Luna — Garon Whited

"It's the end of the world, and I have the best seat in the house."

            From the very first line, "Luna" grabs the reader.  Where most books start with a world in trouble and ride the story on into a happy ending or to the ultimate destruction, "Luna" starts with the end of the world.  Things can only get better... right?
            With the world destroyed, the story centers on six survivors in the first lunar shuttle,on their way to shake down and tune up a robot-built underground tunnel complex on the Moon.  They have to face a number of issues, not the least of which is the self-destruction of their homeworld and the survival of the species.
            Fortunately, any culture advanced enough to have a lunar colony and the capability to destroy its own civilization is likely to have people who are not on the planet at any given time.  From these few survivors, the human race will have to either survive and grow, or wither away into nothing.
            They must face many difficulties, ranging from purely scientific ones such as genetics, mechanics, chemistry, and nutrition, to the more complex difficulties of human nature, such as love, sex, and loneliness.The conflict between politics and military command also rears its ugly head, with uncertain results, aside from the obvious:
            War.
            Told from the point of view of Max, the space janitor, "Luna" takes us on a fast-paced tour of our own Moon, the LaGrange points, a number of habitable satellites, as well as the light and dark places in the human soul.
 
            Originally produced as a serial, Whited's "Luna" assembles every episode into one volume!  More than a little reminiscent of Robert Heinlein, mixed with a dash of E.E. "Doc" Smith, and stirred with a sardonic sense of humor uniquely his own, "Luna" makes an excellent read for any fan of space!