Waiting on Wednesday – When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. This week to celebrate the new year I am doing two Waiting on Wednesday posts to really highlight some awesome upcoming books. I have already looked at the upcoming Usagi Yojimbo volume by Stan Sakai, The Crow, and in this post I want to talk about a cool and hilarious upcoming science fiction novel, When the Moon Hits Your Eye by the always entertaining John Scalzi.

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Scalzi is a fantastic author whose career is defined by an array of intriguing and inventive science fiction novels. Best known for his Old Man’s War series, Scalzi has produced some impressive and fun series and standalone novels over the years, including the hilarious Redshirts, the compelling monster focused The Kaiju Preservation Society, and the outstanding 2023 release, Starter Villain. All these novels were really fun and entertaining in their own unique ways, and I have resolved to try and grab all of Scalzi’s new books whenever they come out.

To that end, I really want to highlight Scalzi’s next upcoming novel because it sounds so damn outrageous and distinctive. This book, When the Moon Hits Your Eye, is currently set for release in March 2025 and features a unique and memorable plot that is very Scalzi. I honestly laughed myself silly the first time I saw what this book was going be based around, although I must admit it has a lot of potential.

Plot Synopsis:

One day, without explanation, the moon turns into a ball of cheese.

For some, it’s an opportunity. For others, it’s time to question their life choices. How can the world stay the same in the face of such absurdity and uncertainty?

Astronauts and billionaires, comedians and bank executives, professors and presidents, teenagers and patients at the end of their lives – over the length of a lunar cycle, each gets their moment in the moonlight. To panic, to plan, to wonder and to hope, to laugh and to grieve. All in a story that goes all the places you’d expect, and to many others you could never anticipate. For the people of the earth, this could be the end – or the beginning of a whole new world.

From the Hugo and Locus Award-winning author John Scalzi, When the Moon Hits Your Eye is an entirely serious take on an entirely unserious subject.

So yeah, this is going to be a book about the moon turning into a big ball of cheese, and if that isn’t a Scalzi story than I don’t know what is. While When the Moon Hits Your Eye sounds a bit weird, I personally am really excited for it. Scalzi has a great track record of turning unlikely stories into outstanding books and I think this could be one of his better ones. I am very interested in seeing how Scalzi envisions this massive lunar change impacting the entire world, and it should result in some very fun and unique scenarios.

Based on the synopsis above, it seems like Scalzi is going for a wide-spread character-focussed plot with When the Moon Hits Your Eye as he examines multiple people impacted by this phenomenon across the world. Setting this over the length of a lunar cycle and seeing all the different ways characters react has some real potential, and I am sure Scalzi will fit in his usual clever humour and great character work.

While I was already planning to grab the new Scalzi before I knew anything about it, When the Moon Hits Your Eye is now very high on my to-read list thanks to the crazy synopsis above. I am so damn curious to see what sort of outrageous and fun narrative John Scalzi will weave around the moon turning into a ball of cheese, and it is clear we are in for a wild ride. When the Moon Hits Your Eye will easily be one of the more distinctive science fiction novels of 2025 and I cannot wait to power through this unlikely story the first chance I can.