One Hundred Percent Lunar Boy

by Stephen Tunney

Two thousand years in the future, the Moon has become a run-down experiment in terraforming and colonization with a dusty patina and a bright red sky. To sixteen-year-old Hieronymus Rexaphin, it is the only world he has ever known until he meets a girl from Earth called Windows Falling on Sparrows, who is inexplicably drawn to him because of his special--some say dangerous--condition. Hieronymus is a One Hundred Percent Lunar Boy who can see the fourth primary color, which gives him the ability to see the future path of time and matter. To look into his eyes will cause madness or even death, authorities say, so he is forced to wear goggles at all times. The color of his eyes is against Lunar law, and some say against nature. After breaking the Moon s most serious law and exposing his eyes to the curious young Earth girl, Hieronymus embarks on a tremendous misadventure to protect his friends and save his family, and to escape exile and imprisonment on the far side of the moon.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Love, Literary Fiction, Adventure

308 pages, Hardcover

First published August 19, 2010

Reviews

[Lena · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't expect much from this young-adult sci-fi, but it was horrible. The author had some interesting futuristic ideas, but failed to turn them into an interesting book. The plot is predictable and boring, the characters are super annoying and the dialogues are dull even for teenagers.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

one of the most promising worlds i've read in a while -- so beautifully crafted, such rich images. the first half had me up at night, trying to finish -- the second half completely lost all semblance of plot. turned into a predictable dull love story. i wish i loved this book.

[Ken · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only wish I could give it fewer stars

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun read, no matter how outlandish. I was sucked right in.

[Michelle Nogales · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. I hoped that by listening to the audiobook version I could ignore all the grammatical errors everyone keeps talking about, but the main one is the author has no idea of how to sort out his past tenses to a degree that makes me wonder if English can possibly be his first language. On top of that, his language is generally dumbed down well beyond what you'd expect in even an extremely low-brow YA novel.

I gritted my teeth and tried to endure all of this because the premise seemed fascinating. But when the author began very repetitively mansplaining his core scientific concept--people being born with eyes of a color that heretofore didn't exist, and which has been declared illegal--he manages to make it abundantly clear that he has no idea how the electromagnetic spectrum and human perception of it actually work. None.

The novel might have worked if a really good editor had gone over it with him line by line, and if the author had rejiggered the story to be a sort of modern "Color Out of Space" Lovecraftian vaguely-sciencey horror story. It *is* a fun idea (and the title is great!). But it is *not* science fiction and it is so incompetently written on so many levels that it's hard to understand how it got published in this form.

[Maryna · Rating 4 out of 5]

В самом начале меня охватило такое приятное предчувствие - за янг-эдалтом прячется хорошая жанровая книга! Новая тема (дети землян с особенностями зрения), приличный перевод (никаких особо ярких перлов не было замечено), куча мелких, но интересных деталей - все в книге хорошо! Жизнь людей на Луне описывается не мазками, а вполне так полно и доступно, так что пейзажи городов и образы героев проступают очень ярко. Сюжет так же мчит на всех парах, развиваясь молниеносно за, кажется, 2 сюжетных дня и ночи.

А потом сюжет просто обрывается. Никакого открытого конца, прям обрыв и все. Какие-то мазки конца сюжета намечаются, но в целом автор просто бросил сюжетную линию. И это прям убило все хорошее впечатление от книги (а я еще не могла понять, откуда столько негативных отзывов?). Можно было бы пофантазировать, что будет дальше и даже представить себе продолжение в двух, а лучше трех книгах, с обязательной последующей экранизацией, но нет, эта книга - отдельное произведение и о продолжении речи не идет.

Почему такая оценка? Потому что вижу в авторе талант. Книги он пишет нечасто и если он продолжит свою работу в этом направлении, то его будет ждать успех. Пока же все слишком сыро.

[G. M. Knock · Rating 3 out of 5]

So close, yet so far away. This book was so promising and just deflated like a balloon. The ending, especially, was bad and did not fit with the rest of the book. No foreshadowing. This book could be truly great if there was a second edition and an editor helped fix it properly.

