taste of those readers who mainly crave action; and there aren't as many action scenes here as in the earlier book. What mainly pulled my rating down, in comparison, was the presence of more religious profanity here, and some instances of off-color humor, which I considered gratuitous. (Of course, in reading this out loud to Barb, I either skip or paraphrase that content --which improves her estimate of the book. :-) ) But despite these caveats, I still really liked it overall, and would recommend it.
January 23, 2021
For most of the novel, I trudged along, interested enough to keep going, but having to tell myself to pick it up again. Even though there seemed to be plenty happening, somehow it wasn't captivating. There was a lot of gobbledygook explanations of I don't know what that I skipped over, as I did that dopey talking sword's stories. Until the end. The last 20 pages were exciting and the ending was great. Pulled it out of a 2 star rating. What can I say? I'm easily pleased.
November 6, 2018
Disappointing sequel
I'm a great fan of the late Poul Anderson and his writing. Operation Chaos was really enjoyable, as was A Midsummer Tempest, the third book where Valeria Matuchek makes a (brief, but crucial) appearance. This makes the disappointment of Operation Luna that much greater. Simply put, it is a boring, impenetrable and actually badly written book. All I can think of is that the author was pressured to write a sequel and that his heart really wasn't in it. Pity.
I'm a great fan of the late Poul Anderson and his writing. Operation Chaos was really enjoyable, as was A Midsummer Tempest, the third book where Valeria Matuchek makes a (brief, but crucial) appearance. This makes the disappointment of Operation Luna that much greater. Simply put, it is a boring, impenetrable and actually badly written book. All I can think of is that the author was pressured to write a sequel and that his heart really wasn't in it. Pity.
May 22, 2019
This sequel was very disappointing for me. Project Chaos became one of my favorite fantasy novels on first reading, but Project Luna falls far short of its predecessor.
The book is too long for its plot, dragging badly in the middle. A 400 page book is perfectly fine provided that it is engaging.
A huge problem is also the lack of chemistry between the characters. It feels like Anderson was trying to make the characters align better with the way his opinions shifted over the years but it felt heavy handed and unnatural.
The book is too long for its plot, dragging badly in the middle. A 400 page book is perfectly fine provided that it is engaging.
A huge problem is also the lack of chemistry between the characters. It feels like Anderson was trying to make the characters align better with the way his opinions shifted over the years but it felt heavy handed and unnatural.
October 23, 2024
The follow-up to Operation Chaos follows up on Steve and Virginia Matuchek about twelve years after the end of the first book. They now have three children, and are working on a project to launch a vessel to the Moon. There are even more religious traditions referenced in this one than in its predecessor. Coyote opposes the moon launch, and the Matucheks are aided by a Zuni priest and a dwarf from Norse mythology. The dwarf Fjalar and the sword Fotherwick-Botts are comic relief characters, speaking in exaggerated accents and holding outdated attitudes. An equivalent of Fu Manchu is also in it, as is an IRS agent with a vendetta, I guess because government bureaucrats are easy targets. In this world, NASA and the IRS both exist, but the former is the National Astral Spellcraft Administration and the latter the Inquisition for Revenue Securement. It's a more focused story in some ways, as it all involves the space program, but still meanders a lot, probably going on a little bit more than the main idea merits. Still, it's pretty fun.
January 25, 2025
Sequel to Operation Chaos. The Matuchek family returns in an alternate Earth of magic replacing tech, with a new mission: Go to the moon!. Andeson is a virtuoso of puns and Scandinavian lore, but adds other relio-magical traditions in this novel in a characteristically humanist and ecumenical fashion. The stakes are high and it's unclear who to fear more, the legions of evil, or the iRS!
March 31, 2020
Good story, well told, but missing some of the skill Anderson showed earlier in his career.
April 6, 2020
Уже лучше чем первая книга. Более проработана картина мира, сюжетные линии. Хотя всё равно - яркий представитель американской фантастики тех лет...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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February 25, 2024I could not finish this...too slow
March 31, 2024
Libby library book. Werewolves, witches, and space travel.
January 12, 2011
It's been years since Steve Matuchek, werewolf, and Ginny Graylock Matuchek, licensed witch, rescued their daughter from Hell. Now they're living in the southwest, where Steve is an engineer with Project Selene, the big-budget NASA (that's National Astral Spellcraft Administration) project aimed at putting a celestonaut on the moon before the end of the decade, and Ginny does high-priced consulting--sometimes for Project Selene. On the side, they're both involved in Operation Luna, a low-budget private industry effort aiming at the same thing, but without the attendant publicity and overcomplication.
And then Project Selene's test launch is sabotaged, and the evidence, such as it is, seems to implicate Coyote, some Asian Beings about whom westerners know almost nothing, and Ginny's brother, Will Graylock. It's about this time that the Inquisition for Revenue Securement decides that it needs to audit the Matucheks. The Matucheks decide that they can't leave the investigation of these assorted problems in the hands of the FBI and their old buddy Bob Shining Knife, who has been assigned as the lead investigator; they need to take things into their own hands. And so they do, with help along the from a Zuni priest, various Native American gods and Beings, the Fair Folk living on the moon, a talking sword, and a bad-tempered Scandinavian dwarf. It perhaps doesn't quite have the intensity of Operation Chaos, but it's still a very enjoyable book with a fairly satisfying conclusion.
