4 stars.

Even better than the first book. Great writing, Great characters, Exciting plot.

Luna: Wolf Moon is the sequel to Luna: New Moon and follows the Corta family corporation on the Moon (Luna) and this time back on Earth.

Since the events of the first book the Corta family are in drastically different circumstances. They’ve become more scattered and less of a cohesive unit and are now on the back foot against the other 4 dragons, or families. Their oldest and main rival is the MacKenzie family who caused them trouble in the first book. The decline has now reached rock bottom and it’s now a case of survival of the most ruthless; being the fittest doesn’t really mean a lot on Luna.

The focus is once again not on any one main character. It’s split very evenly over a large cast of people; not all of them are Corta’s either. This took a little getting used to in the main book as the switches between point of views could often be quite sudden. Due to the plot you pretty much have to read the first book so this shouldn’t be an issue in most cases.

The first book was dark; this manages to be darker. Things are about as bad as they ever could be; their worlds are collapsing around them. However there’s still hope and ambition to become greater than you are and have ever been. It’s discussing human nature in many forms, one being it’s lust for power and resources. The downsides and negatives of being this focused on your goals at the expense of others well being is explored rather well.

Once again McDonald explores issues of sexuality, gender and self worth and touches on the political system a little as well which really makes you think. Sexuality is not an issue on Luna and the way this is explored and discussed is fascinating. There’s no discrimination other than your family connections; the traditional blood is thicker than water saying definitely applies here. Though even that can be stretched to the limit at times.

When I read the first book I knew it was meant to be a duology. Wolf Moon does close off most major storyline threads but definitely leaves a big option open for another book, or even two, to be written.

In Summary: A dark and brutal world with great characters exploring very interesting topics like gender and sexuality. It does this without making them seem trivial or somehow side effects to the characters which is frankly impressive. Well worth reading (and the first book Luna: New moon too).