Novel is about a group of friends who happen to be the solar system planets and moons. It takes an interesting perspective on things and how things change once life develops.

Mark Newton has authored a book with an incredible viewpoint. His description of the creation of the universe is far beyond exciting. His use of superlatives is frequent and breathtaking. His personification of our star system is cute, funny, imaginative, and so much more. The main characters are Gaia and Luna; their voices tell the story, with Mars, Venus, and Mercury chipping in.

When referring to the Creator, the author writes "the G" or "the big G," which is in keeping with his animated style explaining the mythical and physical beginnings of the universe. We are treated to an easy to assimilate physics lesson of scalars, vectors, and particles; his words create the idea of the speed at which things were happening, "infinitesimal particles careening in all directions with dizzying velocity." Primal forces began the elements of matter, "Neutrons met protons … lassoed electrons … and then there was mass". Many eons later, Gaia surprises Luna with an announcement that something different is happening to her – Life is stirring.

I loved the discussions that showed how each planet came into being. One might have imagined that the six days of creation produced our solar system of sun, planets, moons, rings, "damnable asteroids, eccentric comets, and miscreant meteorites," complete as they look to us today. Instead, however, the author's research provides more exciting information about changes in the internal chemistry of the heavenly bodies and the atmosphere around them over the centuries.

My favorite personification is Luna. She is gentle, well-intentioned, and modest, making me feel tranquil in the face of the unknown forces in action. It is Luna who ponders over "constant cycles of Life and Death." She understands that "mass extinction … was a new beginning". And how "G, the eternal lord of order, constantly battled the evil of entropy." Convincingly, she noted a balance to nature, but not after the apes became dominant and developed language.

I observed nothing to dislike in Gaia and Luna; on the contrary, this reasonably short book covers so much ground, it is stunning. The discussion of Homo sapiens, their drive to succeed and conquer with their killer instinct is thought-provoking on so many levels. I can appreciate Mark Newton's long-term interest in our developing universe; as he writes of Luna's breakdown and her visions of "the thin people," the extinction of species, slavery, technology, and war, to name but a few. Mark Newton has an ultimate theory about the need for harmony and responsibility for life choices.

I rate Gaia and Luna 5 out of 5 stars for the author's audacity in taking on this Life-or-Death issue for a 2021 reader. He tempers it with an esoteric extroverted writing style which is delightfully diverting. It makes me breathless in its imagination and creativity. I noted a handful of profane words and a few missing words, but I was undistracted from reading in any way.

I recommend Gaia and Luna to lovers of science, sci-fi, educators, students, and people who appreciate originality.

This book is hard to put a label on and that's very attractive in this case. Is is Science Fiction? Is it Fantasy? A fairy tale? Humor? Or is it just the way Mark Newton sees our world and what's becoming of it - and we, her inhabitants.
It's all three I think. It doesn't make for easy reading because there's a lot happening so it sometimes left me breathless, but it's interesting enough to keep reading on once you're started.

Thank you very much Net Gallery, David Haliland and Author Mark Newton for a copy of Gaia and Luna In the View of the Moon.

It begins with a BANG. It's almost God's bang in the Bible but this is the opposite, this BANG is in outer space. This is where primal forces sow seeds to give us Venus, Mercury, the Sun, ETC, and.... APES.

Gaia and Luna look down on earth seeing what the humans are doing on the planet, this makes Gaia very sad and she frets over what may happen to her if things get out of control.

Read this book to find out what happens to Gaia and her friends in the end.

What I liked about this book is it teaches Gaia and friends what they mean to each other and to themselves, they learn a valuable lesson here. I felt this book read like poetry but was competing with mystery.

I didn't like that it was too short.

This book was published on October 21, 2021 by Loudhailer Publishing.

A strange book. The universe mainly from the perspective of our own moon (Luna) and her big sister the Earth (Gaia). I couldn't work out who it was aimed at. The language and words used were definitely adult, but the tone of the book, in my opinion, is more suited to children. Written in too much of a whimsical way for my liking.

Good idea and story though.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

I love the creative and even poetic stance Mark Newton took in crafting this book, and I can see so many “next possibilities” here for inviting readers and as a mentor text. Creative, lovely prose and a treat to read and share.

With a bang the universe is here. Gaia and her diminutive satellite sister Luna observe the evolution of life. They study and curate it, strange things are happening. Progress does not mean better,they observe things getting worse with forest fires,pollution and more. It makes them sad and they can see the effect it is having on Gaia. Very interesting book and it has an important lesson we need to heed.

Pub Date: 12 Nov 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you Mark Newton, Netgalley and Loudhailer Books for this free copy in exchange for a review.

This novella of anthropomorphized celestial bodies observing, summarizing and collecting data on the history of humanity was really good. It's only stopped form being great because it was short and lacked for description.