- austrianspencer
Moonfellows - by Danger Slater
I knew, going into Moonfellows, that this book contained humor, so I expected a mix of horror and satire and looked forward to seeing how Danger managed that combination. The obvious answer, I thought, was to make the character stupidly likable. Someone who would probably be an underdog, someone to root for, with a relatable and satirical sense of humor and outlook on life. Through that medium, Danger would probably make light of the horror he presented, and the situations the main character faced, and tie it all up nicely somehow at the end to leave the reader with a warm fuzzy glow.
What I wasn’t expecting Slater to do, was make a fairytale. The cunning, sly devil.
It’s sickening how funny this damn book is. Not only did it have me chuckling (Humbug!) at the characters' insights, but the improbable becomes real here. The rules are discarded early on, and the narrative rolls along with you eagerly awaiting the next lough-out-loud moment.
Here's something I don't normally do - include the back cover blurb, to give better context to my thoughts:
ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP INTO THE EXISTENTIAL ABYSS
Washington DC. 1906. The inaugural mission of the Moonfellow Program. A chance to shape the future of civilization as we know it. Our first tentative steps out into the stars...
It was a complete and unequivocal disaster.
Now a hapless gravedigger finds himself among the handful of survivors stranded on the lunar surface—forced to contend with madness, conspiracies, and whatever-the-fuck that thing is on the dark side, picking them off one by one.
This is the 100% true-ish story of the brave men and women we abandoned on the moon.
Spoiler alert: Fortunately for our heroes, the air on the moon is similar to our own, and the local tribe of slugs provides much-needed sustenance in the form of slug cocktails. Horror is introduced with one of the crew members transforming into a man/moon slug type of monster, and by that point, you are feeding out of Slater’s hand anyway. There are so many funny moments in the book that it seems criminal to highlight any, yet the pilot practicing in his bathtub is golden, as is the pirate ship’s method of orbital trajectory (how obvious!). I could go on. You get one of these moments consistently throughout the book.
It’s magnificent.
Slater performs like Pratchett, effortlessly blending two dramatically opposed genres into one consistently brilliant one. The reader is swept up in his logic and accepts every new reality as true, blindly accepting his word and eagerly anticipating where the next reveal is coming from. I will now have to go and buy his back catalogue to see if it is more of the same.
Danger, you have a fan. Loved it. This was pure entertainment.
5 out of 5 ⭐‘s and a very memorable introduction to Danger Slater.
This might be Danger-ous, but I suggest you try this at home too.
You can buy Moonfellows, by clicking on the appropriate Amazon link below:
You can visit Danger's website, HERE.
You can follow Danger on Twitter, HERE.
You can follow Danger on Instagram, HERE.
