Moonfall

Rating:
Summary: A very good destroy the Earth novel.
Review: I read Eternety Road, and am now catching up on all the authors work. This really was a good book. The emphasis on Charlie Haskel worked well, and the political/social aspect of the world was well done and believable. The plot was quite good, with enough twists and turns to keep one satisfied. In fact overall this was a very novel approach to a rather tired genre. Really the only reason I did not give it a full 5 stars is that it did not to me match the quality of what remains the best end of world epic- Lucifers Hammer. After finishing Moonfall, I must recommend you read that, it is great.

Rating:
Summary: No deus ex machina here
Review: I read this book shortly after seeing Armaggedon, which, if you really like SF, you will agree was an absolutely horrid movie. Everything that is wrong with that movie is right with this book. I do not know about the comment about Seattle made in a earlier review, but my impression of this book is that it stuck with REALITY to build suspense. No rules of physics are violated (at least not obviously) which leads to a particularly riveting conclusion. It makes you wonder why garbage like Armageddon has to be made.

Rating:
Summary: It Rocks!!!
Review: I'm a big fan of McDevitt and this novel was another in a string outstanding works. With the abundance of asteroid hype lately, Moonfall really sets itself apart with an incredible story that harkens back to the days of the classic ensemble adventure. Politics, action, and realistic characters all combine to make for a thrilling read. You will not be disappointed!

Rating:
Summary: The pages of this novel seemed to turn themselves!
Review: Intelligent, but not pretentious, is the simplest way to put it. This story is totally believable. McDevitt's 21st century makes historical and evolutionary sense. Some authors degenerate their futurism into the esoteric. Not so here. And, with so many people involved in the story, the characters could have been shallow. Their involvement, and their personalities, could have been "knee-jerk". None of that here, either. The author has a knack for explaining whatever technical facts you need to know in colorful detail. I also found that if I was in the dark about some fact that he introduced, it was explained, no problem, a few pages down the road. (There's probably a name for this in literary circles; but, when I'm reading, I just want these things taken care of :-) This book will not sit closed on my shelf for very long. I'll be reading it again. An excellent, exciting and imaginative work. Thanks, Jack.

Rating:
Summary: outstanding
Review: It took a few chapters to get going but after that it was one of those books you could not put down. Having also read "Eternity Road", I look foward to the next book by Mr. McDevitt.

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable!
Review: It's not that the book itself in unbelievable. What is unbelievable is that a modern writer could make such a wonderful story out of what anyone would say a priori was going to be a hackneyed rehash of a million previous disaster ("When Worlds Collide" type) science fiction books. Having just read McDevitt's book of short stories I realized he was a writer of the highest class, but this? I was not expecting a book that was a "page turner" from the beginning to the end. It was really hard to put down in order to get some sleep! As with a few other such writers, it is a sad thing that you can't find hard cover versions of most of his works. In this case I got one and will treasure it. All of his back stuff I will have to read in disintegrating pulp paper. He deserves better - Like David Weber who is just now getting many of his older books reissued in hard cover.

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable!
Review: It's not that the book itself in unbelievable. What is unbelievable is that a modern writer could make such a wonderful story out of what anyone would say a priori was going to be a hackneyed rehash of a million previous disaster ("When Worlds Collide" type) science fiction books. Having just read McDevitt's book of short stories I realized he was a writer of the highest class, but this? I was not expecting a book that was a "page turner" from the beginning to the end. It was really hard to put down in order to get some sleep! As with a few other such writers, it is a sad thing that you can't find hard cover versions of most of his works. In this case I got one and will treasure it. All of his back stuff I will have to read in disintegrating pulp paper. He deserves better - Like David Weber who is just now getting many of his older books reissued in hard cover.

Rating:
Summary: Moonfall delivers the thrills
Review: Jack McDevitt has turned his talent for hard SF into a commercially-viable vehicle with his futuristic thriller, Moonfall.
In the year 2024, an extra-solar comet is discovered during a solar eclipse. Unfortunately, it is headed straight for the moon. To further compound matters, the Vice President of the United States is leading the grand opening of Moonbase, the world's latest and greatest astronomic accomplishment, and finds himself stranded on the moon as the comet nears its violent and explosive date with destiny.
Moonfall is easily Jack McDevitt's most commercially-accessible work to date, but it shouldn't alienate any of his core of hard-SF fans. His characters are, as is too seldom the case in SF, real, honest-to-goodness human beings, and the hopelessness of the situation carries the same palpable sense of dread that, say, Titanic did.
With the news of asteroids potentially striking the earth gracing newspapers everywhere, and several big-budget big-rock-hits-earth movies coming out this summer, Moonfall should find an audience this spring, and will probably stand head and shoulders above the competition.

Rating:
Summary: McDevitt does a decent job with a tired theme.
Review: Moonfall is an engaging story. McDevitt dosen't cover any new ground here; Niven, Benford and others have doen the same. Moonfall throws a twist in the theme by having the Moon get hit, not Earth (at first). Being a fan of his work I certianly enjoyed Moonfall, but he has yet to fulfill the promise of Engines of God. Worth reading. Dane Carlson.

Rating:
Summary: He got the science right
Review: Moonfall is really good. Fast pace, no stupid love scenes, plenty of disaster, and characters that behave rationally. Best of all, McDevitt takes care to get the science right.