Luna: Wschód

Luna #3

by Ian McDonald, Wojciech Próchniewicz (Translator)

Trylogia Luna McDonalda, do której prawa ekranizacji za ogromną sumę zakupiła telewizja CBS, dawno została uznana za jeden z najbardziej ekscytujących i ważnych cykli SF ostatniej dekady. Jest dla nowego pokolenia czymś w rodzaju trylogii marsjańskiej Kima Stanleya Robinsona. To idealna fantastyka dla fanów Grawitacji i Marsjanina szukających czegoś o szerszej perspektywie i większej skali.
Rodziny księżycowych Pięciu Smoków przypominają nieco mafijne rody z Ojca Chrzestnego. Kontrolują bogate surowce Księżyca i pogrążeni są w nieskończonej i brutalnej walce o dominację nad nimi. Nagle pokój, który panował na skolonizowanym Księżycu zaczyna się sypać. Którzy następcy tronu Pięciu Smoków zyskają hegemonię? A może ostatecznym zwycięzcą okaże się sam Księżyc, z jego surową próżnią, morderczym mrozem i ostrym promieniowaniem?

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Space, Space Opera, Queer, Speculative Fiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published March 19, 2019

About the author

Ian Neil McDonald was born in 1960 in Manchester, England, to an Irish mother and a Scottish father. He moved with his family to Northern Ireland in 1965. He used to live in a house built in the back garden of C. S. Lewis's childhood home but has since moved to central Belfast, where he now lives, exploring interests like cats, contemplative religion, bonsai, bicycles, and comic-book collecting. He debuted in 1982 with the short story "The Island of the Dead" in the short-lived British magazine Extro. His first novel, Desolation Road, was published in 1988. Other works include King of Morning, Queen of Day (winner of the Philip K. Dick Award), River of Gods, The Dervish House (both of which won British Science Fiction Association Awards), the graphic novel Kling Klang Klatch, and many more. His most recent publications are Planesrunner and Be My Enemy, books one and two of the Everness series for younger readers (though older readers will find them a ball of fun, as well). Ian worked in television development for sixteen years, but is glad to be back to writing full-time.

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ian McDonald is one hell of a writer. I've been following his career rather closely and I've loved the kinds of intricate people-centric webs he weaves. They always appear rather rambling and exploratory but more than that, they're deeply about the characters.

Fascinating doesn't begin to describe them. And these three popular Luna novels give us the full run of the five families on the Moon and the gory feud that culminated in mass death in the first book and ending with a fully brilliant realization in the third.

Is this final book in the trilogy worth the wait?

Oh, yes. I was glued to the pages, loving the intrigue, subterfuge, the revenge planning, the thwarted love, the epic battles against bots, and the near-gladiatorial-style combat as the resolution for legal battles.

We may as well be in Verona during the Renaissance or experiencing a Godfather epic taking place on the moon.

But you know what? I liked this book a lot more than the second. It not only felt more vital but it held my interest so much more. It's almost exactly like the feel of the first, only in reverse. :) And the end? Well, the end is the best part. No spoilers. I really can't believe how it got resolved.

Very satisfying. :)

[Silvana · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an ending!

This is one of my most awaited books for 2019, as I absolutely adore New Moon and Wolf Moon. I already sang praises on the characters and the writing in my previous reviews, in this final review I will focus on the worldbuilding aspect.

I have to admit I was a bit surprised that the author actually expanded the world by adding new settings, new characters, and even new subplots. As with the previous books, the pacing is fast, details might be missed, yet everything came up nicely at the end.

When in the previous books the power struggle was between the Dragons (with some civil war in between) and some hints about conflict between the Earth nations/corporate with the Moon, the scale has become much bigger. Each family has their own agenda, own plan on the moon's future, what humanity would become. Oh I love these kinds of stuff, since I love reading about societal experimentation, different forms of governance and the likes. The book's political plots reminded me of the excellent The Moon and the Other and The Dispossessed; every time a new agenda was mentioned, it made me wonder. Which one would work best? A utopia of a post-labor society with no want for resources? A full-blown exploration in the deep space? There were lots of possibilities. And the families fought for it. It was no longer a war between the Cortas vs the Mackenzies vs the Suns vs the Asamoahs vs the Voronsovts. No, it has become more complicated. Old regimes fell, new regime rose. But even the political assassinations and all the grisly revenge were just setting up the stage for something bigger.

The expanded worldbuilding, however, also brought some distraction when it came to new characters and added subplots. I wished more focus were given to the main POVs as this is the last time we'll ever read about them and I love them so much I just wanted to be in their heads much longer. That's why I gave this four, not five stars, I guess. (Well, and there's the factor of typos and errors, there were more than a dozen of them it is ridiculous. Seriously, who was the proofreader? I'd do it for free!)

