The third of John Scalzi's "whimsical what-if silliness" books, a loose grouping of books that start with a vaguely preposterous sci-fi starting point, and then commits to taking that idea seriously. The Kaiju Preservation Society posited an alternate universe inhabited by kaiju which occasionally made incursions into our world, which needed protecting to stop that happening. Starter Villain took the idea of James Bond villains seriously and flung our protagonist into the midst of it. When The Moon Hits Your Eye is the most preposterous, and not strictly a modern sci-fi jumping off point at all, namely what if one day the moon turned into cheese.

Unlike Kaiju and Villain, When The Moon Hits Your Eye does not have a proper central protagonist. It's a collage of vignettes of people invested in the moon and how it turning into cheese affects them. So there are astronauts whose moon mission is cancelled, there are politicians trying to disseminate information. Some rich people want to be the first to taste moon cheese, and there is a very, very thinly veiled Elon Musk analogue who hijacks his own public/private partnership rocket to be the first man on the cheese-moon. This is all peppered with some stab at a scientific breakdown of what the moon turning into cheese would mean (it changes size and position to maintain mass and still have tidal effects - but also pure cheese is not made to be put under such gravitational stress so it's slowly starts to break up).

This is a lot of fun, and there isn't really a dud amongst the vignettes (even a quite tangential sex scandal has a bit of heft as a story, as does the cheesemonger romance). Scalzi is having fun and there is never a point where you think he has gotten bored of the inherent silliness of the premise, or indeed its arbitrary occurrence leading to a equally arbitrary conclusion feels acceptable under the circumstances. Lots of fun.

i've been telling absolutely everyone about this book!!! 'ok listen to this! the moon turns to cheese and -- yes, like wallace and gromit, no they're not mentioned.' i love books that show different areas of society -- this covers the impact on people like hollywood producers receiving film pitches, school playgrounds, the oval office, international relations, cheese sales. such an interesting way to explore this. and then i was worried how this could possibly end, and i really loved the ending.

one of my faves of the year!

‘Never let a good crisis go to waste’ is a maxim that not just tries to be optimistic in the face of bad news but also shows that we humans are always looking for an angle. How can we use this to further our ow goals? They may be for the public good or for our own self-interest. How do we deal when the universe throws a true curveball at us. What about if the moon turned to cheese? That’s the premise of John Scalzi’s very interesting satirical science fiction novel When The Moon Hits Your Eye and we follow across the United States how one unexpected event creates a wave of changes small and major to a society.

The Neil Armstrong museum gets the first hint when their moon sample from the Apollo mission goes missing. But then everyone else’s does too. and the moon seems both bigger and shinier than it ever has before. For reasons unknown the moon has turned into a ‘organic matrix’ which NASA much prefers to saying cheese. From derailments to the new privatised space programme to film schemes, churches and cheese shops the world is rocked and changed. But also people start to realise that a moon made of cheese actually could be a lot more dangerous than anyone realised before.

Overall, I enjoyed this a lot because however strange an event we have (and Scalzi never really explains it) it’s the consequences of a strange event that I feel Scalzi particularly grabs the american approach to a crisis. It is very hard not to think back to the Pandemic and how a true black swan event can suddenly hit all the strata of a society at once. To do this Scalzi has moved away from a standard single plot and cast and opted for a set of small interludes some more linked than others and a spine focused around the space programme. This allows Scalzi to create small sketches some just for laughs while others offer more poignant perspectives. We see media production have to stop all moon-based plans (that poor Space 1999 reboot!) and instead a huge amount of cheese themes shows are dangled – the puns are deliciously terrible. Every rich entitled person wants to taste the moon while we also have some mid-western philosophy on death, taking events in their stride and even when to have faith in god and when not to. It’s a really broad look at society and does remind me of how everyone had to rethink their daily lives a few years ago but here for more cosmic reasons that what we thought was one thing now is not. If I have a slight niggle is Scalzi’s characters often tend to sound the same in these sketches – snarky, punny and warm hearted so while I enjoyed the debates and banter the characters here didn’t really jump out so much to stand out many pages later.

The main spine around the space programme allows Scalzi to look at the influence of billionaires and I am sure that Jody Bannon a thin skinned, greedy, amoral and frankly obnoxious one who is running the rocket programme to the moon does not resemble any real billionaire we may be thinking of…totally. Jody is a truly unpleasant conniving character that loves to get what he wants and yet his interludes also reveal the danger of the novel. Scalzi does use this to explore the influence of these cretins and how they malign all they touch. Its satisfyingly explored and sets up the book’s greater reveal about a cheese moon’s dangerous side. One that is both funny and tragic. Here is where a few of the issues I had with the book come through. It’s a very US centric viewpoint – very little thought about the wider impacts and the resolution while in some ways makes sense feels a little pat. There is a glimpse that Scalzi is prepared to show humans at their worst when a ‘Moon Flip-off’ party suddenly gets very dangerous but it quickly gets wrapped up and even leads to romance and family reconciliation. There is a theme that our better instincts always come through in a crisis, but this darker side is only really glimpsed at (even in the book’s code that people start to think it was all a conspiracy theory). Knowing the other aftermath of Covid on fringe groups getting powerful and darker forces using is to create havoc to their own advantages so it is disappointing that for a satire Scalzi seems to have pulled a punch or two to allow the more stable-minded mid-western states the book focuses one like to come through as where the true face of America lies. That feels based on where the USA now seems to be perhaps overly optimistic. Even the book’s US President who we are told only likes simple words explained to him seems to be a more humane operator than we are first expecting. It feels a little much more these things will pass rather than we need to knuckle down and doe the hard work to fix things even when huge danger threatens our way of life. I think sometimes satire works best putting a bit more bite into it and holding a true mirror to ourselves may work even better

Saying that I found this a lot more interesting than I was initially expecting Its less simple cheese themed zany hijinks and more a wider look at american life and culture even if could have perhaps had a bit more punch. As such if you want something more in the vein of light-hearted fun and yet thoughtful I still think it is highly recommended!

This bizarre novel about what would happen if the moon suddenly turned into cheese delves into the breadth of human experience and the ways we respond to the unexplainable.

I really like the way it’s structured, and the varied POVs that read like overlapping short stories. Over the course of one lunar cycle (where each chapter is a different day), you slip into the minds of priests and presidents, scientists, astronauts, lovers and conspiracy theorists. You are forced to think about the best and worst of humanity, and the aspects of each that would persist until the end of the world.

I also appreciate all the research the author obviously had to do. The chapters and characters are so varied it must have been like researching for a whole anthology of tales!

Clearly, some inspiration was taken from recent events like the COVID pandemic, and the author makes some interesting points about how we as humans act in the face of world-altering events.

Though I wasn’t a fan of the constant cheese puns and wry humour, I do applaud the creative thinking that went into the conversations and descriptions, from how people would deal with humanity’s end date to whether or not people would want to eat the moon cheese.

All in all, while the point of this novel eludes me as much as the type of moon cheese eludes the experts in the story, it’s still a fun ‘what if’ experiment and quite unlike anything else I’ve read.

Ha llegado un momento en el que creo que, escriba lo que escriba John Scalzi, lo va a vender. Y para certificar mi teoría, aquí tenemos When the Moon Hits Your Eye, que parte de una de las premisas más absurdas que se te puedan ocurrir. La Luna se convierte de la noche a la mañana en queso, ¿qué consecuencias podría tener eso para la humanidad? Y partiendo de esa base, el escritor nos ofrece más de 300 páginas, divididas en capítulos vagamente conectados, sobre qué podría ocurrir en el mundo (más bien en Estados Unidos) si esto pasase.


La estructura del libro es episódica, con cada capítulo representando un día en la vida de alguno de los personajes tras el cambio lunar. Aunque empieza con astronautas y científicos de la NASA, pronto se desvía hacia sucesos más mundanos y, a mi entender, totalmente irrelevantes. Puede que su intención fuera escribir un slice of life ante una tragedia predestinada a destruir el mundo desde una óptica graciosa, pero me temo que no consigue mantener el interés. Desde el billonario egocéntrico que ha construido la nave espacial que iba a aterrizar en nuestro satélite tras décadas de abandono al billonario egocéntrico que pretende convertirse en el primer humano en comerse un trozo de la Luna, pasando por los hermanos dueños de sendas tiendas de queso enfrentados por unos sucesos que pasaron hace décadas, Scalzi elige unos personajes muy variopintos, quizá con inclinación a una crítica social que queda bastante roma.

