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The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Robert A. Heinlein

4.15 · Rating details · 119,148 ratings · 3,940 reviews

It is a tale of revolution, of the rebellion of a former penal colony on the Moon against its masters on the Earth. It is a tale of a culture whose family structures are based on the presence of two men for every woman, leading to novel forms of marriage and family. It is the story of the disparate people, a computer technician, a vigorous young female agitator, and an eld ...more

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Paperback, 288 pages

Published March 14th 2005 by Hodder & Stoughton (first published April 1966)

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Sep 22, 2011 Lyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: all-time-most-favorite-books

TANSTAAFL = There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

My three favorite books of all time are (in no order) Heart of Darkness, The Dispossessed, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

When I first read this years ago I loved it, I could not put it down. As Stranger in a Strange Land was a Robert A. Heinlein vehicle for theology, so is Moon is a Harsh Mistress to ideology. And just as The Fountainhead is the better, though less epic, of the pair with Atlas Shrugged, so is Moon is a Harsh Mistress, the ...more

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Sep 28, 2018 Mario the lone bookwolf rated it really liked it

Shelves: heinlein-robert-a

Space camp prison fun time

So we have AI, use of food as a weapon of war, philosophy, how probability influences human decisions and satirizing statistics, rebellion, how to treat colonies right or wrong and what true independence means with many side blows on history, emancipation by imbalance of sex ratio that enables women to be more powerful and what kind of family models form out of this new situation, and, as always in Heinleins´works, many dialogues and monologues.

He always played with po ...more

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Feb 25, 2020 Kevin Kuhn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction, favorites

“The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” – what a title, sometimes I wonder if this book is considered such a classic in large part due to that title. Despite some imperfections, it does have much to offer, especially being published in the mid-1960’s. The setting revolves around a former Lunar penal outpost, which has evolved into a highly functioning colony with ice mining and successful grain farming. The colony is tightly managed by the Lunar Authority which is controlled from Earth. Set in the later “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” – what a title, sometimes I wonder if this book is considered such a classic in large part due to that title. Despite some imperfections, it does have much to offer, especially being published in the mid-1960’s. The setting revolves around a former Lunar penal outpost, which has evolved into a highly functioning colony with ice mining and successful grain farming. The colony is tightly managed by the Lunar Authority which is controlled from Earth. Set in the later 21st century, Heinlein imagines an intriguing future, publicizing some groundbreaking technology and ideas. We not only have sentient computers, rail guns, fusion power, space battles with laser guns, we also have a Lunar dialect, unique family and marital structures, and different social norms, sprung out of living in a harsh and compact environment. After establishing this future, the book explores a lunar revolution. Take the American Revolution narrative, mix it with the Australian evolution from a penal colony to an independent nation, stir in some libertarian ideology and you have the plot.

When I first read this book in the mid-1980’s it was later high school or early college years, I can’t quite remember. I was astonished by the concepts in this book. I was intrigued by the sentient computer and the concept of using a rail gun for space travel/supply logistics. Moreover, It was the first time I was truly interested in politics and political principles. I mean, I had some lessons in high school around government, but I found it mind-numbingly boring. This book triggered something intellectually that made me think deeply about government philosophy. Since then, I’ve considered the book one of my favorite science fiction books, if not overall favorite books. So, I almost regret this reread, afterwards, as I just couldn’t ignore some of its flaws.

The primary issue with this book is sexism. I’m sure at the time of its writing it was probably considered progressive in terms of how it treated female characters. I mean one of the central figures of the revolt is a woman. And the women on the moon control large, extended families with polygamous relationships. Women are revered and sexual advances are not allowed without permission. Advanced thinking for the early 1960’s, right? Well, unfortunately, you only need to go one step deeper to dig down to the issues. Women are only revered and not touched or raped due to their scarcity. The constant threat of other males tossing violators out an airlock is what creates this situation. It’s still socially acceptable to catcall and ogle women, and in this reality, women enjoy this type of lecherous attention because they don’t have to worry about rape. While one of the central characters is one of four founding members of the revolution, her role is often to gain interest and support due to her attractiveness. And when miners are reluctant to main defensive laser positions, the solution is to provide pretty women at the posts as well, problem solved!

Another issue includes a tremendous amount of exposition. It does help that its written in first person, so at least the infodumps are coming from the mind of the protagonist, instead of an anonymous narrator. The exposition also serves to move the plot along quickly at times, when complex setting, political, and technical information needs to be established. However, it did limit my enjoyment to continuously run into large blocks of narration.

Despite these flaws, it’s still an important book. Using science fiction to explore political affairs and alternate social structures set a foundation that many future authors built upon. Might we not have “The Handmaids Tale” without this book? Possibly. Was it brave in the 1960’s to explore alternate social structures such as polygamy? Definitely. Did the book popularize some intriguing concepts such as the importance of the moon’s weak gravity well, sentient computers, and rail guns? Absolutely. In the context of history, I still rate this book highly. However, I feel compelled to take away at least half a star in recognizing some underlying issues – TANSTAAFL! Four and a half stars, rounded up to five for this Hugo Award winning, philosophical yet action packed tale. ...more

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Dec 04, 2008 Mark rated it it was amazing

Ah, Heinlein: SF's great paradox artist. I am fairly certain that I have personally held every possible wrong viewpoint on the man. Namely, that he was:

1) A radically forward-thinking visionary of libertarianism
2) A raging fascist, homophobe, and misogynist
3) Any point on the sociopolitical spectrum in between.