All in all, it has been a marvelous, gut-wrenching, exhilarating journey on the moon and their ambitious, gorgeous, arrogant, resilient and tenacious citizens. I highly recommend the trilogy to all SF fans.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well if you made it here to the end, then you know what to expect, and that's exactly what Moon Rising delivers: complicated, political, violent, and full of the expected unexpected.

One thing of exceptional note is the writing. In this final book in particular McDonald shows his mastery of language and structure. Many passages are poems in the guise of narrative, adding an extra experiential layer to the story.

She is never comfortable now. She has no comfort on this world. This chuckle of water, this seasoning of road dust, this high clear sky and somewhere, turning in it, the eagle, seem thin and translucent. Overlit, colours too bright. Lies. The tree is flat, insubstantial, paint on film. Set hand to that mountain and her fingers would go through it. The moon is ugly and the moon is cruel and the moon is unforgiving but she is only alive there.

Come for the story, stay for the experience.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

This trilogy got weaker with each book. The final novel was just boring and repetitive. Many of the characters really had no point in the story at all - Robson, Wagner, Lucasinho, Luna - they're all in the story, they all had large parts of the book dedicated to them, but what was the point? It was tedious and dull.

I'm really tired of reading about Wagner's dual light/dark sides, of Robson climbing all over the city, of Ariel's endless internal dialogs about fashion, of the extraneous descriptions of every moon location - this book had no new ideas (even the ending with the trial by combat was done twice before in the previous books.

Pretty much all the Suns, VTOs, and MacKenzies were interchangeable and hard to tell apart - and it doesn't even matter because they are just there to be red-shirt villains. And then there was the Marina storyline. What the fuck was even the point of that. Her chapters were the most tedious, and then the storyline gets no resolution at all.

The first book was great. The second book was OK. The last book was awful.

[Carlex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for the novel
Four and half stars for the trilogy

Really, this is a very good trilogy, brilliant in some aspects, as usual in Ian McDonald's novels. I enjoyed it a lot. However, I have read (or reread) the three novels in a row and for now -and for some time I think- I have enough of Cortas and McKenzies.

For me, highly recommended.

[The Captain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ahoy me mateys!  Grab yer grog!  Here be book 3 of the seventh installment of the 3 Bells trilogy showcase.  While I try to post no spoilers, ye have been forewarned and continue at yer own peril . . .

luna: moon rising (Ian McDonald)

Whew!  It was certainly a rush down to the wire to finish this trilogy and write me review in time.  This review is going to be super short because of a) the time crunch and b) I can't explain much without massive spoilers.  I did think this book was much stronger than the second though still not as strong as the first.

This book  jumps right into an action sequence after a smaller time jump, which irked me.  The good news is that much of the focus is back on the characters and especially the youngest generation of the Cortas.  I was able to quickly be engrossed in how the conflict on the moon was going to turn out.  The short answer is not at all like I expected and that was awesome.  The politics were all over the place and lots of fun.  The ending in particular was lovely.  I am definitely team Corta Hélio.  I thought that it was a fantastic ending to a series that I am glad to have finally read.

While I have finished the trilogy, apparently the author has written two novellas in the same world.  One is a prequel and the other is a companion story.  I wouldn't be adverse to reading more set in this world.  I also have to check out the author's backlog.  Arrrr!

[Xavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

8'5 para la saga en conjunto. Final satisfactorio para esta aventura, con algún matiz, pero satisfactorio.A ver si me pongo con alguna de las obras anteriores del autor.

https://dreamsofelvex.blogspot.com/20...

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

A telenovela themed Dune-esque trilogy set on a colonized Moon comes to an end.

Full disclosure, I'm a fanboi for this author. I also have a recent fetish for all science fiction set on the Moon.

This book was the conclusion of the series. It was well written and richly detailed. The near-future world building was exceptionally good. Of the three (3) books in the series it was the most Dune-like , whereas the middle book in the trilogy (my review) had more of an old fashioned cyberpunk feel to it. It’s a fitting end to the trilogy. However, the ensemble cast, while well-handled, needlessly encumbered an already very complicated story.

My dead tree version of the book was a weighty 450-pages. It’s the thickest book in trilogy by 50-pages. Some of these pages went fast and others more slowly. Note that there was a minimum of backstory included in this book. It would be incomprehensible without reading the previous books in the series.

