When the Moon Hits Your Eye has one of the most ridiculously ridiculous plots I’ve ever read and I loved every minute of it. All at once, the moon (and every moon rock) turns into cheese. That’s it. Now what? I was a bit skeptical of this book, but I loved The Kaiju Preservation Society (which forms a loose trilogy with this book and Starter Villain) so I decided to read it.

The book opens with a Q&A preface about the moon. (“HEY KIDS! Let’s learn about the moon!”) It was very helpful to learn some basic facts about our moon before plunging into the story. Then people start noticing that moon rocks have changed into some kind of “organic-seeming material.” (The government absolutely refuses to acknowledge that the moon is “cheese.”) Then observant people start noticing that the moon is visible during the day and extremely bright. And big.

One of the funny things throughout the book is that people keep asking “what kind of cheese” and the author relentlessly refuses to answer. (Hilariously, it turns out that this is due to the author trying to stay otherwise scientifically realistic in a book about the MOON SPONTANEOUSLY TURNING INTO CHEESE.) Not only has the moon turned into cheese, it has grown to the same mass in cheese as it was in rock. (This presumably, is also because science, so that the author didn’t have to worry about the tides etc.)

The story takes place over one lunar cycle and is told through traditional narrative and occasional excerpts from traditional and social media. Chapters are set in various places around the USA and the world. (This includes Maquoketa, Iowa, a very random place that is not too far from where I live.) It is full of whimsy and could make an amazing movie in the right hands. But there is also a lot of social commentary. There is a billionaire jerk who used his money to buy his way into the space program (and to buy companies built by other, more competent scientists) who has devious underhanded plans known only to himself. (“I just don’t see the benefit of the United States admitting it got taken for a ride by a billionaire who has more entitlement than he has brains.” (Day ten) Don’t tell me THAT is not on point.) The author also includes religion and conspiracy theories.

As a librarian, I enjoyed a section in which Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly give a book great reviews. It is panned only by Kirkus; “Oh, honey, that’s just Kirkus,” the author’s agent says. “Everyone knows they don’t hire reviewers who are capable of joy.” (Day six) Scalzi is about my age so I enjoyed a lot of his pop culture references (the movie The Blob! Jewel-Osco! (a very Chicago grocery store and pharmacy chain) Apollo 13! Someone who “delved too greedily and too deep” (Day fifteen) Andy Weir!).

The last time I recall enjoying a book in this same way was when I read Ready Player One. I could go on quoting this book all day, but I recommend you go read it for yourself as soon as you can. I will reread it as soon as it is made into a movie. Which hopefully it will be.

I read an advance reader copy of When the Moon Hits Your Eye from Netgalley. It is scheduled to be published on March 25 and will be available for checkout at the Galesburg Public Library.

Ridiculously delightful, the moon made of cheese, yes please! This utterly whimsical tale takes a big, gooey leap into the absurd and comes out with a story as sharp as aged cheddar.

When the moon is abruptly replaced by an enormous wheel of cheese, the world faces a great dilemma: how does life change under a dairy-fueled lunar cycle? The novel introduces us to a motley crew of characters navigating this catastrophe. Scientists rack their brains trying to explain it, schoolkids dream of nibbling their way to the stars, and billionaires hatch schemes to capitalize on the celestial dairy delight.

The story’s strength lies in its blend of humour and thoughtfulness. Yes, it’s absolutely ridiculous, but it also explores serious themes like greed, faith, and humanity’s endless curiosity. As the cheese moon wanes and waxes, so do the characters’ lives, creating a tale that is as much about adapting to the unexpected as it is about appreciating the sheer absurdity of the universe.

With its clever wordplay and brilliant storytelling, this book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys science fiction that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for providing an eARC of When the Moon Hits Your Eye prior to publication.

For no reason that anyone can understand, Earth's moon one day quite unexpectedly turns into a massive, round cheese ball (or, as NASA refers to it - "a newly developed organic matrix"). The moon appears to have the same mass but it has increased in size. It is also causing some massive ejections of its organic material as pressure on the core increases. One such organic ejection sends a massive hunk of cheese toward earth, which could be more destructive than the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs.
For one entire lunar cycle, citizens of Earth debate and reflect on what's happening and how they want to see the end of the world.

