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Moonstar Odyssey
She was born in the moonstar's shadow when the storms of Satlik raged their worst. Because of this, Jobe was different. The family never spoke of it, but everyone knew Jobe was special. So Jobe came to know of it, too. She had a destiny beyond that of Choice, beyond that moment when she would finally have to decide for Reethe, Mother of the World, or for Dakka, Father, Son, and Lover. For the others it was easy, but not for her, not for Jobe. So she was sent to Option, the island of learning, to make her choice and become who she must be. And slowly, ever so slowly, Jobe retreated from the world, from the time of decision. Then the ultimate cataclysm wracked the planet, threatening all her people had struggled to create, and Jobe came forth at last to fulfill her destiny and begin the quest that the moonstar had set for her so many years ago…
Nebula award nominee for best novel of the year (1977). Originally published as Moonstar Oddessy .
Nebula award nominee for best novel of the year (1977). Originally published as Moonstar Oddessy .
- GenresScience FictionQueerLGBT
159 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1977
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158 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 16, 2025
This was one of the first serious novels in the genre that closely examined sexuality and gender roles, and it's been frequently compared to LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness. Also, Gerrold's dedication acknowledges input from Theodore Sturgeon, which seems thematically appropriate. The society is very well developed, as is the world (Diane Duane produced a fine two-page map for which she was not credited) but, of course, it's the character-study that makes the book. (Though the ending (or conclusion) was problematical for many.) It was released as a paperback original by Signet with little fanfare but still was a finalist for the Nebula award for best of the year. (Pohl's Gateway won both the Hugo and Nebula that year.) (Too many parentheses, sometimes it just happens.)
June 27, 2022
It's really surprising how effortlessly and natural the discussion of gender and sexuality in this feels. In a book from the 70's, i'd expect that it could get a bit awkward, but it didn't at all. The exploration of what choosing a sex/gender could mean for both body and mind, for someones role in life and what harm trans- and homophobia do is incredible. I also really liked how the story is told in two different narrations, one looking at Jobe in third person, the other - very emotional - one beeing expressed by Jobe themselve.
May 13, 2021
An exciting and interesting exploration of gender that the sci-fi genre is so perfect for to explore. There is some great dialogue, but it is hurt by the messy introduction of chunks of exposition that break up an otherwise well-written story. The last chapter also felt like rushed preaching, not aligned with the well-played earlier parts. I'm glad I read it and wish I had read it back when it came out. (I wish goodreads offered ½ stars since I want to give the thematic component a 4 and the writing a 3, hence an overall 3.5 rating).
May 27, 2023
Super interesting book. If it was a commentary I didn't get it/couldn't figure out the bias or perspective. But good brain exercise in it's gendered language (only uses she/her pronouns) and stuff???? Hard to explain. Very cool book. Didn't like the ending.
April 21, 2010
David Gerrold is best known for what was his very first professional sale--the script for the Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles, but he's written several science fiction novels quite a few of which have been nominated for or won Hugo or Nebula Awards. This short novel (only 159 paperback pages) is no exception, having been nominated for a Nebula Award in 1977.
Despite that recognition it's out of print, and it hasn't garnered good ratings (or any reviews) on Amazon, Goodreads or Librarything. I think part of that is that it has some unsettling material, while not quite being groundbreaking. The premise and themes remind me quite a bit of Ursula LeGuin's 1969 novel, The Left Hand of Darkness, which dealt with a race of hermaphrodites who are only gendered for a few days in a cycle and can be either male or female--but are always referred to as "she." In Moonstar Odyssey children are born ungendered, and when they begin adolescence can choose to be either male or female for the rest of their lives. If this isn't unsettling enough, it deals with child sexuality, since individuals approaching adolescence experiment trying on the different roles. The story centers on Jobe, someone in the throes of "Choice" while her (and all genders are always referred to with the female pronoun) planet goes awry. For quite a while in the book a reader is unsure if Jobe's people are human or mutants or genetically engineered--but we know from the first their planet is terraformed and ecologically fragile. Despite the hints of adventure in the title though, this is a very interior story, told with a mix of third and first person and including some of the planet's legends, history, and geology and ecology. It feels less of a story than LeGuin's novel and as a result might feel a bit like an uninspired copy. At least that's why I think it hasn't endured, although I really did enjoy it.
