The Moon Under Her Feet

E-book Publication Date: (February 2, 2016)

ASIN: B01BEPM5PW (Amazon Kindle)

Print Book Publication Date: (May 5, 2020)

ISBN: 978-0991742592 (Paperback)

Synopsis

Father Mark Wycliffe, a Roman Catholic priest and space engineer, flees from Earth’s wars by serving aboard a Mars space station. Above Mars, he meets a mysterious woman who claims to be the Virgin Mary. He is skeptical of the vision; could it be an illusion created by asteroids called Siren Stones?

Later, on the Moon, he meets Jessica, a teenaged girl in a Catholic school uniform. Jessica loves to shop in the Moon’s largest shopping mall and hang out in its coolest nightclub. But Jessica also claims to be Jesus and uses her special powers to start a nuclear Armageddon on the Moon and the Earth.

Father Wycliffe, the Virgin Mary, scientists, and clergy must stop Jessica from carrying out her Father’s will. While the mortals and her immaculate mother try to foil her, Jessica happily splurges on designer clothes, luxuries she never had in first century Judea.

The Moon Under Her Feet combines space opera, ghost story, and theology in a way seldom seen in science fiction and fantasy. It reveals both humor and tragedy as it traces the lives of its characters and their mission in space. It was a finalist for the 2008 Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English.

From Derwin Mak, multiple Prix Aurora Award winner (Canada’s National Science Fiction Award) for Transubstantiation and The Dragon and the Stars.

Critical Praise

“What follows is a clever, often brilliant, weaving of two story lines: as international tensions escalate, the mystery of the Marian Apparition deepens. Mak brings science and theology together in ways few other science fiction writers would even contemplate. That’s because they’re mostly complementary here rather than combative. Religion here is treated with respect and a depth of knowledge, instead of the contempt and shallow ignorance most SF writers heap upon it.”

– John-Allen Price, author of The Mutant Chronicles

About The Author

Derwin Mak lives in Toronto, Canada. His short story Transubstantiation won the 2006 Aurora Award for Best Short Form-Work in English. He and Eric Choi edited The Dragon and the Stars, an anthology of science fiction and fantasy by ethnic Chinese outside China, which won the 2011 Aurora Award for Best Related Work in English. His novel The Moon Under Her Feet was a finalist for the 2008 Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English. Derwin also wrote articles about East Asian pop culture and anime for Parsec and Ricepaper magazines.

Derwin is a chartered professional accountant with Master’s degrees in accounting (University of Waterloo) and military studies (American Military University). He is a member of the Royal Canadian Military Institute and an Officer of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. His website is www.derwinmaksf.com.