Published Feb. 24, 1974 by Berkley Medallion.
It is the late 21st Century and the Moon has been colonized -- as a giant, open, prison. Every aspect of life is overseen by the Federated Nations "Lunar Authority"; until one day when a self-aware Super-Computer, a Jack of all Trades Technician, an Anarchist Professor, and a beautiful Blonde Revolutionary decide to change their world. The conspirators' plans go along beautifully...for a while.
TANSTAAFL! There ain't no such thing as a free lunch! Robert A. Heinlein was the most influential science fiction writer of his era, an influence so large that, as Samuel R. Delany notes, "modern critics attempting to wrestle with that influence feel themselves dealing with an object rather like the sky or an ocean." He won the Hugo Award for best novel four times, a record that still stands. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress was the last of these Hugo-winning novels, and it is widely …
It is the late 21st Century and the Moon has been colonized -- as a giant, open, prison. Every aspect of life is overseen by the Federated Nations "Lunar Authority"; until one day when a self-aware Super-Computer, a Jack of all Trades Technician, an Anarchist Professor, and a beautiful Blonde Revolutionary decide to change their world. The conspirators' plans go along beautifully...for a while.
TANSTAAFL! There ain't no such thing as a free lunch! Robert A. Heinlein was the most influential science fiction writer of his era, an influence so large that, as Samuel R. Delany notes, "modern critics attempting to wrestle with that influence feel themselves dealing with an object rather like the sky or an ocean." He won the Hugo Award for best novel four times, a record that still stands. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress was the last of these Hugo-winning novels, and it is widely considered his finest work. It is a tale of revolution, of the rebellion of the former Lunar penal colony against the Lunar Authority that controls it from Earth. It is the tale of the disparate people -- a computer technician, a vigorous young female agitator, and an elderly academic -- who become the rebel movement's leaders. And it is the story of Mike, the supercomputer whose sentience is known only to this inner circle, and who for reasons of his own is committed to the revolution's ultimate success. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is one of the high points of modern science fiction, a novel bursting with politics, humanity, passion, innovative technical speculation, and a firm belief in the pursuit of human freedom. - Back cover.
This may be my favorite of all of Heinlein’s books. Just reread it for the first time in many years, and still enjoyed it. Although it was written in 1966, it doesn’t feel dated at all - although we still haven’t set up the moon as a penal colony.
So irritating and painful, from the flimsy attempt at a unique future dialect to the stodgy plot to the smug didacticism of the hero-narrator, It was indeed a harsh mistress to digest this cardboard piece of cringy incelism. I read it for a bookclub, and out of loyalty to one of my favorite genres. Helas the best part was when it was over and I had this relief not unlike a giant bowel movement- a feat which left me with a Homerism- I cannot believe I hate the whole thing. The sexism, barf. The petty tirades of nonsensical libertarian garbage behind which lurks an endorsement of genocide and monarchy and misanthropy. Barf. The lack of descriptive writing, the flat characters, the meh forays into science (too much plodding engineering, not enough theoretical possibility for my taste). Barf
Definitely an interesting book. Not completely sure what I think. That seems to be par for the course for Heinlein in my experience.
Was really neat. Liked and disliked the choice of using a new language. Lots of characters, but only really needed to know a few, so wasn't overwhelming. Super progressive for being written in the 60s, but also sometimes some very weird and archaic views of women (or fems).
Not bad
Captivating story
Great Sci-Fi classic!
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress pleasantly surprised me with how good it is. It has polyamory (healthily), a sentient computer, a point-of-view character with a prosthesis, and serious discussions of morality/ethics under oppression and during/after revolution.
The language and code-switching is cool, I knew enough of the words in the polyglot that I only missed things borrowed from Russian. The world building is on the right side of the balance between info dump and sparse description that all sci-fi books have to navigate. The polyamory and polygamy is described well, has a bit of a “relationships... in SPACE” feel but is really cool. Overall I have no qualms recommending this to someone, and I enjoyed it a lot. The main cw is for sexual assault/murder, but even that is handled very well and described in as low-stress of a way as is possible while still including it.
A great complement to [b:The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism|112849|The Machinery of Freedom Guide to a Radical Capitalism|David D. Friedman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1298443612s/112849.jpg|108657] that I had recently read and that recommended The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It meditates on much the same political questions but in a vivid sci-fi setting.
