"When the Moon Hits Your Eye" had the same lighthearted, fun approach as John Scalzi's last two books. The premise of this one - what if the moon turned to cheese - was utterly ridiculous, but fascinating when taken seriously, as Scalzi does. The book danced between a few too many viewpoints for me, but each was a well-developed character you rooted for (or against). And the responses from the media, the government (especially NASA) and everyday citizens were wonderful. I would definitely recommend!

My thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for an advanced copy of novel of speculative fiction dealing with one constant in the night sky changing from rock to edible food, and the way the world deals with the repercussions both good bad and uniquely human.

When the Moon hits your eye like a cheese in the sky, that a Scalzi. My apologies to Dean Martin but this refrain ran through my head constantly while reading this novel. Very few authors could come up with an idea so strange, one used by, Wallace and Gromit creators for a cartoon, which I recommend, and create something that at the end makes one both think, and feel maudlin. Like something is in one's eye. When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi is a story about what happens to the world when something that is taken for granted, suddenly is different, and how people accept and deal with the new normal, something we are all dealing with today.

Virgil Augustine is thinking only of date night with his wife, when he receives a call advising him that their workplace, the Armstrong Air and Space Museum, has just had a robbery. Somehow a master thief has taken a moon rock from a sealed display, and replaced it with something that looks completely different. All without setting off an alarm, of seemingly opening the case. Upon opening, the moon rock turns out not to be a moon rock anymore, but a chunk of cheese. What is at first thought of as a joke, turns out to be shockingly real. All the moon rocks on Earth have turned into cheese. As has the Moon itself, suddenly closer to Earth, and brighter in the sky. As soon as the secret escapes the Earth is suddenly at a loss. How can rock turn to cheese? Why would this happen? Who could have done this? Soon lunar missions are planned, ideas are developed, love is found, human act like humans, and many bad decisions are made. All under the light of slightly cheesy, once silvery Moon.

I have read most of John Scalzi's works, Red Shirts and a few novellas, I believe are the ones I still need to catch up on. To see this author's progression is really amazing. From militaristic stories, toe space empires, to the stories he writes today, one can't help but be impressed. Scalzi no matter the idea, real Kaiju, Super villains, makes one care about what is going on, no matter the unreality presented. The characters are real, reacting like humans both good and bad. Reading this story I did not expect to care as much as I did. There are real emotional moments here. Characters feeling lost, finding each other, sharing deep thoughts, and reminding us all that we can share a world together, though it might be hard. Scalzi also makes one not even notice the odd plot, throwing readers right in, giving a quick chance to acclimate, than pushing the pedal to Muenster, and never letting up.

I think it was Scalzi's book on Kaiju were he talked about how his writing changed after the 2016 election, and COVID. One can see that. Though I am finding these stories to be of great comfort, and something to look forward too, until we declare war on the Moon, or something weird. Another great book by an author who lets his mind roam, and has the skill to make readers follow along, quite happily.

Another hit by Scalzi. What would happen if the moon turned to cheese? This story explores that through various chapters, following a main cast of characters (like the president of the US and a billionaire who wants to land on the cheese moon) as well as chapters that are one off viewpoints. The book never talks about the why of how the moon turned to cheese, but rather explores different aspects of humanity when something seemingly impossible happens. Be aware, some of the last few chapters can be rough, with very heavy existential dread.
I do feel as if the ending was a bit rushed. Suddenly, during an eclipse, the moon is back to normal. But I do love the chapters after where people point to it all as a hoax.

This lands in one of Scalzi's "fun" books. He's written some serious hard sci-fi and then he'll do a book like "Redshirts" or the villain one he wrote. This one has a cool premise and is in the fun category. I liked it a lot and will keep buying Scalzi.

An emotional rollercoaster about the moon turning into cheese

Why am I crying? I know why I'm laughing (which I did many times), but I wasn't expecting the tears.

The premise is classic Scalzi, and only he could pull this off. The moon suddenly turns into cheese. Now what? I loved each chapter that explores a sequential day after that fateful event. Some characters are recurring; some are not. But each chapter balances the physics, philosophy, political, pop culture, financial, macro behavioral sciences, etc. on forever, potential impacts such an event would have on earth. Each chapter poses a different idea and explores it in short story fashion. Scalzi is light on descriptions and heavy on witty dialogue. The dialogue and fun characters will keep you reading, as with every Scalzi book.

The breakout stars are the starcrossed Cheese Shop workers Felix and Annette. I want an entire book of their romance. John Scalzi, I think you may have missed your calling as a romance novelist. You can easily remedy that by giving us a full, expanded version of Felix and Annette's love. Please?

