I binged this in two days (where I should've definitely been doing other things) it's that compelling.
This book is literally amazing. And any book that references Congo (the movie IYKYK) deserves 5⭐ in my opinion.
This is a story about how Americans of all backgrounds would react if the moon turned to cheese. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, I implore you to pick this up. 💚

THANK YOU THANK THANK YOU to Tor and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review 💚 💚 💚 💚 you made my year with this one 💚

A fever-dream of the moon turning into cheese transcends its absurdist roots. I didn’t go into this book expecting to finish it in teary-eyed contemplation of my own morality, but here we are! Scalzi truly is one of a kind!

This book is about as ridiculous as it sounds. The moon mysteriously turns to cheese, and the world starts descending into chaos. There are some laugh out loud funny parts, but there are also some very serious parts with a surprising amount of depth, which you wouldn't expect at the beginning.

The book follows a whole host of characters throughout the cheese moon debacle, with each chapter being a different day and a different set of characters. Some of those characters do show up again in later chapters, so we get to see their reactions as the situation about the moon changes. Some of the chapters are very light, with minor discussions about what is happening. Some of them are cute, with fate meetings involving cheese. Some are rather exasperating, involving a very Elon Musk-ish character deciding he is the most important person on the planet and he can do whatever he wants because he has the money too. And some are rather moving, with characters actually thinking about what is going to happen to them and the Earth. There are also plenty of cheese puns, and everything is delivered in Scalzi's typical wit and humor. Any fan of Scalzi will enjoy this, along with anyone who enjoys a rather ridiculous sci-fi story.

Please Scalzi, never change.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Maybe John Scalzi lost a bet and had to write a book with a random premise. Somehow the moon turned into cheese. Actual cheese. Yet it works. This was an enjoyable read. There were so many different characters, most only in one chapter, yet you got sucked into liking them very quickly.

From what starts as something of a ridiculous premise - what would happen if the moon actually turned into cheese? - Scalzi creates a story that feels real. He's not so much interested in the science of what might or might not happen (although there is certainly some speculation along those lines), but rather how people and society would react. Along those lines, he nails it. From the individuals anticipating the end of the world to those calling it all a grand conspiracy to individuals, politicians, and corporations looking to figure out how to use the situation to benefit themselves, Scalzi provides a realistic landscape of perspectives and responses to a life and reality altering event like this. While he includes his typical humor throughout the book, it doesn't feel tongue-in-cheek. He's not playing this book for laughs, except for those that come from the ways in which people really might engage this scenario.

Structuring the book as a set of days across the lunar cycle and providing a ton of different perspectives creates a wide picture of how society might react and how that reaction would progress as more is understood and ramifications are discovered. This progression also leads to a more emotional book than is typical for Scalzi, but it really works.

In queso emergency: As other people have commented, this book has no business being this good. Scalzi uses a very silly premise to launch a humorous but poignant and thoughtful tale about normal people dealing with an unusual situation the best way they can. Over the course of a full moon cycle, Scalzi shares people reacting to an existential crisis in the time of an apocalypse, but many of the themes are also relevant to dealing with the existential crises of pandemics, war, and the political arena of our modern times. Like most Scalzi books, there was an equal amount of humor and seriousness, and a lot of humanity. I enjoyed it.

When The Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi


Finally! A return to form by one of my favorite authors. I’m a big fan of Mr. Scalzi’s work since I found Redshirts on the new books shelf at my local library years ago, and Ive been reading his website regularly for a long time. But his last few novels have been weaker than some of his earlier work, and I think it was due to his habit of rushing through writing them to make his deadlines (as he has eloquently described on his blog).

But I knew when I got the new John Scalzi book from NetGalley and Tor in exchange for an honest review that I would enjoy it - because I already read it!! I was at NYCC in October and got an ARC from the Tor booth and I got it signed by John Scalzi there. He was surprised because he hadn’t realized they would have hard copies available, and he said that my copy was the very first he had signed for this book!

The premise for this book is fun - suddenly without warning the entire moon - and all of the moon rocks on earth - turn to cheese. The book then has some vignettes and snapshots of how different people around the country are dealing with this.

In some of Scalzi’s more recent books, the protagonists have been glib and unpleasant ciphers, but not in this book. The characters feel like real people!

The format of the book is both a strength and a weakness. You don’t get to spend a lot of time with interesting characters before a new chapter starts and we leave them behind (often forever, though some recur in later segments). But a bigger flaw is the ending. With a high concept SF book like this, a lot of the value comes from the ultimate answers to the question of how did the big weird thing happen. Remember Stephen King’s Under the Dome? Remember how the ending cheapened the whole book and undercut everything? SPOILER ALERT: this isn’t as bad as in Under the Dome, but it’s close. There is no answer. The moon cheese just reverts back to moon rock. Nothing is ever explained. It’s left as a big mystery. This makes the book feel much more fantastical than science fictional, if that makes sense.