It's not my fault. Over the course of his career, Heinlein seemed to espouse every possible viewpoint on religion, government, and gender relations (obviously, he liked to stick to small t ...more

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Jan 08, 2012 mark monday rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-60s-70s-80s

do you play games where you know the outcome of the game itself is without question... where any fun to be had is not so much in the winning - that's predetermined - but in figuring out how exactly you will win, what moves you will make, how you will overcome all those minor hurdles along the way? that's sometimes how i feel when playing chess with some folks. for me, it's not the most exciting thing in the world; it's a little eye-rolling. i think others may have more excitement when playing a do you play games where you know the outcome of the game itself is without question... where any fun to be had is not so much in the winning - that's predetermined - but in figuring out how exactly you will win, what moves you will make, how you will overcome all those minor hurdles along the way? that's sometimes how i feel when playing chess with some folks. for me, it's not the most exciting thing in the world; it's a little eye-rolling. i think others may have more excitement when playing a game they know they'll win. my little nephews seem to have a really enjoyable time kicking my ass at their various new-fangled video games. personally i don't get it, but they seem to love illustrating how easy and exciting it is, the thrill of watching all their strategies and skills coming to predictable fruition. even when there is no real competition. their eventual win is obvious. and that's the impression that i'm left with after reading the enjoyable Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.

the novel is about a revolution on Luna by its oppressed permanent labor force. far in the future, the moon is the newest Prison Island... once you are transported there, you can't come back. and there you work, mainly to export grain, and live a life of economic exploitation by The Lunar Authority. you will alway live in this proletariat society. overall, it is actually not a horrible existence. the "Loonies" are an enjoyable lot, unpretentious and down to earth, concerned mainly with beer, gambling, and the ladies. Heinlein creates an odd and i suppose semi-utopic world, with a pleasing lack of laws (a kind of libertarian anarchy of sorts) and a surprisingly liberated view on women. basically, women are the social/family/romantic Boss of It All... not truly a matriarchal society per se, but rather one built around the need to make sure women are completely empowered. apparently due to the 2-to-1 status of men to women on the moon, and the need for women to be 'available' to much more than monogamy, if they so chose.

still, despite the basic lack of horror in this odd world... it's no fun to be exploited by bureaucratic overseers. and so must come REVOLUTION! we have our friendly & no-nonsense Everyman, we have our bewitching & passionate Lady in Hiding, we have our amusing & highly intellectual Idealistic Professor. and of course we have our sentient computer Mike, who likes to play games. and revolution is just another kind of game, right?

the writing is breezy, casual, and in a sort of pidgen english - a kind of cross between baby talk and our very own text messaging style. that style should be annoying but actually isn't. much like with HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey, we have a fascinating computer who provides all of the genuinely emotional and resonant moments in the narrative. and - perhaps because of the time period in which the novel was written, but certainly topical today - we have a step-by-step account of How To Make A Revolution Work. Heinlein's passions come across mainly in the world-building of this almost-utopia and in the very detailed expression of how exactly to overthrow the chains of oppression through revolution (and i suppose a bit of terrorism, at times).

so back to my original point. i liked this novel, but i would never consider reading it a second time. it was fun. but the outcome was never in question. Heinlein loads the dice by making sure that everything happens as projected, each step of the way. no tension... and a tension-free revolution is a curiously child-like enterprise. child-like but not childish. there is a sweet naïveté to it all. Heinlein jerry-built this revolution to be won and so i never felt any kind of nervousness, i never worried. the only stakes that were meaningful to me were the (rather slight) emotional stakes around Mike the computer: his past loneliness, his concern about whether he is actually sentient, and his need to have friends, to talk to people who are 'not-stupid'. aww... that's adorable! Mike, i'm not super-smart or anything, but i'll be your friend! cute little revolutionary computer minds are very appealing to me. ...more

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Feb 10, 2019 Martin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-all-time-favourites, humour, science-fiction, recently-reviewed, war, love, travel

Imagine a prison colony on the Moon
Now add a new and updated twist on the American war of independence
A self aware computer that actually runs the colony
A non-political computer engineer
A beautiful freedom fighter
A politically cynical professor
The birth of a (new) nation
And you have one of the best hard science fiction tales ever !

image: description

Prison History
My Grandfather Stone claimed that Luna was only open prison in history. No bars, no guards, no rules—and no need for them. Back in early days, he ...more

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Jan 06, 2018 J.L. Sutton rated it really liked it

One of the presents for my mother this Christmas was an Amazon Echo (Alexa). Having recently reread Robert Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, I couldn't stop thinking about the parallels between the awakened computer, Mycroft (Mike) in this novel and Alexa. This connection was reinforced when people kept asking Alexa to tell a joke. While he helps the former convict Lunar settlers in a rebellion against Earth, MIke's obsession remains fixated on jokes (and whether they are funny only once, ...more

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Apr 15, 2019 Luffy rated it did not like it

Shelves: let-down, one-star, overhyped, popular, science-fiction

DNFed it at 55 % or so. I can't believe that this difficult to read and difficult to follow story is so highly rated on Goodreads.

The story is so painstakingly revealed, yet there are more questions than answers. The coup prepared by the oppressed moon dwellers seems to take forever.

Each successful book has its own audience, or should I say, readership. Maybe only the hardcore sci-fi crowd rated this beast of a book.

Maybe the usual romance reading housewives had a hand in rating this book 4 or 5 ...more

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Jul 21, 2013 Manuel Antão rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1991, 2017

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

On How to Spin a Top-Notch Yarn of Bullshit: "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert A. Heinlein

The usual pretty crude pneumatic sex-fantasies cropped up... But women actually have a pretty dominant role in Heinlein's lunar society... It's a penal colony, and Heinlein reckons that means there are going to be far fewer women then men there - so he's come up with a system called 'line-marriage'... wherein a few women in a household shar ...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi, 2016-shelf, top-one-hundred

What do you want us to do? Throw rocks at them?

Nah, but we could have a tea party.

Wow. I'm still amazed at how good this Revolution novel has held up over the years. I had read it twice before this latest re-read, but it hasn't lost any of its charm.

Of course, I love Heinlein's heavy reliance on self-reliance, libertarianism, and TANSTAAFL. I'm lucky to have read him early so as to be fully indoctrinated in this gung-ho politicism of Rational Anarchy and I can laugh and whoop and grin foolishly ...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Cecily rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-future-speculative-fict, landscape-location-protagonist

Very disappointing: 2.5* (it's not terrible, but it's weaker than books I award 3*, and I enjoyed it far less).

I know of Heinlein as a sci-fi author and had heard of some interesting language-type things that make this novel unique, principally a Lunar dialect.

Although it's mostly set in a lunar prison colony, just over 100 years after it was written (and 60 ahead of now), it's more of a political story, and the Lunar dialect is just a slightly stilted pidgin whose most notable features are the ...more

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Dec 19, 2008 melydia rated it did not like it

My first taste of Heinlein was Stranger in a Strange Land a few years back. It was, in a word, bad. So I gave up on Heinlein all together, figuring if his most famous and critically acclaimed book was no good, what chance did the others have? This conviction was met with protests from Heinlein fans, saying I need to read some "good" Heinlein before making the call. So I did, though it took me an unusually long time to finish. I just couldn't get into it. The characters were two-dimensional and s ...more

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Jul 11, 2007 She-Who-Reads rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thought-provoking, science-fiction, politics

This is an excellent novel, action-packed, exciting, and deftly-plotted, with fascinating, complex characters and some interesting science-fictional ideas. I also enjoyed reading about Luna's culture; I thought the marriage customs were particularly interesting.

One thing I noticed right off was the way the Loonies use language differently than people from earth do. In fact, it threw me at first -- I couldn't figure out what was going on or why the language was so rough and unpolished and choppy. This is an excellent novel, action-packed, exciting, and deftly-plotted, with fascinating, complex characters and some interesting science-fictional ideas. I also enjoyed reading about Luna's culture; I thought the marriage customs were particularly interesting.

One thing I noticed right off was the way the Loonies use language differently than people from earth do. In fact, it threw me at first -- I couldn't figure out what was going on or why the language was so rough and unpolished and choppy. Eventually, though, I found the rhythm of it and settled in just fine -- I didn't even notice it after a while. It makes sense; Luna started off as a penal colony and has since developed completely separate from Earth and relatively unmolested. Of course they would have their own dialect and speech patterns! To my mind, their language seems to be as efficient as possible. They trimmed away any unnecessary deadwood -- they don't use articles, for example, and very few personal pronouns, and they seem to prefer to use fragments to complete sentences. Only the essentials remain, much the same as the original colonists/prisoners had to start their lives over with only the bare essentials and sometimes not even that.

This book was written about forty years ago, and it has stood the test of time quite well, but there are some aspects of it that do seem rather dated. For example, the idea behind the character of Mike -- the computer that is connected to everything and has "woken up" or become alive -- is one that is very familiar to modern readers, one that we accept easily. Apparently, we accept it much more easily than Heinlen expected his readers in 1965 to accept it, because he spends more time explaining it than he really needs to. When Mannie, the narrator, tells Wyoh about Mike and introduces them via a telephone conversation, she is shocked that Mike already knows what she looks like. He looked up her medical records and found a picture of her immediately after being introduced to her. To modern readers familiar with the internet, this is an obvious step and hardly shocking; we expect it, and Wyoh's shock and apparent need to have every detail and implication of Mike's "life" spelled out for her makes her seem a little bit stupid to us. If we don't remember that Heinlen is using Wyoh to explain things to his 1965 audience that his 2005 audience intuitively understands, then we'll get a little frustrated with Wyoh's denseness.

All in all, though, this is a novel about politics -- a very complex, deep, intellectual and sophisticated look at politics, government, revolution and war. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress has a very definite world-view and political philosophy, some of which I agreed with, and some of which I really, really didn't. My agreement (or lack thereof) with the politics espoused in this book didn't seem to have much bearing on my enjoyment of it. This is a book that requires the reader to think. And that, I think, is why I loved it so much. ...more

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Apr 06, 2015 Erik rated it it was ok

Shelves: scififantasy, detailed-review

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress begins, promisingly enough, with a conversation between the sentient computer Mike and the mechanic Mannie, our protagonist, about the subjective and paradoxical nature of humor. It then segues into a revolution whereby the Moon, a penal colony used primarily as a farm to grow wheat to feed Earth's beleaguered masses, attempts to become an independent state. The revolution is planned and executed primarily by Mike, essentially an omniscient God, and everything which ...more

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Nov 20, 2008 Manny rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, older-men-younger-women, older-women-younger-men

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MULTIPLE HEINLEIN SPOILERS

Robert Heinlein was a good friend of AI legend Marvin Minsky (check out his people page! It's interesting!), and I've heard that they often used to chat about AI, science-fiction, and the connections between them. Here's a conversation I imagine them having some time between 1961, when Stranger in a Strange Land was published, and 1966, when The Moon is a Harsh Mistress appeared:

"Bob, this book's not so bad, but I felt it could have been so much bet THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MULTIPLE HEINLEIN SPOILERS

Robert Heinlein was a good friend of AI legend Marvin Minsky (check out his people page! It's interesting!), and I've heard that they often used to chat about AI, science-fiction, and the connections between them. Here's a conversation I imagine them having some time between 1961, when Stranger in a Strange Land was published, and 1966, when The Moon is a Harsh Mistress appeared:

"Bob, this book's not so bad, but I felt it could have been so much better! OK, love the idea of the guy from Mars, who doesn't understand how people work and has to learn the most basic things about emotions, society, etc from first principles. You have some good stuff there. But I think you got a bit distracted with the super-powers and the sex. Sure, put in sex, all for it, but don't get Mike so involved in that part of the book. He should be more abstract I think. And I wasn't so thrilled by the fact that he never actually does anything much with his powers, except for start a minor cult and get martyred. Seems a bit negative. What does his martyrdom achieve, exactly?

