Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I really struggled with this as I had not read the previous novels in the series.

I found two many names were thrown at me and it was a real struggle to follow who was who, without everything else that was going on in the story.

This was not for me but maybe if I had read the previous books it could have been.

The final volume in Ian McDonald's Luna trilogy, Luna: Moon Rising (review copy from Gollancz), was one of the books I was most excited to read this year because I had loved the first two hard.  And it did not disappoint. 


This is a book that is as red in tooth and claw as the first two volumes in the series.  With all the hallmark kidnapping, assassination and destruction we have come to know and love from this series.  Luna: Moon Rising focuses on two key plot threads.  A battle between Lucas and Ariel Corta for control of the Moon and custody of the injured Lucasinho.  And a debate about the future of the Moon colony itself. 


This debate about the future of the Moon is a fascinating one.  Each competing vision of what the Moon could be is plausible and compelling: automated provision of resources for a starving Earth, solar-powered data-centre, or jumping off point to colonise the stars?  Whatever choice i made, it will have profound consequences for Earth, Moon and the future of the solar system. 


But it is in the Corta v Corta battle that the novel has its heart.  Where the previous novels have shown us the conflict between the Five Dragons and the consequences of that for Lunar society, here we are treated to the divisions within families.  With the Cortas struggling to rebuild and reclaim after the cataclysmic events of earlier books, this is an extremely personal story.  And McDonald resolves it beautifully in a thrilling climax. 


I won't say more for fear of spoiling the book.  But if you had any doubts, read this glorious trilogy.

Luna: Moon Rising is the third in McDonald’s Luna trilogy. The first two stories, set on a moon where everything is for sale, even the law, were tightly plotted sci-fi thrillers, packed with byzantine politics and some genuinely heart-pumping action, alongside interesting big ideas. The conclusion of the trilogy has the same notes, but turned all the way up to eleven. The short version, before we get into it below, is that in a time when it seems difficult to end a series well, this one concludes pretty much perfectly. If you’ve been reading the series, you’ll want to see how it ends – it delivers on all the promises made by the earlier instalments.

Getting into the grit, then. As with previous books, this one largely takes place on the Moon. The Moon is a free place, in the sense that everything is up for sale, or at least for negotiation, including the law. Every citizen has their balance of credit, and that credit pays for air, for water, for a roof over their heads. Without credit, they’ll literally draw their last breath. Fiercely independent, this is a culture where everything is believed to be earned. At the same time, there are several key families which own most of the infrastructure for the moon – from orbital transport to mining equipment. Those families act in an almost feudal relationship to their clients, keeping people in jobs – and therefore food and air – in return for loyalty. Of course that loyalty is also negotiable.
But the Moon is going through changes, and we get to see that here. After a massacre removed most of the Corta family from play, their counterstroke has delivered them into high office on the Moon, even though the survivors are scattered. But their new victory comes at the price of increased interest from Earth in what’s going on above their heads. Corporations have arrived, with rules, regulations, and a different way of doing things. They’re rapacious predators in their own right, the wolf at the door, and they aim to change the face of the moon.

That clash of corporate cultures is something the story does well, giving us clashing viewpoints, and a sense of the cut-throat nature of corporate maneuverings, as the Earthers start trying to extract value from the moon, and the Corta family (and their allies) try to fend them off whilst also stabilising the Moon’s politics. It must be said that in this case, cut-throat can also be taken literally. Corporate assassination is a way of life, and these are people playing for high stakes. There are a lot of negotiations, a lot of words spoken softly carrying big decisions with blades sliding under them. That’s the Moon for you, this one anyway – sharp suits and sharper knives.

Speaking of Earthers, while they’re trying to get a foothold on the Moon, we do get to dip below the atmosphere, to keep an eye on Marina, Ariel Corta’s one-time bodyguard, who gave up on the Moon to go home, before the physiological changes wrought by Moon living became too great. The perspective allows us to see the social problems of Earth as well – the seething overcrowding, the decaying infrastructure, and the governments turning to blaming the Moon for the woes of their citizens. Exploring these systemic issues happens in the background, as our bodyguard struggles to reintegrate with her family and a society which views her as a traitor for leaving, and for coming back. The personal story, as with that of the families as a whole, has an honesty to it; McDonald’s characters are, as a whole, complex and thoughtful beings who appear more than able to step off the page at a moment’s notice.

If the vivid and intricate worldbuilding makes the book seem real, it’s the characters which really make it come alive. Lucas Corta, now Eagle of the Moon, and very aware that he’s riding the back of a tiger in the form of the Earth Corps, is at once ruthless and tender, a man doing the best he can for himself and his family, while also carrying around a grudge so large it has its own gravity well. At the same time as Lucas is consolidating power, we see Ariel, whose relationship with Marina grounded her in the previous books, exercise a razor mind to try and extricate the Moon, and her family, from the consequences of her brother’s plotting. They’re the centrepiece, a loving, bladed, broken relationship, the mechanism which kept the pages turning in my hands like a metronome. But they’re surrounded by a vast cast – the other Corta family members, and individuals from the other corporate families, whose own agendas have been simmering, coming to a head somewhat explosively over these pages – and changing the face of the moon forever. But again, the heart is in the characters – in the nuance, in the small gestures, in the callbacks to events in previous books. In sweet words and quiet murders.