And then Project Selene's test launch is sabotaged, and the evidence, such as it is, seems to implicate Coyote, some Asian Beings about whom westerners know almost nothing, and Ginny's brother, Will Graylock. It's about this time that the Inquisition for Revenue Securement decides that it needs to audit the Matucheks. The Matucheks decide that they can't leave the investigation of these assorted problems in the hands of the FBI and their old buddy Bob Shining Knife, who has been assigned as the lead investigator; they need to take things into their own hands. And so they do, with help along the from a Zuni priest, various Native American gods and Beings, the Fair Folk living on the moon, a talking sword, and a bad-tempered Scandinavian dwarf. It perhaps doesn't quite have the intensity of Operation Chaos, but it's still a very enjoyable book with a fairly satisfying conclusion.
December 7, 2011
Anderson's Operation Chaos was one of my favorite books as a youth, so I was wildly enthused with Operation Luna came out.
I read about two chapters, and put it away. I simply could not get into it.
Now, some years later, I've had another go, and made it all the way through. And ... it's still a disappointment.
Anderson does a remarkable job trying to create a coherent "normal Earth, but if magic worked like everyday technology" story. Unlike the short stories in the first book, each of which touched on more or less a single mythos or magic type, Anderson folds in here Southwest Indian beliefs (of several flavors), Norse, Chinese, and a smattering of other myth / religious / magical elements, each with attention to detail and respect.
But it's too much. At some point, the story -- about trying to travel to the moon, but also about eleventy-dozen other things -- spins out of control. Not only does it lose a narrative focus, but Anderson's world-building begins to collapse under its own weight, and this "normal" Earth ceases to feel "normal" and just feels ... chaotic.
There's a lot I still liked here -- the protagonist, Steven's voice (though his wife Ginny is far less nuanced); the skunk works / X award sort of small entrepreneurial space effort vs large NASA space program; some of the individual characters -- but by mixing together so many flavors and textures, the whole ends up far less satisfying than its parts.
I read about two chapters, and put it away. I simply could not get into it.
Now, some years later, I've had another go, and made it all the way through. And ... it's still a disappointment.
Anderson does a remarkable job trying to create a coherent "normal Earth, but if magic worked like everyday technology" story. Unlike the short stories in the first book, each of which touched on more or less a single mythos or magic type, Anderson folds in here Southwest Indian beliefs (of several flavors), Norse, Chinese, and a smattering of other myth / religious / magical elements, each with attention to detail and respect.
But it's too much. At some point, the story -- about trying to travel to the moon, but also about eleventy-dozen other things -- spins out of control. Not only does it lose a narrative focus, but Anderson's world-building begins to collapse under its own weight, and this "normal" Earth ceases to feel "normal" and just feels ... chaotic.
There's a lot I still liked here -- the protagonist, Steven's voice (though his wife Ginny is far less nuanced); the skunk works / X award sort of small entrepreneurial space effort vs large NASA space program; some of the individual characters -- but by mixing together so many flavors and textures, the whole ends up far less satisfying than its parts.
March 4, 2009
The sequel to Operation Chaos, our Matuchek family has grown and the challenges this time come not just from Hell-manipulated humans, but from the Moon and what dwells there. First-born daughter Valeria, rescued from Hell by her parents in Operation Chaos is now a young teenager. Together with her parent and other allies they are once again instrumental in thwarting the plans of Satan, through great effort and sacrifice on their parts.
A good story with strong moral underpinnings - mortals are given free will and the ability to make their own choices and the results of their choices make a difference.
A good story with strong moral underpinnings - mortals are given free will and the ability to make their own choices and the results of their choices make a difference.
November 14, 2012
The immensely disappointing and over-long sequel to "Operation Chaos" is just a full-on libertarian rant about the evils of government and "the goddamn IRS", with long (and utterly awful) attempts at humour involving a fantasy dwarf and a talking sword. It took me almost two years to struggle my way through the novel, since I just got fed up every few chapters and went for something actually readable instead.
It has more alternative world magic-instead-of-technology adventures with the werewolf and witch, I guess, but since I found them increasingly tedious in the previous book that's not much of a draw to me. Honestly, I'd rate this a zero-star (is that even possible?) waste of time.
It has more alternative world magic-instead-of-technology adventures with the werewolf and witch, I guess, but since I found them increasingly tedious in the previous book that's not much of a draw to me. Honestly, I'd rate this a zero-star (is that even possible?) waste of time.
November 27, 2013
An excellent sequel to Operation Chaos. One of the pivotal characters in Operation Luna shows up in Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest an outstanding fantasy fusion of the Shakespearean universe, Faery, and an England where the English Civil War and the industrial revolution are contemporaneous.
June 19, 2016
One of the most boring, frustrating books I've read. The guy doesn't *do* anything! He just stands next to the characters who do, going on about how great they are and how important it is. The plot was extremely silly - not in a good way - and the 'good' characters are pompous and smug. I was so sick of them all by the end. It's a shame as I liked the first book.
September 28, 2014
It wasn't great but I kept reading. By the time I was really bored I found I have read over 200 pages, so I carried on to see if it would finish as predictably as I thought. I had to read another 100 pages and it did
April 11, 2015
Author grew up in Minnesota!
Good, even had funny moments. But may have been better if I had read the book before it (Operation Chaos)
Good, even had funny moments. But may have been better if I had read the book before it (Operation Chaos)
July 20, 2016
Cute take on a magical US. There were at least 3 stories in this universe before. Maybe collected in "Operation Chaos".
January 31, 2017
Starts off interesting but the lack of detail and writing lets it down. A frustrating read
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews