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What do you Guys Have Against the Moon?


 


 In the movie Moonfall, an alien entity knocks the Moon out of orbit

 In John Scalzi’s When the Moon Hits Your Eye, the Moon is turned into a substance not unlike cheese.

 In Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, the Moon explodes, literally on the first page.

 In The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber, a new “planet” suddenly appears near the moon and starts consuming the Moon.


Seriously, what does science fiction have against the Moon? What did it ever do to these writers? Was it shining too brightly while you were trying to sleep one night? Did something bad happen to you during a full moon? Were you on a drunken bender and the Moon was mocking you while you puked into a ditch?

I guess after the Sun, the moon is the most dramatic thing in the sky at least when there is not some temporary celestial event going on like Aurorae, or meteors. So, if you want to make a big impact in your story, I suppose you could do some mischief to the biggest thing in the night sky. I’ll grant you it will catch the reader, or viewer’s attention, but come on, seriously. Lay off the Moon.

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