Red Moon, a 2013 book by Benjamin Percy, is a political thriller about werewolves. Lycanthropy- the lobos virus- has spread throughout the human population (much to the chagrin of the human population) and werewolves have become part of society. The lycans are treated as second class citizens and face segregation, vigilante attacks and racial abuse. Facing persecution, many werewolves have formed their own country- the Lycan Republic- on the border of Finland, currently occupied by the US military. In protest of their treatment a lycan resistance has arisen demanding equal rights and a withdrawal of US troops, using terrorist attacks to make themselves heard. What follows is an ever-increasing cycle of attacks, revenge and conspiracy as the racial tensions come to a head, and the coming of the red moon will change things forever.
Not to be confused with Red Moon, a comic about a dog having psychic visions of the end of the world.
[Red Moon] contains examples of:
- Action Mom: Action Aunt in Miriam’s case. But played straight in that she had a deceased daughter.
- All Men Are Perverts: Well, not all men, but Puck’s only defining personality trait is that he likes molesting women.
- Author Tract: Chase plugs a certain book in the middle of a conversation and Miriam takes a swipe at a Google privacy policy.
- Big Bad: Balor, the mysterious leader of the lycan resistance.
- Both Sides Have a Point: The lycans are unjustly treated as second class citizens and viewed with fear and distrust, even though the majority of them never harm anyone with their abilities. But with the
Vocal Minority constantly resorting to violence, killing hundreds of innocents in terrorist attacks, keeping women chained up as sex slaves, and when law and order break down due the reactor explosion some of them resort to eating people. It's perfectly understandable why people are so afraid of them. - Break the Haughty: Even Jeremy cracks under extreme torture.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: What happens when the Tall Man visits the imprisoned Jeremy.
- Cycle of Revenge: The government impose restrictions on lycans, which leads to terrorist attacks, which leads to more restrictions, which leads to more terrorist attacks etc etc…
- Dark Secret: Chase becoming infected with the lobos virus.
- Death of the Author: The author actually encourages this in a note at the end of the book when he says he was trying to be "political without being polemical" and "raise questions without answering them".
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The lycans are a persecuted minority that face segregation and racial violence, and are later banned from flying and having certain jobs.
- The lobos virus is a disease that spreads through bodily fluids. There is no cure and absolutely anyone could have it- you can’t tell an infected person from a clean one.
- The Lycan Republic is a small nation in the middle of nowhere currently occupied by US troops. The government say they’re there to protect the locals, though everyone suspects it’s more to do with protecting the natural resources that are vital to the US economy that the nation produces. Although the US claim they have the hearts and minds of the locals, a number consider the US to be interfering invaders and launch terrorist attacks protesting the occupation. Hmm…
- The author explicitly states in a post book note that can easily see someone people comparing it to Afghanistan and another comparing it to Israel.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Matthew gets unceremoniously bumped off.
- Eagleland: The novel is entirely set in an American POV, and the only time the story moves to a foreign country it’s centred on the American military base established there. Due to this we never find out how other countries are handling lycans, so have almost no context if the US is being heavy-handed or not in its treatment of the lycans.
- The one reference to another country's Lycan policies is a brief mention that Claire's family used to take trips to Canada to transform because it's not illegal there.
- Evil Brit: Puck, the biggest bastard of them all, is English and the only non-American main character of the lot.
- Fantastic Racism: Humans vs werewolves.
- Forbidden Zone: The Ghostlands. Not that it stops a load of Mexican settlers moving in; according to them the forbidden zone is actually BETTER than where they used to live.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: Both the humans and the lycans do increasingly terrible things to each other.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: The Ghostlands.
- Karma Houdini: The man in the clown mask who nearly rapes Clare gets away scot-free. His entire role in the story was just to get Clare and Patrick to meet.
- The youths calling themselves the Americans get no comeuppance for targeting civilians, beating Patrick half to death, and even lynching Patrick's mother and her Doctor. They even get (unofficial) government sponsorship for it by the end.
- Our Presidents Are Different: Chase is a mix of President Action, Iron and Playboy. Seen as President Evil by the lycans.
- Meaningful Name: The book is full of them:
- Magog is a giant, red-haired man you don’t mess about with. His name comes from a legendary giant in the British Isles.
- Balor, the leader of the resistance, is named for the king of the Fomoraic in Irish folklore.
- Puck, the small man with sexual predator tendencies, is named after the woodland sprite who wants company.
- In an in-universe example Malerie outright says her name means bad luck.
- Moral Event Horizon: Even though they carry out terrorist attacks the Resistance are still sympathetic in their fight for civil rights…until they drive a van full of explosives into a packed family Christmas event, killing and maiming the huge crowd
- Not Using the "Z" Word: Werewolves are always referred to as lycans, not werewolves.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: Lycanthropy is the result of the lobos virus which enables those infected to transform at will. Transformed lycans still retain their human intelligence and free will, but are more likely to give in to their animal aggression and instincts.
- Out-of-Character Moment: The Tall Man, the professional, sinister government agent, turns to theatrically shush an ape in the zoo, resulting in Clare shooting him in his moment of distraction.
- Polluted Wasteland: The Ghostlands.
- Rationalizing the Overkill: The lycans are particular fond of this trope, particularly when turning a large swathe of the country into a nuclear wasteland.
- Speculative Fiction: Werewolves have been part of human history for centuries. things are different, but not that different.
- Reluctant Mad Scientist: Neal only gets involved in searching for the lobos vaccine because he thinks it will help his daughter.
- The Dog Bites Back: The entire premise of the novel.
- The Dragon: Augustus to Chase.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: Cannibalism, terrorism, murder, rape and lynching to name just a few revolutionary tactics.
- The Virus: The lobos virus that causes lyncathropy.
- The Woobie: Clare goes through the gauntlet with this. Her parents are murdered, she nearly gets raped (multiple times), has to change her identity, gets kidnapped, gets beaten up (multiple times), receives sinister letters, is hunted by government agents, has to bury her friend/potential love interest after he gets a bridge dropped on him, gets stuck wandering in a nuclear wasteland and doesn’t get to kill Balor like she planned.
- Title Drop: The colour of the moon after the nuclear meltdown.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Patrick is particularly bothered about his military father being constantly shipped off.
- Van Helsing Hate Crime: The group calling themselves the Americans are big fans of this trope.
- Zombie Advocate: The campaigners for lycan rights.