I’m a fan of the author. However, I’ll admit not all of the author’s books are epic. For example, I really liked the first book in this trilogy New Moon (Luna #1) (my review) , but did not finish Desolation Road, the author’s first book. My largest problem with this author is his recent books have been very long, complex stories with ensemble casts. Frequently, the characters are from non-Anglo, Earth cultures. This triggers what I call my War & Peace Problem . I frequently confuse and conflate non-Anglo names and locations in long stories. (The first time this happened to me was when reading War and Peace.) In addition, the three (3) books of this series took four (4) years to be published. There was a minimum of backstory in the second and third books. I forgot a lot between books. It takes a lot of concentration and a good memory to read this author’s weightier stories.

Writing was good, as with all the books in the trilogy. This includes: dialog, descriptive and action scenes. The tech-speak, and foreign language usage was credible. Readers of this series will come to appreciate the complexity of Portuguese. Note the book contains a Glossary and a Dramatis personæ, both of which I found useful.

This story includes: sex, drugs, music references, including M-pop (Moon Pop) and violence. The sex was not all heteronormative. It was also somewhat graphic and athletic, which was abetted by the low lunar gravity. Note also that pedophilia was implied. Substance abuse involved alcohol and futuristic intoxicants. I was tempted to have an accomplished mixologist recreate some of the cocktails. Music and musicians were woven into the story’s plot in several places. However, most interesting to me were music references to Jazz and Brazilian-influenced guitar. The book may also be considered violent. Violence was inflicted by: physical means, edged-weapons and fire-arms. Fire arms are not used in pressurized environments. (Gun play occurs on the surface and lunar orbit.) The violence was graphic. Torture and violence against children was also implied. The body count in the story was high. (Life is cheap on the Moon.) In summary, this book is likely inappropriate for Young Adult (YA) readers.

As previously mentioned, the ensemble cast posed the largest problem to me. There are a lot of characters. Some of the characters were much better than others. I had an easier time with the Anglo characters than with the VTO, Sun, Asamoah and Corta dynastic characters. I liked the female characters better than the male. Throughout the series I was crushing on Ariel Corta. I even came to like Luna Corta, a girl-child character which I normally find too cute (in a bad way) in epic science fiction. In some ways character-wise the Dune homage went a little too far. I thought that Bryce Mackenzie developed too much into a Baron Harkonnen-like figure. However, keeping track of a large number of characters, frequently switching POVs and their sub-plots with unfamiliar or unpronounceable names in a foreign-inspired alien land was a chore at times.

Plotting was good, but not excellent. The many POVs that drove the plot threads forward were technically well done. Switching was well handled. The inevitable convergence of the plots toward the end of the last book saw both good-guy and bad-guy characters falling like moon dust. In bringing this story to the end, with the convergence of dynastic plots the story very much again reminded me of the end of Frank Herbert’s Dune. While I reveled at the humiliation of the Sun's a long-time series antagonist, I thought the Lunar Mandate Authority (LMA) was a rather faceless antagonist introduced too late in the series. In addition, it would be helpful in appreciating this book, if you had some familiarity with telenovelas. There was a very Latin soap opera-like drama to the Corta dynasty POVs that provided the more important characters in the story.

The world building for the series was excellent. I remain impressed with both McDonald’s work at creating a credible future history for the Moon and the technical details of Moon colonization. Five (5) families run everything with air, water, carbon and data all metered. If you’re on the Moon, you’re chipped. You pay for every breath. If you're broke-- you're dead. The main dynastic POV was the Cortas, a Brazilian family. They're feuding with the Australian McKenzie's, being manipulated by the Chinese Sun's, allied to the Nigerian Asamoah's, and maybe the Russian Vorontsov's (VTO). Needless to say each family was a pillar of the lunar economy. You can easily see the relationship to Dune? I would be quibbling by making any objections I had over the world building. Well, maybe? The introduction of the Farside University faction was a very late introduction to the story—actually this book. I thought it should have appeared much earlier in the series. Tech was very good. As mentioned earlier I have a keen interest in lunar colonization. The book contains some of the best descriptions of the Moon and lunar colonization I’ve read. Other technical aspects of the book were likewise good. There was a sophisticated description of Maker usage. Description of AI usage was likewise good. There was a significant cyberpunk influence in the story which was very credible. However, I would have thought that computer security with the aid of the already sophisticated AIs would have made hacking by man or machine of critical systems harder than it was.

I liked this series. This book was not as good as the first book in the series, but it was better than the second. It did its job to end the series in a satisfactory fashion. This series had a high-degree of high-quality Edu-tainment for folks interested in lunar colonization and futurism. My objections to the books involved its length, which was driven by the many POVs. I didn’t think all the POVs were necessary. I also think the story could have been adequately told in just two (2) books (~800 pages), with fewer sub-plots and characters. However, in general this was a satisfactory ending to a telenovela-like dramatic series set in a near-future, corporate-feudal lunar society where various noble houses controlling lunar economic fiefs vie for dominance of the Moon.

