SFF

Luna: New Moon

by Ian McDonald
Tor. Sept. 2015. 432p. ISBN 9780765375513. $27.99; ebk. ISBN 9781466847637. SF
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Those families known as the Five Dragons were among the first humans to leave Earth to exploit the resources of the moon; while they have carved out their own specializations, their competition reflects the rough frontier spirit that still epitomizes lunar society. The Cortas made their fortune in Helium-3, which Earth desperately needs, but even within the family there is a constant jockeying for power. The Corta matriarch is dying, and conflicts with their rivals, the Mackenzies, threaten to boil over into war.
VERDICT McDonald (The Dervish House; "Everness" trilogy) specializes in big cast sf with exotic settings, and this volume excels on those points. The time the author spent getting to know the Brazilian culture for his novel Brasyl comes in handy for his portrayal of the Cortas, still viewed as rough-edged thugs from the favela (slum) by the other families. The idea of a lunar society in which profit and contract law have replaced more prosaic notions of order produces a volatile setting that McDonald will visit again, as this is apparently the first book of a duology.
Reviewed by Megan M. McArdle , Aug 01, 2015
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