"I would far far rather read a book written by you in three days on orbital mechanics and what is feasible and what might change. Then another on lunar geology

"I would far far rather read a book written by you in three days on orbital mechanics and what is feasible and what might change. Then another on lunar geology and moonbases." This is an orthogonal point, though. He said he's writing a novel, and you're saying don't want to read novels, because you like quickly digestible information. He's not trying to write an informational book about orbital mechanics. He's saying he spent time researching that subject in service of his work of fiction. Presumably, he did that research to help flesh out the world of his story, and to make sure his science fiction is informed by real science (something few SF writers these days actually take the time and effort to do). I don't think his goal is to "stir sugar into a healthy and nutritious meal," but rather, to stir nutrition into what would typically be a sugary snack. J.R.R. Tolkien famously spent a great deal of time creating an entire language before incorporating it into his Lord of the Rings series. That doesn't mean he should have written a dictionary of the language instead, and then kept the novel a separate work. His primary goal was the novel, with the linguistics being a (very fleshed out) supporting detail.