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.

Another fun speculative romp from Scalzi, who has been taking his readers on over-the-top what-if scenarios for his last several books - so we shouldn't be surprised by a novel that is "What would happen if the moon turned to cheese?" Like all of Scalzi's recent works, we see what happens when normal, mostly very likeable people have to deal with extraordinary situations. As silly as the premise is, Scalzi gives it the serious treatment by thinking about how would world governments react, dealing with the size of the moon if the mass of the moon stayed the same and the reaction of our tides and the brightness of the night sky. We see how such a weird phenomenon might affect people in all walks of life all across the country.

This is a lighthearted and fun read, with slice of life scenarios throughout so it's easy to pick up and put down. Read this if you are looking to escape our world that makes absolutely no sense and is on fire and full of nightmares to a kinder, more reasonable world, where the moon has turned completely to cheese.

This is a bit slight, but that's not a criticism, just a description. Really more of a set of interconnected short stories about "what would happen if the moon turned into cheese suddenly", some with a lot of charm to them. A pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

This was my first book by John Scalzi, and it was such a fun and easy read! Take a wild event - the Moon turning into cheese - and explore dozens of people from different walks of life and how they react to the aftermath. Even though each character only got a chapter or so, they were all so distinct and it was fun to get to know them all! The writing style was also just so easy to digest and filled with humor which made for such a fun read! I'll definitely be reading more of this author in the future when I'm in the mood for something light and to laugh!

I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Neal Stephenson, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Andy Weir are three of the best known and bestselling hard science fiction authors writing today. Their books are logical, technical, and full of scientific detail. If that’s what you’re into - scroll on - because WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE is as opposite as can be. Soft as cream cheese, this book verges on fantasy in it’s implausibility…but if your not a stuffy nerd bogged down by “how” questions, get this book on release day because it is great!

Scalzi takes a ludicrous premise: the moon has suddenly turned to cheese. He then plays it out day by day with a wide ranging cast of characters exploring the consequences of such an unprecedented marvel. In a format similar to World War Z or Fantasticland, readers get to experience the cheese moon through the eyes of all kinds of different people. Some parts are hilarious, as Scalzi readers would expect, but other parts are poignant and heartbreaking. Despite the absurdity of the concept, Scalzi does an excellent job of creating characters the reader can root for and tying in both classic tropes and contemporary interest.

Overall I really enjoyed this one. It’s a great popcorn book, and will be perfect for fans of his last two releases.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC of this book available for me.

Fun little book, Mostly vignettes about how the event of the moon being turned into cheese affected various people. Many of the characters appear in just a single vignette, while others return several times. And as long as you don't look at the science too closely, it all seems to hold together pretty well. Do we find find out how and why the moon was transformed? Sorry, but I'm not going to spoil that. You'll have to read it yourself to find out.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye is the story of what happens when the moon turns to cheese, following a month (or more accurately, a full lunar cycle) as people come to terms with what that means and what exactly is happening.

Scalzi is always a fun read. I’ve been reading his work for years since some of his earliest published books. I usually know what I’m getting in to regarding humour and silliness, good banter, some action depending on which book. I went in to this one blind without even reading the synopsis, and despite being fully prepared for some silliness, I truly thought the moon turning to cheese was a joke at first. Jokes on me for not reading the synopsis! I kind of wish I could make them delete the synopsis so no one knows what to expect, because it makes those first few chapters even funnier trying to sort out if that’s the actual plot. I did buddy read this with a friend who knew the story beforehand though, and she had just as much fun with it, so going in blind or knowing doesn’t change how fun of a story it is.

Each day of the lunar cycle follows different people. There is some overlap where previous characters are seen from a.different person, and we get one or two chapters from the same person but having different views and perspectives throughout the book made this really interesting. Having billionaires, politicians, scientists, store clerks, retirees, all give their thoughts as the story came together made for a really unique experience. I still managed to have favourites from only one chapter and wished I got more of their perspectives, but the way this book was written was really well done, and I enjoyed it immensely. Having different styles of banter and humour in each chapter and different type of science or philosophy made you really think about the effects something like this would have on different people. There are also some really sweet, heartwarming chapters to balance out the humour, and some of these little chapters are the best love stories I’ve read.

The only reason this wasn’t a perfect five star read was the ending. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but I just didn’t like the ending. If I could pretend the last chapter didn’t exist, I would. Everything leading up to that point was perfect, especially reading it with a friend and throwing theories at each other about “what type of cheese is the moon?” “What happens during a lunar eclipse now?” Etc, was so fun, and the ending took away a lot of the silliness and theories that you can build throughout the book. It felt a little bit like a cop out especially reading the afterword when Scalzi explains why he did what he did. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I just would have liked more, especially with a premise like the moon is cheese. Others might love the ending and lack of some explanations though, for the exact reasons he outlines in his afterword, and all the power to them! This is mostly a me problem, and it still didn’t take away from how excellent the rest of the book was.

If you’re looking for a silly, over the top story, or want to know what could happen if the moon turned to cheese, I really can’t recommend this enough.

One day, suddenly and without explanation, the moon is replaced with an orb of cheese with the exact same mass. Through the length of an entire lunar cycle, from new moon to a spectacular and possibly final solar eclipse, the book follows multiple characters as they confront the strange new world they live in, and the absurd, impossible moon that now hangs above all their lives. This one reads like a collection of short stories, and like Scalzi’s last two books, it is funny, creative, and had me thinking about our future. For fans of humorous and thought-provoking stories.

In the hands of a lesser author, the conceit of the book would have felt hackneyed and droll. As it is, I do feel that the central idea did feel a little long in the tooth by the end of the story. However, Scalzi's ability to write convincing, real human characters with personalities and humor takes him far. It was interesting and eye-opening to see how each of the book's characters would try to spin this new development to their advantage, and realistically so.
Another win for Scalzi.

In these dark times I try to avoid books about the end of the world; however, I’ll make an exception for an author I love. John Scalzi is one of those authors and he tells quite a unique end-of-the-world story in his latest effort, When the Moon Hits Your Eye.

The premise of this book – earth’s moon and every moon rock on earth turning to cheese – sounds incredibly silly. Scalzi treats it seriously (and humorously), though. New characters from all walks of life are introduced in each chapter and we see how each of them deals with their impending doom. Articles and Reddit posts are also interspersed to add color to the story.

Some of the characters are a bit obnoxious. While I did enjoy my time with the book, I feel like eliminating the unlikable ones and focusing on the ones that were more interesting would’ve made it a better read. I think I most enjoyed the characters from the church. The exchange between the pastor and the parishioner struggling with his faith as the end approached was incredibly moving and powerful. It’s the first time a book has given me goosebumps in quite some time.

If you like Scalzi, you definitely will want to read this. You’ll also be into it if you enjoy apocalyptic films with a large cast of characters like Don’t Look Up.

I love a silly premise, and this one has it: the moon has turned to cheese. The novel then provides a series of disjointed news reports and vignettes to show how people are reacting and the impact on life as we know it. Because of this, the novel lacks a traditional over-arching story line, but instead offers a broad range of experiences and viewpoint and impacts.

One of the things I love about silly books is the witty word-play and humor throughout the text. This novel limited the silliness to the premise, but at least the characters recognized that their situation was ridiculous - no pretending this change was normal. It was as the author intended, how normal people react to an odd situation.

The end was a bit of a let down, to be honest. I raced through the book (it is easy to do with something this light) to see how it ended and left feeling disappointed.

Verdict: Silly premise, easy to read, fast read, disjointed narrative, not nearly as fun or engaging as previous work by the author, but if you can tolerate the 'silly' premise, it is worth the read.