But, problems with the structure and ending aside, I really enjoyed this book. It was a total page turner and very readable. Best Scalzi book I’ve read in years.

Anyone who has read Scalzi’s meta sci-fi classic Redshirts or the wildly comedic Starter Villain knows that this author is not above playing with the genre’s established mythos. When the Moon Hits Your Eye throws science out the window with a world in which Earth’s satellite suddenly and without warning turns into cheese. Multiple characters react to this impossibility throughout the novel, including students, preachers, politicians, and, of course, scientists. The absurd premise is more about enjoying the wildly varying perspectives of what ends up being a series of interconnected short stories.

I loved this book so much. It's very relevant with It's "fake news" and unbelievable situations. I love how it switches from points of view from all over, although the story stays solid and doesn't feel like a compilation. I was amazed how it all stayed on the tracks and flowed completely. Scalzi has become one of my favorite authors. I love dystopian stories. This one adds real world scenarios and scifi. It's funny, which is one way I use to describe Scalzi, a funny Michael Crichton. However I'm sad, because although I'm still working through Scalzi's back catalog, he mentions in the afterword that he's done with this "loose conceptual trilogy" of novels. These novels are the only ones I've read so far, and inspired me to try his other works. I also read and loved the Head on books. Anyway if you want a fun book about the moon turning to cheese that seems like a real possibility, this is your book. Just like I believed cats could rule the world.

Huge thank you to Tor Publishing Group for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

If you want your sci fi books to start with elementary school moon fact, boy have I got the book for you! All jokes aside, what can you expect when you crack open a John Scalzi book? In his latest novel he posits what would happen if the moon was actually turned into cheese. If you guessed you’d be laughing within the first few pages, you’d be right.

The novel opens with Virgil Augustine who runs in a space and astronaut museum in Ohio. All seems normal until it’s discovered a slice of coveted moon rock has been stolen and a dupe left in its place. Or so he thinks. Not stolen exactly, but changed. Into cheese. In fact, every single lunar sample on Earth is now cheese, including the moon itself. What, you may ask yourself, does that mean for Earth? As it turns out, a lot.

We follow a timeline rather than a set group of protagonists, each chapter marking the days since the moon was made cheese, or rather an organic matrix, I mean. As each day ticks by, we see the impacts unfold on society. We get to see a few characters more than once, which sounds like it would be exhausting. I can assure you it’s not. Each chapter lays bare exactly what Americans would be doing when the moon turns to cheese in the most authentic way.

I zipped through this book. Even at the halfway point I couldn’t believe at how wrapped into this I was. I enjoyed the humor, the real people from all walks of life, and the cheese puns. You can’t be mad at the sheer scope of cheese puns, it’s truly a work of art.

Scalzi excels in writing laugh-out-loud dialogue with his characters. They are believable, human, and made for TV. I lost count of the times I would cackle out loud reading this. There were also more than a few times I found myself tearing up. Scalzi paints the full picture of being human in the face of an existential crisis, along with all the beautiful and ugly emotions that come with it.

Long story short, pick this book up and devour it. I promise you, it’s Gouda.

John Scalzi is a madman, and I love his sense of humor. What IF the moon was cheese? That’s the question at the heart of this book, and somehow, Scalzi manages to take this absurd premise and turn it into something hilarious and weirdly touching.

From the moment I saw the title, I had the song stuck in my head—and sure enough, Scalzi acknowledges it right away. That’s what I love about his writing: he knows exactly what you’re thinking and is already in on the joke. But don’t let the absurdity fool you; behind all the cheese (literal and figurative), there’s a really good story. I went in blind, knowing nothing about the plot, just trusting Scalzi to deliver. And he did. The book is a wild mix of satire, ridiculous science and unexpectedly endearing characters.

The structure works surprisingly well. Each chapter jumps between different characters, but it never feels confusing. Clyde, Dave, and Alton, the retirees at the café, were instant favorites. Vera and the senator made me laugh so hard. And then there’s Jody. Oh my god, Jody. He’s giving Elon Musk energy—no, scratch that, he IS Elon Musk (yes I know Elon is an actually character in the book but still, Jody is him, down to his awkward little dance) A billionaire with no actual genius, just the ability to buy other people’s work (with money he doesn’t even have). His entire existence filled me with rage, and I loved every second of hating him. If Don’t Look Up made you foam at the mouth, this will too.