[Josh Saliba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been a great book and could even see it being a movie. However, the ending was rushed and the epilogue almost ruined the book for me.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am new to this author and really disappointed that he hasn't written anything else for ages. More fantasy then science and with a wicked sense of humor I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The premise and the world created were believable. I thought the way he brought his teenagers angst, self focus and impulsiveness were spot on. I thought the characters developed throughout the book . They became more aware of the world around them and the world at large. The ending was a bit fast but we got the last piece of the puzzle. The epilogue was a loose end tied up nicely.

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange and fabulous. If I didn't know better, I'd think this was published in the 1950s or 60s, the kind of science fiction story not interested in predicting the future, rather building a peculiar world to address a theme or -in this case- themes.

The main characters are teenagers, but the book is far flung from contemporary YA. Any reader expecting such will be disappointed.

[Paschalis]

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[Vicente · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definetly loved the story. Does exactly what it’s supposed to. I think every teen would definetly get entertained by it

[Daria Bezzub · Rating 2 out of 5]

Років вісім тому, я побачила цю книгу на поличках книгарні і одразу ж захотіла мати свій власний примірник. Але тоді я була студентською біднотою і грошей виділити на книгу не могла собі дозволити. Тож через деякий час я спіратила цю книгу.. і забула про неї.

І ось у серпні 2023 я з подивом знайшла файл-книгу у старих папках з книгами куди так давно не знаходила. Бажання читати книгу знову прокинулося. Але ж в мене піратська версія, та ще й російською. Вирішила знайти книгу українською і придбати її. Але в Україні її ніколи не видавали, тільки завозили з оркостану російськомовні примірники. І вирішила я все ж прочитати цю піратську версію.

Книга не сподобалась. Зробити таку цікаву палітурку, інтригуючу назву і так облажатися. Всесвіт придуманий для цієї книги кривий і має купу дірок. З кожним новим прочитаним фактом із цього всесвіту в мене з'являється купа питань на які відповіді ми так і не отримаємо. І кінцівка залишає не роз'яснений сюжет, деталі. Просто розчарування.
Єдина цікава задумка на всю книгу це те що деякі люди бачать новий колір, який не можуть побачити інші, і це все..

[Dono · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set many years in the future, when mankind has colonized the moon, One Hundred Percent Lunar Boy introduces something entirely new: a fourth primary color. This color is only found in the eyes of a small percentage of people born on the moon. The normal human mind cannot comprehend the alien nature of this color so when confronted with its reality, people are drastically affected. This leads to a "goggling" of the so called "one hundred percent lunar people" to protect the rest of society from accidentally seeing the color.

The story revolves around a young teenage boy who is afflicted with this condition and must therefore deal with fear, mistrust, alienation, and contempt from those around him.

Unfortunately, some of the characterization lacks depth, the dialogue is bizarrely repulsive, and the plot is predictable. This book is quite clearly written to a younger audience.

Nevertheless, I found it an enjoyable read because the concept is so intriguing. There are also much larger connotations intertwining the the fourth primary color with space travel and species subjugation that I would love to read more about. I genuinely enjoyed the relationship development between the two main characters; it was easy to root for them on their journey of self-discovery. Again, it is the concept of a fourth primary color, along with its implications, that make this book worthwhile. I would certainly read a sequel if given the chance.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. It's a futuristic book, which ordinarily is exciting, but the things that are different about living on the moon two thousand years from now seem really illogical, and tons of stuff that should have changed are the same. The themes of difference and power can be echoed quite well though in our society and indeed every society, as they relate to races and handicaps and the like. Adventurous but at times also downright silly, in a way that makes you also feel required to disbelieve, which I think is the opposite of the author's intentions. The ending is a little abrupt, and leaves you to assume either a sequel is coming out, making the next steps in the characters lives part of a series, or everything turned out exactly right. Either way, not the most satisfying. Overall, it was a good fun read. I guess since I refuse to read those textbook, formulaic romance novels and legal thrillers, the occasional nonsense YA book is just fine as a guilty pleasure.