Folks that are interested in books on lunar colonization might want to checkout the Goodreads List I created on the subject: Moon-based Adult Science Fiction.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man! The Mackenzies may " pay back three times", but damn, don't get ever on the Corta's bad side!
This hasn't been the easiest series to get into, and I remember struggling mightily in book one to keep track of everyone and the different motives, and once the violent overthrow of the Cortas began, the deaths were numerous and often horrible, which continued into book two. This book has its share of sudden, violent death, but the Cortas are in a different place at the story's open, with Lucasinho brain-damaged, Lucas the Eagle of the Moon with Alexia his Iron hand, Arial on the run, and Robson under Wagner's care. There is still animosity amongst the families, even with all the contracted marriages between the Asamoahs, the Vorontsovs the Suns, the Mackenzies and the Cortas. Though family is everything to each scion on down, the marriages exert an interesting pull on individuals' loyalties, which has been fascinating to watch in each book. The moon and its anthing-goes society is oddly captivating, and though the environment is inherently dangerous and quick to kill, I was so not ready to say goodbye. I've followed the five Dragons and their machinations since book one, and have enjoyed all three installments of their story immensely. And though this book didn't feel quite like a conclusion, it is the end of the trilogy, with enough threads left open that I'm wishing for McDonald to revisit this series and its people.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are epic on the scale of Game of Thrones, gory on the scale of Stephen King, clever on the scale of Kaz Brekker, and diverse to boot.  I recommend this series every chance I get.

But that isn't to say the books aren't without their flaws.  There are definitely some things I would have liked tightened up.  The primary one being the amount of reading between the lines that's needed to fully grasp these books.  I happened to read this with buddies, who were wonderfully patient with me, and I like to think I would have understood better if my time wasn't so stretched and I could really sit down and pay attention, but the truth is you have to infer quite a bit of information from these books.  I had to re-read things a few times to figure out what I was witnessing.

I'll be the first to tell you I'm really not that reader.  I like books that make me think about life, current events, philosophy, religion you name it, but I'd prefer if the events of the book are pretty straight forward.  This isn't something I detract a lot of points for, because readers deserve to have books that challenge them.  (As an aside- another beloved series, Terra Ignota is written a lot like this.  Maybe it's something I like more than I think I do.)

The second thing I would have changed is that, reading this, I felt like a lot of information was purposefully withheld from readers in the earlier books just to make them more suspenseful.  That does annoy me.  One example is Wagner and his "lycanthropy".  It does finally get an explanation in this book but the explanation was so simple that the big reveal felt very anticlimactic.

Finally, there were some characters whose storylines I hadn't really invested in in books one and two because their storylines take awhile to get ramped up and they never really felt like the focus.  Those storylines get some pretty thrilling conclusions in book three and I was cursing myself the whole time for not paying better attention to them.  Likewise, I found myself missing some of the characters who were more important players early on and sort of faded to the background here.

But in the end, these books are some of the most entertaining books I've ever read.  The world building is solid, and it's never told in boring info dumps.  It throws you head first into this dark, ugly world with little more than a short dictionary to guide you.  The characters are whole and three dimensional, motivated by their own desires, with unique voices.  They're colorful and vibrant and pop off the page.  I adore the "heroes".  I love the justice dispensed to the villains.  I read the last 150 pages almost all in one sitting because the conclusion was so perfect, I couldn't look away for even a moment.

I'm sad it's over, but I'm excited to jump into another McDonald book knowing what he's capable of, and even more thrilled by the possibility of a new series to sink my teeth into.  Perhaps most telling, is that I'm sincerely looking forward to re-reading them all when I have more time on my hands.

This review can also be found on my blog, Hamlets & Hyperspace

[Mangrii · Rating 4 out of 5]

El juego ha llegado a su fin. El culebrón lunar con tintes corporativos y dinásticos que compiten por el dominio de la dama Luna llega a su épica conclusión. Volvemos a la mortal Luna del futuro cercano elaborada por Ian McDonald para ver el final del conflicto entre los cinco dragones. Lucas Corta ha regresado de la Tierra posicionándose como la persona más poderosa de toda la luna: el Águila de la Luna. Pero tiene varios frentes abiertos que no le dejan ni respirar. La LMA tiene sus propios planes para la luna, los Mackenzies claman lucha y venganza por el catastrófico ironfall y en las sombras la Corporación Taiyang encabezada por Sun nui shi ejerce su propio juego a largo plazo. Y si no es suficiente con los Dragones, Lucas debe luchar por la custodia de su hijo Lucasinho Corta tras conseguir huir de los Mackenzie junto a Luna, pero encontrarse en estado vegetativo.

