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kdsterling's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Moderate: Sexism
a_kt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Listen, Robert Heinlein is a bit of a source of internal conflict for me. This is the first work of his I've read in it's entirety, after having listened to the first 2/3 of Stranger in a Strange Land before falling off of it after it gets a little... New-wave religious on you. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is a helluva ride, packed with all sorts of biting social and economic commentary, Nosferatu-esque technological predictions, and extremely poignant Government criticism. The thing is though..... I don't really... Agree with most of it??
The actual plot of Moon is lacking. The plot revolves around all of the main characters of the book, sorry - main *male* characters of the book discussing why laws are useless, why taxation is theft, why self-reliance is the only true way of life, why government oversight is just a fancy term for blatant corruption, and so on and so forth. It's basically every Facebook talking point your libertarian uncle who is obsessed with Penn and Teller loves anthropomorphized and made into a moon-crimin-revolutionary.
Meanwhile all the *female* characters in the book are very busy... Erm *checks notes*... Being beautiful, ethnically ambiguous, sassy, stubborn yet ignorant props to be talked about by the men. Seriously. One of the main three progenitors of the moon revolution is a woman named Wyoming, who is introduced to the reader by giving an impassioned speech about free will and the need to fight against tyranny, she then spends the entire rest of the book... Just kind of... Being around?? Oh yeah, did I mention this book makes *liberal* use of child brides as a plot point and tries to make it seem like a normal and good thing?????
Parts of this book are baffling. The social commentary is so dated and ham-fisted yet it pats itself on the back *so hard*, it makes the Earth-based government look so unapologetically bad while the main character nonchalantly makes the moon seem like a lawless utopia. There is literally not a shred of nuance to be found anywhere in this book.
All of that being said, I did finish it. So there are parts of this book I did enjoy. I see a lot of people complaining about the strange dialect the main character narrates in, but honestly I found that to be one of most endearing parts of it. The inclusion of the sentient super computer, Mike, was probably the most interesting aspect of the plot, but sadly Mike is only really around for the first and last bits of the book. He is introduced as this interesting (and humorous) concept, and ends up becoming the glue the keeps the revolution together. I liked Mike. I liked some of Mannie's witticisms.
I'd say if you're interested in reading this book, do yourself a favor and read Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossessed first (or instead of) to get a much more well thought out description of a real anarchist utopia in contrast with a late-stage capitalist society.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Sexism, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Classism and Colonisation
zosiablue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
That's OK! It's a classic and I'm mostly glad I read it. The plot was better than the delivery; Earth sends their prisoners to the moon and the moon prisoners revolt and start a war to get free. The best character is a nearly-human computer so brilliantly drawn that I felt every little blip of his fate.
But the misogyny was hard to swallow. Also the contradictory politics and cringy libertarianism. And so much of it was space opera action, which is exciting if you want it (I didn't want it). Regardless, I'm going to be thinking about that computer for a long time.
Graphic: Colonisation, Classism, and Genocide
Moderate: War, Racial slurs, Rape, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
oneandonlyetet's review against another edition
Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny
belgaer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Rape, Police brutality, War, Sexism, Pedophilia, and Misogyny
Minor: Infertility, Grief, and Violence
touchegiantsquid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Moderate: War, Racism, Sexism, and Cultural appropriation
How do I tag the idea of makeup that makes you appear to change race? How do I tag rape jokes?bonriki's review against another edition
Moderate: Sexism and Sexual harassment
Minor: Rape
shieldbearer's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Police brutality
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Ableism, Death, Infertility, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Racism, and War
If you're reading this book just for the robot,tylawrencium's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
It's, uh...definitely a sci-fi book written by a white guy libertarian in 1965. Expect unnecessary sexism, plenty of weird asides about women and their appearances, and racial descriptions that probably felt progressive in the 60s and now just seem like vaguely positive steroetypes? None of it (to me) is so blinding as to make the book unreadable, but it's good to know going in.speroergosum's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Death
Minor: Rape, Violence, and Sexism