I'll mention here that I'm attempting to read all 17 of "The Grand Tour" series books in the chronological order the author has suggested. Moonrise is the 4th book in the series, taking place (chronologically) just before the book "Mars." There are parts of...
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I'll mention here that I'm attempting to read all 17 of "The Grand Tour" series books in the chronological order the author has suggested. Moonrise is the 4th book in the series, taking place (chronologically) just before the book "Mars."
There are parts of Moonrise that warrant four or possibly five stars. There are some good suspense scenes; the "wow" factor of a race against Yamagata Corporation to claim vital territory on moon during the effects of a solar flare, a race through Moonbase to stop a madman from killing everyone with great action and suspense, Paul Stravenger's frantic attempt to outrun the effects of killer nano-machines. Unfortunatly, a lot of this is undone by flaws, many of them typical of Ben Bova.
Moonrise is presented in three sections, with about twenty years separating the first two. In section one, we meet Dan Randolph...I mean Paul Stravenger. For those who have read earlier or later books in the series, you'll recognize Dan Randolph as the multi-millionaire, womanizing, fast talking, charismatic star of the several Bova books. Paul Stravenger is the same character (except he's Africa-American). Rich, womanizing, charismatic...Stravenger checks off all the same, fairly uninteresting boxes as many Bova protagonists. In section one, we're taken back and forth between a real-time account of Paul on the moon as he struggles to avoid an assassination attempt by his step-son Greg, who, along with Paul and Paul's wife Joanne (mother of Greg) sit on the board of directors of Masterson Aerospace. While this part of the book is more techno-thriller than anything else, it's not that thrilling because we find out that Greg is behind a series of murders (in addition to trying to kill his step-father) long before the characters find out, which leaves things in a pretty anticlimactic state.
Leap forward twenty years. We meet Doug Stravenger, son of Paul and Joanne (and half brother of Greg). After many years of intense therapy Greg has recovered from the issues that led him to try and kill his step-father and despite the fact that his mother is well aware the he's murdered several people, she has continued to support him in Masterson Corp. In fact, she's recommended that he become the new director of Moonbase. Doug Stravenger has - like his father - fallen in love with the moon. Greg, on the other hand, wants to become director so he can recommend after his year long tenure that Moonbase be closed, as it is a financial drain on the corporation. We're also introduced to The New Morality, a combination of religious groups set on turning the world in to a fundamentalist's dream. Nanotechology - used to create and sustain the Moonbase - is being phased out through religious and political preassure from the New Morality...and it's here that a piece of the puzzle is missing.
There's never any discussion of what caused the New Morality to begin. Halfway through the 2nd part of the book, it's just introduced as if a major religious fundamental movement that includes the worst elements of fundamentalist Christianity, Judaism and Islam is likely to just pop into existence. There's no back story, no gradual build up to the New Morality's main stream acceptance...it just shows up and suddenly has massive influence from politics to education to moral law. We're also never told why the New Morality hates nanotech so much, they just do...and boy do they!
In the final section of the book, Greg and Doug butt heads over the fate of Moonbase. Greg determined to close the facility. Doug determined to keep it open. After sustaining a massive dose of radiation that required nano-therapy to fix in the second section of the book, Doug can't return to Earth thanks to a ban on nanotechnology. Despite the fact that Doug has shown how to make Moonbase profitable, Greg refuses to change his outlook. We also find out that one more person knows about Greg's previous murders - his ex-girlfriend whom he spited twenty years ago. She has managed to make her way to Moonbase to confront Greg about his past. When she does, all hell breaks loose as Greg snaps and along with his former girlfriend, attempt to vent the atmosphere in Moondbase and kill everyone.
Overall, there were some good, even great sections of Moonrise. They're all held back by the flaws though. As with many Bova books, I can overlook the overt sexism (all the male characters can't help but sneak a look at the butt of every girl they pass, most of the female characters have no ability to resist the sexual advances of any character with more than a handful of wealth or power), and even some of the strange choices of the characters (which are often akin to the "smart people doing stupid things" depicted in so many modern horror movies. However, too much of the book just felt like being railroaded. Why develop a back story for why things on Earth are the way they are when you can just create the New Morality and toss it out there, Dues Ex Machina style?
Not the best of "The Grand Tour" series.