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Story: 5 ridiculous cheese-filled stars
Character Development: 3 stars (there's not much since characters change each chapter)
Writing: 5 cheese-filled pun stars

John Scalzi's latest novel is his cheesiest to date and that is saying something. The premise is as absurd as it is intriguing: the moon is suddenly replaced by a giant wheel of cheese. The story features a wide-ranging cast of characters over a 30-day moon cycle to discover how they all handle this strange new reality. The book satirically comments on modern society, addressing conspiracy theories, political maneuvers, and the human tendency to seek profit amid disaster. As a long-time fan of the author, this is not in the top ten of his work, but I would still recommend it for fans of science fiction and anyone looking for a good laugh with a side of introspection.

Scalzi is always ready to take craziness far past what almost anyone else will do in order to prove a point. The moon turns into cheese and in alternating chapters, he puts his characters through the agony of the almost-certain destruction of Earth because of this astronomical phenomenon. And yet he still retains so much love for his characters that this reader is completely invested, despite expecting an ending that will be the written equivalent of the pandemic movie "Don't Look Up." Loved everything about this in part because his storytelling and characters' dialogue and reactions to events are so understandable even in the face of unprecedented disaster.

As someone who loved starter villain, I expected better of this. What happens if the moon suddenly turns into cheese? A great many things I suppose, and a few scenarios here are intended to make the reader chuckle, but felt more like a microphone was passed to a bunch of people and they were asked "give us a random idea of what might happen to just one person in this case".

The result is neither thorough nor engaging. No one is more disappointed that this didn't work for me than I. Full review to come on the blog.

"What kind of cheese?"

One morning, an impossible event occurs—the moon is suddenly, inexplicably, impossibly, now made of what appears to be... cheese. So, what do we do about it? Is there anything we can do about it? What will happen next, what could happen next, what does it all mean?!

When the Moon Hits Your Eye is essentially structured as a series of vignettes—(mostly) one-day-long slices of the lives of the scientists, politicians, billionaires, authors, celebrities, and just plain ordinary folks, all trying to figure out what to do and how to handle this new, cheesier world. Some of the stories are intriguing, some are laugh-out-loud hilarious, and some will tug at your heartstrings; it's a real smorgasbord of emotions, in the best way. I can see a ton of book club discussion potential in this one—favorite chapters, favorite characters, favorite types of cheese, the sky's the limit!

“When the Moon Hits Your Eye like a big pizza pie…”-That’s Amore (song) written by Jack Brooks and Harry Warren

The Moon turns to cheese.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi can be explained with the words above but..thats just the tip of the story. Thats the concept that launches the book into Scalzi’s upcoming 2025 book. I was very lucky to get to read this book early. And I loved it.

I don’t want to give away too much about When the Moon Hits Your Eye but I do want to say a few things. First of all: this book is funny. It is exactly what I needed right now. It made me laugh so much. The brilliant thing about the book is that it takes itself so very seriously. That makes the book even funnier. The characters in this book are constantly questioning the concept of the book. I’m laughing just thinking about it. What a book.

Though, also, the book is often beautiful. There are some chapters are that just so wonderful. The book changes characters with every chapter but then goes back to revisit some of them. There is one chapter that is absolutely one of the cutest things you’ll ever read and its follow up is adorable too. There’s another that is beautiful and heart-breaking. The characters in this book are even more important than the moon turning to cheese.

John Scalzi took a bizarre concept, a fable about the moon being cheese, and turned it into a one of the funniest, most beautiful books you’ve ever read. I also admit when I got the end, I was like “Thats it?!” I wanted more. I wanted to find out what happened to some of the characters. I didn’t want the book to end.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi is one of my favorite books that he’s ever written. Its just a great book. If it doesn’t win some awards, then they should just stop giving out awards for books. What a wonderful book. You must read it when it comes out.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an early digital copy of When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi. The book releases on March 25th, 2025.

The moon has turned to cheese, but there are still bills to pay, so what's the world to do but keep turning?

A collection of stories set during a single lunar cheese cycle, Scalzi brings us into the lives of different characters experiencing their own personal flavor of existential crisis at the looming threat of death by cheese.

From the president to cheese shop star-crossed lovers, to a writer trying to get past their first three chapters, a crusty rock star dying of cancer, and a host of other characters, each chapter and lunar day was its own spin on the end of the world as we hopefully will never know it.

