When The Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi:

Overnight, The Moon turns into cheese.  NASA declares it to be an ‘organic compound’, the Chinese government says it’s actually bean curd.  The Vatican declares a miracle.  And so, an outrageous chain of events is set in motion… with a cast including a dimwitted US President (not that one) an egocentric billionaire (see also), a pensioners lunch club, a set of disenchanted church goers, bored astronauts and greedy bankers. 

Ok, minor criticism first: often this feels like a loosely connected series of vignettes, with the connecting cheese being the President, the Astronauts who can’t actually go to The Moon and the Musky billionaire. Who is not him, but just as awful in different ways.  Plus, the final part of the novel literally retcons the original and outrageous concept.  

But for the vast majority of it, it’s laugh out loud funny and the kind of silently, screaming satire that Armando Iaunnucci would love.  Among my favourites: the warring cheese shop owners (with the two rival staff members who fall in love) and the sex scandal involving an ambitious congressman. Put it this way, you’ll never look at Brie the same way again.  Late on in the novel, as things become apocalyptic (described as ‘Fromageddon’ or ‘The Lactopalypse’) we have the aforementioned bankers offering people high limits credit cards and the young fantasy writer who will never see her novel published.  

Scalzi considers this as the final in a trilogy that started with ‘The Kaiju Preservation Society’ and he’s now writing space opera again.  I’d urge him to reconsider - this succeeds as a sweet, nutty treat in two difficult genres - funny SF and an epistolary novel.  It’s published by Tor on March 27th, 2025 and I thank them for a preview cheese, sorry copy.  #whenthemoonhitsyoureye.