There probably isn't anyone writing better writing light, humorous, science fiction than John Scalzi. While I personally prefer his space opera sci-fi (ie the Old Man's War series, The Interdependency series, or even the non-space opera but hard-hitting Lock In series), the general reading public seems to like his humorous work even more. Just look at the success of Redshirts and his previous book, Starter Villain. When the Moon Hits Your Eye will likely fall in line with these lighter sci-fi stories.

I think it's helpful to go into this book knowing a few things. First - this isn't a book about the moon turning into cheese. It is certainly the most important thing that happens and it is the reason we follow a variety of people. But the book is about mankind and how humans react to annihilation.

It is also important to know, going in (I'm positive this isn't a spoiler) that we never learn how or why the moon turned into cheese. This isn't, after all, a book about the moon turning into cheese.

I mention these things so that other readers don't go in expecting something that isn't there ... the way that I did. I started the book and expected there would be answers and was a little unsatisfied at the end that not only weren't there answers, there wasn't much story. It wasn't until I reflected on this a bit that I realized what the story was. I might have enjoyed it more had I gone in with different expectations.

Because this is about 'people' or even 'humanity' we also don't have a singular character to focus on - someone that drives the story. The closest we come is the author who is suddenly thrust into the limelight and whose book sales skyrocket due to an essay he wrote about myths such as the moon being made of green cheese.

Another character that I actually grew to like was the Elon Musk-like billionaire who decides to pilot his own space craft against NASA's wishes. My appreciation for this character was short-lived.

I referred to this earlier as 'light' when in reality there's a pretty deep story here. Sometimes it's hard to see through Scalzi's rapid dialog and humorous situations.

I still prefer the space operas, but any Scalzi book is better than much of what you'll find on the book shelves.

Looking for a good book? When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi is a stand-alone, humorous sci-fi story that looks like goofy fun but carries a significant tale.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi is a humorous and entertaining science fiction novel where Scalzi takes on the absurd idea of the Moon turning into cheese. Yes, you read that right, in this novel the Moon inexplicably turns to cheese and the characters have to deal with the reality and implications of this outlandish situation. Scalzi is well known for his easy to read pop scifi novels and his witty takes on social media. This novel is Scalzi on full display and is a fun and quick read that left me chuckling several times throughout the story.

The story is told with a chapter representing each day in a lunar cycle. We follow different characters each chapter, occasionally revisiting some, but, for the most part, every chapter is a new point of view. Sometimes we get journalistic reports of what is happening. Each chapter shows us how people react differently to the Moon turning into cheese, and how it affects the situation they are in. The various viewpoints include astronauts, the President, a nonfiction writer and agent, cheese shop owners, and a few others. Each character’s story manages to remain entertaining and sometimes downright funny throughout the entire novel. He even manages to sneak in some romantic and tragic stories.

There is some science involved in what would happen to the Moon if it turned to cheese. Its mass stays the same but changes in density make the moon larger, and it is also much brighter in the sky. Also, a huge planetary body made of cheese would, theoretically, collapse in on itself, causing geysers and cheese oceans. Of course, this is a novel about the Moon turning into cheese, so accurate science isn’t exactly the focus of the story.

If you are looking for a fun read and a science fiction novel that is pure entertainment and humor, I’d certainly give When the Moon Hits Your Eye a good recommendation. It is quick and introduces a premise one would never imagine getting published, let alone actually being good.

Remiscent of the Lock-In series more than Scalzi's more recent works, When The Moon Hits Your Eye lacks the narrative cohesion and more advanced humor of Kaiju Preservation Society or Starter Villian, but it's still a sly, funny take on life in America under extremely silly conditions. The world discovers that the moon has been replaced with an organic substance (don't call it cheese!) and the various fallout and chaos comprises most of the book. The moon's mass stays the same, but the size changes, and the more volitile surface causes changes both scientific and silly. Not the best work, but a nice piece of escapism and again, silliness.

I just read John Scalzi's latest science fiction novel, When the Moon Hits Your Eye. This one comes out on March 25. This is a standalone, but Scalzi said it's sort of in a group with his last two novels, The Kaiju Preservation Society and Starter Villain.

As much as I liked The Kaiju Preservation Society, this one was even better. It begins at the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio where staff members discover that the moon rock in the exhibit has changed to cheese. In contacting other facilities around the world, they realize all the rocks are now cheese. When the moon looks different, it's learned the moon itself has changed to cheese.

