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Human Resource : Inconstant Moon #1 (Inconstant Moon Trilogy) by Pierce Askegren
01/10/2005 . Source: Donna Jones 
pub: Ace. 280 page paperback. Price: $ 6.99 (US), $ 9.99 (CAN). ISBN: 0-441-01079-2. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.penguin.com
Erik Morrison is all wrong. The way his drink sits in the glass is all wrong, the steps he takes are all wrong and most fundamentally, what he is finding out is definitely wrong. Maybe coming to Moon was a punishment for that whole Alaska affair but then again, maybe he really was promoted?
Wendy Scheer has a problem. It's something she has to deal with no matter what and adding a new personality to the Moon's politics hasn't helped her situation any. Ignoring the fact that she has a man on the run who knows far too much for his own good. Even ignoring the position, she has had to take regarding this matter, something has got to give and she's desperately hoping that she won't be the one making concessions.
Pierce Askegren has written a handful of tie-in books and now finds his way wondering into the first book of a SF trilogy entitled 'The Inconstant Moon'. 'Human Resource' fires up this trilogy with a long term trip to the Moon where the gravity is one sixth of Earth's and getting home is foremost in everyone's mind.
I thought this book would be a good one, stumbling into the life of someone recently shipped out to the Moon. The interesting acclimatisation part of the story seemed quite neat. The only problem was that by the end of the book, I had read that Erik stumbled or that the alcohol in his glass was acting weird so frequently, that I became desensitised to the initial novelty.
The characters were bland and two-dimensional. Their exchanges seemed painfully stilted. With page after page of dialogue at times, only lightly peppered with mannerisms lacking depth, I found the story failed to find its feet and carry me away.
What was with the whole Alaskan affair? Well, I'll tell you. Not very much! A major plot idea was basically a trivial bungle in business etiquette. Created previously by a misunderstanding leading to the impression that Erik Morrison was 'a threat' when dealing with in business affairs. A very shaky foundation to lay your house bricks on and no mistake.
The basic story is that an employee has found something on the Moon which indicates something that will have major effect on the Allied Lunar Combine. The corporation group that hires people in the Moon's underground city. Weirdly enough though as the blurb on the back states they are 'a group of corporations whose competitive relationships have evolved into co-operation...' Sadly, I find this notion a little paradoxical for my liking!
Following on from that, it also states that because of their co-operation they 'have turned the barren satellite into a profitable, harmonious enclave'. I actually found very few sub-characters wanting to stay on the Moon and most just wanted to get back to Earth and as quickly as possible.
The nail in the coffin for this book was the fact that it didn't have a strong enough idea carrying the story forward. Why does Erik get so curious as to 'what's wrong with this picture?' There's nothing really in the plot to indicate that. Constantly the characters are having Secret Squirrel meetings where they say each time that this rogue employee must be caught and yet when the reveal takes place at the end, the guy's in plain sight. Any mere mortal would have clocked him!
Unfortunately, I'd say a wide berth is the best idea for this book. The story could have taken place on Earth and the idea could have been developed into a short story, not a 288 page novel.
Donna Jones
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