Wait. I have an idea. Why don't you rewrite it so that he's an artificial intelligence? Really, that makes more sense. He's even more alien than a human raised by Martians. Oh, don't worry about that, I can help you with the technical details. Feel free to drop in at the AI Lab any time, we're all huge fans. People will be delighted. So, yes, as I was saying, he needs to do something. Maybe he's... the central computer in a future Lunar society? And he helps them start a revolution, and break free from Earth's tyranny? Even though what he's really most interested in is understanding how humor works? I don't think you need to change that much else. Call him Mike again by all means, so that people see the link. And you should absolutely martyr him at the end. Only, I think this time you should do it in a subtler and more ambiguous way. But sure, leave the door open about whether he's really dead."

"Hey, thanks Marvin! Terrific ideas! You know, sometimes I think you should be the science-fiction writer, and I should be the AI researcher. I'll definitely come by soon. With a draft, I feel inspired. Going to start as soon as I put the phone down. Take care!"
...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction, oldies-but-goodies

$1.99 Kindle sale, May 3, 2020. Robert Heinlein's books too often don't age well, but this one is one of my favorites and is still a fascinating SF novel, if you like hard SF. This one won the Hugo Award (and was nominated for the Nebula) back in 1966.

It's the story of a human colony on the Moon, which Earth has used as a penal colony as well as a source of wheat. The main character, Manuel or "Mannie," is a computer technician who discovers that the Moon's master computer has become sentient an ...more

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Jun 08, 2017 Monica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: popular, audible, classics, scifi-spaceopera

I feel like I just took a psychedelic trip culturally through the 60s in a dream of the life in the future. I found the book to be very reflective of the culture and philosophies of the 60s projected to the 2000s. In some ways Heinlein was ahead of his time. I found myself impressed with his treatment and characterization of the sentient AI. There was a lot of unexpected philosophy in the storytelling where they are discussion the behaviors of crowds, and people and greed and motivations. I thou I feel like I just took a psychedelic trip culturally through the 60s in a dream of the life in the future. I found the book to be very reflective of the culture and philosophies of the 60s projected to the 2000s. In some ways Heinlein was ahead of his time. I found myself impressed with his treatment and characterization of the sentient AI. There was a lot of unexpected philosophy in the storytelling where they are discussion the behaviors of crowds, and people and greed and motivations. I thought he made very good points and observations about such systems.

Here's the thing, and I don't necessarily consider it (in its own right) a criticism. I think Heinlein wanted to write a story about governing systems. As a science fiction writer, he needed to put the story in space. This came across as relatively superficial. The scifi elements did necessitate the need for a sentient AI who could perform almost godlike tasks in order to ensure a successful outcome. The scifi elements were also part of why it seems like some kind of drug infused dream of the 60s than an actual scifi novel. The novel was irrevocably anachronistic. (view spoiler). But technology wasn't the only anachronistic element. OMG the treatment and characterizations of women and "others" (people not white males) as Valerie says "God bless him" (Heinlein). A seemingly confused soul I fear. A chauvinistic man who saw himself as an open-minded, broad thinker and perhaps even a visionary (don't think so).

Overall I enjoyed the book in spite of its flaws. Heinlein's libertarian views, counter-feminist and polyamorous idiosyncrasies not withstanding. To be honest it was a strange cross-section of sophomoric (especially with women and to some extent libertarian) views and some advanced, sophisticated thinking and an interesting examination of governing systems. Though the subject matter may be more common today, this book written in 1965, seems to be original, innovative and ahead of it's time.

3.5+ Stars

Edited to Add: I listened to this on Audible and followed along with a paperback. Narrated by Lloyd James, the performance was good. I think the interpretation of Manuel O'Kelly with a Russian accent was strange, but it worked. ...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Penny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: bookclub, classics, favourites, highly-recommended, scifi-and-fantasy-club-bookshelf, nebula-award, books-they-say-i-should-read, popular-should-read, science-fiction, hugo-award

Fantastic! I won't be able to do this book justice in a review, but it really is one of the best I've ever read.

The language is brilliant and makes you feel that you really are living on the moon. The Loonies are interesting and the plot kept me completely absorbed and desperate to hear what happened next throughout.

One of the best revolutions I've ever had the pleasure to read. Highly recommended! ...more

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Apr 19, 2020 Dennis rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, dnf

Well, I tried.

This is not a bad book by any means. But Heinlein’s decision to let his first-person narrator speak in broken English made this hard work for me.

I just never got into a real flow, and after three or four pages my mind always started to wander. So I actually had to force myself to think about the book's content instead of whether I’ve already done the laundry or not.

Right now this just hasn’t any of the things that I want from a book. Which is either be fun, or be educational, or be ...more

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Jan 04, 2008 Jim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, favorites, 1paper, war, 2fiction

This is a classic SF story of the moon fighting for its independence from Earth, with a lot of parallels to the American Revolution. Heinlein has a political conversation with himself here, definitely coming down on the side of Libertarianism, but also acknowledges & points out the holes in his arguments himself. I've read some rants about Heinlein pushing his politics & I disagree with them. I think he's doing more questioning than pushing & that leads to some fun with the characters, especiall This is a classic SF story of the moon fighting for its independence from Earth, with a lot of parallels to the American Revolution. Heinlein has a political conversation with himself here, definitely coming down on the side of Libertarianism, but also acknowledges & points out the holes in his arguments himself. I've read some rants about Heinlein pushing his politics & I disagree with them. I think he's doing more questioning than pushing & that leads to some fun with the characters, especially Prof.

Prof is the Heinlein wise elder character while Manny is the middle aged incarnation. Hazel (who shows up as the grandmother in The Rolling Stones) is the youthful, female version. Yes, Heinlein only has 1 main character, he just changes age & sex to suit the situation. I don't consider this a horrible flaw in his books, though. They're more situational, so a steady character actually helps them out.