Scalzi tells the story from all kinds of viewpoints. If the moon changed, governments, NASA, astronauts are not the only ones affected. We meet a professor emeritus of philosophy and his retired friends at a cafe, members of a religious cult, two young employees at cheese stores in Wisconsin, a couple college students, a billionaire determined to land on the moon, a writer. I can only imagine how much fun John Scalzi had as he brainstormed how different people would react to the moon changing to cheese.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye is like well-aged gouda—sharp, a little nutty, and impossible to put down.

I really enjoyed this little book. I’m a big fan of Scalzi anyway, so I came into this with Scalzi expectations. And he delivered.

I like to teach my writers to ask “what if” when coming up with their story premise. Scalzi’s was very clearly “What if the moon turned to cheese?” Not, “what if the moon was cheese.” ..."turned to."

He juggles multiple perspectives—each chapter is a new little character vignette that shows a variety of people and how the moon turning to cheese affects their day-to-day. We meet people from all over the world from all different professions and life experiences. Each chapter is a whole new character with all new wants and needs. And somehow he fits it all in.

Per usual Scalzi, this story’s got wit and emotional depth. I think there’s a lot writers can learn from how he’s able to deliver something poignant and simple simultaneously. I love playing around with different perspectives, and this book was a great exercise in that.
This book is absolutely on my list of recommendations for sci-fi writers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for this digital ARC!

When the Moon Hits Your Eye is a beautifully written, introspective journey that feels like a long, lingering conversation with an old friend. The author’s lyrical prose captures the complexities of love and yearning, balancing moments of whimsy with a quiet, almost melancholic depth.

The narrative contemplates themes of connection, longing, and self-discovery in a way that feels deeply human and relatable. It’s a book that lingers with you, inviting reflection on its pages and the hidden corners of the heart.

This is a perfect read for anyone looking for a story that blends poetry and prose—something to savor rather than rush through. It’s a quietly moving exploration of the ways we connect with others and ourselves.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi is a satirical sci-fi novel that explores the absurdity of human behavior when the moon turns to cheese. Yes, cheese.

One day, the moon randomly turns to cheese. No one can explain why, and it leads to people having interesting responses. Each chapter is a new day, and each day focuses on a different person’s perspective or media post during the course of the moon having turned to cheese. The characters vary widely. They range anywhere from a retired professor, astronauts, billionaires, TV producers, authors, and so on. The books really plays into human behavior in the face of unexplainable chaos.

Scalzi does an amazing job of presenting humanity in a satirical way. If the moon ever turned to cheese, I truly believe the reactions would mirror this book. It was so entertaining to read and thought-provoking. It was funny, sad, and philosophical.

I chose to read this book because I read Starter Villain by Scalzi (if you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it!) and this book keeps him on my personal “authors to recommend” list. If you’re a fan of sci-fi, I would say this book would fall under the category of social sci-fi or soft sci-fi.

So, once upon a time, the moon turns to cheese. People, naturally, freak out. The moon starts breaking down and disaster looms in the not-too-distant future. Not so soon that you can quit your job though, so the daily grind continues. And people react differently.

In 29 chapters - one for each day of a lunar cycle - we're given the reactions of people around the U.S. There are a few reactions from the astronauts who were scheduled to go to the moon (and now don't), a couple of chapters with discussions of some guys in a diner, a couple of chapters of a professor who shot to fame for having recently written about the moon as cheese legends, a couple of chapters concerning a cheese shop, a couple of chapters about people in a small Iowa town, and a few detailing the lunacy of billionaires. There were also a few one-off chapters about people's lives that we don't hear from again.

The stories detail various reactions, from those who plan what they'll do at the end of the world, to the mood of people watching SNL try to make jokes (hint: they're not ready to laugh or commiserate). People get married, some people and corporations decide to rip others off, and some people quit their jobs and pursue their creative dreams. And the billionaires continue to be embarrassingly juvenile, entitled, and selfish. The book offers detailed moments from these individuals' lives and we see a lot of different reactions.

