Lunar Descent

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/lunar-descent-by-allen-steele/

This is the first novel by Allen Steele that I have read in full – I read the two sections of Coyote that were Hugo finalists, but never sat down to read the full thing. I confess that I got it purely because it is set in 2024, 33 years after the publication date of 1991. The world is not so different from the present day except that there is a functioning lunar industrial colony, churning out special components for Earth’s booming electronics industry. The colony is badly run, and our protagonist, a disgraced former astronaut with addiction problems, is sent to sort things out. He is joined by a tough female NASA security agent and a hacking genius who specialises in show more undetectable electronic crime. It’s rather a good romp, inevitably reminiscent of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but from a rather more obviously left-wing point of view (and I’m not saying that is a bad thing). show less

If he hadn't stopped using (Overusing!) the word "Copacetic" by a third way through the book I probably would have throw it out my door.
But he did, and it turned out to be enjoyable.

The quality of writing by Allen Steele really improved with this novel. His previous two books 'Orbital Decay' and 'Clarke County, Space!', had very interesting characters, and some good ideas, but did not quite hold together. 'Lunar Descent' has all the positives of the earlier books, adding stronger writing and plotting. It was a pleasure to read. You need not read the earlier books to pick this one up.

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