Prof has a wonderful political philosophy. He's a Rational Anarchist. Actually, that seems to pretty much be his take on life & I dare say it's more honest than most. He'll accept any laws you think you need & obey those he can, when he can, otherwise ignore them, but will pay up if caught. (Come to think of it, that's pretty much how I go through life.) His remarks to the new Lunar Congress on how to pay for government & what laws to make are well worth thinking about & certainly does point out the perennial problem they all have. One suggestion was they start by making laws of what the government could never do. Another was a house devoted to repealing poor laws.

Stu's observations on governing were more amusing. He wants to name Prof king because that would protect people from their biggest enemy, themselves. How true! The woman with the list of proscribed items in the early Congress is a perfect example. Anyone with half a brain can't help but make the comparisons to our own society & the creeping repressiveness as we democratically vote away our rights.

Heinlein points out another fallacy in government, one that he never explicitly states: What works for a small group often won't for a large one & that needs change over time. He makes this argument as a thread throughout the book: Manny's reflections from the future when Luna is much more populated & his other comments on its early days. The justice system of Terra versus that of Luna of Manny's time. It's important to note that Heinlein offers up no concrete answers, just a lot of questions, & he is pointing them out through a first person narrator. Manny is fairly reliable, but he's human & thus comfortable in the society he knows. There are multiple examples of how poorly this fits others - many of whom wind up paying the ultimate penalty.

The language of the book is notable. Sentences are clipped with a lot of polyglot slang & - possibly most important - he popularized the word tanstaafl : "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch". The link is to the Wikipedia article on it. I wish people would use & think of it more.

Racial, religious, & national slang names are commonly used & are now considered politically incorrect, but they are used in such a way that no prejudice can possibly be attached. The moon is such a mix that such designations are merely descriptive. Marriage is another institution that receives a thorough cleansing of preconceptions & homosexuality is also briefly addressed. IOW, Heinlein has a lot of fun with Civil Rights. Since this book was originally published in 1966, that's not surprising, especially given his views on the matter, but this book was well before he almost died & he hasn't gone overboard yet.

The story is quite dated as far as technology goes, but that didn't hurt it much. There are tape recorders, wall phones, & computer punch cards, but the overall experience of the moon is well done. Mike, the self-aware computer is fun, too. Not particularly realistic, but enjoyable & played his part well.

All in all, it's a must-read for anyone exploring SF. It is a classic & is a hell of a lot of fun, but gives plenty of food for thought, too.
Wikipedia has a so-so write up on it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon... ...more

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Apr 26, 2020 Gabrielle rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: american, read-in-2020, reviewed, classics, own-a-copy, sci-fi, great-idea-terrible-execution

Short review :

So. Much. Mansplaining. Yuk.

Long review :

I wanted to read “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” because I love both sci-fi and the idea of socialist revolution (even if I am well aware that socialism is not what Heinlein was going for here). I knew that there would be grossly outdated stuff in this book: sci-fi from that era tends to feature decorative and sexually pleasing female characters, there is often paper being used, as well as other quaintly outmoded ideas – and I can often make Short review :

So. Much. Mansplaining. Yuk.

Long review :

I wanted to read “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” because I love both sci-fi and the idea of socialist revolution (even if I am well aware that socialism is not what Heinlein was going for here). I knew that there would be grossly outdated stuff in this book: sci-fi from that era tends to feature decorative and sexually pleasing female characters, there is often paper being used, as well as other quaintly outmoded ideas – and I can often make abstraction of that and simply enjoy the ideas and stories. But alas, this reading experience was an unpleasant one.

As the short review said, the amount of mansplaining in the first 50 pages alone almost made me put the book down. But I am nothing if not stubborn, so I kept reading. Because I was curious to see how Mannie the computer guy would manage to overthrow the Terra government with the help of the strangely self-aware computer Mike (I do love that it’s short for Mycroft Holmes, who is a favorite character of mine), the quirky Professor de la Paz and the baffling Wyoming. And I must say that she is baffling because I don’t get the point of her. She is the catalyst for the entire idea of the revolution, but Mannie and the Professor spend so much time reminding their charming female acolyte that she understands everything just a little bit wrong, and that she is adorably naïve, that I am not clear on why she was such an inspiration to start the whole thing in the first place. I wouldn’t be inspired by an incompetent revolutionary activist, but maybe that’s just me…

Even if there wasn’t so much condescending misogynistic garbage to wade through here, the writing is also frustrating. Heinlein wrote the book from Mannie’s voice, and so the prose adopts the spacer language Mannie uses; the choppy sentences are not that hard to get used to (it's nowhere near as tricky to wrap one's brain around as the Nadsat in “Clockwork Orange”, just dropped pronouns and prepositions). The real problem is that Mannie is not a great narrator: I could get no sense of the story’s setting or of any kind of atmosphere from this book. Idea-driven sci-fi often suffers from dry prose, and in this case, it exacerbated the book’s other flaws.

It probably doesn’t help that one of my all-time favorite books is LeGuin’s “The Dispossessed” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), which is also a sci-fi novel about socialism and revolution, so my mind constantly compared Heinlein’s work to LeGuin’s, and that doesn’t really do “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” any favors. The richness of world-building and character that I wanted from this simply wasn't there.

I have other Heinlein novels on my shelf, but now I think they may gather dust for a very, very long time. Bummer. ...more

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Dec 10, 2014 Stuart rated it liked it

Shelves: near-future, politics, hard-sf

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress: Soap-box on the Moon
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
Heinlein’s libertarian creed is TANSTAAFL ("There ain't no such thing as a free lunch"), and this book is probably the most complete expression of his political ideas about self-government, attempts to empower women while still being incredibly sexist and condescending, and some pretty good hard SF extrapolation of what a moon colony’s technology, politics and economy might be like. Oh yeah, and there happen The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress: Soap-box on the Moon
Originally posted at Fantasy Literature
Heinlein’s libertarian creed is TANSTAAFL ("There ain't no such thing as a free lunch"), and this book is probably the most complete expression of his political ideas about self-government, attempts to empower women while still being incredibly sexist and condescending, and some pretty good hard SF extrapolation of what a moon colony’s technology, politics and economy might be like. Oh yeah, and there happens to be an omniscient, all-powerful AI named Mike who helps the Loonies stage their revolution against the oppressive Lunar Authority (can you say DEUS EX MACHINA?). The outcome is never really in doubt, so what we are given instead is a 300-page lecture on what Heinlein’s ideal society would be.

