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Golem
The crew of Shackleton moon base is being hunted and killed. Mining operations are being destroyed, tourists killed, and all evidence points to an engineer who's gone mad, using a human-controlled robot to go on a murderous rampage. Or is he? No matter what this top-notch crew tries, the death and destruction continues. How can one engineer outwit the entire base crew? How has he managed to make his equipment do the impossible? As the situation grows more desperate, plan after plan fails to slow him and his killer machine down. As the deaths and destruction mount, as all of their attempts to stop him fail, there are forced to consider a more sinister option. What if something else is doing the killing?
338 pages, Paperback
Published April 2, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 8, 2021
Unexpected treat.
I read JESUS WORLD by Jamie Buckingham back in the 80s. Ever since, the concept of the Golem has interested me.
Another Golem direction I would suggest if you are curious about the subject is the 90s DC comic book series called THE MONOLITH.
So when I saw Kim Aaron's GOLEM, I was in. The sci-fi cover brought a whole new aspect to the concept for me.
The story starts with nondescript, throwaway sexual romp This tryst happens on the moon. This is the bassline throughout the entire novel, "Are these two really connected? Is this love, or just a romp?"
There are quotes in this book that are meant to remind the reader of such films as Aliens, "Game over, man!"
Are the cinematic nods overly-familiar? What I took to to be was the feeling of how the writer can see their product. This could be a movie. It is movie-large in its concept.
A civilized moon of the future is presented. The moon is industrialized, colonized and has regular tourists. All of this heavy atmosphering set the ground for what you as a reader want. And behold, the Golem does come.
And that Golem:
Its alluded to
It wears a mask
Its part of a gotcha-type prank.
At approx 75 pages in, the Golem presents as a SERIOUS problem.
The menace of said Golem is never questioned. But can the govt workers on the moon get this Golem under control? All hell breaks loose from the micro to the macro.
It is entertaining reading about a moon in chaos.
The story, unfortunately is long-winded at points, but this is merely to bolster the facts that are afoot. I completely understand how it got to be this way and continually wondered to myself how the edits could be made, and found myself in similar positions that the author must have found themselves in prior to publication. That being said, there is a technical level to this science fiction that might actually lose some readers.
What I most wanted out of this tale was an explanation of the Golem itself. I wanted a deep, mythological tie to the concept. I didn't get what I wanted. I was entertained, but wow, I wanted so much more. It reads like there could be a sequel, and for this I have hope.
If you want to read an entertaining sci-fi mystery that will literally have you guessing. . .with red herrings galore, this is it.
I read JESUS WORLD by Jamie Buckingham back in the 80s. Ever since, the concept of the Golem has interested me.
Another Golem direction I would suggest if you are curious about the subject is the 90s DC comic book series called THE MONOLITH.
So when I saw Kim Aaron's GOLEM, I was in. The sci-fi cover brought a whole new aspect to the concept for me.
The story starts with nondescript, throwaway sexual romp This tryst happens on the moon. This is the bassline throughout the entire novel, "Are these two really connected? Is this love, or just a romp?"
There are quotes in this book that are meant to remind the reader of such films as Aliens, "Game over, man!"
Are the cinematic nods overly-familiar? What I took to to be was the feeling of how the writer can see their product. This could be a movie. It is movie-large in its concept.
A civilized moon of the future is presented. The moon is industrialized, colonized and has regular tourists. All of this heavy atmosphering set the ground for what you as a reader want. And behold, the Golem does come.
And that Golem:
Its alluded to
It wears a mask
Its part of a gotcha-type prank.
At approx 75 pages in, the Golem presents as a SERIOUS problem.
The menace of said Golem is never questioned. But can the govt workers on the moon get this Golem under control? All hell breaks loose from the micro to the macro.
It is entertaining reading about a moon in chaos.
The story, unfortunately is long-winded at points, but this is merely to bolster the facts that are afoot. I completely understand how it got to be this way and continually wondered to myself how the edits could be made, and found myself in similar positions that the author must have found themselves in prior to publication. That being said, there is a technical level to this science fiction that might actually lose some readers.
What I most wanted out of this tale was an explanation of the Golem itself. I wanted a deep, mythological tie to the concept. I didn't get what I wanted. I was entertained, but wow, I wanted so much more. It reads like there could be a sequel, and for this I have hope.
If you want to read an entertaining sci-fi mystery that will literally have you guessing. . .with red herrings galore, this is it.
November 12, 2021
Disappointing
I liked the basic premise for this book - a golem on the moon. However, it doesn’t explore the golem myth and merely uses it to explain a magical, unstoppable rogue robot. I found this very disappointing.
