ReadersMagnet Review features Moon Luck, a sci-fi novel by first-time author Wayne Scott Harral.
It’s been a while since anyone has written about the possibility of occupying and inhabiting the moon. While Andy Weir’s The Martian has garnered critical and commercial success, there are few novels with themes about space occupation. Wayne Scott Harral’s Sci-Fi and mystery book Moon Luck is a breath of fresh air.
In his book, Wayne Scott Harral’s Moon Luck features the possibility of living on the Moon. Harral once wrote that “By 2039, the novelty of living on the Moon will diminish, and the normality of life, as we find it here on Earth, will make its way to the Moon.”
Moon Luck is part-space sci-fi, part-mystery thriller. Harral’s unique storyline centers on a murder mystery in space. Moon Luck narrates the life of 300 residing on the moon for extended periods. Their astronaut scientists and explorers have goals and missions, which include growing plants on the moon, exploring and finding mineral ores, carrying out experiments and research, and develop animosities as well as close relationships. But the peace and quiet of the moon and its inhabitants are shaken by the unnatural death of a member of their expedition party. Now the whole base is desperate to determine the cause of the senior member’s death. If it happens to be murder, they need to unravel the perpetrator’s identity before he endangers the whole mission.
Wayne Scott Harral provides an excellent tempo for a sci-fi mystery novel. One highlight is the spectacular and vivid description that will find the audience in the middle of an extraordinary moon-space journey. Moon has been described ever so majestically and the human experience on the desolate space rock, unlike any writer has ever done before.
“It is likely that in the coming decades, there will be one or more active stations permanently located on the moon. And it is inevitable that a human life will be taken by another while people are living in these moon colonies. Will we be prepared for the first time it happens?
MOON LUCK is the story of 30 astronauts living on the moon for extended periods. It is also the story of the astronaut-scientists and astronaut-explorers as they grow plants on the moon, explore and find mineral ores, carry out experiments and research, and develop animosities as well as close relationships. When one of the base’s senior members dies in what appears to be an accident, the story follows the trail to discover the actual perpetrator, leaving us with the question:
Is it murder if it happens on the moon.”
Moon Luck reminds me of a classic 1997 space sci-fi film Gattaca which starred Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, and Uma Thurman. Though the storyline is different, Wayne Scott Harral’s Moon Luck gives off the same kind of dark, crime mystery thriller atmosphere that has something with space missions.
Wayne Scott Harral and his book, Moon Luck, recently received a warm welcome and praise from fellow authors during ReadersMagnet’s first-ever virtual book fair, The Festival of Storytellers. The book was nominated for three categories of the Storyteller’s Quill Awards.
To know more about Wayne Scott Harral and his work, you can purchase a copy or visit his website today.
About the Author
Since 1957, Wayne Scott Harral has been around and has worked as a Coast Guard officer, private pilot, engineer, and constructor of infrastructure. Harral holds a BS, MS, and MBA in Civil Engineering and has provided construction management services mainly in the rail industry throughout the United States.
He has traveled and worked in Qatar and the Middle East. He considers this experience as an eye-opener for him. Scott enjoys traveling and has been to over 40 countries. His favorite is the Italian Alps which he visits every year. Scott’s travel and adventures outside the country exposed him to various cultures and lifestyles. Harral enjoys keeping an active lifestyle. His many hobbies include martial arts, flying, winemaking, and traveling. The novel Moon Luck is his major literary work to date.