El tercer y último acto de la trilogía Luna representa el cambio de ciclo. El fin que lleva a un nuevo comienzo. Cuando una luna cae, otro astro se alza en el horizonte. Una luna que asciende sobre los restos. El levantamiento de un nuevo régimen. El desenlace supone de una nueva amalgama de puntos de vista, de conspiraciones cocidas a su tempo y de sutilezas que por fin comprendemos. McDonald mueve las fichas de su ajedrez lunar con tiento, donde un silencio dice más que las propias palabras y las intenciones no sé revelan hasta que es demasiado tarde. Luna Ascendente trata, en última instancia, de mostrarnos una sociedad que ha evolucionado. De una familia que no se ha quedado estancada en la desgracia y busca únicamente su prosperidad.

Luna Ascendente posee un ritmo y una trama de lo más adictiva, mejorando a su predecesor (Luna de lobos (Trilogía Luna 2): Luna II), y cerrando un ciclo con varios momentos culminantes. Sin embargo, esta historia llena de tensión y giros, posee algunas herramientas que pueden chirriar. La inclusión de una tercera facción de poder en esta tercera entrega sin haberla nombrado con anterioridad, es una de ellas. McDonald se saca de la manga a la Universidad de Farside, donde unos académicos con formación científica se sitúan en una supuesta situación neutral. La otra, es algo que sucede en los otros libros de la trilogía. Con tantos personajes, y algunos muy parecidos entre sí, todos los que no son miembros de la familia Corta se sienten meros accesorios a las conspiraciones políticas y económicas de la Luna. No es algo malo per se, pero puede crear ciertas dificultades a la hora de encarar su lectura.

Una vez cerrada la trilogía, McDonald tiene previsto volver a su Luna con la novella The Menace from Farside. Ojalá lo podamos leer en castellano.

[Booksblabbering || Cait❣️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jade city on the moon.
Luca forms a consortium of terrestrial governments, corporations, capital funds and, seeks to take back what was stolen from his family. He also brings back Alexia, the first Earth-born Corta in two generations to brave the glory and terror of the moon. To succeed, first Lucas must sow confusion.

Their vicious civil war threatens to engulf the whole moon and destabilise the vital helium-3 market upon which Earth depends.

This truly asks what are you willing to do to win. Lots of deaths, explosions, and chases. Families being torn apart as sides are taken and lines are drawn.

‘The Cortas are the most egocentric, narcissist, arrogant–outright weird–pack of fucks I have ever met,’ Marina says. ‘And every second I am away from them, it kills me.’

We see the younger generation take a bigger role - Luna you are the best.

New ideals are introduced such as communism, as a mode of freedom rather than control to escape Earth’s reaching and fearful influence.
Lunars are renters, yet they want the agency to breathe without it being taxed. To have a wee without thinking about recycling it for water.

The ending felt slightly lacklustre and I felt it didn’t tie off all the threads neatly. Perhaps it shouldn’t seeing as this is a glimpse into our future which is of course (hopefully) ever reaching. Yet I wish I felt more satisfied or blown away by this finale.

Despite that, this is a great trilogy and I would recommend it! It truly isn’t hard to follow along.

Bookstagram

[Efka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book that finishes a great trilogy. Really, I have no doubts now that a tv-series, if it ever reaches that far, would be a great and popular show, enjoyed by many diverse and different people.

The annotations of these books often screams "Game of Thrones" meets "The Expanse" or something similar. While I can find vague similarities with both of these shows, the treachery, politics, absolute ruthlessness and even a few villains brings me up a whole different sci-fi mammooth - the legendary "Dune". And yes, "Luna" is more pop, more neon, with a slightly more 90-ies feeling to it than the "Dune", but it is a great book nevertheless.

Everything in this book is up for the grabs - money, power, life. A really well thought-out and complete and satisfying end to a great series. I can only recommend it. It might have been too slow and too elongated to receive a full five stars, but rating it 4* is a no-brainer for me.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satisfying ending of the trilogy. 4.5 stars. Probably not perfect but I’m a sucker for happy endings!

