Moon Zero Two by John Burke

The Classic 1969 Space Western Novelization of the Cult Hammer Sci-Fi Film

Moon Zero Two is the official novelization of the 1969 cult classic Hammer Films movie, famously billed as the very first "space Western." Written by prolific British novelist and adapter John Burke, the story delivers a gritty, retro-futuristic vision of a heavily commercialized, corporate-dominated lunar frontier.

The narrative follows Bill Kemp, a fiercely independent satellite-salvager and the celebrated first astronaut to step foot on Mars. Now struggling to survive in a lunar society that has completely abandoned deep-space exploration in favor of frontier capitalism, Kemp faces the imminent revocation of his flight status. Desperate to keep flying, he is coerced by ruthless billionaire J.J. Hubbard into a highly illegal, high-stakes scheme to capture a massive, solid-sapphire asteroid and crash it onto the dark side of the Moon. Simultaneously, Kemp agrees to help a young woman named Clementine Taplin search for her missing prospector brother, ultimately untangling a deadly web of corporate greed and murder in the lawless lunar vacuum.

Why You'll Love This Book

Blending hardboiled frontier tropes with golden age space opera aesthetics, Moon Zero Two is a nostalgic, fast-paced piece of vintage science fiction history. Readers who enjoy "space Westerns" and frontier sci-fi like Firefly, The Expanse, Cowboy Bebop, and works by authors such as Robert A. Heinlein (The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress), Ben Bova, and Larry Niven will have a blast with Burke's lunar adventure.