Rogue Moon
Original first edition cover, with a misleading precis of the plot | |
| Author | Algis Budrys |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Richard M. Powers |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Gold Medal Books |
Publication date | 1960 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 176 |
Rogue Moon is a short science fiction novel by Lithuanian-American writer Algis Budrys, published in 1960. It was a 1961 Hugo Award nominee. A substantially shortened version of the novel was originally published in F&SF; this novella-length story was included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two, edited by Ben Bova. It was adapted into a radio drama by Yuri Rasovsky in 1979.
Rogue Moon is largely about the discovery and investigation of a large alien artifact found on the surface of the Moon. The object eventually kills its explorers in various ways—more specifically, investigators "die in their effort to penetrate an alien-built labyrinth where one wrong turn means instant death", but their deaths slowly reveal the funhouse-like course humans must take in moving through it.