Basically Heinlein thinks that most politicians are self-serving and corrupt (tough to argue with that), nothing important can be decided with more than three people, and intellectuals are useless yammerheads that just do a lot of talk-talk. However, for someone who doesn’t like talk-talk, I’d say about 85% of this book was just that, with almost a complete lack of action or tension and rest being an ultra-detailed description of how a revolution could be planned and executed. The critical flaw here is that none of the revolution would work without the comprehensive computer powers of AI Mike. The rest of the revolutionaries are simply depending on him to work his magic. So what does that say about the realizability of a libertarian utopia like the Free Luna State??? Deep down, I don’t think Heinlein really believes that any such society could ever come to fruition, since regular people just aren’t smart enough to pull it off.

In the end, it’s pretty clear that Heinlein can only really be satisfied with two types of people in the world: The super-competent blue-collar engineer-type everyman that most of his protagonists are, and the super-intelligent, totally-sexy, and yet thoroughly subservient women that dig guys like that. The only thing better is a polyandry/group marriage society where you can be married to several of these delectable creatures! It’s too bad the story takes such a backseat to the political daydreaming, since Mike the AI is such a likeable super-computer and the Loonie society is carefully constructed.

There are many readers who think this is probably Heinlein's last readable and thought-provoking novel before he went off the deep end into his libertarian, female-worship, crotchety old man stage, and I would certainly be in agreement.
...more

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Sep 04, 2008 Ron rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

“Chaotic crossed with psychotic.”
Disappointed. I read this story fifty years ago and loved it. On re-reading it now, I found it not only trite, but disturbing. This is going to be long, but I must justify dropping a former five-star rating to two. (I gave a star back for literary merit. Heinlein was a great storyteller.)
“He really did think he was Sherlock Holmes’s brother Mycroft … nor would I swear he was not; ‘reality’ is a slippery notion.”
The star of the story is Mike, more properly Mycrof “Chaotic crossed with psychotic.”
Disappointed. I read this story fifty years ago and loved it. On re-reading it now, I found it not only trite, but disturbing. This is going to be long, but I must justify dropping a former five-star rating to two. (I gave a star back for literary merit. Heinlein was a great storyteller.)
“He really did think he was Sherlock Holmes’s brother Mycroft … nor would I swear he was not; ‘reality’ is a slippery notion.”
The star of the story is Mike, more properly Mycroft, a “gigantic” self-aware computer.
“I will accept any rules you feel necessary to your freedom. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.”
Professor de la Paz is Heinlein’s anarchistic Yoda; and Manuel is everyman. This book is fictionalized propaganda for the kind of ugly libertarianism advocated by Aleister Crowley and Ayn Rand, as practiced by Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, etc. The Prof declares himself a rational anarchist: The ends justify the means. Murder and theft are okay, if done by your side. If the other side does it, it’s an atrocity. Sound familiar?
“I stopped three paces away to look her up and down and whistle. She held her pose, then nodded to thank me but abruptly—bored with compliments, no doubt.”
Misogynic. Even for the sixties, Heinlein is quite the sexist. Evidence also of the incest and pedophilia themes which would dominate his later works. “Ludmilla is a sweet little thing, just fifteen and pregnant first time.” “She’s below the age of consent. Statutory rape." “Oh, bloody! No such thing. Women her age are married or ought to be. Stu, no rape in Luna. None. Men won’t permit.” Did he believe that?
“One first thing learned about Luna, back with first shiploads of convicts, was that zero pressure was place for good manners.”
Quibbles: Manual has a pseudo-Slavic accent which carries into the narrative. But no one else, not even his family, have accents anything like it. “started tub” Admitted water shortage on moon, yet they take baths. “Sundown Tuesday to sundown Wednesday, local time Garden of Eden (zone minus-two, Terra) was the Sabbath. So we ate early in Terran north-hemisphere summer months.” (No, you’d eat later because the sun sets later in the summer.)
“Easier to get people to hate than to get them to love.”
One positive theme: race is no big deal. Most Loonies are mixed race and proud of it. The United States is moving that direction today, if the white and black racists would let go of their real or imagined privileged positions.
“Parliamentary bodies all through history, when they accomplished anything, owed it to a few strong men who dominated the rest.”
The backstory economics make no sense: prisoners are transported to the moon to grow wheat for export to earth.
“All Terran satellites could accept high speed as sixty-to-one.” Slower than a dial-up modem. Remember them?
Things he guessed wrong: computers; his were still programmed with punch cards; apparently had no solid-state memory. (He shouldn’t have missed that one: semiconductor memory had already been invented by 1966. In fact, Moore’s Law was written in 1965.) “Got empty memory bank?” “Yes, Man. Ten to the eighth-bits capacity.” (A mere 100 megabits, not bytes. 100 megabyte chips were available in 2002.) Wireless communication. “needed to stay on phone and longest cord around ….” Things he guessed right: solar panels, “escape-speed induction catapult.”
“Tanstaafl. ‘There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.’ Anything free costs twice as much in long run or turns out worthless. One way or other, what you get, you pay for.” ...more

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Sep 10, 2016 Ivana Books Are Magic rated it really liked it

As cynical as I have become about revolutions, this novel managed to warm my heart. This story about Loonies (residents of Luna i.e. the Moon) rebelling against Earth government is so well written it is really a crime to miss it. As a big a crime as not starting a revolution when revolution is due. If you want to feed your inner rebel with a delicious story of lunar colony rebelling against mother Earth, then what are you waiting for? If you’re feeling philosophical, then this might be a good no As cynical as I have become about revolutions, this novel managed to warm my heart. This story about Loonies (residents of Luna i.e. the Moon) rebelling against Earth government is so well written it is really a crime to miss it. As a big a crime as not starting a revolution when revolution is due. If you want to feed your inner rebel with a delicious story of lunar colony rebelling against mother Earth, then what are you waiting for? If you’re feeling philosophical, then this might be a good novel for you. It raises a lot of interesting question. Once you start reading this one, you’ll see it is not really about action (but there is a bit of that so don’t worry, it’s not one of those novels where nothing happens). There are many dialogues in there that will make you think.

