Moonstruck

Will our first contact with aliens be the dawn of a new tomorrow--or the last act in human history?
The moon has suddenly acquired its own satellite: a two-mile-across starship that represents a hitherto unsuspected Galactic Commonwealth. The F'thk, a vaguely centaur-like member species for whom Earth's ecology is hospitable, have been sent to evaluate humanity for prospective membership. The F'thk are overtly friendly but very private: "Information is a trade good."
As Earth's scientists struggle to understand their secretive appraisers, odd inconsistencies emerge. As troubling as those anomalies is the re-emergence of a bit of insanity humanity thought it had outgrown: Cold War and nuclear saber-rattling. The Galactics' arrival may signify the start of a glorious new era, or it may presage the cataclysmic end of human civilization. Which outcome do the aliens really desire ...
And what will they do if humanity refuses to play its assigned role?

About the Author
Author of fifteen SF novels (five of them collaborations with Larry Niven) and dozens of shorter works, Edward M. Lerner won the inaugural Canopus Award for fiction "honoring excellence in interstellar writing." His stories have also been nominated for Locus, Prometheus, and Hugo awards.

"Edward M. Lerner is the quintessential Analog writer, combining well-researched scientific and technological speculation with compelling characters and thought-provoking plots."
--Analog Science Fiction and Fact

"Here's an author you definitely need to check out."
--Asimov's Science Fiction

"Leave it to Edward M. Lerner to take a notion, run with it, squeeze every ramification out of it, and put it altogether in an irresistible page-turner."
--Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Red Planet Blues

"Edward M. Lerner ... is one of the best kept secrets in SF."
--Tangent Online

"When people talk about good hard SF--rigorously extrapolated but still imbued with the classic sense-of-wonder--they mean the work of Edward M. Lerner, the current master of the craft."
--Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Red Planet Blues

"One of the leading global writers of hard science fiction."
--The Innovation Show

"Lerner's world-building and extrapolating are top notch."
--SFScope

"He is science fiction down to the bone, but he very often takes the `serious' stuff not so seriously. Or he does, but he still squeezes a modicum of wit and whimsy into his subjects. He can catch a salient point in a couple of pages or explore a well-trodden road like AI with new insight."
-- Galaxy's Edge

"Regardless of the theme, subject matter, or treatment, a Lerner novel never fails to intrigue, engage the intellect, or offer pure entertainment for its own sake. He can do it all, and well."
--Tangent Online

MOONSTRUCK

"MOONSTRUCK fizzes with ideas and surprises. Classic science fiction with 21st Century appeal."
--David Brin, Winner of Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards for best novel
Author of the Uplift series

"Take one part Tom Clancy, one part Hal Clement, and one part Larry Niven, shake well, and you've got Edward Lerner's edge-of-your-seat day-after-tomorrow just-what-ARE-the-aliens up to thriller, MOONSTRUCK. It's a rollicking good read, in which the puzzles all go snick-snick at just the right moment, and the suspense never lets up. Highly recommended."
--Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Rollback

"Moonstruck is a rapid fire technothriller that puts fresh thrills into the first contact tale. Fast, original, and will keep you guessing to the very last page."
--Robert A. Metzger, Best Novel Nebula Award nominee for Picoverse