The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

This book was referred to me by a fellow sci-fi fan and I have to admit, it was worth the time and effort. The plot is something that is very believable and could happen in the near future once the moon is colonized. The [acing and character development were very good I thought, and it's just an enjoyable read if you like sci-fi and contemplating what could be occurring in the near future, even if not all of it is good.

I often scour the forums in search of my next science fiction book to read. On more than one occasion, I have been presented with "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" as one of the greatest science fiction novels in history. The only reservations I have when dealing with novels considered "classics" are their readability. I have frequently read novels considered classics and they are disappointing and outdated. I can say in all honesty, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" is undoubtedly a classic that holds up well.

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 elderly academic--who become the movement's leaders, and of Mike, the supercomputer whose sentience is known only to the revolt's inner circle, who for reasons of his own is committed to the revolution's ultimate success.

One thing I noticed right away 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 seperate 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 efficent 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, 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.

5 Stars

There is no question about Heilein's mastery of writing and writing science fiction. Great storyline in this novel and as many other of his novels and those of other SF writers, it has to be read keeping in mind the political and social context in which it was written. In this novel however, other is an additional artistic touch: the partial lack of articles and pronouns. When I began reading the novel I felt confused and had to go back to read the same paragraph over. Then I was upset because "there was something wrong with the writing". I finally figured that the whole book is written in "lunar". Incredible! The book was definitely difficult to read but definitely entertaining. I have gone over other reviews and I have not read anybody else commenting about what I believe is "lunar language". Do other readers perceive the same as I do?

I don't claim to be a genius. Robert A. Heinlein, on the other hand, is one of the most brilliant writers the United States of America has ever produced. He starts with a kaleidoscope of colorful characters, posits a world no one living has ever experienced, then uses science to bring them together in a multilayered study of human existence. And he achieved this in every single book he wrote.

Consider Mike, the supercomputer who becomes sentient and helps free the former prison colony of Luna from the tyrannical and oppressive "Authority" based on Earth. The name and character allude to "Michael", an archangel, the only archangel in the Bible clearly identified as a warrior angel. Thus it is not the least bit surprising that Mike the supercomputer comes up with and executes the strategy that helps Luna's revolution succeed. Nevertheless, the two personality traits that give his character such charm are a childlike naivete and a love of practical jokes. His naivete is so overwhelming that when he realizes the destruction brought by his strategy it renders him catatonic.

Consider also Hazel Stone. She first appears in a book published almost ten years before this book (

Looking for a good novel about AGI? Look no further. Politics and values are of course from another time. To me it's just extra spice in what is still a Sci Fi classic. Colonisation is no longer a hot topic in today's world the way it was when this was written, (but AI certainly is) but you get a lot of timeless ideas around liberalism and anarchism here. And a recipe for revolution on top. I was surprised I soon forgot this book is almost 60 years old. And the parts including AI felt as they could be written today, in a cyberpunk setting. I was "warned" about this book and Heinlein because of controversy around him and his conflicting world views. This made me want to read it even more, and I was almost disappointed by how uncontroversial most of this book was. But I'm glad I read it and enjoyed it for what it was: a great Sci Fi classic.