It’s not all clandestine meetings in smoky back rooms and family drama, though. There’s enough fast-paced action here to keep anyone happy. Indeed, there are moments here which will leave you heart in mouth, waiting to see what happens next – and this is a book which isn’t afraid to give the catharsis you need, as consequences fall heavily across the board. We’ve seen the wind sown, and Moon Rising is the reaping of the whirlwind.

This is a great end to a fantastic series, filled with real, complicated, human people, in a society which lives and breathes, with a story which will grip you from start to finish. If you were wondering how the Luna series turned out, you should go out right now and pick up a copy of Luna: Moon Rising. You will not be disappointed.

Es difícil escribir una reseña sobre la tercera parte de una trilogía, caminando sobre el fino alambre del spoiler sin desvelar nada de la trama de los libros anteriores. Si a esto añadimos que los libros de Luna no destacan precisamente por su brevedad, el ejercicio resulta incluso más difícil. Así que me perdonaréis si hablo un poco de generalidades, podremos entrar en más detalle si así lo queréis por alguna red social.

La primera entrega de Luna me impactó mucho, no solo por la calidad de McDonald como autor, algo que no creo que nadie ponga en duda, si no por el mundo apasionante que había creado. Una sociedad en la que tienes que pagar hasta por el aire que respiras y una plétora de personajes profundos y tridimensionales que contaban una historia épica en el espacio. Imposible resistirse.
La segunda entrega, quizá por las expectativas generadas, por el síndrome del segundo libro o por una combinación de factores no me llenó tanto, aún siendo una lectura muy recomendable.
Con la lectura del tercer libro me encontré en la tesitura de decidir si alcanzaba las cotas del primero o se quedaba a la altura del segundo. Y lo cierto es que como final de trilogía es perfecto, aunque desgraciadamente no ha logrado la fascinación que ejerció sobre mí Luna sí que corrige algunos errores de Wolf Moon.
Hay algunos personajes nuevos y entornos que no conocíamos o de los que no se hablaba en profundidad en los otros dos libros que resultan tener un papel relevante en este libro, como la Universidad de Farside y sus descubrimientos científicos. Pero el libro sigue siendo el relato de una lucha de poder entre distintas facciones, una historia de venganza y de enfrentamiento de proporciones astronómicas.
De las cinco grandes familias (los Dragones de la Luna) queda claro que la favorita del autor o al menos la que más foco consigue son los Corta. De hecho, gran parte del hilo conductor del libro gira sobre la custodia de uno de los vástagos de la familia, por la que luchan distintas facciones con intrigas, complots, abogados… y cuchillos si hace falta. Resulta muy interesante ver cómo se desarrolla este “Juego de Tronos”, con peones que se van moviendo en una estrategia compleja y peligrosa.
Y sin embargo, lo más importante siguen siendo los personajes y sus relaciones. No existe ningún personaje que sea esencialmente bueno, pero sí que los hay malos, tan estigmatizados por sus acciones pasadas que el autor les busca un final ignominioso acorde al sufrimiento que han causado. Este es uno de los pasajes más duros de la historia, por lo que ocurre y por lo que representa.
En ocasiones he comentado que algunas de las grandes familias están un poco desaprovechadas y creo que el autor ha intentado repartir más el protagonismo en algunos pasajes, aunque los Asamoah siguen siendo prácticamente desconocidos.
Me resultan muy atractivos los distintos proyectos que se van presentando para el futuro de la Luna, aunque en el fondo lo que se está discutiendo es el futuro de la Humanidad. El hecho de que se recurra a la violencia para imponer un criterio u otro haría sonrojar a Asimov pero resulta tan terrible como realista.
Luna: Moon Rising es un final muy digno para una gran trilogía de ciencia ficción de futuro cercano, uno de los más complicados de escribir sin quedar desfasado enseguida.

I read the novel courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

It's rare that cover copy is as accurate as in the case of McDonald's Luna trilogy; I was promised A Game of Thrones on the moon, and I got pretty much that, except with an ending. Moon Rising brings a few excellent plot developments and character beats and a good conclusion to the story, but there was something about the style - the narrative choices of what was and wasn't shown, the omissions and descriptions - that kept me from becoming as immersed as I would have liked. It's not the grimdarkness (which is not that grim, after all; the story has some sense of humour and distance, frankly) but nevertheless, I think the first volume was the strongest of the three that I read in close succession. I guess my biggest complaint is that while I found the conclusion mostly satisfying, it seemed not quite strong enough for the fascinating, rich world McDonald imagined.