[Irishlazz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well read. Fascinating concept and not beyond believable. Some well developed characters. The mom story line felt a bit like a loose thread on a new sweater. If you tug too hard things could unravel, but at the end it gets tied off. The library scene seemed a little too convenient - but there was a bit of the 'hand of fate' feel throughout, so it blended in. The worst thing, for me personally, was the obvious lack of understanding of day & night on the moon. I blame Pink Floyd. There is no DARK side of the moon. There is the FAR side, so the author got the terminology right, but the science all wrong. What we view as a full moon would be equivalent to high noon on the near side. So a "noon/midnight/noon" cycle (or day) on the moon is approximately 28 Earth days.

Regardless of my nitpicking I obviously enjoyed the book and hope that Tunney is working on a follow-up. I'd like to see where he take it.

[Amanda Marsico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really different than anything else I've read. The language is sometimes hard to read because there are a lot of made up words and invented idiomatic expressions. It suits the nature and setting of the book, but sometimes slows down understanding and just gets in the way. The ending necessitates a sequel, so I'm hoping to see a second book coming soon, but we'll see. The biggest downfall to this book were the grammar errors that littered it. Whoever edited this book must have been on little sleep. I was catching mistakes on almost every page. Very irritating. I don't pay $25.00 for a book with mistakes...

[John Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

While not quite as good as Flan, this is an amazing, inventive, beautiful book. I've known Stephen for a long long time, so I'm biased, but what gets me about both of his books is that he takes on the impossible task of expressing the way people feel, especially the apocalyptic avalanche of feelings that children and adolescents experience. This book took me back to being fourteen or fifteen, when love seemed impossible for a million reasons. Then of course there's the brilliance of Stephen's imagined worlds. He creates realistic futures that are wondrous and horrifying and real and relevant. Read this book and Flan! Right now!

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd say I'd give it 3 1/2 stars. The story was original, but the editing was poor. There were many grammatical errors that irked me. The slang was a little strange and kind of dumb, but since the story is set 2000 years in the future, I suppose Tunney had to almost create a new language. The images were vivid and set my imagination running wild. It's the first in a trilogy. I would definitely read the next one.

[Jacque Sherbak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent YA steampunk fiction novel. The author's style and imagination was refreshingly new to me. I am thrilled he is working on the second in the trilogy and over the moon :) that the movie rights were picked up in January! (As other reviewers noted, there are a number of grammatical errors which should have been caught, reviewed, and corrected by a publishing editor.)

[Gwen Tolios · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the world Tunney set up here, and issues of what it means to be One Hundred Percent in the past and present. The prose captured my attention right way, and I loved the characters and idea of a neon lit Moon. I also dearly loved Clellen's character development, as brief as it was at the end.

A bit disappointed by the end, it was too soon and too abrupt, but loved the journey up to it.

[Joshlyn Vargas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where is the sequel?

The book was great. I read it in my teens and I am still waiting for a sequel. It's a really good book to read for sci first and suspense and just a bit of romance but its a good amount. Not overwhelming. The humor is great and the mysteries are admiring. I can't wait to see more twists in the next book.

[Gail · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just not my cop of tea. Did not ring true and never connected with the character. Maybe in the future it will hook me.

[Chicomanx · Rating 3 out of 5]

A totally different premise which made me enjoy it. A theme I had not seen visited before.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's weird and clunky, in a "young adult literature" kind of way, but something about this book stuck with me. Great premise and world-building -- flawed, but really interesting.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

The science was bad, the ending didn't satisfy and a lot of the intermediate stuff seemed to be trying far too hard to seem grand and literary. That said, the prose was fun.

[Sabion · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seemed to loose its way about half way through. Great beginning but failed to execute down the stretch.

[Joel Weinert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminds mme of Robert Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress."

[Suzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one when I read it years ago. I keep checking back every once in a while to see if a sequel was ever released, but it sadly has not 😞