The humor is spot on. Scalzi’s characters are always so quick-witted, and the absurdity of the premise is balanced by characters who feel real. Of course the rich are going to eat the moon cheese. Of course people break into song at the worst possible moment. The sheer audacity of the Imagine scene? I was cackling.

But then things take a turn. What starts as a goofy, satirical adventure slowly becomes apocalyptic, and suddenly, my anxiety skyrocketed. The existential dread crept in, and for a while, I wasn’t sure if Scalzi was going to let the world burn. I won’t spoil it but the way it all resolves is deeply satisfying. Some of the emotional moments, like Jackie and Ian’s story, even made me tear up.

Overall, this book is exactly what I wanted: silly, smart, and sharp, with just the right balance of absurdity and heart. It’s what I expected from this author—hilarious, self-aware, and way too fun. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go tell my friends I love them and prepare for the next apocalypse.

Did I expect a tongue-in-cheek story about the moon spontaneously turning into cheese to be one of my favorite reads of 2024?

Honestly, as a fan of Scalzi's other books and general style, I kind of did.

But the fact that When the Moon Hits Your Eye *still* managed to exceed my expectations in every regard should indicate what an absolute gem this story is, as Scalzi deftly interlaces sharp societal critique of everything from narcissistic billionaires, the decadent indulgences of the mega-wealthy, and the commercialization of religion with the bittersweet inevitability of our own mortality.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye is less a single cohesive narrative than a series of vignettes, though many of the characters recur throughout. The book's cheerfully absurd premise is a complimentary contrast to the realistic reactions of its broad cast of characters, who greet the revelation that the moon has abruptly and inexplicably turned into a mass of cheese (which the in-universe scientists repeatedly insist is not, technically, cheese, but cheese-like material) with all the skepticism, incredulity, and outright disbelief you might expect.

This initial shock and amusement, however, soon gives way to a looming sense of existential dread, as the replacement of our familiar moon with a curd-based impostor of far less mass has apocalyptic ramifications for the planet it orbits. This overwhelming anxiety--and how people deal with it, both individually and societally-- soon becomes the book's overarching theme. Governments scramble to address the crisis, old friends debate the philosophical ramifications of the change in their favorite diner, and pastors pray God for answers even as they tend their own fearful flocks. Egomaniacal billionaires and greedy tycoons seek to exploit the crisis for their own benefit, while feuding families reconcile and young people fall in love. Even in the face of unimaginable crisis--or perhaps especially then--people continue to act as people, Scalzi is telling us, and that just may be our saving grace when confronted with our own mortality. The moon will fall for each of us, eventually, so we may as well treat each other well until it does.

Everything I've written above is what When the Moon Hits Your Eye is about. Below is what it meant to me, personally.

Sometimes a book comes to you in exactly the moment when you most need it. For me, When the Moon Hits Your Eye was that book. Like many Americans, I found myself in a daze of shock, anger, and dread following the 2024 election, and the impending return of a certain convicted felon to the White House, and the dire ramifications thereof. For weeks I was unable to create, to focus, or even to read.

Then, on a long plane ride that Thanksgiving, I picked up When the Moon Hits Your Eye and inhaled it in only a handful of sittings. Here was a story about everyday people struggling to live their lives while a climactic disaster hung quite literally over their heads. Here was a story about people being afraid, and angry, and confused as they tried to make sense of a world apparently no longer interested in making sense. Here was a story about people being kind and gracious and understanding to one another as they realize, whether through the lens of philosophy, or religion, or simple human compassion that disaster that, in the face of our own mortality, the only real choice is whether or not to love each other.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor for the ARC. But most of all, thank you, John Scalzi, for writing this book. We're all going to need it in the time to come, just as we're all going to need one another.

After all, we always have.

The moon has suddenly and inexplicably turned to cheese (ahem, organic matrix, officially). The book follows several groups of people as society reacts to the news and wonders if this means apocalypse.

I wasn’t completely engaged in the book until the end, but I’m glad I stuck with it. It’s a satire on modern-day America, an exploration of human psychology, and a reminder that life is short. It’s funny, typical of Scalzi, but not laugh out loud. It’s smart and definitely has moments that put the science in science fiction. Scalzi is a great entry to sci-fi author because he’s accessible and funny. I always recommend starting with Old Man’s War. That’s a book I’ll definitely reread someday.

Thanks to @torbooks for the advance digital copy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨✨

🌕 John Scalzi has done it again—this time with a wild, cheesy (literally) sci-fi romp that had me turning pages faster than a billionaire chasing clout.

