Book Review: Moonfellows by Danger Slater

This post features affiliate links, which means that we’ll earn
a small commission if you make a purchase through these links.

“Regret is an anchor I cut a long time ago.”

📚

In 1906, the US Government launched the disastrous Moonfellow Program, a top secret first foray into space and an opportunity to boost American civilization into a technologically superior future. Among the selected Moon-bound specialists was Franklin Crumb, a New Jersey-based gravedigger separated from his wife and daughter and forced into the project against his will. What follows is a moving, bizarre, funny, ridiculous, and poignant story of MacGuffinite and Moon Flu, slugs and conspiracies, isolation and abandonment, camaraderie and chaos, madness and introspection, fear and love, fate and monsters, longing and loneliness, time and presence, leadership and progress, failure and acceptance, and death and the dark side — all set in a sparse and inhospitable environment deliberately unconstrained by science-based fact (in other words, another brilliant Danger Slater bizarro fiction masterpiece).

Moonfellows delivers a witty, riveting, and masterful blend of humor, satire, horror, and absurdism that’s at once irreverent and nostalgic, pithy and glib, unflinching and existential, complex and straightforward, layered and nuanced, beautiful and sad, gruesome and creative, sentimental and memorable, desolate and claustrophobic, concise and farcical. It’s a mysterious, scary, humorous, and insightful tale rife with social commentary, original plot points, and interesting characters that gradually creeps and ultimately encompasses, captivating the reader as it skewers the callous, inept, and inane nature of power — a deep, rich, endearing, and astute account of home, humanity, and heart.

And the writing, particularly near the end, possesses an immersive, magnetic quality that makes clear the depth of talent, creativity, feeling, and skill that went into this novella. And yes, 129 pages somehow contains the entirety of storylines, characters, feelings, and adjectives this reader attempted to summarize above. Truly unique, extraordinary, and an absolute pleasure to read!

❤Amanda

Disclaimer

Many books featured on this blog were purchased by us; however, we do accept publisher-, author-, and other source-provided copies (both advanced reader copies (ARCs) and finished copies) from publishers, authors, and other sources we deem to be a good fit for our reading preferences and blog. Posts and reviews that feature such copies are disclosed. For more information, refer to the Disclaimer & Disclosures section.

Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links, which means that when you click one of those links and make a purchase, we earn a small commission paid by the retailers, at no additional cost to you. These links will take you to books and other products that we like, trust, and believe will be beneficial to our readers. Affiliate programs use cookies to track visits in order to assign sale-related commissions; funds earned keep the Site up and running and allow us to continue to share reviews and other content. Thank you for your support!