Scalzi has done it again! Another novel with a ridiculous premise (and great cover design): what is the moon WAS made of cheese? It can't always have been cheese, but what if instead it became cheese? I love the opening with the moon rocks and how the novel just goes on from there, as though this were something that could happen. I'm not sure about Scalzi's science, but it sure was a lot of fun!

An absurd scenario = suddenly and without explanation, the moon turns to cheese. Pecorino romano, to be exact. The book follows 28 days of the moon cycle and contains short stories from all walks of life and how they react to the moon turning to cheese.

In real life if the moon turned to cheese, I would be surprised, but not surprised-surprised.

NASA Astronauts. Moon museum workers. A Reporter. The US President. A particularly humorous slack thread of a bun of 20 something dudes. A Congressman embroiled in a sex scandal. A multi-billionaire who owns a rocket space company, reminiscent of supervillain Elon Musk. An Iowa Pastor facing a fearful and angry congregation.

This book is endearing, funny, and probably symbolic. How do we face the world today and our inability to control the world that continues to change. This book asks a simple question and takes you along on the answers.

File under Speculative Fiction, not Sci Fi, no science explained here. This is about human behavior, not science.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor publishing for the ARC. (How "Tor publishing" is this title, right?)

Book to be published March 25, 2025

I understand that most people associate John Scalzi with his award-winning science fiction novels, but I will always and forever know him as the movie critic for my hometown newspaper, The Fresno Bee. The Bee eventually awarded him a column, which became my favorite weekly read. When the Moon Hits Your Eye is exactly the book I would expect from the writer of that column. It's timely, kind of touching, and above all, delightfully bonkers.

As a reader who does not generally go for audiobooks, I think When the Moon Hits Your Eye is one of those that will work exceptionally well in the format, and I actually cannot wait to listen to the Will Wheaton-narrated version, As a librarian, I'm already thinking about the type of student I'd recommend this book to. I think it will be exceptionally easy to handsell.

Look, am I saying it was a good choice to read a book about the potential end of the world during the first full week of this new presidential administration? It was .... a choice. But I guess if it's a choice between going down in full despair mode and going down laughing, I'd choose to go down laughing.

Fan-freaking-tastic! I can't say enough gouda things about this book. I loved the many different stories throughout the narration, so many of them were characters I could have read a whole book about. Scalzi knocks it out of the park again with this seriously cheesy novel.

This was a goood time! As a fan of Scalzi, this all made sense! Right down to the "science" of it all! I like the feel of connected short story format and characters from all walks of life. The Scalzi humor is there, as expected, and the main reason I am drawn to his titles. The premise of the book is so unique, to me, it is a "don't miss out" title. Would I recommend this title? Absolutely. Will i "re-read" this when the Audiobook is available - you bet I will. 4.5 stars in my notes. I am sure this will top the charts!

The moon turns into cheese, a goofy premise which Scalzi explores with scientific rigor, or as much scientific rigor as is possible given that it's about the moon turning into cheese. It's actually more about people's reactions than it is about the scientific implications.

Solid Scalzi title, will definitely recommend to Scalzi fans. Very fun premise.

We've all thought it, we've all jokingly learned it. The moon is a HUGE wheel of cheese! Logically, we all know it really isn't a wheel of cheese. What happens if one day we wake up and the moon actually did turn into a HUGE wheel of cheese? You follow a lunar cycle jumping from one perspective to another through this fun ride of a book. As a lover of science fiction and speculative fiction, this one is so different and quirky. I loved it! John Scalzi can do no wrong in my book. Thank you to Net Galley and Tor Publishing Group for making this advanced copy available to me!

One day, the moon transforms into cheese. Yep, you read that right. I like how the author plays it straight, but the characters' reactions and situations are at times really funny (the cheese shop war), and poignant at (the prospect of the world ending). I enjoyed it a lot.

I recommend the book for readers of humor fiction, sci-fi (who can suspend disbelief), and general fiction readers.

I am a library associate and received an advance copy from #NetGalley.

Having a new book coming out by John Scalzi is always exciting, and after reading the synopsis, I was even more intrigued. The concept alone, well, is so…Scalzi. When the Moon Hits Your Eye does not disappoint, in premise or execution. The book starts with an average day at the office, if you work at NASA, and before you know it, “Houston, we have a problem.,” and it’s not just a Texas-sized problem. The moon, earth’s nightlight, tide-bringer, natural satellite becomes what we’ve always heard rumors of as children: cheese. Earth’s greatest minds, and others, scramble to solve the mystery while not alarming the public. I don’t want to give the plot away by revealing too much, but readers of John Scalzi know that his novels are anything but boring, actually everything but boring. Case in point: When the Moon Hits Your Eye….it’s apocalyptic.