Topic summary

Rogue Moon

Rogue Moon

Rogue Moon (1960) is a short science fiction novel by Lithuanian-American writer Algis Budrys (1931-2008). It was a 1961Hugo 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.