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)

This books is better in audio translation

Heinlein once wrote (in _The Number of the Beast_ that Tolstoy's works gained from translation. That I cannot judge, but _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ which is one of my favorate books and one I reread periodically, gains from Lloyd James's translation. In particular, his voice for Mannie sounds both authentic and more multi-dimentional than the voice I imagined when reading the book. His brief chuckles punctuate Mannie's sly humor beautifully.

I know this is an audio version I will be listening to again. In fact, I imagine I will pull it out every time I go back to reread the book.

As for the book itself -- if you only read one book of Heinlein's in your lifetime -- this is the book you should read. Seriously.

Is Dinkum SF Classic, Tovarishch

Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966) is an absorbing tale about the attempt by the colonists of Luna to revolt against the exploitative Lunar Authority of the Federated Nations of Earth. Because the Loonies are outnumbered 11 billion to 3 million and because earth has all the spaceships and soldiers, it would seem to be a doomed fight for freedom. But the Loonies have a secret weapon: Mike the supercomputer who runs Luna's infrastructure and who has become self-aware, a fact known only to the three people who plan the revolution, Mannie, Wyoh, and Prof.

Mannie narrates the action in an appealing voice, with Australian (e.g. cobber), Russian (e.g. da/nyet), and Loonie (e.g. earthworm) vocabulary spoken as if by a Russian speaker of English (e.g. "Was good plan"). It was a revelation to hear reader Lloyd James read Mannie's Russian accent, because I didn't notice it when I encountered the book 20 years ago, and James is good at bringing the other characters to life with their own distinctive voices, especially Mike (though his French speakers evoke Pepe Le Pew).

The novel has many virtues. It is often funny, as when Mannie says, "I've seen a woman [nude] before," and Wyoh retorts, "What a thrill it must have been for her." Or as when, during a serious discussion about organizing the revolution, Prof is distracted by Mike's potential use for winning bets on horse races. It also boasts many provocative ideas, as in the minuses of government and pluses of "rational anarchy," the nature of sentience, the differences between genders, the benefits of group marriages run by women, and "tanstaafl." Mike's awareness and friendship with Mannie begin humorously but end movingly and mysteriously, while Mannie's desire to get away from civilization finally recalls Huck Finn's. And Heinlein extrapolates a convincing Luna culture based on physical realities of rock, ice, air, and gravity, and then works out how a mongrelized population originally comprised of "jailbirds" from various nations on earth with men outnumbering women 2-1 would live in cities and farms tunneling down into the moon.

I question the novel's anti-taxation, libertarian philosophy. And I doubt that harsh situations would make most bad actors disappear, or that all big mouths should be eliminated. And Bog knows that Prof is sometimes a know-it-all, and some passages make me cringe at their gender stereotypes or for their attempts to break them, and perhaps Mike is too good to be true (though when he feels the equivalent of an orgasm when lining up a number of rock-bombs to simultaneously hit the earth I shiver and remember HAL from 2001).

But overall I was impressed by how readable the novel remains and how (for Heinlein) tightly written and plotted it is, and if you are interested in the history of science fiction, or in tales of revolutions or of AI, you should listen to this audiobook.

Interesting and fabulous narrator

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It is a good story and it creates an interesting world.

What other book might you compare The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress to and why?

Hmm. For some reason it evokes old memories of the Andromeda Strain or Dune, but it has been a long time, and those may not be exactly on point. I see why it won its share of big awards.

Which character – as performed by Lloyd James – was your favorite?

Clearly, the main male lead, Mannie. I love the Russian accent. One of may favorite lines was Mannie, when asked by a female if he is rich, he pauses and says "Not wealthy", pause pause, "Not weeping".

Any additional comments?

If you are trying to knock out various lists of the 100 best fiction books, as am I, read this. It is on some of those lists, and it should be.

well done presentation

I read the book many, many years ago and was very favorably impressed with the narration and tone. The audio was excellent.

I flipped my opinions on narration about halfway through.

Not to spoil the story, but the narrator has a specific reason for the way he talks. At first I wondered why they just didn’t get a Russian to read if they wanted a Russian accented narrator. I then realized that the narrator is speaking in a LUNAR accent and thusly has a completely unique dialect. The story is great too.

Believe the hype. This book is worth it.

This book is worth every minute. I only wish it wouldn’t of ended. So many chapters worth listening or reading again.

A classic for good reason!

This book is a classic in the Sci-Fi genre, and for good reason. Well written, great story, never drags. I recommend it to all sci-fi fans as a must-read. I speak Russian, so I enjoyed the Russian accent as well, except for the mispronunciation of the Russian word for God; бог, should be pronounced with a long "O" that sound, not soft like bog. 🤓 However, this really did nothing to hinder my enjoyment of the book.

Great novel

Very good fun well written thought provoking entertaining even touching. RAH knew how to tell an interesting and highly original story. So much better than anything I have come across written in the past decade. Highly Recommended

always loved this book

A classic that I have read many times and enjoyed hearing as well. it is well read and a good way to share while driving some of my favorite books.

TANSTAAFL

The book is classic science fiction. Revolution on the moon with help from a self aware computer. The narrator did a great job and really brought the book to life.