[Tijana]

Završni deo trilogije o Luni samo potvrđuje utiske iz prva dva dela:
- definitivno nije najbolji Mekdonald
- i dalje je za par kopalja iznad prosečne spejs opere, ova vizija budućnosti je "gusta", detaljno osmišljena i deluje realno i proživljeno u najboljem smislu
I da dodam: Mekdonald vraća operu u spejs operu! :D Ali ne mislim time da junaci u ključnim trenucima krenu da pevaju već da su pojedine scene ovde građene baš kao klimaksi u operi ili klasičnom pozorištu, uz mnogo dramskog patosa na ivici patetike (i preko nje, da se ne lažemo) i virtuozno suprotstavljanje različitih stavova. Mekdonald je dao sve od sebe da razreši što više ili sve zaplete i podzaplete, a usto je neke i dodao u ovom trećem delu - to je na momente baš bilo prezasićujuće - ali sve u svemu, održao je nivo + na kraju je došlo do jednog utopijsko-revolucionarnog preokreta koji je bio neuverljiv ali ipak srcu mome drag.

[Persephone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe that I have to wait until March 2019 for this book!

[Laura Noizez_Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

HO LETTO LA TRILOGIA "LUNA" USCITA PER MONDADORI.
QUESTO COMMENTO E' GENERICO PER I TRE LIBRI.
Ci sono storie e poi ci sono STORIE.
Non mi piacciono mai i paragoni, a maggior ragione quando un romanzo viene paragonato al mio libro preferito della vita: Cent'anni di Solitudine.
Non posso dire che McDonald scrive come Marquez perchè mentirei, ma per una volta il paragone non mi è sembrato del tutto "a caso".
Perchè su Luna i protagonisti sono una numerosissima casata Sud Americana, ricca di personaggi, ognuno caratterizzato davvero molto bene e perchè in fondo Luna è un po' saga familiare, un po' romanzo feudale e un po' un racconto di fantascienza.
Ma ne parleremo meglio, promesso.
Consigliatissimo.

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the final volume of Luna Trilogy. As the previous volume ended, Lucas Corta returned to the Moon backed by Earth’s governments in their last desperate attempt to control the Moon. Thousands die in strikes, hundreds in close combat with drones and special forces. Most of the main characters are disabled to some degree, traumatized physically and/or emotionally. Despite this, the final volume is the most action-packed of the three.

Readers follow several parallel storylines:
1. 7-year-old Luna Corta and her care for Lucasinho Corta – when they escaped pursuers, they didn’t have enough oxygen for two of them, so he gave his to her. Now he is braindead, but there is a potential treatment by nano-machines re-making his brain with memories created from the records made of him during his life
2. Alexia Corta, the first Earth-born Corta in two generations, comes to the Moon with Lucas as his Iron Hand. On Earth, she already made her name by working with waterworks and she tries to use her knowledge here as well.
3. Bryce Mackenzie (with his body and an addiction to young boys strongly alluding to Baron Harkonnen) fighting other dragons as well as his own kin for the heritage of Mackenzie Metals
4. Marina Calzaghe returning to Earth only to unfavorably compare it to the Moon
5. A lot of others
A solid ending to the trilogy, which really adds THE END sign to this chapter of Moon’s history.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I maybe should have read this soon after book 2 as I had a lot of remembering to do, and not always successful. :I

[Ignacio · Rating 2 out of 5]

El anterior volumen me sacó de la trilogía y este no me ha recuperado. Tiene cosas que me han gustado, sobre todo cómo McDonald convierte el duelo entre economía industrial y postindustrial en el aderezo al enfrentamiento entre familias. Pero tampoco consigue hacer olvidar que Luna ascendente es un ripio de los dos anteriores. Supongo que para gozo de sus fans y para desazón de los que esperábamos algo más. Por mi parte, muy decepcionado con la escasa pericia de McDonald para ir más allá de Dallas en la Luna, en este libro hasta desganado al contar ciertas escenas o con ganas de contarlas como si fuera un tratamiento de un guión (al menos nos ahorramos el rótulo "fundido en negro"). Basta ver cómo no hay ni asomo de crear una escena de comienzo equivalente a las que arrancaban Luna nueva y Luna de lobos, magníficas e irrepetibles. Y después está el tema de que tampoco hace un esfuerzo por quitar grasa. El paradigma es la aburrida narración de Marina "¡oh, no me adopto a la vida en la Tierra", que se podía haber despachado en diez páginas y se come bastantes más.

Me quedo con el McDonald de El río de los dioses o sus relatos. Sin discusión.

[Jeremy Szal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal. The third act is absolute bonkers. Never before has the "Game of Thrones in space" comparison hit the mark as much as this one did.

Moon Rising was one of my most anticipated novels of 2019, and when my publisher offered me the chance to read a pre-proof copy of the third and final installment of Ian McDonald's trilogy, I dived right in. Knowing it would be a dense and fantastic read, but afraid my expectations wouldn't be met. They were. They were met in spades.

