When the Moon Hits Your Eye is not really a straightforward story. The premise is basically “What if the moon actually turned to cheese, suddenly and unexplicably? How would people react?” Each chapter is a mini-episode of a couple of people trying to figure out what is going on, and what they think and how they feel about it. These episodes range from a group of retirees in a diner, to a couple of young adults working at rival cheese shops, to NASA scientists, to politicians, an academic, an aspiring fantasy writer, the inevitable tech billionaire(s) [I can guess who the model(s) for those bits might have been], and even a local pastor with family and congregation. The episodes are not tied that closely, except when a new chapter brings back a previous group to see how they might be doing; this doesn’t happen for all mini-stories, but it happens plenty.
If you’ve read much Scalzi, then you know to expect some light cozy sci-fi, along with some mildly anti-capitalist commentary. That is definitely here, along with a little bit of humorous but clearly satiric political suggestion. The new bit is what ends up being a look at conspiracy theory and general communication technology. Scalzi also mentions in the afterward that there was a little bit of real scientific consultation behind some of what goes on, but that he is in no way aiming for genuine accuracy with the astronomic scientific basis of the speculative cheese moon. That almost makes it fun to try and figure out what might actually have some real physics behind it, and what does not. Lunar cheese fondue eruption seem plausible?
Story-wise, I spent a good bit wondering if I was every going to see how things might be turning out for some favorite people/places, and mostly I did get my answers, but it was a little distracting reading along wondering. There is some vague cross-over between some episodes, but for the most part, this is almost a loosely connected set of vignettes that all adds up to something, even if it’s probably a somewhat different something for every reader.