Tampoco beneficia a la lectura del libro la salida facilona que busca como solución del conflicto generado. Me ha parecido un libro totalmente prescindible.

If the moon was made of cheese, would you eat some?

I'd maybe have a nibble 😆 I'm not a huge cheese lover lol 🧀

I definitely thought my day to post was tomorrow so apologies it's a late one!

As to be expected with a Scalzi book I couldn't wait to get started and I questioned everything and had no idea what was happening at all. This book starts with the moon changing into cheese and then goes on to look at how this effects people ... how did this happen? Why did this happen? It's pretty bonkers in all honesty.

There were a lot of different characters in this one, almost too many for me as I didn't feel the story moved very quickly at all due to them. Each chapter is a new character on each day following the event, it just meant I didn't feel very connected to the narrative but it was interesting all the same.

Ultimately, this was a laugh and full of cheese puns which I thoroughly enjoyed, proper dad jokes 🤣. It was nice to read a book that doesn't take itself too seriously! I knew it was going to be fun going in and that's what I got.

Definitely one for fans of Douglas Adams, Space Balls etc 🚀🌙

Rating of 4.75 out of 5 stars.

Prepare for one of the most outrageous and original science fiction novels of 2025 with the fun, heartwarming and very entertaining novel, When the Moon Hits Your Eye by the always fantastic John Scalzi.

John Scalzi is a very entertaining science fiction author who has been providing his unique take on the genre for years. Best known for Old Man’s War and The Interdependency series, Scalzi has also written a range of distinctive standalone science fiction novels that provide interesting takes on the world, as well as satirising certain elements of pop culture. I have had a wonderful time reading novels like Redshirts, The Kaiju Preservation Society and Starter Villian, and all of them proved to be amazing books. As such, I have been making a strong effort to read all Scalzi’s new novels, including his 2025 release, When the Moon Hits Your Eye. A captivating read with a unique premise behind it, When the Moon Hits Your Eye was one of my most anticipated books of 2025, and I am so glad that I got the chance to read it.

Plot Synopsis:

The moon has turned into cheese.

Now humanity has to deal with it.

For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now... something absolutely impossible.

Astronauts and billionaires, comedians and bank executives, professors and presidents, teenagers and terminal patients at the end of their lives -- over the length of an entire lunar cycle, each get their moment in the moonlight. To panic, to plan, to wonder and to pray, to laugh and to grieve. All in a kaleidoscopic novel that goes all the places you’d expect, and then to so many places you wouldn’t.

It’s a wild moonage daydream. Ride this rocket.

Alright, so I knew going in that I was going to love When the Moon Hits Your Eye, primarily because it’s John Scalzi examining what happens when the moon turns to cheese, and that’s such an awesomely wacky premise. However, even with that expectation, I was surprised at how much fun I had with When the Moon Hits Your Eye, especially as Scalzi presents a compelling, thoroughly amusing and genuinely nice book that I ended up powering through in only a couple of days.

To see the full review, click on the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2025/04/16/...

An abridged review of this book also ran in the Canberra Weekly on 10 April 2025:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2025/04/16/canberra-weekly-column-fantasy-and-science-fiction-10-april-2025/

For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/

John Scalzi has become one of my absolute favorite science fiction writers because he comes up with some of the most unhinged ideas but then they somehow just work!! I had so much fun reading this book!!

I have never met a John Scalzi book that I haven't loved, and 'When the Moon Hits Your Eye' was just as enjoyable for me as all his earlier books. I won't recap the synopsis but will just say that I cannot believe that I was weeping over a book about the moon turning to cheese. Of course it is a ridiculous notion but there is so much more to this book than 'cheesy' jokes and silliness. There are passages in this story that are very sobering and thought provoking. Not for the first time has John Scalzi's writing had some very meaningful things to say about life and death while still giving the reader a highly entertaining time. I loved this book and I cannot wait for the next one.