The prose is gorgeous, the world-building dense and wonderfully detailed, the politics razorsharp, and the narrative revelations are mindbogglingly good. It's quite different from the two books, before we had dynastic families fighting each other, then for control of the moon. This time, they're fighting for the future of the moon, and how it is used as an economic, political and industrial outpost. There's definitely a sense of finality here, and the dread piles on as we see how things start to wrap up. It went in some areas I was *definitely* not expecting it to go, with some characters making some very questionable decisions. If you felt the plot turns were a bit muddy in the previous books, they're almost obfuscated here unless you're really, *really* paying attention to the political layout of the moon. I'd have liked for things to be a little more clearer and have significant narrative turns to be standing out more, if only to make them hit that much harder, but as it as I'm very satisfied with how these characters ended up and the direction the world is going to take.

The Luna books have always been in-your-face and harsh, but things really go up to eleven here. The fate of some characters are well-earned, others downright tragic. But all of them (perhaps with the exception of one) feel satisfying.

While "Wolf Moon" remains my favourite of the series, I'm hugely pleased with how this trilogy comes to a close. Ian McDonald has outdone himself and I cannot wait to see what others think of this one. Furiously written and unflinchingly fabulous, this one is an easy five stars.

[Gernot1610 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Auch die SF ist ein Spiegel unserer Zeit: Blut und Ehre, Gewalt, Korruption, und das dann dargestellt als "Lebensstil" als "Soziale Zukunft"! Darauf kann ich gut verzichten.

[Ottavia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recensisco la trilogia tutta insieme, visto che l'ho letta senza interruzioni, tranne qualche libricino letto in contemporanea.
Iniziamo dai problemi: nonostante la scrittura molto bella ed evocativa a volte ho faticato a seguire le azioni, con problemi a visualizzare le descrizioni (soprattutto quelle molto tecniche sui mezzi di trasporto) e le direzioni dei movimenti. Tutto sommato, è una trilogia che richiede una concentrazione sempre sveglia (o almeno a me l'ha richiesta). Cosa poi del tutto poco credibile, per me, sono state le varie storie d'amore, sopratutto nelle occasioni in cui un personaggio, fino ad allora innamorato di A riesce con noncuoranza a passare da A a innamorarsi in un millisecondo di B (ehi, facile la vita).
Nonostante questo, mi sono divertita un mondo con questa saga familiare piena di sangue e polvere lunare. I personaggi soprattutto, sono caratterizzati benissimo nel giro di qualche pagina e nonostante io abbia letto di molti che l'hanno trovata essenzialmente senza trama personalmente non mi trovo d'accordo. Tanta politica, tante macchinazioni.

[Amarilli 73 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - Ho centellinato gli ultimi capitoli di questo volume perché mi dispiaceva separarmi dalla trilogia e perché, va detto, auspicavo che l'autore concedesse almeno qualche pagina in più ai miei personaggi preferiti. Sapete quando leggete pregando in silenzio: ti prego, dammi un colpo di scena, fallo tornare...

Invece, al termine di capitoli tesi e diretti a raccontarci la battaglia per la salvezza della Luna dai soliti terrestri corrotti, inquinati e avidi (non che i coloni abbiano meno peli sullo stomaco, eh...), restano i pezzi delle famiglie dei Dragoni o, meglio, davvero quel che rimane.

Ok, i Corta erano un po' i protagonisti, quindi era giusto lasciare il dovuto spazio alla loro nuova generazione: tuttavia non ho trovato la conclusione all'altezza, forse perché dopo tante belle scene epiche mi aspettavo qualcosa di meno affrettato e più corale (e anche meno lagnoso, mi sia concesso).
Inspiegabile tenere un Lucas Corta parlo/tanto-faccio/poco così al centro della scena, a discapito di altre figure potenzialmente più affascinanti.

Per fortuna, il miglior motivo per apprezzare il terzo volume (con pagine da leggere e rileggere - ho messo un po' di segnalibri) resta un'evoluzione che mi ero immaginata in testa già nel secondo volume e su cui ho avuto ragione: il Fante di Spade (lo amo! lo amo!) resta il vero eroe tormentato e sfregiato di questa space-opera, nonostante neppure McDonald si sia reso conto di quanto poteva ancora darci.

Era perfetto: giovane, cattivo quanto basta, con un senso dell'onore e della vendetta. Come non cadergli ai piedi?
Nel complesso, ho terminato con frustrazione: 5 per le scene del Fante, 3 per tutto il resto = 3.5 di media.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the first two books of this series very much but found the third rather impenetrable, possibly because there are a great many characters and, despite the useful brief synopsis at the beginning, I found it difficult to remember all that has happened to them. I would definitely recommend reading this hot on the heels of book 2. Now the focus is on the future of the moon as the remaining dragons (chiefs of the key familes) scramble for influence, and control of the dominant Corta family. 3.5 stars rounded up. Review to follow shortly on For Winter Nights.

