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 find 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.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is the winner of the 1967 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
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Somehow I never read The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, despite reading Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers multiple times in middle and high school. Especially odd because at that time I tended to go deep on science fiction authors I liked, like Frederick Pohl and Frank Herbert.
But for whatever reason I never ventured further into Heinlein’s oeuvre, and am making up for that deficiency now. And this is the big one. Along with SiaSL, this is one of Heinlein’s best known, one of the ones that put him in the pantheon of the “big four” SF writers, along with Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ray Bradbury.
The book is set on the moon, mainly in Luna City, one of several cities run by the Lunar Authority, a highly rigid and hide-bound bureaucracy based on Earth to mine the moon for the benefit of Earth’s citizens, leaving the moon’s inhabitants impoverished and unfree. Nor do the citizens of Earth care, since the moon is peopled mostly by convicts sentenced to life terms on the moon and their descendants, called Loonies. Especially since the grain produced on the moon in vast underground caverns and shipped to earth via a huge launch catapult is critical for feeding the Earth’s billions of people.
The narrator is Manuel O’Kelly-Davis, who goes by Mannie, a computer technician on contract with the Lunar Authority, who one day discovers the Lunar Authority’s main computer has “woken up.” The computer, who adopts the name Mike, isn’t a bad sort, although he has a childish sense of humor (for instance, sending out a paycheck to one Loonie for $10 billion). Mannie is Mike’s only friend; indeed, the only one who knows he is sentient, and Mike controls virtually every vital service provided in the various moon cities (air, water, transportation, finance, etc.). When Mannie’s friend, Professor de la Paz, gets him mixed up with a lunar independence movement, along with the beautiful revolutionary Wyoming Knott, Mannie is able to get Mike on their side, giving them a ghost of a chance to defeat the Federated Nations of Earth and earn freedom for the Loonies.
The moon in anarchic society–but not disordered! Because the Lunar Authority doesn’t provide law, caring only if the grain shipments keep coming, it’s up to the Loonies to determine their own way of living. This is where Heinlein’s libertarianism comes in, which this book really explores. Justice, for example, is privately-administered. A judge is someone mutually acceptable to both parties, the fee for hearing a case is negotiated, the defendant chooses whether he wants a jury or not, based partially on if he wants to pay, with payment perhaps scaled to parties’ income. Poor judges don’t get repeat business, competition keeps prices low, balancing of interests ensures justice is achieved. Actually, the way Heinlein describes it makes our own system of justice seem fairly clunky.
The Loonies also have come up with alternative ways of arranging families and romantic matches. Mannie is part of a “line marriage,” where a new husband or wife is brought into the family every few years, alternating by gender. Yes, that means there are multiple spouses, ranging in age from late teens to old age. His marriage has been around for more than 100 years, and he points out it works well for a farming family, as his is, because it allows for the accumulation of capital across generations. Like the privately-administered justice system, it may seem weird, but Heinlein describes it in such a way that by the end of the novel it seems quite natural, even preferable in some ways to our own way of doing things.
This book is not for everyone, but those it is for will really get into it. On one level, the story of the revolution itself is pretty exciting, and Mannie, Mike, the Professor, and Wyoming are likable characters who are easy to root for. But deeper than that, it’s a novel packed with ideas, expertly presented so you hardly realize Heinlein is showing you how a truly libertarian society could work. It’s those multiple levels that make this one of the all-time classic science fiction novels.
Heinlein, ’nuff said.
Possibly Heinlen’s best stand alone novel.
Heinlien at his best. I acquired this book when it was published and have read it several times. It still has currency even though it was written in the 1960s. It is basically a retelling of the American revolution set on the moon, with a few elements of the Russian revolution thrown in for fun. It has one of the first depictions of a sentient computer as well. It is a rousing good tale and basically never stops. Heinlein was moving into Libertarianism from his liberal Democratic roots as he wrote this book but he avoids being too preachy and never spoils the fun of the narrative with too much politics.
I recently re-read this book, and found it particularly timely in light of current US issues. But Heinlein is always entertaining and thought-provoking!
Develops ideas originally presented in Starship Troopers.
Second only to his masterwork, “Stranger in a Strange Land”.
I realize that this is a science fiction “classic” but I found it boring. The characters were predictable and one dimensional. Plot was boring. I was extremely disappointed in this book.
Wonderful build out of possible future.
The use of language in this book is great
In my opinion this is Heinliens best book. Heinlein is called the Dean of Science Fiction, at least he was when he was alive. He more than deserved the title and all the positive feelings that went with it. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is the story of the revolution of the moon colony from the Earth. It is also a love story between two moonies and a love story between humans and an AI. Every page worth reading time and again. Buy this book after you read every thing Heinlein wrote before it.Then read everything he wrote after it. You won’t be disappointed.
A computer technician notices that the Lunar Authority “boss computer” has become sentient. They become friends, and become organizers of a revolution against the oppressive Earth bureaucracy.
Why do we need a moon base? Gauss rifle
There are so many strengths to the characters of this book. It is an engaging read, some of Heinlein’s best work.
Read this when I was in high school (I am now 67, so I guess it was about 50 yrs ago). This is one of Heinlein’s best and if you read this one first, you’ll want to read his entire oeuvre.
One of Heinlein’s best! I still use the phrase “TANSTAAFL” with friends and coworkers when appropriate.
Parallels Stranger in a Strange Land in that the central character learns to understand society as a brilliant isolated outsider. More complex in that this is a first person narrative from the perspective of another viewpoint.
One of RAH best novels. Meet Mycroft, main computer to the colony in the moon. His friends and the revolution they plan. Also likes to tell jokes.
Another intriguing Heinlein book. Makes you challenge your paradigms.
Delightful construction of a world where the Moom is a penal colony and plot expands from there. INteresting characters and situations.
A re-read for me, and as always an enjoyable one from the Dean.