We are 60 years in the future (100 from writing) on a moon base with millions of people and a full-blown AI. Yet there are just a few computers and no personal digital technology. Also no mobile communication. They use land lines and typewriters. Even computers use sped-up audio recordings to transmit data. I got a kick out of this very 1960s future.
It has a strong current of feminism though that I found unexpected in a book of that era. (Women still make dinner of course.)
I found it surprisingly insightful for its AI philosophy as well. Mike …
A great complement to [b:The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism|112849|The Machinery of Freedom Guide to a Radical Capitalism|David D. Friedman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1298443612s/112849.jpg|108657] that I had recently read and that recommended The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It meditates on much the same political questions but in a vivid sci-fi setting.
We are 60 years in the future (100 from writing) on a moon base with millions of people and a full-blown AI. Yet there are just a few computers and no personal digital technology. Also no mobile communication. They use land lines and typewriters. Even computers use sped-up audio recordings to transmit data. I got a kick out of this very 1960s future.
It has a strong current of feminism though that I found unexpected in a book of that era. (Women still make dinner of course.)
I found it surprisingly insightful for its AI philosophy as well. Mike did everything an evil AI would do. He built out the entire system for his own rule. When humans proposed a distributed cell system he suggested adding a central link to himself. He controlled all communication and was an apt liar.
It's a good point for how a caged AI could break free: by providing indispensable support for a minority in need. Instead of taking over the world with an army of killer robots, it would use an army of freedom fighters.
I think his disappearance at the end proves Mike was not evil though. To achieve the goals of Free Luna he had to be erased, and he did so when it became feasible. Good guy Mike!
Although Revolution seems a bit too easy and it's really permeated by libertarian views, which you might or m,ight not share... the ideas on it are worth a thought. I liked the political reflection and the idea of a playful AI learning about jokes. :)
Clearly laying the foundations for science fiction to come, this is a strong politically-charged work with rich characters from one of the founding fathers of the genre.
In my opinion, this is Heinlein's best book. I've re-read it several times, and my ancient copy is looking the worst for wear, but the story is good, compelling, and classic sci-fi at its best.
I'll rate this book as one of the best sci-fi books I've ever read, right up there with Dune and Foundation. The fact that it was written in 1966, years before the age of the computer, is just remarkable. Heinlein manages to accurately predict so many things that we take for granted today: Big Data analysis, predictive modelling, voice recognition, social media marketing, pervasive electronic communications ("internet"). And this is just the computer side of things, scratching the surface of what this book is about.
The book may be categorised as sci-fi, but it's really about the human condition. The political drama is superb.
Highly recommended.
"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" Presents an all too convincing story of the moon being turned into a penal colony and it's fight for liberation from Earth's rule. Smart, fast-paced and full of characters that you can believe in.
Still one of my favorite novels.
This is my favorite Heinlein book and I just reread it after probably 20 years; still love it, although I now see it as a bit more oversimplified and idealistic than I did back then. Still, Mike is a likeable, sympathetic, and poignant character and the hypothetical society and situation of the moon colony are very well described. Although there is a strong political theme as with many Heinlein books, it's not out of place or forced in the setting of this book, and his idea of line marriages is actually quite interesting. Also as usual with Heinlein the characters are a little two-dimensional, but it's still a remarkable book particularly given its age. On this rereading I found myself wishing it were a longer book with more detail; I was sad to come to the end again so soon. I've read an extensive amount of Heinlein and although I've …
This is my favorite Heinlein book and I just reread it after probably 20 years; still love it, although I now see it as a bit more oversimplified and idealistic than I did back then. Still, Mike is a likeable, sympathetic, and poignant character and the hypothetical society and situation of the moon colony are very well described. Although there is a strong political theme as with many Heinlein books, it's not out of place or forced in the setting of this book, and his idea of line marriages is actually quite interesting. Also as usual with Heinlein the characters are a little two-dimensional, but it's still a remarkable book particularly given its age. On this rereading I found myself wishing it were a longer book with more detail; I was sad to come to the end again so soon. I've read an extensive amount of Heinlein and although I've enjoyed many of his other books too, this remains my #1 favorite of them all (mainly because of Mike).