John Scalzi’s When the Moon Hits Your Eye is what I’ve come to excpect from the author that has fast become a favourite since Starter Villain last year. The book is a masterful blend of speculative fiction and and his trademark slightly mad sense of humour. The book explores a world teetering on the edge of catastrophe after a bizarre event, and tells the story of how America grapples with forces beyond its control. It’s funny, touching and echoes a classic in a way I didn’t expect – though I loved the digs at the billionaire class one of whom I really felt was Elon ;).

Scalzi’s book amazed me by making me think of the classic Neville Shute book “On the Beach” which I read at scgool. Let me explain, it’s the way its structured with some of it about people preparing for what they think is the end of the world and how society deals with there being a timeline. Where Shute used the looming spectre of nuclear fallout to explore human resilience, Scalzi employs a lunar anomaly and cheese to look at similar themes. Obviously there’s a sense of the silliness and absurdity with Scalzi but the way in which he tells, and doesn’t finish some of the stories makes it an interesting read. Scalzi’s wry humour and the absurd background to the story (as well as some genuinely funny moments) keeps the narrative from sinking into unrelenting gloom. The novel’s scientific background are as plausible as they can be given the subject, serving as the backdrop for the drama rather than a distraction from it. Scalzi’s story is never relentless though, it always offers a flicker of hope. This balance of dread and possibility really makes it feel like a complete story.

What I loved about When the Moon Hits Your Eye was Scalzi’s ability to temper the tension with his humour and its ongoing optimism, with the premise and Scalzi’s style it feels like it couldn’t descend into darkness. Scalzi’s skill lies in his restraint, he never explains what causes the mystery – which is good because he couldn’t satisfactorily imo and the story emerges as a powerful story that haunts, its vision of a moonlit reckoning makes little sense but the story is so strong it doesn’t matter. Scalzi was an author I’ve come to love and the book was instantly on my tbr list and it didn’t disappoint. If you’ve liked his other books and want a book that is book silly but actually has an interesting and dark premise at times despite the silly backdrop it’s highly recommended!

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
Publication Date: 27th March 2025

Thank you very much to Pan Macmillan and Tor for providing this cheesy ARC!

Truly, this was such a grate book and I cheddar get on with it, to make sure there will not brie any more cheese puns. As a fan of more humorous science fiction and someone who has always been intrigued by John Scalzi, I knew I had to request this one! It poses one very important question: what would happen if the moon turned to cheese?

Of course, there is no explanation behind this, plus there was less scientific gravity and more suspended belief holding the logic of this book afloat. So, scientists and logical brains, you have been warned, this book does not give satisfactory answers as to why the moon is cheese! Instead, it was a lot more plot and character focused, and took on different characters and situations per chapter. Some chapters felt like more hastily drawn cartoons, others like tragic snapshots of the fleeting quality of human life. For this reason, it was less of a book about the moon turning into cheese, more a book of what people would and would not do, if the moon turned to cheese. This, crazy as it was, was oddly comforting – though it was perhaps also enough of a book to cause an existential crisis at most, or reflect on how bright life seemed after the Covid pandemic, at the very least. So, yes, very back and forth in terms of emotions.

What was also remarkable was that this book, despite its contents, managed an emotional and narrative arc based on…a cheesy moon. It even managed societal commentary and some subtle advice to rethink, while it was at it.It also made me smile. Not quite laugh, because I don’t think it quite hit my humor like a comet hitting earth, but it certainly tried. Then, it no longer did. It got tragic towards the end and delivered an end that…well, made the entire book feel like a bit of a waste. Therefore, I do have to say that the tonal changes, including the attempt to go from comedic to serious, then serious back to comedic, was the major weakness of the book. It left me having several levels of whiplash: where I cared about the narrative, then did not. I was enjoying it, then it felt preachy. I was going along with the logic, then felt lost. Scalzi himself claims in the Author Note that this was a hard book to write. Sadly, it showed, especially in taking such a limited concept and trying to mold it into a satisfying narrative shape, only to not fully realize what that night mean or what it could potentially say.