You want to start a revolution? Why, here is a great handbook for you! Seriously thought, this is one of my favourites by Heinlein. It is political SF at its best. Besides being a great handbook on staging a revolution, this novel has others things going for it. Let’s start with the setting.
Luna Is A Harsh Mistress is set on Moon. No surprise there! What is somewhat surprising is the incredibly detail with which Heinlein describes this Lunar society. The Moon is a colony of Earth and as such has a very different culture, language and just about everything. The way the writer set the story and the care he gave to developing this setting is bloody brilliant.

So, the setting is pretty awesome. Moreover, the story is entertaing and high paced while giving you enough food for the thought. What else? Another great thing about this novel is that it has such as a fantastic cast of characters. There is Mike- and he’s a doll. I don't recall any other A.I or computer character that was so loveable. Yet, Mike is definitely my favourite character, but other (human) characters are not any less fascinating, for example there's Miguel. This slightly cynical loonie ( an ingenious term coined to describe a resident of Moon) is for most part a pretty easy-going guy despite the fact that he had his hand cut off and replaced with a tool in order to make a living. I remember this premise being used in some third rate Hollywood movie and it really annoyed me, how they stole that idea like that. But let's back to the characters: Professor Bernardo de la Paz is there for smart ideas and dialogues. Mimi the matriarch was also a lovely character. I'll stop here, although there are more of them that are worthy of mentioning.

There are many aspects of this novel that make it such a great read. It is a very thought provoking novel, though it may not seem that way at first. Sure it is the story about a rebellion against government and there is some action, but another thing you will get is a lot of interesting lessons about human societies wrapped up in nice dialogues. Dialogues, you say? Yes, many of them between an AI and human beings. I did say there is a fantastic cast of characters in this one. Accomplishing a complete racial integrity in a natural way is something that many novels still fail to do, but this novel does it. That’s exceptional considering the time when this novel was published. The concept of line marriages is something that was developed nicely and it fit in with character’s development. Loonies feel very much real both as individuals and members of society. By that I mean they are very convincingly portrayed, not just as individuals but as society as well.

Now, some may say that it is kind of convenient for a Moon revolution to have a computer that basically controls every aspect of life on Moon on its side. Well, I can’t deny that but that doesn’t mean that is the only reason why our AI is there. He ( I can’t make myself to call AI it) does help the revolution but his motivation actually makes sense. Heinlein wrote him in a very convincing way, right from his ‘awakening’, through his character development and finally to him becoming a well-rounded character with unique characteristics and a sense of humour. Sure, in our world today, a SF author wouldn’t need to explain what AI stands for. However, all these descriptions that wouldn’t be needed today don’t really make Mike’s characterization boring. They also don’t make the novel dated. Maybe they just feel a bit out of place, but that's all. Back to my point. I don’t see anything wrong with our AI being conveniently there. Sometimes in life, we do get a little lucky. I didn’t see that as weakness in a plot.

Political ideas expressed in this novel are often the kind that make one really think. The idea of writing a constitution in negative was a very refreshing one. There is a lot of interesting quotes to be found in this novel, for example: "In writing your constitution let me invite attention to the wonderful virtue of the negative! Accentuate the negative! Let your document be studded with things the government is forever forbidden to do. No conscript armies... no interference however slight with freedom of press, or speech, or travel, or assembly, or of religion, or of instruction, or communication, or occupation... no involuntary taxation." I think this novel can also be viewed as a warning against government control and colonization. Take this quote for example: "In past history popularly elected governments have been no better and sometimes far worse than overt tyrannies." Well, as depressing as it sounds, that’s actually true. One only needs to remember a few history lessons ( Hitler, Stalin) to realize the horrible truth behind this sentence. Just because a government was elected doesn’t make it a good one.

Injustice is often our reality and it is injustice that fuels the rebellion/revolution in this book. Every government is an organism that defends itself, an organism whose sole purpose is to sustain itself…and is it any wonder that it can’t do much good? Is there such a thing as a good government or is it always a choice between lesser evil? This novel does raise some really interesting questions, but in a way that is anything but overbearing. I suppose there is nothing extraordinary in stating that high government control often results in suppressed citizens. What is remarkable is writing a novel that expresses various issues with government control intelligently, using dialogue, while at the same time fluently talking about various other subjects (for example what does it mean to be human?) and having a decent plot and set of characters. What is remarkable is the novel itself. It is interesting to read, the plot develops well and quickly, there are no boring parts and all of the political and philosophical ideas are effortlessly included. What are you waiting for?
...more

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Dec 02, 2008 Kelly McCubbin rated it really liked it

This is quite possibly Heinlein's most politically charged book. People speak of Stranger in a Strange Land as being socially revolutionary, but this book is both that (polygamous marriage to form extended families, murder generally allowed, but insults to women punishable by death) and politically charged (Libertarian, Libertarian, Libertarian, though not exactly that kind of loopy American Libertarian Party kind, but a kind based more strictly on a dismantling of governmental power).
It is a co ...more

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May 30, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

I read this first when I was young...we're talking young-young here, and my memories of it were of a sort of space opera. I'd remembered it along with many of Heinlein's "teen" or youth books. When I mentioned this it was pointed out to me (rather forcefully by some) that my memories were...incomplete.

