Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put it down!
Review: This is absoloutley one of the best SF I have ever read. A real page turner. Just sit down, hold on, and go along for the ride!
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable, but some missed opportunities
Review: This was a good summer read but McDevitt misses some chances to make it more than that. Granted, the characters are fighting for their lives, but nowhere is the emotional impact of losing the moon as we know it really even mentioned. McDevitt also throws the characters at you with introductions that read like "John Doe was a grim, taciturn man of 40 with a receding hair line and glasses." How about spreading that out a little? "John Doe pulled off his glasses and wiped the sweat off his receding hair line." Rather than tell us he's grim and taciturn, SHOW us.Anyway, I generally like McDevitt's work and "Moonfall" is no exception. "Engines of God" is better, but this is a good light read.
Rating:
Summary: An Overdone Theme that was Done Refreshingly Well...
Review: When I first saw this book, I thought, "Gosh, a meteor hitting the world. How fresh and new," and then rolled my eyes. It took me a second to clue in that the meteor was impacting the moon, not the Earth. At which point I thought, "Well, slightly different, but still likely to be pretty similar." This wasn't the case. First off, Jack McDevitt's strength lies in his characters. There are a wonderful range of characters in this book, and you don't have a clue who will survive. That's another strength: the plot is not predictable, and the mortality rate is plausible given what is going on. Set slightly ahead in the future, man has finally opened a base on the moon - just in time for the moon to be in the way of a high-speed meteor. Spotted by accident by an amateur astronomer (one of the only overdone "Seen-it-before" moments of the book), there's a kind of panic pace to the first half of the novel as the people of the moon try desperately to get back to earth and the orbital stations that support the colony. The second half of the book deals with the fallout - having the moon shattered is even worse than the single meteor, as now the shards of the moon are threatening to fall from the sky... Throughout this high-paced background however, it is the characters who shine through this novel. It was the first McDevitt I'd read, and it launched me on a McDevitt jag for quite a while after. Give it a shot - there are no Aerosmith soundtracks to make it hurt.
Rating:
Summary: An Overdone Theme that was Done Refreshingly Well...
Review: When I first saw this book, I thought, "Gosh, a meteor hitting the world. How fresh and new," and then rolled my eyes. It took me a second to clue in that the meteor was impacting the moon, not the Earth. At which point I thought, "Well, slightly different, but still likely to be pretty similar." This wasn't the case. First off, Jack McDevitt's strength lies in his characters. There are a wonderful range of characters in this book, and you don't have a clue who will survive. That's another strength: the plot is not predictable, and the mortality rate is plausible given what is going on. Set slightly ahead in the future, man has finally opened a base on the moon - just in time for the moon to be in the way of a high-speed meteor. Spotted by accident by an amateur astronomer (one of the only overdone "Seen-it-before" moments of the book), there's a kind of panic pace to the first half of the novel as the people of the moon try desperately to get back to earth and the orbital stations that support the colony. The second half of the book deals with the fallout - having the moon shattered is even worse than the single meteor, as now the shards of the moon are threatening to fall from the sky... Throughout this high-paced background however, it is the characters who shine through this novel. It was the first McDevitt I'd read, and it launched me on a McDevitt jag for quite a while after. Give it a shot - there are no Aerosmith soundtracks to make it hurt.
Rating:
Summary: Moves along, entertaining, quick read
Review: Yes, I liked this book until Seattle fell victim to tsunamis. As all of us on Whidbey Island know, we're at the receiving end of the Juan De Fuca "funnel of death" if comet-induced tidal waves occur. Seattle is far from the coast and unlikely to be hit. Small geographical error in an otherwise good sci-fi thriller.
| 