Despite that recognition it's out of print, and it hasn't garnered good ratings (or any reviews) on Amazon, Goodreads or Librarything. I think part of that is that it has some unsettling material, while not quite being groundbreaking. The premise and themes remind me quite a bit of Ursula LeGuin's 1969 novel, The Left Hand of Darkness, which dealt with a race of hermaphrodites who are only gendered for a few days in a cycle and can be either male or female--but are always referred to as "she." In Moonstar Odyssey children are born ungendered, and when they begin adolescence can choose to be either male or female for the rest of their lives. If this isn't unsettling enough, it deals with child sexuality, since individuals approaching adolescence experiment trying on the different roles. The story centers on Jobe, someone in the throes of "Choice" while her (and all genders are always referred to with the female pronoun) planet goes awry. For quite a while in the book a reader is unsure if Jobe's people are human or mutants or genetically engineered--but we know from the first their planet is terraformed and ecologically fragile. Despite the hints of adventure in the title though, this is a very interior story, told with a mix of third and first person and including some of the planet's legends, history, and geology and ecology. It feels less of a story than LeGuin's novel and as a result might feel a bit like an uninspired copy. At least that's why I think it hasn't endured, although I really did enjoy it.
December 6, 2016
The writing style is, on occasion, too lyrical for my taste. But in its more straightforward passages, this is a solid exercise in world-building, and its view of a fluid society of sexual orientation & gender -- which must have been unbelievably radical in the 1970s -- is beyond relevant for a reader in the early 21st century. Consider it a surprising work of sci-fi prophecy.
March 31, 2016
Strangely poetic and sensitive compared to some of Gerrold's other writing. You almost wouldn't think he wrote it...but then there is mention of the "Chtorr-Flowers".
Reminded me a bit of "The Left Hand of Darkness", what with its gender issues, capsule histories and myths.
Reminded me a bit of "The Left Hand of Darkness", what with its gender issues, capsule histories and myths.
May 19, 2021
I'd had this on my "to read" shelf of books for a while, and just got around to reading it.
I would have given it a fourth star, based on the first 2/3 of the book, but the post-disaster stuff left me cold. If the pseudo-terraforming was only possible due to the orbiting devices, then that failure was going to be a world-killer. In addition, the story itself, post-disaster, just wasn't as convincing.
The society itself, in which gender is semi-voluntary, was an interesting one. I wish that the author had gone just a tad more into how this group came to be, because it's clear that they're an offshoot from "mainstream" humanity, but how? Why? What happened?
Even without those answers, the bulk of the book was very good, but for me, not the resolution.
I would have given it a fourth star, based on the first 2/3 of the book, but the post-disaster stuff left me cold. If the pseudo-terraforming was only possible due to the orbiting devices, then that failure was going to be a world-killer. In addition, the story itself, post-disaster, just wasn't as convincing.
The society itself, in which gender is semi-voluntary, was an interesting one. I wish that the author had gone just a tad more into how this group came to be, because it's clear that they're an offshoot from "mainstream" humanity, but how? Why? What happened?
Even without those answers, the bulk of the book was very good, but for me, not the resolution.
March 15, 2020
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
4.5/5
"David Gerrold’s Moonstar Odyssey (1977) is a careful and introspective reflection on identity and gender set in a fascinating world made habitable by terraforming. While the back cover suggests the presence of a driving narrative–the fulfillment of a prophecy propelled by a catastrophic cataclysm–instead, Gerrold’s novel is a bildungsroman that follows the self-realization of a precocious child named Jobe. The dominate struggle that forms the core of the novel is “The Choice”–the moment in a young person’s life when they chose to move from their [...]"
4.5/5
"David Gerrold’s Moonstar Odyssey (1977) is a careful and introspective reflection on identity and gender set in a fascinating world made habitable by terraforming. While the back cover suggests the presence of a driving narrative–the fulfillment of a prophecy propelled by a catastrophic cataclysm–instead, Gerrold’s novel is a bildungsroman that follows the self-realization of a precocious child named Jobe. The dominate struggle that forms the core of the novel is “The Choice”–the moment in a young person’s life when they chose to move from their [...]"
February 5, 2020
I thought the book was a real disappointing treatise on a trans-sexual world that I could have done without.
November 22, 2014
I loved this book when I first discovered it in my early twenties and dealing with sexuality issues. It's controversial, but it was highly original at the time.
November 23, 2014
1979 grade D
September 25, 2016
It is hard to believe, but the author of "Trouble with Tribbles" manages to make sex doll.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews