Howard V. Hendrix, Empty Cities of the Full Moon (2001)
Reviewed by Corey LaBranche

All the myths of mankind have a basis in fact someplace in human history. Howard V. Hendrix has mined some of the most interesting and mysterious for his latest novel, Empty Cities of the Full Moon.

The Full Moon has been worshipped, feared, and misunderstood by humanity for thousands of years; it is revered in many religions, blamed for madness, studied by scientists. But in the deepest places of our shared mythos, it offered humans something more: control over natural magicks, shapeshifting abilities, and the power to 'see' with our minds. These powers, dormant after thousands of years of industrialization and technology, still lie within each of us. What would it take for them to re-emerge? Hendrix's answer: the destruction of 99% of the world's population. In 2033, during science's never-ending quest for perfection, a man-made virus intended to treat mental illness escapes the confines of the laboratory and is unleashed on the world. In the aftermath of the plague, three races of survivors rise: Trufolk, humans who hold fast to the ways of technology and science; Werfolk, those who harness the powers of the full moon; and Merfolk, who are aquatic servants. In the year 2065, a group of Trufolk decides to begin a quest to discover what caused the epidemic.

When attempting to build a universe from scratch, an author must give the reader details about its history so that the motivations of its inhabitants are clear. A story as complex as ECOTFM requires a great deal of setup of setting and character. Hendrix indeed provides a very detailed picture of the future worlds of 2032-2033 and 2065-2066 and how things came to be as they are when the story opens. Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of a real challenge to the humans who undergo the quest for the truth. As the travelers journey across the land in search of answers, they encounter many secondary characters who have information which either relates directly or indirectly to their quest, like a connect-the-dots picture. The travelers encounter surprisingly few obstacles, making the plot seem too efficient. ECOTFM could easily have been expanded into a series, or at the very least by a few hundred more pages, to accommodate additional plot elements.

A novel based primarily on science will, of course, be filled with scientific terminology. I found that ECOTFM perhaps goes too far with its technical explanations. Many passages are understandable only by their context, which in my opinion cause the flow of reading to become uneven. At many points, the story's fluidity becomes tedious. The fact that the story quite often skips between future and past time periods and parallel universes only adds to the choppiness of the reading experience.

Overall, ECOTFM has an interesting premise, and raises many questions about where civilization's ever-growing reliance on technology may eventually lead. Hendrix appears to be making a bigger point about learning from humanity's past mistakes, but it is mired in technological detail and fails to be driven home by a somewhat lackluster plot. Fans of hard science fiction will enjoy ECOTFM for its speculative qualities. However, I believe the book could benefit from additional plot conflict and character development, as well as toned-down technical language in the pursuit of readability. I enjoy novels which draw me into other places where I forget that I'm reading. ECOTFM simply made me work too hard for the payoff.