Cover image of "Solar Storm: Moon Base Delta," the first book in a series set on the moon

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Back in 1859, a coronal mass ejection from the sun showered Earth with a torrent of highly charged subatomic particles. The widespread use of electricity was decades in the future, so the impact of what came to be called the Carrington Event was limited. But scientists—and some science fiction writers—are intensely aware that a similar event in the 21st century could disable everything electronic on Earth. The author David Koepp dramatized the impact on our planetary civilization in his 2022 novel, Aurora. And Gerald M. Kilby moves the scene of the action into Earth’s atmosphere and onto the moon in Solar Storm: Moon Base Delta. It’s the first book in a projected series set on the moon.

Intense solar radiation threatens a crew in lunar orbit

Renton Hicks is “fresh out of training” on his first trip in space. He’s a junior engineer in the crew of a maintenance ship approaching the ancient Lunar Gateway when a series of intense bursts of solar radiation begins to hinder their work. Soon, disaster strikes, killing one member of the ship’s crew and threatening the others. Even worse, a solar flare causes equipment to malfunction, and soon the Lunar Gateway is hurtling toward the surface of the moon and total destruction. Renton and his crew-mates battle against time to save the station . . . and themselves. And even worse is to come.

Solar Storm: Moon Base Delta (Moon Base Delta #1) by Gerald M. Kilby (2022) 338 pages ★★★★☆

Artist's conception of a base on the moon like the one in this first book in a series set on the moon
An artist’s conception of a base on the moon, perhaps a little like Moon Base Delta in this novel. Image: National Geographic

Governments and corporations alike are battling for the moon’s resources

Meanwhile, the scene shifts to the five-star Axial Luxor, an Egyptian-themed luxury hotel in lunar orbit. There, Selene Mene is working around the clock to conclude negotiations on the redrafting of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. Selene is Associate Director of the Federation of International Space Agencies (FISA), presiding at the negotiations. All the major powers have sent delegations to the Axial Luxor, including SINO, FISA itself, INDOCON (a consortium of Indian space interests), and CASA (the Combined Arabian Space Alliance). Major corporations are there, too, including the “mighty industrial conglomerate, Xilinex.” The stakes are immense, because the moon is the source of abundant Helium 3, the fuel needed for fusion energy. And then the Carrington Event strikes, wreaking havoc on the hotel and threatening life on the moon as well as on Earth.

Author Gerald Kilby follows Renton Hicks and Selene Mene in alternating chapters as they fight for their lives in space and on the moon. The suspense in Moon Base Delta constantly builds, and the story thunders toward an explosive conclusion. Kilby is strong on plotting. Unfortunately, his prose leaves a lot to be desired. And a few errors intrude in the story. But all in all it’s a great read for any fan of hard science fiction. And it’s just the first book in Kilby’s series set on the moon.

About the author

Photo of Gerald M. Kilby, author of this first book in a series set on the moon
Gerald M. Kilby. Image: Goodreads

The bio blurb on Gerald M. Kilby‘s author website reads as follows: “Gerald M. Kilby grew up on a diet of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark, and Frank Herbert, which developed into a taste for Iain M. Banks and everything ever written by Neal Stephenson. Understandable then, that he should choose science fiction as his weapon of choice when entering the fray of storytelling.

“Chain Reaction is his first novel and is very much in the old-school techno-thriller style while his latest book series, Moon Base Delta, Colony Mars, and The Belt are all best sellers, topping Amazon charts for Hard Science Fiction and Space Exploration.” [Note: Amazon lists three series including a total of fourteen books.]

“He lives in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in the same neighborhood as Bram Stoker and can be sometimes seen tapping away on a laptop in the local cafe with his dog Loki.” However, there is no information about where Kilby was born, raised, and educated.

Check out Aurora by David Koepp (A massive solar storm threatens life on Earth). It’s excellent.

For more good reading, check out:

And you can always find my most popular reviews, and the most recent ones, on the Home Page.