The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Stunning. I re-read this one every five years or so and it never ceases to engage me. AI as an accidental, emergent behavior, given sufficient computing complexity? Lunar penal colony declares independence and finds a way to back it up using basic science and a fierce will? Experimental cultures adapting to their own unique situations? This is sci-fi at its best, when it takes plausible situations and runs with them in a way that makes us think about them, as well as just providing a damned good story.

Maybe not one of his "better" works, but certainly one of the most important ones. In this book Heinlein lays the groundwork for many of the socio-economic ideas he was to over-explore in later works. He also introduces characters that reappear in later works such as The Cat Who Walks Through Walls (the book, not the character. he introduces her in the book named after her.) But beyond the quasi-intellectual reasons you should read this book, there's also the kick-ass aspect: the original Mooninites BOMB the Earth. Using rocks. and it's still exciting. Group marriages. Transgendered computers. cyborgs. riots. political upheaval. children acting like adults. adults acting like really, really mature children. This book has it all. Highly recommended.

I used to list this as my favorite book. It had a profound impact on my political views when I first read it as a teenager and was introduced to its Libertarian take on government.

In reading it again (at age 39) it didn't shine quite as brightly and the political and sexual philosophy seems a bit simplistic.

However, at its core is still a great sci-fi story about artificial intelligence that seems as plausible today as when I first read it. it's ironic that as I (and the book) age, the science in the sci-fi seems just as strong to me while the politics and sexuality (which I suppose I've learned quite a bit more about in the last 25 years or so :-) ) falls a bit more flat.

This book was pretty fun to read. Amazing how fresh it seems for a book written 50 odd years ago. I'd say 4.5 stars is a fair rating.

The dictation of the book really bugged. I don't remember details too well, but the main character is Russian, i believe, and therefore the narration is written in broken English, and I found this to be very annoying. Still thought provoking though, as only Heinlein can be.

After acclimating myself to the language I was able to read on ahead, trusting that the rest would somehow fall into place. Something about a good sci-fi novel that sucks me in. Love letting that lunar penal colony develop in my head. Line marriages don't seem like such a bad idea. Not to mention I now know how to head the next revolution. TANSTAAFL!

A masterpiece of science fiction and a damn fine manual on how to run a revolution. It also gave us the immortal TANSTAAFL - "There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch." True words then and even truer now.

Very interesting story with many layers of meaning. Not "easy" reading due to the strange, kind of minimalist, use of language, but still hard to put down. If you like sci-fi, this is a great read!

Interesting social commentary wrapped into an exciting sci-fi story with a heavy dose of international relations theory. A great read on many levels.

Probably the best by Heinlein. Great story. Interesting characters. Thought provoking to say the least. A little dated, but presented a plausible future at the time it was written. Highly recommened. If you were only going to read one Heinlein book, this would be the one to choose.