While I appreciated the book, I think that it underestimates the craziness of the everyday in the U.S. right now (2024) and the lunacy of what would happen in the face of impending doom. I think there would be widespread religious protesters, nonsensibly lining the streets and screaming at cars. There were a couple of reddit posts advocating conspiracies in the book, but honestly, I think there would be more finger pointing and panic. I mean, we had a hurricane in Florida a few weeks ago and a neighbor said it was the Democrats controlling the weather with lasers. That's normal now. But that's not a criticism - it just proves that the book makes you think and want to talk about it. I wish I'd read this for a book club!

The other Scalzi I've read also has this "reasonable person faced with crazy times" voice, so I wasn't surprised to read in the afterword that Scalzi considers this to be the third in a trilogy (with Kaiju Preservation and Starter Villain) loosely centered on "Everyday people dealing with an extremely high-concept situation in a contemporary setting."

Really an excellent book that I think I'm going to be thinking about for a while.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is March 25, 2025.

I’m becoming a big fan of Scalzi’s work since reading this and Starter Villain! He is so creative with his premises and I really enjoyed the many perspectives that we were given in this book. He brings a perfect sense of humor.

If you would have told me that a book about the moon turning into cheese would make me cry my eyes out, I would have said “Gouda one.”

“When the Moon Hits Your Eye” follows several people in different industries and how they respond to the moon literally turning into cheese. This novel takes a ridiculous scenario and makes it very serious, with heartfelt reactions from the characters and what seems to be pretty sound science explaining the results of the change (but I’m not a scientist so what do I know). Through the novel, we see the lenses of astronauts, billionaires, priests, common folk, and so much more. Each of their responses to the moon turning into cheese was so fascinating to read - while some were terrified, others profited.

This book took me on quite a journey, I truly couldn’t put it down. The author’s writing is so funny and witty, which makes the novel feel more like a sci-if comedy in some places. And other times, the emotions were so raw I was reading through my tears. Each story is interwoven with each other as well, which makes it fun to see who connects with who, and how each of their actions affects someone else in the story.

I only took a star off because while I liked the ending, it felt like it wrapped up too quickly and I was still left wanting more. I would have loved to see more explanations or theories surrounding the moon turning into cheese.

While this book is full of cheese, it is anything but cheesy. I would highly recommend this to sci-fi/apocalypse lovers, cheese enthusiasts, and those maybe needing a good cry.

Once again John Scalzi has written a book that is so goofy and ridiculous while also being heartwarming and sincere. When the Moon Hits Your Eye follows many POVs for each day of the lunar cycle after the moon suddenly turns to cheese. We get to see so many perspectives as the public deals with the shock and the uncertainty of the future. By the end I really enjoyed all the different POVs we get but to start I had a hard time getting invested in the story since there was no one person to connect with. Some characters got multiple chapters throughout the book but it felt like many short stories with a general through line of “the moon is cheese now what”.

I feel like anyone who has liked Scalzi’s last two books will really enjoy this one. It has the same humor and self awareness of how goofy the premise is. I also highly recommend reading the authors note at the end of any of his books it always gives interesting insight into how this weird book came to be.

With irreverent humor and his signature obscure plots, John Scalzi offers readers a dairy delight in WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE. We follow people from around the country as they experience the celestial curiosity of the moon turning into actual cheese. Each chapter represents a day in the lunar cycle and focuses on different people across America sas they process this news.

Inexplicably, a book with such an outlandish premise manages to hone in on so many aspects of human nature: questions of faith, opportunists looking to capitalize on chaos, and what this event could mean for the future of humanity. This was a light-hearted reading experience that captured my attention and made me pine for a slice of Parmigiano Reggiano.

READ THIS IF YOU:
-have an affinity for cheese shops
-enjoyed the structure of The Measure by Nicki Erlach
-are looking for a unique reading experience

RATING: 4/5
PUB DATE: March 25, 2025

Many thanks to Tor and NetGalley for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 336 / Genre: Sci-Fi
Release Date: March 25, 2025

The world is about to end because the moon has inexplicably turned into cheese. Now there’s two years left for humanity, just enough time to rethink the rest of your life but not yet time to totally freak out. What follows is a collection of short stories that tell how different people react to this news, how they accept their fate, and what they choose to do with their time left.

I loved this book. It was silly but with seemingly logical answers to what was happening. It was poignant without being morbid or depressing. The perfect last 5-star read of my year.

This book comes out on March 25, 2025, and a definite must add to your TBR. And I would wait for the audiobook since most of Scalzi’s books are narrated by Wil Wheaton, who’s one of my favorite narrators.

