Book Review: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Robert Heinlein is one of the grand masters of science fiction. His stature is equal to such luminaries as Orson Scott Card, Arthur C. Clark and Isaac Asimov. Some of his books, especially his juvenile works were amazing reads. Others required a lot of filtering, Stranger in a Strange Land anyone? Others were less so, one of these middle-ground books is a personal favorite: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

In this universe, the moon is a large penal colony and a dumping ground for political prisoners. Its plot is the war for independence fought by humans who live on the moon. They revolt to free themselves from an oppressive global UN type of government agency. A cabal of three humans and a sentient computer named "Mike" plan then foment and carry out this revolution.

An undercurrent to the plot is a lot of lecturing by Heinlein through the personae of the male protagonist named Manny about the virtues of atypical family types. It got to the point that I wished Heinlein would just not talk about the topic if for no other reason than it didn't move the plot forward. I'm all into character development and helping the reader see why a character does what he does, but in my reading of the novel I could never see how Manny being in a "line family" made a difference.

Heinlein espouses a very libertarian world view through the mindsets of his protagonists: Manny, Wyo and the Professor. He also touched on the difficulty of mounting a revolution when most people are either to apathetic to care or accepting of the status quo. The key feature of the story which turns it into an engaging science fiction piece is Mike, the computer who spontaneously attains sentience.

My take on the various aspects of the novel: (1 - 5 where the higher the score the better the rating )

Plot: 5 - for how he uses Mike to be the "brains" of a revolution. Heinlein was decades ahead of his time in arguing that computers would/could be great enablers to individuals.

Language: 5 - No offensive words.

Violence: 4 - For scenes of "hand-to-hand" combat when forces from Earth try to quell the revolution.

Sex: 4 - There isn't any that occurs "outside" of marriage. And when it is mentioned, it's done in passing with no vivid descriptions. There is lots of innuendo and talk of "bundling," a code word for a one-night stand, but it's all talk and no action.

Thematic Content: 3 - For his long discussions about alternative family styles. He uses straw man arguments for these families. If your children read the book, you'll definitely want to discuss this with them.

On the whole however; it's a teen safe book, but it will get the reader to ask questions about what constitutes a viable family and what are acceptable standards for treating women. (The lunar culture is very protective of women because they are so scarce. But that protection comes in a very "wild, wild, west" manner.)