I just finished my first book of #SciFiMonth2026.
Despite the fact I had a planned TBR for #SciFiMonth, shortly after takeoff, I got abducted by aliens (of course). This took me completely off course, and a book not on my TBR ended up being the first one I picked up.
That book is When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi.
In my defense, I had Scalzi on my TBR. It was just one of his more serious SciFi books instead of this more fun, lighthearted SciFi book.
I won’t rehash the premise of the book as I assume you can read the synopsis for yourself. And really, the title and cover rather give away the premise of the book—what happens when the moon turns to cheese.
People, the moon has turned to fucking cheese. The president can’t not have a press conference about this.
The premise of the moon turning to cheese happens fairly quickly in the second chapter (no dillydallying). And each chapter represents a day in the lunar cycle with different characters in different places in the U.S. reacting to the cheese.
In other words, the book is basically made up of a series of interconnected vignettes.
I described this book a “more fun, lighthearted SciFi” than some of his other books because this book based isn’t hard science. Hard cheese, maybe, but definitely not hard science. Scalzi himself admits in the afterword that “the science in this book is . . . extremely loosey-goosey.”
The characters come from all walks of life, from a billionaire CEO of an aerospace company to high school social outcasts. Cheese shop owners to NASA astronauts. A washed out rock star and the president of the United States. Some of the characters (like the president) show up in more than one chapter, and some (like the rock star) are only in one chapter.
A couple of the chapters are written as articles from a newspaper, and one is a slack channel and another a reddit post. But the majority are written from the point of view of the characters in that chapter.
Some of the characters I could definitely see who Scalzi modeled them on. For example, the billionaire CEO of the aerospace company has never never actually invented anything. He just pays companies a bunch of money to become the CEO and then takes credit for everything the real engineers do.
Sound familiar?
Happily, the billionaire CEO dies a cheesy death. And no, I’m not being punny there.
While there were many (maybe too many?) cheese puns, none of the humor made me laugh out loud like some of his other books. I did appreciate that the story really is about everyday people dealing with an unprecedented situation. And I thought Scalzi had some beautiful sentiments about what’s really important, what faith really should be, and just on what it means to be human.
But this story just didn’t engage me quite as much as his other books even though I found the moon changing to cheese to be an interesting idea (even if the concept is a bit ridiculous). I started reading a paperback copy but switched to the audiobook version (read by Wil Wheaton) when I found myself waning. Wil’s narration keep me engaged. And I found it amusing the several times when Wil sounded like he was getting tickled by the story.
Overall, while I enjoyed the book, When the Moon Hits Your Eye is not one I’ll revisit again. And it’s not even close to being my favorite* Scalzi. Amusing concept, but the vignette style just didn’t quite have me melting with laughter.
Did Shakespeare write about cheese?
If he didn’t, he should have. Annette giggled. The Tragedy of Romano and Jarlsberg, she said.
Two cheese shops, both alike in dignity, Felix intoned. In fair Madison, where we lay our scene.
First book of the month done. I’m now back on course and will next report on one of the books from my #SciFiMonth TBR.
Promise.
* My favorite Scalzi book remains Starter Villain.
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