Reviews

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

esko's review

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medium-paced

1.0

sirhcybe's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

A recomendation algorithm highly recommend this book to me and it's a sci-fi classic so I read it. It's the kind of sci-fi book that's heavy on plot and ideas while light on character development. The ideas part is mostly libertarianism and polyamory, both ideas that I don't really buy but they were thought through fairly well. In some ways this felt like a shorter "Atlas Shrugged" but on the moon. Heinlein had a tendency to get bogged down in details and so I found it slow going until book 3 when I stayed up late to finish it. Finally, I think Heinlein thought he had progressive ideas about women's empowerment but I kept cringing at the sexism.

jamesburgh's review

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4.0

Not bad. Didn't go where I thought it was going to, and honestly I think the ending could have been better. It seems to me that the government installed wasn't that far off from the gov't removed, and yet that wasn't addressed that much and everything worked out very neatly in the end. I think it was interesting that the main casualty was a computer and definitely, given the time in which the book was written, the technology speculation was quite good. Overall, I thought it was very good, but could've been great. Just my opinion.

morregano's review

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adventurous hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

goodkoopa's review

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2.0

Seemed like half the book was boring blah blah blah while I wait for something to actually happen. The detailed explanations of Earth-Lunar politics could have been interesting, but there was too much of it and zzzzzzzzz ... when is this book gonna end? Sooner if I up the play back speed to 2x.

This book should have been named "The Moon is Freaking Boring".

Or "This Book is Freaking Boring, Don't Read it, Unless You Hate Yourself."

dewey_bosh's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A very influential book, you'll see kernels of its ideas all over the place in science fiction. It does great world building with the lunar colony and their ways of life. I really liked this book and especially enjoyed it's commentary on politics which I found painfully relevant to this day and age. Also enjoyable to see a story about A.I. where the computer isn't the villain. Thought provoking book, give it a read!

ajparsons12's review

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4.0

Great revolution story of a lunar colony overthrowing their authoritarian earth rulers. Bears similar resemblance to the American Revolution (Small colony revolting against the rulers who are very far away due to laws and restrictions imposed on them). The reader can definitely see Heinlein's preference of a libertarian government that gives more freedom and power to the individual instead of that power being held by the government. The story is fascinating and he does a great job of building the futuristic lunar and earth politics and society. The lunars secret weapon is a supercomputer that controls everything on the moon and will remind the modern reader of AI. Even with this idea not being as far-fetched today the book's great conflict and the build up of the revolution makes it well worth a read.

amalthera's review

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

tessabee's review

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4.0

I have a love/hate relationship with this book. The pacing and world-building flows so naturally, it's nearly impossible not to get immediately hooked. I absolutely adore the world within these pages.

That being saaaaiiid, it's hard to ignore the way Heinlein sometimes writes the female characters. Even the way he writes our so-called strong female protagonist is dripping with condescension and excessive descriptors of just how oh-so-sexy she is. Sometimes the way he writes about young girls is a little, uh, creepy.

If you can get past the occasional eye-rolling, it's a smart, immersive read with a world I love spending time in.

jorrit's review

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adventurous reflective

4.0