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odin45mp's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent science fiction novel. It gets a bit heavy-handed with its political preaching, as Heinlein tends to be. Somewhat dated due to advances in computer technology, but still a believable look at a future where we live on the Moon. Sadly it is also a believable look at where humanity will be a century from now: mired in petty squabbles over land, commerce, and trade rights. Fighting for control of each other, rather than advancing us all.
hallucigenia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- 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
3.25
nebbit's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
tomasthanes's review against another edition
5.0
This book was not at all what I was expecting. Without any tangible data, I was thinking that the story would revolve around lunar miners (in the same sense that "The Expanse" books have the belters, miners extracting ice and ore from the asteroid belt). Nope, not even close.
It turns out that Moon was a penal colony, a dumping ground for criminals, like Australia was for Great Britain. Convicted felons on Earth were shipped up to the Moon were they'd do hard service until their sentences were met and then, because of their adaption to 1/6th gravity, would be unable to return to the earth and so, again like Australia, a inique economy and culture came into being.
The primary export of the Moon was food grown in tunnels ("warrens") under lights with water and fertilizer added. The food (mostly grains) were packed into steel containers and launched from the Moon's surface back to Earth via a magnetic catapult. The containers would have very limited guidance and control and would splash down into the ocean off of India where they'd be recovered and offloaded.
A lot off the management of the grain shipments to Earth (basic ballistics) was performed by a central computer named "Mike". We're using to thinking that our powerful computers used for machine learning or other artificial intelligence tasks will one day become sentient because, after all, humans evolved into sentience so it must be able to happen to "thinking" machines. Unfortunately this written in the mid-60's so computers were centralized mainframes with 64KB of RAM and programs written in COBOL, FORTRAN, and PL/1. They used pre-modem synchronous interfaces that one day hoped to be as fast as a 1200 baud modem. This was the kind of a computer that became sentient in the book. I'm suppressing my disbelief only because Mike was such a sympathetic character in the book.
The Lunar Authority was a political entity on Earth that managed the relationship between the Earth and the Moon. The Lunar Authority dictated and the Moon kowtowed (that last word may not be politically correct but is nevertheless accurate). The Lunar Authority set the quotas and paid the farmer in L.A. tender that barely had any worth. If you could, you immediately converted what you were paid into Hong Kong dollars because those had a stable value on the Moon.
So this story is about the war between Earth and the Moon for independence. I won't tell you how it ends. It's worth reading it yourself.
It turns out that Moon was a penal colony, a dumping ground for criminals, like Australia was for Great Britain. Convicted felons on Earth were shipped up to the Moon were they'd do hard service until their sentences were met and then, because of their adaption to 1/6th gravity, would be unable to return to the earth and so, again like Australia, a inique economy and culture came into being.
The primary export of the Moon was food grown in tunnels ("warrens") under lights with water and fertilizer added. The food (mostly grains) were packed into steel containers and launched from the Moon's surface back to Earth via a magnetic catapult. The containers would have very limited guidance and control and would splash down into the ocean off of India where they'd be recovered and offloaded.
A lot off the management of the grain shipments to Earth (basic ballistics) was performed by a central computer named "Mike". We're using to thinking that our powerful computers used for machine learning or other artificial intelligence tasks will one day become sentient because, after all, humans evolved into sentience so it must be able to happen to "thinking" machines. Unfortunately this written in the mid-60's so computers were centralized mainframes with 64KB of RAM and programs written in COBOL, FORTRAN, and PL/1. They used pre-modem synchronous interfaces that one day hoped to be as fast as a 1200 baud modem. This was the kind of a computer that became sentient in the book. I'm suppressing my disbelief only because Mike was such a sympathetic character in the book.
The Lunar Authority was a political entity on Earth that managed the relationship between the Earth and the Moon. The Lunar Authority dictated and the Moon kowtowed (that last word may not be politically correct but is nevertheless accurate). The Lunar Authority set the quotas and paid the farmer in L.A. tender that barely had any worth. If you could, you immediately converted what you were paid into Hong Kong dollars because those had a stable value on the Moon.
So this story is about the war between Earth and the Moon for independence. I won't tell you how it ends. It's worth reading it yourself.
safuya's review against another edition
3.0
It took some getting into because of the Luna speech pattern Heinlein used, and it's a platform for extreme political ideas. I did enjoy the story though once i got into it.
keinbock's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.75
Normally I don't go for futurespeak style narration, but somehow this one made it charming and I was along for the ride. I loved the heist style narration in the beginning and was just enjoying the technobabble and barely understandable slang.
Also a big fan of the world building in terms of luna society, marriage, etc.
My only gripes are that sometimes it's too hard to follow the futurespeak and I didn't like the mysterious death of Mike as an ending. I wanted him to go rogue.
Also a big fan of the world building in terms of luna society, marriage, etc.
My only gripes are that sometimes it's too hard to follow the futurespeak and I didn't like the mysterious death of Mike as an ending. I wanted him to go rogue.
azazel11's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
jandres204's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
zeynepall's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
ldscavo's review
slow-paced
- 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? N/A
1.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Incest, Sexual harassment, and Infertility