At the end of Luna: New Moon, things do not look good for thr Corta family. Their empire has come off a very poor second in the continual internecine battles between the five family corporations (the Five Dragons), who rule the moon. Their rivals, the Mackenzies and the Suns seem victorious.
With their home destroyed, and their corporation gobbled up by the other Dragons, the surviving Corta children, Lucas, Lucascinho, Ariel, Robson, Luna and Wagner are scattered and in hiding. Only Lucas Corta has a plan. A dangerous, risky plan which will probably kill him. He cannot share it with his siblings. He goes for it anyway...
McDonald has drawn an entrancing picture of a working civilization on the moon, drawing on the tropes used by writers of the past. There are echoes of Clarke and Heinlein, though the pure exuberance of the lunar social world and its mores and customs is reminiscent of the 'Seven Worlds' stories of John Varley.
As with the events of New Moon, there is much wanton destruction by all of the players of precious infrastructure, resources and lives in the pursuit of power for its own sake. These endeavors are anything but glorious. But there are also stories of survival against the odds, and the cold equations of mathematics and physics and biology. It is these stories of human endurance which have the most resonance and power for the reader.
This installment ends on another cliffhanger, promising further adventures, and implying that the protagonists will cause more waste and destruction before there comes resolution.
With their home destroyed, and their corporation gobbled up by the other Dragons, the surviving Corta children, Lucas, Lucascinho, Ariel, Robson, Luna and Wagner are scattered and in hiding. Only Lucas Corta has a plan. A dangerous, risky plan which will probably kill him. He cannot share it with his siblings. He goes for it anyway...
McDonald has drawn an entrancing picture of a working civilization on the moon, drawing on the tropes used by writers of the past. There are echoes of Clarke and Heinlein, though the pure exuberance of the lunar social world and its mores and customs is reminiscent of the 'Seven Worlds' stories of John Varley.
As with the events of New Moon, there is much wanton destruction by all of the players of precious infrastructure, resources and lives in the pursuit of power for its own sake. These endeavors are anything but glorious. But there are also stories of survival against the odds, and the cold equations of mathematics and physics and biology. It is these stories of human endurance which have the most resonance and power for the reader.
This installment ends on another cliffhanger, promising further adventures, and implying that the protagonists will cause more waste and destruction before there comes resolution.