Overall, this book was fun, but fun did not stop it from being a bit like pizza cheese: a little too stretched, and a bit lost amid the herbs and tomato sauce. But this is definitely one to read if you are looking for an original and humorous piece of science fiction!

This was fun, a silly (mostly) light-hearted story of the moon turning to cheese and everyone's reactions. I'm not really a short story reader so that slowed me down but it was cool to see the different perspectives of people as they reacted to the news.

Again, a very funny, weird, believable book. I had such a great time with the story and the concept of following different people dealing with it on every day of the moon cycle.
I was so emotionally invested in most of them!!
Loved this book! Such a great ride.

3.5 STARS

It took me the longest time to finish this book, but this is not because it was bad. It’s just that this is built more like a collection of short stories than a whole, singular story. And sure, some of these stories are more interconnected than others; we have some recurring characters (like the President of the United States or the astronauts who were preparing for a new launch on the Moon) and there is a common denominator to all of them, but still… this is more alike a collection of short stories than a novel, and so I started reading a couple of stories here and there, between other reading and I didn’t see a reason to change that. Hence, the long reading time.

But mind me, I enjoyed the book. I didn’t love it, but it was fun, and I enjoyed it. I think this has a lot of things in common with Starter Villain (even if I enjoyed that one a tad more): it has a brilliant premise, and it is full of humor, but the realization of it is not as clever or as good as the premise led me to expect. Maybe it’s just me, and I was expecting too much from this. I can’t really say. But still, this book is a big exercise in the “what if” game, and the brilliant idea is “what if the moon suddenly becomes made of cheese”.
It’s as simple as that. And so brilliant. Because, come on! It is brilliant!!

In general, I think that the book is not as brilliant or as funny as I wanted it to be, but it is still quite fun, and we have some really satisfying stories, too. Like all collections of stories, some talked to me more than others; some I loved, and some I didn’t. But I don’t think there were bad ones, just good ones and less-good ones.
Every story is a day in this new, changed World. The first one is the day in which the Moon became made of cheese, and every other story is a day after, and the spotlight is on so many different characters. We have the ones who are more directly involved and invested in the Moon situation, like the group of astronauts who were preparing for a new Moon launch, the President of the United States, or an egomaniac billionaire who always wanted to go on the Moon; but we also have days from the perspective of normal people, who are not so involved (but still, this big change affect everyone). And so we have stories from college or school students (a couple of favorites of mine are about two college students, one who needs a new job because she has to pay for her studies and one that needs a job because he just took a sabbatical from college, and how they met. This is a really short short version of it, but the stories that have them with characters were among my favorites), stories from older people and stories from people in a lot of different jobs (and another one of my favorites was of a woman in real state business. This is one of the most satisfying stories!!). Anyway, you get the gist. We get a lot of different POVs on the same event, and it is interesting to see how it affects everyone.

All in all, I had fun, and I think that you can choose to read it as a cohesive story or like a collection, taking your time reading a couple of them here and there, and the book will work perfectly both ways. It could have been a tad more fun or involving, but I am still happy to have read it, and the premise is genius, so…no complaints here!

This was my first John Scalzi book, and I really enjoyed it. I picked it up because it’s a standalone novel, and the premise sounded both unique and intriguing. Scalzi takes the absurd concept of the moon being replaced by a giant ball of cheese and explores its consequences from multiple perspectives. While the idea itself is humorous, the book goes beyond comedy, delving into how different people and institutions might react to such an outlandish event.

What stood out to me the most was Scalzi’s sense of humor. His writing is sharp, engaging, and genuinely funny, making the story an entertaining read. However, one drawback for me was the sheer number of characters. There’s no central protagonist, and I tend to prefer books with strong character development. That said, despite the sprawling cast, the book kept me entertained, and I found myself laughing out loud more than once.

Overall, this was a fun and lighthearted read, and it has definitely made me want to explore more of John Scalzi’s work.

Thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I've read 2 books of John Scalzi before. The Kaiju Preservation Society was fun but I enjoyed the heck out of Starter Villian which was the reason behind me requesting this ARC.
I liked the idea of moon changing into cheese followed with its consequences so, I picked this up with a certain level of expectation. The book does not really follow any one person's story even though we get so many perspectives. This shows the lives of random people scattered across America on how moon turning into cheese has affected their lives or in some cases, how they see this as an opportunity to benefit themselves. Very few perspectives get follow up chapters within those 30 days but the rest were kind of conclusive on their own or left for interpretation. The usual Scalzi humour fell flat and the cheesy puns were just boring after a few. This was an experience for sure but not one I think is worth the effort.

What are your views on cheese? Lover? Hater? Lactose Intolerant? I love cheese – all cheese, even the ultra-stinky, blue cheese – Roquefort, Stilton – I’m here armed with my crusty bread/crackers and of course my tray of pickles! So when I was asked if I wanted to read the arc of When The Moon Hits Your Eye – of course, I said yes cheese!

This core focus of John Scalzi’s latest book is What if the moon turned into cheese? Firstly, I have to congratulate Mr Scalzi on being brave enough to take on such a challenge and do it in such a way that even science is factored in! The moon plays a core role in the functioning of sea tides and Mr Scalzi not only looks at it from a scientific perspective – you know astronauts and scientists, examinations of moon mass and volume but, he also takes a turn in the shoes of others.

Filled with cheesy puns galore, Scalzi traverses the perspectives of many from scientist to a uni student, a cheese shop owner, a writer, and of course an insanely irrational billionaire…I’m not going there, read the book and you’ll get it.

I absolutely loved how their perspectives were presented as almost a standalone series of separate stories but, all ultimately played a role in progressing the plot of the story and providing a never-ending stream of cheesy puns! When the Moon Hits Your Eye is a hugely fun read, that will get you thinking and I hope like me, definitely tickle your funny bone, plus it also provided me with a wonderful escape from reality…even if it did leave me with an urge for lots more stinky cheese and balsamic pickled onions…

Thank you so much Pan MacMillan for sharing this arc with me and allowing me to join the Book Tour for When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi.

Totally all of the opinions in this review, including those on cheese and pickles are most utterly and totally my own!

Only John Scalzi could get me to read, love and order a special edition copy of a book about the moon turning into cheese.

I loved everything about this book the "science" of the cheese moon, the reaction of the world and the characters all hit the perfect tone. The way that we got to meet multiple sets of characters throughout this book and really connect with them is a testament to the authors skill. I could quite easily have read an entire novel following any of the characters presented but I'm so glad we didn't, getting to meet them all was even better and I wouldn't have known what I was missing if we had.

The style of writing for me was just exactly in the middle of enough "science" that we weren't feeling like this wasn't serious but enough attention to the humour of the craziness that we still perfectly got how entirely ridiculous the premise was.

I 100% recommend this book for anyone that enjoys a tongue in cheek sci fi book that is both fun and thoughtful

I read an arc of this book from netgalley (apparently it takes time to print and ship special editions)

I really loved this book, unexpected in a lot of places but also exactly what you’d expect from a John Scalzi book as well. We meet an incredible array of characters throughout the book and some make multiple appearances and others don’t. I mean they might all do but I just haven’t been smart enough to notice everyone. I don’t think this book will be for you if you want a very clear cut plot, but not having one adds to the charm for me. The book can ask you some philosophical questions if you’d like but you can also just take it at face value if you like. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

An utterly bizarre book that takes the premise 'what if the moon turned into cheese?' and runs away with it, to both logical and hilarious extremes (albeit not always both at once).

It's written as a series of interconnected short stories and the points-of-view are incredibly varied, from astronauts hoping to go up to the moon (until it turns to cheese), to a non-fiction author making no money (until the moon turns to cheese), to a young woman hoping for a normal job at the cheese shop (then the moon turns to cheese), to an irrational billionaire making jibes at Musk (especially once the moon is cheese!) and so on.

My only issue with stories told in this way is that I tend to read them one chapter at a time, think 'that's very nice' and then put the book down for a while - they don't tend to have the same narrative thrust. But in this case, the moon becomes quite the threat and so it did keep pulling me back in.

This is a light book - there are little bits of sort of hard SF in there, but only like a hard cheese variant. It's mostly just fun. A giant 'what if?' That's not going to work for everyone, but it worked for me! I cared about the characters, and I cared about the cheese puns.