🌕 The premise? The moon suddenly turns into cheese. Yes, cheese. And from there, Scalzi launches into a sharp, funny, and surprisingly thoughtful exploration of science, hoaxes, and how governments handle apocalyptic crises (spoiler: not well).

🌕 I read my first Scalzi book last year—Starter Villain—and it quickly became a top read of the year. So, I had high hopes going into this one, and it delivered in the best, most bonkers way, although I did miss the talking animals of Start Villain.

🌕 One of my favorite sequences? A billionaire stowing away on their *own* spaceship to be the first person to set foot on the cheese moon. It’s chaotic, it’s ridiculous, and honestly, it’s the perfect satire for the times we’re living in.

🌕 The narrative jumps between different characters a lot, which threw me at first. But in the afterword, Scalzi explains that each chapter corresponds to a different day in the lunar cycle and a different time zone. Knowing that upfront would’ve helped me settle into the structure—I was hoping for a little more continuity between some storylines.

🌕 But what really shines here is the social commentary. Scalzi blends humor and insight to skewer science denial, conspiracy culture, and the chaos of public response during a crisis. And the ending? Pure, hilarious gold. The epilogue alone is worth the read.

🌕 Big thanks to John Scalzi, Tor Books (one of my all-time favorite publishers!), and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

C-H-E-E-S-E. That spells Moon.

Okay…let’s back up a little and talk about John Scalzi and some of his previous works. I think Old Man’s War is a fantastic book and I really enjoyed most of the sequels. Scalzi is a great follow on social media (Go find him over at Bluesky) and has had a great blog for longer than most. Some of his more recent novels have been a little more hit-or-miss for me, though.

OK…sidebar to the sidebar… I have to get this off my chest. Scalzi’s 2014 novel Lock In was a good, fun sci-fi detective story, but I had really negative feelings about it for a long time. I listened to it as an audiobook and it was…confusing. The book itself was straight forward, but when I was still around 80-85 percent into the book, it felt like the book was wrapping up, but since there was so much time left, I figured that the final suspect was really a red herring and we’d get a swerve in the story any…minute…now.

And then the book was over. What the heck?

The final remaining time in my audiobook was a prequel story that Scalzi generously wrote and added to the novel. Which was great! -- except I either completely forgot or didn’t know about it at all, so my enjoyment of Lock In was severely hampered by a gift from Scalzi.

What does that have to do with this book? I guess I would say…as long as you know what you’re getting into, you’ll have a good time.

When the Moon Hits Your Eye. It’s good. It’s fun. I’m glad I read it. But…

Yeah. You have to know what you’re getting into. You’ll have a good time, but story-wise and genre-wise, this book isn’t what you might typically expect.

The structure of this book is unique. I was reminded of World War Z by Max Brooks as I went into it. If you haven’t read it, Brooks takes the idea of a world overrun by zombies and segments the book into eight chapters -- or vignettes. The central idea is there -- zombies -- but each story is its own thing. Slight connective tissue, but ultimately eight unique stories. Before the Brad Pitt movie came along, I had no idea how they would be able to make it into a film.

Here, Scalzi takes a crazy idea -- what if the moon suddenly turned into cheese -- and spends a lunar cycle (29 days) telling somewhat separate stories. What would diners in Iowa think about it? How would politicians in Las Vegas handle it? What happens when this strange cosmic event coincides with a launch for a moon-themed book? Some characters reappear on multiple days, but some stories (some of the funnier and more entertaining ones) are stand-alone one-offs. It’s a fascinating framing device for the story, which definitely turns out to be “lite sci-fi” in the end (I mean…how do you even take this concept and wrap the words “sci-fi” around it?).

I almost feel like with the craziness of the last decade and the emergence of conspiracy theory culture, Scalzi felt compelled to write this book, and I get it. Sometimes as a writer you just have to get some words on paper and off your chest. It made for a fun and entertaining book. I can see myself going back and re-reading segments and a few of the “days” of the novel, but in the end, I doubt I’ll revisit the entire book.

I’d recommend checking out When the Moon Hits Your Eye, just don’t expect hard sci-fi with your grilled cheese sandwich.

⭐️3.75⭐️

What do you think would happen if the moon turned into an actual wheel of cheese? In this unique speculative sci-fi novel, this ‘what if?’ scenario comes to fruition, and we follow multiple characters as they adapt to this new world.

I find this book hard to rate because I knew it was going to be an outlandishly crazy ride given the premise, and for the most part, it was. I enjoyed the bizarre humor that I’ve come to expect with a Scalzi book, but I didn’t expect this story to showcase such an emotional view of humanity.

