Moonwar finishes the story of Moonrise, really establishing Moonbase as a power in the solar system in its own right and a refuge from the growing New Morality movements on Earth–especially when it comes to developing nano-technology.

There are certainly parts of the story that are hard to believe–particularly just how much control the UN has over … well, anything, but especially the media. It’s just… strange and feels like a manufactured threat. On the other hand, the idea of a religious far right growing to power and working to completely ban ‘unnatural’ technology (like nanomachines) feels altogether too prescient.

Really, the best part of the book is the action, especially towards the end, where the people of Moonbase have to fend off a far, far more powerful adversary without having any weapons of their own and without releasing the one weapon they know they could never use directly: the nanomachines. And with that comes worldbuilding that I only expect is really going to lead the way towards conflict throughout the solar system in books to come.

Because it bears mentioning: This book and Bova in general really could still do better in terms of writing minorities and women. At this point though, that’s really not something I’m expecting to see better from Bova, but perhaps some day…