Well, they were. While a young reader will see a "space rebellion" here the story itself is a well written tale of political science and human nature. Heinlein gives a very well done debate and/or ...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, favorites, 2fiction, 1audio

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Jan 14, 2011 Sandi rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, 2011, audiobooks

I read Stranger in a Strange Land twice. I loathed it with a passion the first time I read it, sometimes in the Eighties. I tried again in 2008 when it was a selection for one of my GoodReads groups. I thought maybe I was missing something, so I decided to go for the re-read. It was just as awful the second time. Because of my experience, I vowed I would never read Heinlein again. Several people told me that Stranger in a Strange Land wasn't really his best work and that I should try The Moon Is ...more

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Mar 25, 2008 Brad rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: the-best, sci-fi, to-read-again, political, faves, revolution

I’ve read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress twice in twenty years. Two decades between readings and it still holds up surprisingly well. Heinlein’s Lunar Revolution, his benevolent AI, Mycroft (aka Mike), and Professor de la Paz’s ideas for government were all exactly how I remembered them. Yet I found that my favourite part of the rereading experience was the tale it told about me.

When I read this book the first time, I was an idealistic youth who believed that change was possible and worth fightin ...more

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Dec 01, 2013 Joe rated it it was ok

The opening chapter of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress presents an intriguing character study; Mike is a computer who wants to grow up. Mike doesn't understand humor or human nature but he wants to learn and he's got a willing teacher in the form of his assigned engineer, the clever but casual Mannie. Sound interesting? Do not get your hopes up (DNGYHU!)

Because this novel isn't about Mike's quest to make sense of humanity, it's about a libertarian revolution on the moon! (Liberty! Economic freedom The opening chapter of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress presents an intriguing character study; Mike is a computer who wants to grow up. Mike doesn't understand humor or human nature but he wants to learn and he's got a willing teacher in the form of his assigned engineer, the clever but casual Mannie. Sound interesting? Do not get your hopes up (DNGYHU!)

Because this novel isn't about Mike's quest to make sense of humanity, it's about a libertarian revolution on the moon! (Liberty! Economic freedom! Extended-family polygamous communes!) And for this revolution to get off the ground it's going to need a supercomputer to lead it. Before you know it, he's organizing a secret phone system and issuing clandestine proclamations to revolutionaries who think he's human. Kids these days grow up so fast! But maybe it's OK that the child-with-the-microprocessor-brain plot-line gets cut short; revolutions can be fun and who doesn't like a little politics with their science-fiction? DNGYHU!

Because until final act, this is the least exciting uprising since The Whiskey Rebellion (which featured shockingly few drunk battles.) Mike the supercomputer can control all electronic systems on the moon, generate infinite money and maneuver guidance-outfitted asteroids with the precision of a master pool player. The imperious government forces don't stand a chance and the gritty lunar rebels barely matter. Mike could have won a bloodless revolution on his own; let me reiterate that he's a super-genius who can generate infinite money and control all electronic systems on the moon. The bad guys don't win a single battle and never suspect the identity of the rebel commander.

But even if the revolution is a let down, that's not the point right? Surely Heinlein scores some clever political points defending his ideology? DNGYHU! As mentioned earlier, the purported superiority of the Moon's wild-west polygamous society isn't what powers their victory over the government. And when Mannie is quizzed about how Lunar society's mob-rule ethic functions, his reply is basically that it just seems to work.

Heinlein isn't even interested in giving the novel's antagonists (corrupt government officials and mealy-mouthed moralizers) much of a literary lashing; they tend to be nameless, faceless, personality-less props. Most of them don't even qualify for straw-man status because they don't receive any dialogue. Near the novel's end, Mannie does have one dick-swinging standoff with a self-important busy-body during a council of revolutionary leaders; it's a clash of wills that injects the story with some much needed drama and is the closest the story comes to passionate politics. Alas, a few paragraphs later, the busy-body is tossed out on his busy-keister never to be seen again.

Paradoxically, Heinlein's most adroit political observation regards the greatest weakness of hardcore libertarianism that, much like communism, it is virtually impossible to put into practice. For in the end even the freedom-loving moon-folk bail on the notion 'That government is best which governs least.' This final-page turnabout makes Heinlein's lukewarm support of libertarianism fit better, but makes for boring ideological conflict.

This novel is more interested in the technical details. Mike and Mannie spend countless pages detailing an undercover phone-system, picking when and where to bombard the Earth, organizing their underlings and figuring ways to avoid detection. Heinlein was a naval engineer and a radioman, so it's fitting that he writes most comfortably about communications and mechanical systems.

And perhaps it's for the best that Heinlein's focus is on the mechanical over the personal as his writing betrays a worldview that is, at turns, psychologically incompetent or odious. A few examples; Mannie's love-interest Wyoh, a purportedly intelligent, practical woman, makes rape jokes around men she barely knows. Africa is described as a place where human life has never been valued. Mannie gets the hots for a preteen girl and employs his family to help him stalk her. A group of lunar citizens pay an exorbitant fee to have an impartial judge rule on a matter that should be obvious. Mannie makes the worst baseball bet of all time.

But for all my complaints this review is long for a reason, this is a hugely ambitious work that touches on a multitude of themes, technical ideas and arguments. Trying to encapsulate a majority (gibbous?) of the book's theses has proven one hell of a mental exercise. Heinlein may have aimed for the moon and missed by miles, but at least he enforced one useful acronym. DNGYHU!
edited 3/2/2017 ...more

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About Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein

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Robert Anson Heinlein was an American novelist and science fiction writer. Often called "the dean of science fiction writers", he is one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of "hard science fiction".

He set a high standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of literary quality. He was the first SF writer to break into mainstre ...more