A Grey Moon Over China [Hardcover]

Thomas A. Day (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2006

This first novel is the story of a disillusioned company of Army engineers, languishing in the Pacific during the energy wars between the United States on the one hand, and Japan and California on the other. They steal the plans for an energy device that could end the wars and the world's slide into environmental disaster, but use it to extort the price of their own freedom from the world: the resurrection of an abandoned space colonization effort. They are driven by Eduardo Torres, a seeming shell of a man who destroys everything in his way, and everyone who loves him, in his drive to escape his own past. With him is the exotic and dangerous Tuyet Pham, a young woman who arrives from nowhere but knows Torres better than he knows himself, and Sergeant Polaski, the soulless warrior on whom the tormented Torres relies. Together they flee blindly and with terrible losses, for the drones sent to scout the way have never returned, and they can delay no longer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

First published in 2006 by Black Heron Press, Day's intense debut opens in the year 2027 with the world on the verge of economic and environmental collapse as nations wage war over a rapidly diminishing oil supply. Army engineer Eduardo Torres accidentally discovers plans for a quantum battery, which could solve Earth's energy crisis. Instead of sharing it, Torres sets up his own rogue state, builds a fleet of starships and takes them through a wormhole to the Holzstein System, only to be attacked first by other humans and then by what appear to be aliens determined to destroy humankind. Though marred by a few technological improbabilities, this well-written, decidedly grim novel is replete with strong, thorny characters, fast-paced action sequences and rich descriptions of human folly and true heroism. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"...an engrossing high-tech-decaying-into-low-tech future, with lots of Machiavellian intrigue...Grade A." -- EW.com, November 17, 2006

"Day's novel paints a grimly optimistic picture of the future... [H]is characters...struggle to make their way in an uncertain world." -- Library Journal, October 15, 2006

"Inventive, disturbing, intriguingly populated and utterly fascinating: an altogether remarkable debut." -- Kirkus Reviews, September 2006 (Starred review)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 465 pages
• Publisher: Black Heron Press; First Edition edition (October 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0930773780
• ISBN-13: 978-0930773786
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,385,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very rough reading, February 16, 2010

By 

W. D Swingley (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Grey Moon Over China (Hardcover)

I'm typically not one to write a review, but this book rose above the rest (not in a good way) to warrant a quick review.

A Grey Moon Over China, by Thomas A. Day, had me very excited from both the back cover blurb and the opening few chapters. Mr. Day writes in a very fast paced style that really drew me in... again, at first. The trouble started to occur and the book revealed more and more characters and further plot developments with less and less attention paid to fleshing anything out. While this didn't necessarily confuse me, it did disconnect me from the entirety of events as they occurred in rapid-fire succession over the course of many perspective years.

The book's interesting plot continues to entice as the plot unfolds, however it fails to deliver on any but the most superficial sense. I got the impression that Mr. Day ground a 500,000 word manuscript down to its current size, leaving out fluff such as character development and scene description. I gave up on the book when, around 2/3 of the way in, the main character's own unsurpassed genius (despite his continual relegation as ambassador schmuck) susses out obscure pseudo-scientific details known only to the author. I won't spoil it for anyone who might enjoy Mr. Day's style.

In the end, I would best describe this book as frustrating. Just like a wonderful movie concept spoiled at the hands of an awful director, I believe A Grey Moon Over China is an intriguing plot spoiled by the author.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Article, February 19, 2008

By 

Nezi "Nezi" (Alpha Site) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Grey Moon Over China (Hardcover)

I would argue that this book is not just Sci-Fi, but literature, in the classic sense. It tells a hard story in a heart-breaking way. A flawed hero's journey, away from, and back to, the broken self. It also looks at the fallout of what appears to be the pursuit of a dream, but is really just a flight from one's origins. It is not an easy read as Day just dumps you in the middle of a new world and does not explain much of the technology. Neither is it filled with joy. Killing, adults, children, and animals, in pursuit of a military goal, are all fair game here, as it is in real life. If you like the grim re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica, you will be on solid ground here. Hope does inhabit this book, but only of the ragged sort where a weed springs up between two desolate rocks.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars DEPRESSING, May 6, 2007

By 

J. Sutherland "juliet" (portland OR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Grey Moon Over China (Hardcover)

I wish I could have given 3.5 stars...
I am an avid sci-fi and occasional fantasy reader and was looking forward to reading this book. I had seen reviews and also was excited about another Portland Oregon author.

I didn't not like this book nearly as much as I though I would. I found it well written with characters that I could feel for. That being said...this book is so depressing. There isn't a stitch of joy to be found in its pages, with the possible exception of the baby near the end (don't want to be a spoiler). There is a little wonder to be found in the pages, but mostly sadness and bleak despair. I am okay with that if the book is satisfying, but this one wasn't for some reason. I almost put it down several times, because frankly I really wanted something 'happy' to happen. I am not a reader who expects fluff (I've read the Thomas Covenant Chronicles 3 times, talk about depressing). I just found this book bleak. Perhaps if there was a sequel, I was dying of curiosity re. Serenitas after all. I recommended this book to my husband and am curious to see if he shares my thoughts on this read.