Reviewed by Aimee Carol Dixon for Readers' Favorite

Carleton Chinner’s first novel, The Hills of Mare Imbrium, is rife with powerful, gripping imagery. Jonah came to Mare Imbrium to scatter his brother Thomas’ ashes, a task that, once completed, brought the reality of his brother’s death into sharp relief. Desperate to escape the deep ache within him, Jonas threw himself into the search for a means to carve out a new life away from the disappointments of earth. Chasing his pain into bars and nursing a desperate need to remain on the moon, it was inevitable that Jonas fell quickly into the midst of a brewing civil war where his Krav Maga skills and capacity for teaching are put to the test.

Although there was a weakening after the initial burst for an essential introduction to the society and world at large, Carleton Chinner brought this strong imagery back satisfyingly in future chapters. The Hills of Mare Imbrium is primarily split into two points of views, that of earth-born Jonas Barnes and that of moon-born Yesha, though by no means are they the only focal characters throughout. By fracturing the points of view in his book, Chinner delves into the gritty reality of a rising revolutionary movement and illustrated capably the need for one; a crucial development for the believability of all future events. Yesha's role was more nuanced as she began as an active member of Mare Imbrium’s Administration. It is slowly revealed that Yesha is far more than just a beautiful face and a demure young woman: her uncle, the Administrator himself, personally shaped her mind in strategically key ways from a young age and she possesses a greater fortitude that she is still unaware of. While Jonah is a man haunted by the past, Yesha is a young woman fervently in the present, a dichotomy that serves to ramp up the intensity of each character’s experiences to epic proportions.

With direct references to colonial attitudes and an unflinching look into the brutalities humankind is capable of, The Hills of Mare Imbrium is a largely uncomfortable but wholly worthwhile read. The characters are believable, and Chinner’s orchestration in getting the key players all to the same place is particularly impressive. Seeing multiple points of view offered a unique chance to really get a feel for different layers of what was happening. Chinner’s knack for threading the focal character’s thought processes through the narration is exceptionally effective.