The setting of the moon was one of the things that drew me to this book, but I was disappointed by how it was portrayed. I love the idea of a working moon base with regular tourists, and even though the idea of a bus driver giving sightseeing day trips around the moon base was unexpected, I was willing to go with it. However, the set up as described seemed entirely unbelievable to me. There was a hotel, a repair bay and a command center and a garden. I am sure the author put a lot of work into imagining the settlement, but unfortunately it didn’t come across on the page. It didn’t live for me as a thriving community with a viable reason for existence, let alone a place billionaires would pay to visit. I could not establish my suspension of disbelief.
There is a lot of action in this book, but it all boils down to essentially different pieces of equipment running out of battery, dust, and a robot that runs at 50kph/30mph (which is very fast on the moon). Again, these are not bad things, but as I couldn’t believe in the moon base as portrayed, or connect with the characters, I was not invested in this action.
There are a lot of characters in this book but practically no character building. There are whole pages of dialogue between characters who have just been introduced without any descriptions of who they are, where they are or additional scene building. Things happen to names that I have no connection with, so they were meaningless to me.
The writing is competent. Spelling, grammar and punctuation are all in the right places. The pacing is good. The book is easy to read and the plot is easy to follow. However, the novel is lacking all the details that immerse you in the world, draw you into the characters, and make you feel the terror of their situation.
I liked the frequent movie Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the book, especially the Firefly reference.
It would be unfair to make this book 2 stars because it is competent but my reading experience was not pleasant enough to warrant 3 stars. Therefore I’m giving it 2.5 stars and rounding up to 3.
I liked the basic premise for this book - a golem on the moon. However, it doesn’t explore the golem myth and merely uses it to explain a magical, unstoppable rogue robot. I found this very disappointing.
The setting of the moon was one of the things that drew me to this book, but I was disappointed by how it was portrayed. I love the idea of a working moon base with regular tourists, and even though the idea of a bus driver giving sightseeing day trips around the moon base was unexpected, I was willing to go with it. However, the set up as described seemed entirely unbelievable to me. There was a hotel, a repair bay and a command center and a garden. I am sure the author put a lot of work into imagining the settlement, but unfortunately it didn’t come across on the page. It didn’t live for me as a thriving community with a viable reason for existence, let alone a place billionaires would pay to visit. I could not establish my suspension of disbelief.
There is a lot of action in this book, but it all boils down to essentially different pieces of equipment running out of battery, dust, and a robot that runs at 50kph/30mph (which is very fast on the moon). Again, these are not bad things, but as I couldn’t believe in the moon base as portrayed, or connect with the characters, I was not invested in this action.
There are a lot of characters in this book but practically no character building. There are whole pages of dialogue between characters who have just been introduced without any descriptions of who they are, where they are or additional scene building. Things happen to names that I have no connection with, so they were meaningless to me.
The writing is competent. Spelling, grammar and punctuation are all in the right places. The pacing is good. The book is easy to read and the plot is easy to follow. However, the novel is lacking all the details that immerse you in the world, draw you into the characters, and make you feel the terror of their situation.
I liked the frequent movie Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the book, especially the Firefly reference.
It would be unfair to make this book 2 stars because it is competent but my reading experience was not pleasant enough to warrant 3 stars. Therefore I’m giving it 2.5 stars and rounding up to 3.
April 5, 2021
The crew of the Shackleton moon base are going about their normal daily routine when one of the engineers is murdered. We join the protagonists as they try to uncover the mystery whilst dealing with problems that could only occur in the low-gravity environment of the Moon.
This book is as much about human drama as it is about sci-fi. The narrative is split between a handful of protagonists, and we get to see the mystery unfold from multiple perspectives. The story is steady-paced yet gripping with enough action to keep things moving but enough personality to keep it from being dry.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
This book is as much about human drama as it is about sci-fi. The narrative is split between a handful of protagonists, and we get to see the mystery unfold from multiple perspectives. The story is steady-paced yet gripping with enough action to keep things moving but enough personality to keep it from being dry.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
November 6, 2025
Golem is a brisk moon base thriller that plays like a whodunit under low gravity, with mining rigs, dust, and a runaway machine turning Shackleton Station into a pressure cooker. The cat and mouse setup works, the set pieces move quickly, and the nods to classic sci fi are fun. The tradeoff is thin character depth and a lunar settlement that can feel more sketched than lived in, plus the story leans on the golem idea without digging into the myth itself. If you want a fast, gadget driven mystery with a neat premise and steady momentum, this scratches the itch.
November 19, 2025
I went into Golem without big expectations, but it grabbed me right away. The setup on the Shackleton moon base is tense, and the whole “killer robot or something else?” angle keeps the story moving fast. It reads like a tight mix of mystery and classic sci-fi, easy to follow and never slow. Short book, good pacing, and a few twists that make it worth the ride. Really enjoyed it.
October 26, 2025
I didn’t expect to be pulled into the story so quickly, but “Golem” surprised me. The pace is intense and the world-building feels fresh and original. I really enjoyed how the author mixed action
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews