The Moon King by Neil Williamson

I ended up with mixed feelings about Neil Williamson's debut novel, The Moon King, loving the setting and the premise, quite enjoying the beginning, and mostly responding to the often lyrical prose, but finding as my reading went on that my appreciation was beginning to dwindle. In the end, I'd say it's an impressive first novel in many ways, very impressive actually, but one that shows some first novel cracks that widen as the novel progresses.

The setting is the island city of Glassholm, founded 500 years ago by "The Lunane," he who saved their civilization half a millennium ago by capturing the moon and tethering its orbit to the city. Since then, the population's moods and behaviors wax and wane with the moon: the people are depressed and listless during The Dark, and hedonistically carefree during The Full. But it isn't just the people who respond to the moon's phases — food ... Read More