It is the year 2024, and Moonbase has just been officially opened, with the VP of the United States presiding. It's shortly after this that a giant, swiftly moving comet named Tomiko is discovered to be on a collision course with the Earth's moon, a revelation that dampens the festivities somewhat. I spent the first few chapters thinking that the comet would somehow be diverted, but it seems that McDevitt understands how very difficult that is, and everyone spends their time trying to avoid being near the moon when it's blown up, or to live amongst the falling rocks earthbound afterwards.

This is a thick book, 540 pages with smallish type, but I still read it all. (And I can't boast a lengthy attention span either...) I had a few problems with this book, but none of them were technical in nature (except for one part where someone performs an EVA using a plastic bag as a makeshift helmet. I still don't think that's likely to work). There were merely that, every now and again, I would stop and think: "Why do so many people care about the hundreds escaping the moon when they're about to receive chunks of it at high velocity into their living rooms?" "Why is it the US that is the focus of this book if it's gonna be a global disaster?" "Why are people so obsessed about their political futures when their earthly one is about to disappear?". Fortunately, I think McDevitt is actually using this last point to poke fun at the US political system, but I'm not real sure.

In general, it's quite a good book, and it's only by tending to overlook things like the fact that the moon stabilizes the earth, causes tides, affects weather, etc, that "Moonfall" doesn't get a better rating. If you're the type to prefer "Deep Impact" over "Armageddon" because of the (slightly) higher realism value, then you'd like this book.