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Cover of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

  • 332 pages ยท about 6 hours
  • First published 1965
  • 53 editions

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1 About this book

It is the late 21st Century and the Moon has been colonized -- as a giant, open, prison. Every aspect of life is overseen by the Federated Nations "Lunar Authority"; until one day when a self-aware Super-Computer, a Jack of all Trades Technician, an Anarchist Professor, and a beautiful Blonde Revolutionary decide to change their world. The conspirators' plans go along beautifully...for a while.

TANSTAAFL! There ain't no such thing as a free lunch! Robert A. Heinlein was the most influential science fiction writer of his era, an influence so large that, as Samuel R. Delany notes, "modern critics attempting to wrestle with that influence feel themselves dealing with an object rather like the sky or an ocean." He won the Hugo Award for best novel four times, a record that still stands. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress was the last of these Hugo-winning novels, and it is widely considered his finest work.

Good for readers who want: science fiction and artificial intelligence.

  • Science fiction
  • Revolutions
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Imaginary wars and battles
  • Penal colonies

2 About Robert A. Heinlein

1907โ€“1988

Robert Anson Heinlein ( HYNE-lyne; July 7, 1907 โ€“ May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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