Blood Moon

Rating:
Summary: This is a winner
Review: Farside Base is the US base of operations on the moon, and, as its name suggests, it is on the far side. Now, something is terribly wrong at Farside Base. There have been five missions so far in the new century, and the fifth one has failed. All communications have been lost and the crew is presumed dead. A sixth mission is hastily put together for a rescue mission, but what the sixth mission crew finds is horrendously ominous. No one can figure out what happened at Farside Base, and the only surviving member of the fifth mission team isn't talking. He's insane.

Colonel Tseng has been sent to bring back information, and that's what she tries to do. But there is a threat looming, and she can't figure out how and why the crew died, where the threat originates, or when it will strike again, and she can't decipher the meaning of the awful graffiti left on Farside Base. After all, how would one interpret the words "Food for the Moon?"

Sharman DiVono has combined two divergent and compelling story forms, the science fiction story and the mystery. Her deft touch with description and narrative strikes an excellent balance between suspense and science. Add to that excellent characterization and a suspenseful story, and you have a fine example of a science fiction suspense novel.

Rickey R. Mallory

Rating:
Summary: Needed an editor
Review: The author has an interesting idea here.

More imporantly, the author has great knowledge about the space program. If not, well, he manages to fake it extremely well.

What the book is missing, though, is editing. The writing is dull and drab. There's no flair, no creativity, just the facts laid out in front of you. Even worse, there are some very, very rough transitions, where there will be a thought then an entrance into a characters backstory in the same paragraph without a clear connection. Though they're tied in towards the end of the paragraph, the simple transition is so rough it pulls you from the story.

I must applaud the author for details and for not copping out on the ending, giving it actual thought. It ends quickly, though, and many loose ends never get tied tightly.

Perhaps the strangest part of this book, though, is that amidst pure horror, all the females in charge find themselves drawn towards subordinate men, compromising their authority. They're weak to prevent this, as well. Strange and unnecessary.

A solid first draft, but it should have been worked and reworked a few times to get a tighter book.