Farside Cannon

Author: Roger Macbride Allen

This is yet another novel with the Moon as threat, and another which plays with the idea of the dark side of the Moon. In this instance a superweapon is being constructed on the farside of the Moon, a weapon which would give absolute mastery of the solar system. Except it's not a weapon to start with. A geologist from the Moon finds himself in the middle of a major political battle when he reveals that an asteroid that has been captured for mining could be a major threat to the earth. His views are taken up by a fanatical fringe group, while the corporations intent on mining the asteroid are after his blood. But on the farside of the Moon he finds an automatic factory building a massive communications laser that he realises could be repurposed. Why it's on the list: In many ways this is a quite simplistic adventure story, and Allen certainly has a flair for the melodramatic. But at the same time he provides some intriguing and often amusing insights into the nature of lunar society.