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)

loved it

loved all parts whish prof hadn't died, wonderful narrator model work of sci Fi novel

Pretty political

Narrator fantastic, wonderful with accents. Story is a little too in-depth with revolution strategy for my taste, but I would still recommend this highly for sci-fi or post-apocalyptic fans.

Incredible

Must hear this audiobook, I am looking forward to Artemis so that I can compare...

Really enjoyable, narrator does a pretty good job

Great read, light on technical details but lots of strategy, artificial intelligence, general space technology that has aged pretty well as a result. Compelling story. As noted, some low-grade misogyny, but nothing unusual given the timeframe...

Timeless classic Sci Fi

This is a classic. Written in the early 60s.
The story is fairly short and makes some impressive predictions correctly as well as some misses.
You have to suspend some contemporary gender thinking even though I suspect Heinlein was already ahead of his time as well as being a bit odd.
As an early AI story where an AI is a full character it is very poignant. Even a tear jerker.

Better than Starship Troopers Even If It's Not Fun

Moon was not as much fun as Starship Troopers, but it was a better book. And Mycroft is now my favorite AI in sci-fi literature. I wish I could have the sort of interactions with Alexa that Manny has with "Mike".

Heinlein at his Best

Although Robert A. Heinlein is a master science fiction writer, in this title he also shows his abilities as a historian, political and military scientist, pragmatist, and futurist. He accurately writes of the issues humankind will face as we explore and populate our solar system, and reach for the stars. He discusses the crafting of criminal and civil laws and human morality predicated on the environmental factors humankind will encounter, not the laws and mores from whence we came. For example, as he postulates, how well do monogamous marriages work in an environmental setting with an average of 1 woman for every 200 men, and little likelihood of that ratio changing for generations? Or, what basic rights does an individual have when the very oxygen one breathes, the water one drinks, or the calories one consumes come from another’s labor, as postulated by John Gault in Ayn Rand’s tour de force, “Atlas Shrugged”? Heinlein is so much more than a science fiction writer. I sincerely hope his genius is realized when humankind is working through exactly the issues predicated by Heinlein. Superb book.

Moon Is JUST Harsh

A classic that I am glad I took time to know. A lot of 'talk talk.' The entire novel is spoken almost purely from one POV. Action follows suit, explained by a distant narrator. But Moon is a Harsh Mistress is yet good science fiction, if you can get past the fact the Lunnies manage to do everything on paper??? And Mike, the super computer, could do no wrong. Sigh. Yet, I am glad I put this book on my list of things to read.

Classic political sci-fi

I enjoyed the audiobook version of this book. At the beginning the Russian accent and mixed vocabulary was a little off-putting, but added significant value to the overall story. Within the first hour, I stopped noticing the mixed vocabulary at all. This is really a political/libertarian soliloquy wrapped in a guide to revolution, housed inside of a science-fiction story. If it had been written in the last 10-20 years, I would likely be harsher on the rating, but given its 1966 original publication date, I think it did an excellent job.

Loved it in 1965. Still love it today.

I've never met a Heinlein story that I didn't like. But this one is probably my favorite. I'm in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic and this was a wonderful break from the pandemic and the very contentious political situation with Donald Trump trying to declare himself emperor of the United States. Read it. You will not be disappointed.