The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

By: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by: Lloyd James

Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

In what is considered one of Heinlein's most hair-raising, thought-provoking, and outrageous adventures, the master of modern science fiction tells the strange story of an even stranger world. It is 21st-century Luna, a harsh penal colony where a revolt is plotted between a bashful computer and a ragtag collection of maverick humans, a revolt that goes beautifully until the inevitable happens. But that's the problem with the inevitable: it always happens.

Winner of the 1967 Hugo award, this novel marked Heinlein's partial return to his best form. He draws many historical parallels with the War of Independence, and clearly shows his own libertarian political views.

©1965 Robert A. Heinlein (P)1999 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

• Hugo Award, 1967

"Adrenalizing, mind-stretching, conviction-testing...unmatched by any contemporary!" (Theodore Sturgeon)

Love this book

Every time I read this book is gets better and better!!! One of my all time favorite books in the world!!!

Spans the generations of SF

Combines the best of hard SF and social conciousness. Totally engaging reader, very talented

Harsh Mistress Indeed

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is a well written sci-fi tale set in a dystopian future. Overall I enjoyed the performance. However, there are parts where the main narrator is dubbed with a different narrator and it is distracting. I would recommend to sci-fi fans.

TANSTAAFL

"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" How correct and timely this book is even though it was written years ago. "That which is immoral for one person to do to another is also immoral for a group to do to an individual".

One of my favorites

I've listened to this several times. I loved it in print, and the reading of the audio book is great.

Great performance!

The narrator did a fantastic job acting out the voices of different characters. The book was good, but the story was kind of boring. Perhaps I was expecting more science and less politics, but it was an interesting "libertarian" rendering.

Awesome story! Superb Performance!

I've been a fan of Robert Heinlein for many years. Starship Troopers was my first foray into RH's imagination, followed by all the other classics. All of these experiences were via the printed word, and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

On a whim, I purchased The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, curious to see how it would be handled in the audio book medium. It was a spellbinding event! I was blown away by Lloyd James' ability to assign and accurately use the voices for each character! Very impressive! Though I had read the book before, hearing it read by Mr. James made it seem like a totally new story.

Two thumbs up!

A Classic

Heady political scifi and the freedom man, where ever we may reside. The moon has evolved from the off world prison earth had intended and she yearns for freedom.

Better listened to than reading

While it starts off slowly in hindsight that is what makes the narrative so compelling as the story evolves and when finished you realize how large a story has been told.

I couldn't imagine listening to this book without the accents beautifully performed by the narrator

Also hard to imagine that this was written before one saw what a man walking under 1/6th gravity would look like and the long term effect of low gravity on the body, all projected in story form so well

Does take a leap of faith on some basic starting points but doing such allows for a story that's cuts across political beliefs, races and gender. As a person listening who has a science based career it also fascinating how much of the science was researched and included as fact/effect with only a rare explanation here and there as needed

I hope to enjoy this reading again many years in the future but I think the reading and story are so entrenched in my memory I will never have the same experience

Moon vs. Earth: The Battle for Lunar Independence

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress?

Finding out how a conscious computer might have an orgasm.

What does Lloyd James bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He does a good job at making it seem as if the narrator is recalling one of his old war stories.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wouldn't want to do anything for 8 hours at time except sleep.

Any additional comments?

A great piece of hard sci-fi. In a battle for independence the Moon fights the united nations of Earth. The final outcome is obvious and hinted at throughout the book. What makes it an enjoyable listen is watching all the parts fall in to place, starting with a conspiracy by a handful of lunar colonist and eventually blooming into an all out interplanetary war.

The book mostly takes place on the moon and in the process of watching the conspiracy unfold, we learn alot of detail about customs, taboos and personality traits that might develop in such an environment. So, in a sense it reads like a "Sociology of the Moon 101" with an action story woven through the plot to keep an exciting pace.

Overall Heinlein presents us with a more optimistic view of space exploration then other top sci-fi writers that I enjoy, such as Philip K. Dick (for planet colonizing suspense, I highly recommend "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch"). The eventual fallout from the conflict is to the mutual benefit of both the Earth and Moon and humankind in general.