MOONWAR

Having done all the stage-setting for his near/medium-future lunar saga in Moonrise (1996), Bova slams right into the action in this declaration-of-independence sequel. The fanatical UN Secretary General, Georges Faure, determined to destroy Moonbase and the nanotechnology he has successfully outlawed on Earth, dispatches a force of Peacekeepers to land on the Moon and occupy the defenseless facility. But whiz-kid Doug Stavenger, his body full of nanomachines that preserve and keep him healthy, has other ideas. So, as brilliant but irascible nanomachines designer/programmer Wilhelm Zimmerman protects Moonbase from the UN troops, Doug slowly uncovers the complicated plotting behind Faure's move: A small group of zealots will do anything to prevent the growth of nanotechnology; the chairman of the Masterson Corporation, owner of Moonbase, wants to be mega-rich; and the owner of the powerful Yamagata Corporation has overwhelming personal reasons for wanting control of Moonbase. The first UN attack is defeated, but another will surely follow, while a saboteur prowls Moonbase and an assassin with a grudge goes after Doug's mother while she's on Earth attempting to negotiate. Somehow, Doug must swing public opinion behind Moonbase, its bid for independence, and its pro-nanotechnology stance, and defend it against the fanatical killers who would murder everybody on the Moon rather than allow Moonbase to survive. Rousing, inventive, persuasively knotty, with loads of tension and excitement: overall, far more involving and gripping than the previous volume.