Each chapter represents a day in the lunar cycle and follows the story of a different character impacted by the moon suddenly turning to cheese. The pacing took a while for me to understand, but once I realized this story wasn’t entirely linear, I began to enjoy it to its fullest. Every chapter felt like a unique short story and even though the chapters weren’t too long, every character presented was perfectly fleshed out and believable.

I loved how this book pokes fun at our current political climate by using characters that mirror real people in ridiculous scenarios that unfortunately feel very believable. A billionaire overriding NASA and all safety procedures to be the first one to fly to the cheese moon? Yeah, painfully realistic.

My only real complaint with this book is that the ‘why’ behind the moon’s transformation was never explained. I think this is an element that is meant to make the book magical, but I was left feeling a lack of closure when I finished. I wasn’t a fan of how the ending didn’t really resolve any particular story either.

Overall, I enjoyed this read for its funny and hopeful view of humanity during the state of sudden chaos. I don’t think everyone will enjoy this read though due to how ridiculous it is. If you enjoyed any of Scalzi’s previous books, then you’d probably enjoy this one too.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

“When the Moon Hits Your Eye” by John Scalzi is the story of a crazy month on planet Earth (each chapter representing one day in that lunar cycle) in which the moon turns into cheese.

Don’t be scared off by this if you don’t like SciFi or speculative fiction. As hard as it may be to believe, the book isn’t really about the moon itself as much as it is the way people on earth react to this unexplained phenomenon.

It’s a quick and easy read that will pretty much grip you from page one and is funny, touching, whimsical and absurdist, and thought provoking. Each chapter/vignette features different characters and a different tone. This book really is unlike anything I’ve read before but I’ll say it feels most similar to “Nothing to See Here” by Kevin Wilson, “A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan, and George Saunders’ “Liberation Day”. I heartily recommend this book to all kinds of readers. What an unusual and delightful read.

I was thrilled to get an early read of this novel—I’ve devoured almost everything Scalzi has written. He’s a versatile and consistently entertaining writer, whether he’s tackling serious stories like the Old Man’s War and Interdependency series or exploring the delightful absurdity of Starter Villain.

Scalzi has never let me down. So despite a premise that made Kaiju Preservation Society sound like hard science fiction, I dove in. Earth’s moon has… turned into cheese? Potential snarky comments about Scalzi’s writing curdling in a similar fashion are so obvious that I’d be milking a cheap joke by making them—so I’ll grate-fully refrain before things get whey out of hand. And to my pleasant surprise, I loved this book.

I went in knowing nothing about When the Moon Hits Your Eye beyond a premise so ridiculous it felt like Scalzi had written it on a dare. What I got was a roller coaster of young love, existential dread, writer’s block, last chances, and the terrifying realization that the universe has suddenly stopped playing by the rules. (Oh, and a thin slice of billionaire karma.)

Each chapter unfolds over a different day, starting with the moon’s sudden dairy-based transformation and spiraling from there. You’ll meet fantastic characters, encounter surprisingly poignant explorations of reality and mortality, and find a bit of painfully observant commentary on how society reacts to the inexplicable.

All in a book about the moon turning into cheese.

Make no mistake—this novel does not take itself seriously. If you’re here for cheese puns, you will leave deeply satisfied.

If I have one complaint, it’s that some characters were so compelling I felt a little robbed getting only a single chapter with them, with maybe a supporting appearance in a later chapter. I’m not saying I want an Old Man’s War-length saga about celestial bodies turning into various foodstuffs, but I would love to spend more time with Lessa Sarah and Nelson, the cheese shop kids, or the Oklahoma guys.

But when a plate of just cheese leaves you wanting more after you’ve cleaned it off—that’s some damn good cheese. And this is a damn entertaining book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for the advance copy of this delightful novel!

A funny yet thought-provoking science-fiction novel about the moon turning into cheese. Told from the perspectives of multiple characters, When the Moon Hits Your Eye opens with the moon transforming into a cheese-like substance, throwing the world into chaos. What follows is a series of loosely interconnected vignettes that portray how different people are affected by the moon. From the astronauts preparing to set foot on the moon to a decades-long feud between cheese shops in Wisconsin to a nonfiction author who suddenly finds himself in the global spotlight, these stories reveal the humanity—both good and bad—within us.

Scalzi has crafted a delightful, multi-point-of-view narrative about humanity and how we might react when the unthinkable occurs. At times funny and hopeful, yet sometimes depressingly sobering and too close to home, this cheeseful adventure is one you won’t want to miss!

If you liked Starter Villian, this one is wackier but just as fun and out there.
For fans of Hitchhikers Guide.