The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress : Book

Search ISBN:0312863551 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress Reference Book. Classifications : Epic Fantasy Science Fiction & Fantasy Subjects Books General Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Subjects Books Paperback Mass Market Trade Binding (binding) Refinements Books Printed Books For . Click the following link to view the cover of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.

1) Paperback Book The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Orb Books. The concept of a lunar colony seeking independence from the world government-supported corporation that owns it excellent. Unfortunately, that´s the only excellence in this abysmally bad novel.

Heinlein uses one main character as the first person narrator, an approach I usually like. But, Heinlein gives this educated computer repairman a ridiculous speech pattern that omits definite articles, mangles grammar, and reminds me of the idiotic way that Chekov spoke in the Star Trek series.

Heinlein did not understand economics and agriculture. Sending criminals to a lunar prison cannot be economical, even with the future technology described in the novel. Worse yet, Heinlein structures a significant amount of the plot around the fact that the lunar colony exports wheat to Earth! Supposedly, the colonists could grow wheat at less cost than Earth´s farmers. That´s hard to believe since lunar rock dust cannot support lichen (and certainly not higher plant life), so the lunar farmers must add nitrates, phosphates, and trace elements; water is scarce on the moon and (in the novel) requires the mining of tons of ´rock ice´ to yield liters of water; the underground wheat ´fields´ need many kilowatts of power for the growing lights; and transportation requires a nuclear powered catapult that launches a capsule fitted with retro-rockets for braking at earth. Even if the Earth were out of surface growing space, lighted tunnels on Earth would be much cheaper as farms than tunnels on the moon.

The annoying dialog from the narrator and the idiotic economic premises detracted from the plot, which unfortunately did not measure up to the excellence of the concept. As other commenters noted, the entire revolt was based upon an AI and a few people lying to and manipulating their fellow Lunarians into a revolt. The Lunarian revolt succeeded, and then the main fear was that the world government would shoot nuclear missiles at their multi-trillion dollar lunar colony that held over three million people. That´s an unrealistic threat (like destroying a village to save it), especially because the Lunarians had a catapult for throwing wheat capsules which easily could handle maneuverable payloads for destroying missiles or warships.

This book also features the usual Heinlein sexism. Heinlein novels seem to reflect the sexist beliefs of a 17-year-old boy raised by Bible-thumping parents on a midwest farm in the 1940s, and this novel is no exception.

Finally, I am disappointed that so many libertarians recommend this novel. There is nothing libertarian about it. The revolution and the subsequent government were both autocratic with an AI and a handful of people running everything. Their stated goal was a minimal libertarian government, but actions count more than intentions.¤

2) Paperback Book The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Orb Books. This book arrived well before the expected date and was a great buy. I will be buying from them again.¤

3) Paperback Book The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Orb Books. If you were ever looking for an instruction manual for a successful revolution, it also helps to have a nigh-omniscient super computer on your side as well. If you´re a fan of science fiction, libertarian politics, space travel, or just interested in a damned solid, intriguing and challenging piece of literature, then pick this book up, get through a chapter, and fall in love with one fantastic book!

If you can read, I would recommend this book, and this author... This book will only enrich your life.¤

4) Paperback Book The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Orb Books. This was a purchase for a b-day gift and was received wonderfully. He has been looking for the book for a while and I found it! In great condition. Very happy!!¤

5) Paperback Book The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Orb Books. This book was the first book of the authors that I read and is one of the best science fiction books ever. The thing that makes this book for me is the depth the author brings to his characters, plot, and the philosophies that all mankind face and question. This book is worth the time of any serious reader weather you like sci fi or not.

This book will keep you up into the wee hours of the morning to see the end. Great book.¤

Robert A. Heinlein was the most influential science fiction writer of his era, an influence so large that, as Samuel R. Delany notes, "modern critics attempting to wrestle with that influence find themselves dealing with an object rather like the sky or an ocean." He won the Hugo Award for best novel four times, a record that still stands. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was the last of these Hugo-winning novels, and it is widely considered his finest work.

It is a tale of revolution, of the rebellion of the former Lunar penal colony against the Lunar Authority that controls it from Earth. It is the tale of the disparate people--a computer technician, a vigorous young female agitator, and an elderly academic--who become the rebel movement´s leaders. And it is the story of Mike, the supercomputer whose sentience is known only to this inner circle, and who for reasons of his own is committed to the revolution´s ultimate success.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of the high points of modern science fiction, a novel bursting with politics, humanity, passion, innovative technical speculation, and a firm belief in the pursuit of human freedom.

7) Paperback Book The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Orb Books. Tom Clancy has said of Robert A. Heinlein, "We proceed down the path marked by his ideas. He shows us where the future is." Nowhere is this more true than in Heinlein´s gripping tale of revolution on the moon in 2076, where "Loonies" are kept poor and oppressed by an Earth-based Authority that turns huge profits at their expense. A small band of dissidents, including a one-armed computer jock, a radical young woman, a past-his-prime academic and a nearly omnipotent computer named Mike, ignite the fires of revolution despite the near certainty of failure and death.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 1-Oct-2008, 03128635519780312863555, 510-290-330-890-860-640-121-8

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Author - Robert A. Heinlein ... [Goo?] [Posters]

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