[Nancy Shaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book as much as the other two in the series, but Ian McDonald's writing is as gorgeous as ever, and his Byzantine Game of Thrones meets the 80's primetime soap Dynasty view of the Moon is as outrageous as ever. The story continues, and I will chomp at the bit for the next installment.

[Marylouise Dreibelbis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I missed something here. Did Marina make it back to the moon or what?

This series is a wild ride especially with the whole Game of Thrones thing.

[reherrma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mit diesem Band bringt Ian McDonald seine große Mond-Trilogie zu ihrem Ende. Und wieder fasziniert er, wie bereits in den beiden vorangegangenen Bänden, mit seiner phantastischen Zukunfsgeschichte. Die Mond-Drachen, fünf einflußreiche Familienclans die den Mond unter sich aufgeteilt haben, kämpfen immer noch mit allen Mitteln um noch mehr. Was in diesem Buch auffällt, ist, dass McDonald seine Präferenzen nicht mehr auf einige wenige Charaktere verteilt, sondern, wie in seinen Vorbildern "Dallas" bzw "The Denver Clan", jede Familie oder Gruppierung ambivalent beschreibt. Eine Schwierigkeit ist m.E. immer noch der Umfang seiner Besetzungsliste, beinahe wie GRRM in "Ein Lied aus Eis und Feuer" umfasst sein Personenregister mehrere Seiten.
In seiner Vision des besiedelten Mondes benützt der Nordirische Schriftsteller alle Möglichkeiten eines SF/Thrillerautors; blutige Kämpfe mit Schutzanzügen und Kampfbots auf der gefährlichen Mondoberfläche, juristische Winkelzüge, Leidenschaft und Verrat, Rohstoffreichtum und Rohstoffmangel, Mondmystik, sein interessantes Ensemble und viele Details und Eigenheiten der lunaren Gesellschaft. Dazu kommt, dass McDonald ein großartiger Stilist ist und das zum Glück nie versteckt. Seine Schreibe liegt über dem Durchschnitt – anspruchsvoll, kantig, pulsierend, kraftvoll, vollmundig. Damit passt sie bestens zur Komplexität des Hintergrunds, der Figuren und des Plots.
Alles in Allem sind diese Pluspunkte bereits in den ersten beiden Teilen der Trilogie vorhanden, es kommt in diesem Band m.E. keine neuen Elemente hinzu. Wer aber die beiden Vorgängerromane gut gefunden hat, kommt hier auf seine Kosten...

[Miodrag Milovanović · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tja. Mogao je i bolje da završi. Ali Mekdonadsu se u zube ne gleda...
"Furiozna završnica" iz blurba nije baš furiozna u poređenju sa krajem prvog dela, na primer, ali je bliža mojoj, nadam se, veoma dobro prikrivenoj romantičnoj strani.

[Rosemary Standeven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved every book of Ian McDonald’s that I have read – all are worth at least 5 stars – and this culmination to the Luna trilogy is no exception.
Ian McDonald is a supreme master of world building. Your brain tells you that you are reading fiction, that this moon society does not exist – at least not yet – but your emotions, everything in your reading consciousness, insists it is real – that McDonald is describing – not inventing – a world.
You cannot read this as a stand-alone – you need the background on the convoluted politics and the characters – dead, disowned and those (often miraculously) still alive and kicking.
The five ruling Families: Corta (Brazilian), Asamoah (Ghanaian), Taiyang (Chinese), Vorontsov (Russian) and Mackenzie (Australian) – continue to try and obliterate each other. But, there is a much more dangerous enemy on the horizon – one that may destroy lunar society, and its citizens forever.
There are characters you fall in love with – such as Lucasinho and Robson Corta – and those that you want sent to hell asap, such as the evil Bryce Mackenzie. The book focusses mainly on the Cortas, and that Family gains most of your sympathy, though the Asamoahs often seem like the only Family you could really trust.
The writing – as always – is sublime, melding words, phrases and belief systems from many world cultures, though predominantly those of the 5 Families. There is considerable gender and sexual fluidity on Luna, with neurodiversity as well (the wolf packs), and an extreme capitalisation of all human needs. There is no human right to air, water or food on Luna. Family always comes first – but whose family? And is that really the way to go?
Could this be a future human society?
There is light at the end of the tunnel – but so much darkness and violence on the way.
The themes are universal and very thought provoking. The trilogy would make an exceptional TV series – leaving ‘Game of Thrones’ in the dust (or more appropriately, the regolith).
Extremely highly recommended – and not just to SciFi fans. Enjoy!