Rogue Moon

"If all women were for was the continuance of the race, what did they need intelligence for? A simple set of instincts would have done"

Rogue Moon is one of the SF Masterworks series I am currently reading and is by Algis Budrys who I had never heard of but I picked it at random and am glad I did. So simply did I like it? YES!!! Why?.... that's where reviews get tricky :s

Budrys' novel focuses on the awkward genius Edward Hawks and the teleportation device he has made to search an anomaly on the moon that kills or sends insane all the best cadets he can find. At the centre of the novel is the conflict between Hawks, Connington (the personnel manager tasked to find a new kind of man to brave the anomaly), Barker (the thrill seeking 'man's man' who braves the anomaly), Clair Pack (Barkers wife who enjoys twisting and teasing Connington) and Elizabeth (a new friend and ear for Hawks). So how do all of these characters form a thrilling or exciting story about science the moon and technology? Well they sort of don't, the device and the anomaly and all of the science in the novel is just a plot device to force these characters together and watch them blow up. And so the book is fairly philosophical and talks alot about "kinds of people", I like this personally as whilst all the characters around Hawks seem to sum up everyone in specific categories Hawks himself treats all of the characters with caution and as individuals. Hawks seems to be Budrys' mouthpiece and is the most relatable character (for me, what can I say he's a visionary genius how could I not relate :p) and whilst the above quote about women could be taken as offensive it is one of Hawks' many gems of intelligence, and in context shows his overall opinion of sexual equality. Gender is clearly a theme as the characters range from ultra masculine to ultra feminine and whist a lot ha changed since it was written in 1960 the gender commentary is still insightful and relevant.

As far as Burdys' writing style goes, I really liked it, whilst there are a lot of large sections of speech they work brilliantly to give the impression that these characters are lecturing each other and the intellectual interplay between Hawks and Barker is one of the most gripping and interesting things about the book. However when description does come Budrys keeps it simple, visual and beautiful "They were standing on an arm of rock that thrust out seaward into the surf." (The underlined bits are the words I think are really strikingly simple and strong)

Finally from the scifi point of view I believe using it as a plot device is an excellent thing to do as long as its given full attention and thought, which Hawks' experiment really shows. Not only is the concept and workings simply explained but the finer philosophical points are also given due attention. It also has a killer last line which I always love.

I sincerely recommend to scifi fans and anyone who is interested in people... so everyone! I was really satisfied and will be giving it a second read in not too long. So yeah a really good book 9/10!!