An Amazon Best Books of the Year selection
BookBub Breakout Debut Novels of Winter 2018
The Verge―18 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Read in February
Barnes & Noble—One of 25 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Debuts to Watch for in 2018
Nerdmuch—Best New Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books of 2018
Bookish—Winter 2018’s Hottest Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books
Library Journal: Spring/Summer Best Debut Novels
“Interesting … 2018
“Interesting quirks and divided loyalties flesh out this first novel in which sf and mystery intersect in a well-crafted plot…Pedreira’s science thriller powerfully highlights the human politics and economics from the seemingly desolate expanse of the moon. It will attract readers who enjoyed Andy Weir’s lunar crime caper Artemis.” — Library Journal, starred review
A realistic and chilling vision of life on the Moon, where dust kills as easily as the vacuum of space…but murder is even quicker—a fast-paced, cinematic science fiction thriller, this debut novel combines the inventiveness of The Martian, the intrigue of The Expanse, and the thrills of Red Rising.
The Moon smells like gunpowder. Every lunar walker since Apollo 11 has noticed it: a burnt-metal scent that reminds them of war. Caden Dechert, the chief of the U.S. mining operation on the edge of the Sea of Serenity, thinks the smell is just a trick of the mind—a reminder of his harrowing days as a Marine in the war-torn Middle East back on Earth.
It’s 2072, and lunar helium-3 mining is powering the fusion reactors that are bringing Earth back from environmental disaster. But competing for the richest prize in the history of the world has destroyed the oldest rule in space: Safety for All. When a bomb kills one of Dechert’s diggers on Mare Serenitatis, the haunted veteran goes on the hunt to expose the culprit before more blood is spilled.
But as Dechert races to solve the first murder in the history of the Moon, he gets caught in the crosshairs of two global powers spoiling for a fight. Reluctant to be the match that lights this powder-keg, Dechert knows his life and those of his crew are meaningless to the politicians. Even worse, he knows the killer is still out there, hunting.
In his desperate attempts to save his crew and prevent the catastrophe he sees coming, the former Marine uncovers a dangerous conspiracy that, with one spark, can ignite a full lunar war, wipe out his team . . . and perhaps plunge the Earth back into darkness.
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Could easily be the prequel to The Expanse, where natural resources off-world become the target of competing powers and one man is left in the middle to avoid catastrophe—a truly interesting read!
In Gunpowder Moon, David Pedreira has crafted an excellent near-future thriller. This one’s got it all—realistic technology, an all-too-believable political conflict, and characters to care about—in a fast-paced story set amid the moon’s austere beauty.
A good read!
Very well written, style was not noticeable for most of book and did not interfere with story. Often errors or syntax and vocabulary intrude on a nice plot but this flowed well and you didn’t think about the author’s input until you put the book down.
Before reading a novel, it’s spontaneous to look at the cover and, based on the image and the possible slogan, get a vague idea of the plot. And it’s nice that at least in part this idea is respected, otherwise there is the risk of running into something that you didn’t want to read at all. Too bad that what the cover of “Gunpowder Moon” suggests has nothing to do with the content of the book. You can see the helmet of a space suit with a hole on the visor, while the suit of another astronaut is visible in the reflection, all in a lunar environment. Furthermore, the slogan refers to an elusive “first murder on the Moon”.
If you expect to “see” (with the eyes of your mind) within the novel the villain shooting off and therefore killing someone in a lunar landscape, you will be disappointed. Someone is actually killed, but nobody shoots them. And the same word “murder” used in the slogan suggests something much more personal than a malicious explosion that causes the death of a character due to exposure to vacuum. For the latter situation the most appropriate word is attack. The fact that behind all this there is a conspiracy whose purpose is to unleash a war in our satellite highlights how the murder is a marginal topic within the novel, to say the least.
The problem with these marketing choices by publishers (and in this case we’re talking about Harper Collins) is that they attract the wrong readers and repel the right ones.
“Gunpowder Moon” is actually a hard science fiction novel with military and political implications, set in a fairly pessimistic (almost post-apocalyptic) future. There is some excellent action scene, like the one that makes up the climax of the novel. The scientific part related to the Moon is quite accurate (with the necessary licences) and interesting, and is well supported by an evocative prose. The author is very good at world building, although I don’t appreciate such a pessimistic view of the future. In addition, the main character, Dechert, is not bad at all, despite some elements that tend to make it slip into a cliché.
But, apart from the completely wrong marketing choices, perhaps the only real problem with this book is the slow pace. You find yourself reading long scenes with long dialogues and reflections of the protagonist, in which something happens only in the last page and then they are interrupted at the end of the chapter (usually consisting of one or maximum two scenes) in order to induce the reader to read the next one (something that I find extremely irritating). In the first half of the book I think I have counted five events in all that carry on the story, and obviously the scenes are many more than five. I was often surprised to realise that I wanted the chapter to end, so that I could stop reading and move on to the other book I was reading in the same period. And this is not a good thing.
There is a slight acceleration in the second part, even if some flashbacks that add nothing to the story or really to the characterisation of the tormented protagonist (I had already understood what type of character he was) managed to break my concentration in reading and to make me decide to stop.
In short, I had the impression of reading a longer book than it actually is.
The climax, however, as I said before, is excellent. The identity of the villain was not difficult to understand, but the author had some great ideas on how to get the main characters out of trouble.
In the epilogue, unfortunately, the pace goes down again and the author once again gives in to the temptation to make use of too many explanations.
What saves everything, including my judgement, is the last page. Obviously I cannot mention anything about it, except that it gives a certain satisfaction.
After the first couple of chapters, which were fine, things went south quickly: so many one-dimensional character stereotypes (the heartless administrators, the military personnel, the stoner-but-genius crew member, on and on) and wow-the Moon-sure-is-deadly clichés that my interest waned steadily to the end. Can’t recommend this one.
This is excellent SF written by someone with a firm grasp of writing mechanics. The premise is gripping (what we have to do after the Thermal Maximum to survive), the characters are well developed, and the story is well-plotted. A very engaging read. If I have any quibble with it—it think it could have ended 4 pages earlier. You’ll see what I mean.
Amazing mystrry. Murder on the Moon. Great characters and luner details. I couldn’t put it down. The human race on another planet on the brink of war with itself. Its a bad omen of a tale about why we shouldn’t allow our negative baggage to be sent out among the stars.
W
Really good stuff!