Thank you, @JScalzi, @TorBooks, and @NetGalley for my gifted copy.

I really like John Scalzi and have read most of his work, I think. When the Moon Hits Your Eye is definitely a different kind of story from his typical books. He mentions in the acknowledgment that this book completes a trilogy of sorts with Kaiju Preservation Society and Starter Villian and I can see where he is coming from, and actually made the connections before I read that (not that I'm that observant, I was just trying to make sense of the story itself). The "series" is about people. It's about what normal people would do in serious, world-ending, situations and how they would react to the news that the future may not be tenable. For this reason, I say bravo.

However, the loss of a star is only because some of the book felt a bit disjointed. There were stories about characters that he went back to and stories of characters that he never revisited and I wanted to see what happened to those people. I suppose I will have to wonder for myself on those. It's a good book all the same and a fun read. It's a crazy idea, to be honest, but I liked that, and the ending made sense when all is said and done. Scalzi remains the man and I look forward to the next one.

_When the Moon Hits Your Eye_ by John Scalzi is a humorous, witty, and fun science fiction read. It follows multiple characters as they all experience a most peculiar and life-changing event—one day the moon turns to cheese with no warning and no explanation. The story is filled with scientists, cheese shop owners, politicians, authors, and other citizens trying to figure out why this happened and how to manage life completely upended by lunar cheese. A great read for fans of John Scalzi and entertaining stories.

If you've read much by John Scalzi then you know that he thinks differently from most of us. From what ever happened to the expendable security people in Star Trek (Redshirts) to starting life over when you hit your senior years (Old Man's War) to the more recent Starter Villian (you get left a nice inheritance except it involves being the bad guy), you never know what Scalzi is going to come up with next.
In this book he uses the premise of what if the moon really made of cheese (not green cheese). Of course, we all know that it's made of rock but in this story the moon changes into cheese (or organic material as NASA keeps referring to it, not able to actually say cheese). Even all of the moon rocks that were brought back to earth have changed to cheese and no one has any idea how this happened. Apparently however, switching rocks for cheese creates a totally different moon -- it's brighter at night, and it's larger since it has the same mass but the same weight in cheese is larger than the original rock. Scientific terms are thrown around and explained but it's not necessary to commit these to memory -- you just need to go with the story.
Each chapter is a different day after the moon changes, and we are introduced to many characters and locations. As this new moon starts acting quite differently than the moon we've always known, bad things start to happen and in less than a month it looks as if earth only has a couple of years to exist before it will be wiped out. Life seems to lose a lot of meaning when everyone knows when their life is going to come to an end. It would have been nice to have some of the characters revisited (some were but it's not a lot of detail) but that probably would have been a book twice the size of this one. In any case Scalzi fans will like this book and those who are new to his books are in for a treat.

John Scalzi’s When the Moon Hits Your Eye is, in the loosest sense, a book. While the concept—what if the moon turned to cheese?—is undeniably quirky and creative, the execution feels incomplete. Scalzi acknowledges upfront that the science is vague, and the mystery of "what kind of cheese" becomes a recurring joke throughout the story. While amusing at first, this lack of clarity feels more like a missed opportunity than a deliberate choice.

The book's structure is unconventional, with each chapter introducing a new character. While this provides a broad spectrum of perspectives on the moon's cheesy transformation, it comes at the cost of a cohesive narrative. The characters rarely interact, making the story feel more like a series of vignettes than a unified tale. This fragmented approach left me skimming through some chapters, eager to reach the conclusion.

As for the ending, it’s underwhelming, though perhaps that’s to be expected from a premise as absurd as this one. Scalzi seems to revel in the absurdity, referring to the moon’s transformation as "organic matter" in a bureaucratic twist, but it doesn’t quite stick the landing.

If When the Moon Hits Your Eye is intended as the conclusion to Scalzi’s loose trilogy alongside The Kaiju Preservation Society and Starter Villain, it’s undoubtedly the weakest of the three. That said, it has its moments of humor and charm, and fans of Scalzi’s offbeat style might still find it worth a read. For me, though, it was more of a light snack than a satisfying meal.

Another fun and short-but-sweet book from John Scalzi. A unique premise, to say the least, as well as a unique structure to the book with each chapter following a different character through the events that play out after the moon turns into cheese. Definitely worth a read!