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A review by harlando
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
5.0
This is an incredible book! I think really good Sci-Fi is marked by the ability to stand up to some time. This very much does.
A sentient AI and lunar Russian Mexican are the primary protagonists. I liked the cultural polyglot of Heinlein’s moon.
All Sci-Fi requires the reader to swallow some difficult to believe premises. In this novel it is that anyone would deport prisoners to the moon. Luna begins as a penal colony. Most countries treat prisoners like shit. It might be believable if the colonization had an increadible death rate, but otherwise I find it unlikely that any nation would ever deport undesireables to the moon.
That was an easy pill to swallow and the rest of the book is surprisingly modern. How does one deal with a sentient computer? Can it be an equal partner in an enterprise? How does one thwart a co-opted global-corporate authority? Hienline forsaw a lot of modernity’s discontent. Or maybe it was already apparent in his lifetime.
A sentient AI and lunar Russian Mexican are the primary protagonists. I liked the cultural polyglot of Heinlein’s moon.
All Sci-Fi requires the reader to swallow some difficult to believe premises. In this novel it is that anyone would deport prisoners to the moon. Luna begins as a penal colony. Most countries treat prisoners like shit. It might be believable if the colonization had an increadible death rate, but otherwise I find it unlikely that any nation would ever deport undesireables to the moon.
That was an easy pill to swallow and the rest of the book is surprisingly modern. How does one deal with a sentient computer? Can it be an equal partner in an enterprise? How does one thwart a co-opted global-corporate authority? Hienline forsaw a lot of modernity’s discontent. Or maybe it was already apparent in his lifetime.