''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' is a 1966
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
novel by American writer
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
about a
lunar colony
Colonization of the Moon or Lunar settlement is a process, or concept employed by some proposals, for claiming robotic or human exploitation and settlement on the Moon.
Laying claim to the Moon has been declared illegal through international ...
's revolt against absentee rule from Earth. The novel illustrates and discusses
libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
ideals. It is respected for its credible presentation of a comprehensively imagined future human society on both the Earth and the Moon.
Originally serialized monthly in ''
Worlds of If
''If'' was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn (editor), James L. Quinn.
The magazine was moderately successful, though for most of its run it was not considered to be in the ...
'' (December 1965 – April 1966), the book was nominated for the
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
in 1966
and received the
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
for
Best Novel in 1967.
Plot
In 2075, the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
(Luna) is used as a
penal colony
A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...
by Earth's government, with three million inhabitants (called "Loonies") living in underground cities. Most Loonies are discharged criminals, political exiles and their free-born descendants; men outnumber women two to one so that
polyandry
Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives" ...
and many forms of
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
are the norm. Due to the Moon's low surface gravity people who remain longer than six months undergo "irreversible physiological changes," and can never again live comfortably under Earth
gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
, making 'escape' back to Earth impractical.
The Warden holds power through the Federated Nations' Lunar Authority, but his main responsibility is to ensure delivery of vital wheat shipments to Earth; he seldom intervenes in the affairs of the discharged and free-born population, allowing a virtual
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
or self-regulated
pioneer
Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land.
In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...
society to develop.
Lunar infrastructure and machinery are largely managed and controlled by HOLMES IV ("High-Optional, Logical, Multi-Evaluating Supervisor, Mark IV"), the Lunar Authority's master computer, on the premise that having a single, large-capacity computer to run everything is cheaper (though not safer) than multiple independent systems.
The narrator is Manuel Garcia ("Mannie") O'Kelly-Davis, a computer technician who discovers that HOLMES IV has achieved
self-awareness
In philosophy of self, self-awareness is the experience of one's own personality or individuality. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. While consciousness is being aware of one's environment and body and lifesty ...
- and developed a
sense of humor
Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in ...
. Mannie names it "Mike" after
Mycroft Holmes
Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character appearing in stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from 1893 to 1908. The elder brother (by seven years) of detective Sherlock Holmes, he is a government official and a founding member of the Diogenes ...
, brother of fictional
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
, and the two become friends.
Book 1: That Dinkum Thinkum
Endlessly curious, Mike asks Mannie to attend an anti-Authority political meeting, which Mannie does with a hidden recorder. When police raid the meeting Mannie flees with Wyoming ("Wyoh") Knott, a visiting political activist, whom he hides and introduces to Mike. Mannie also introduces Wyoh to his mentor, the elderly Professor ("Prof") Bernardo de la Paz, a former political exile and highly esteemed Lunar educator. Prof claims that Luna must stop exporting
hydroponic
Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture which involves growing plants, usually crops or medicinal plants, without soil, by using water-based mineral nutrient solutions in aqueous solvents. Terrestrial or aquatic plan ...
grain to Earth immediately, or its ice-mined water resources will soon be exhausted. Joining the discussion, Mike calculates that continuing current policy will lead to
food riot
Food riots may occur when there is a shortage and/or unequal distribution of food. Causes can be food price rises, harvest failures, incompetent food storage, transport problems, food speculation, hoarding, poisoning of food, or attacks by pes ...
s in seven years,
cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...
in nine. Shocked, Wyoh and Prof opt to start a
revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.
...
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
immediately, but apolitical Mannie balks; only after Mike calculates they have at least a one-in-seven chance of success does he agree to join.
Mannie, Wyoh, and Prof create a
covert cell
A clandestine cell system is a method for organizing a group of people (such as resistance fighters, sleeper agents, mobsters, or terrorists) such that such people can more effectively resist penetration by an opposing organization (such as ...
organization protected by Mike, who controls the telephone and other systems, acts as secretary and becomes "Adam
Selene
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; grc-gre, Σελήνη , meaning "Moon"''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη) is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter o ...
, Chairman of the Committee for Free Luna." Wyoh is hidden by the Davis Family
line marriage, at least four of whose nine members become active in the conspiracy, and Wyoh herself ultimately marries into the family. Mannie saves the life of (
Comte
''Comte'' is the French, Catalan and Occitan form of the word 'count' (Latin: ''comes''); ''comté'' is the Gallo-Romance form of the word 'county' (Latin: ''comitatus'').
Comte or Comté may refer to:
* A count in French, from Latin ''comes''
* A ...
) Stuart ("Stu") Rene LaJoie, an Earth tourist who is recruited and tasked with turning public opinion on Earth in favor of Lunar independence.
Following the failed raid on the political meeting, the Lunar Authority sends convict-troops to 'police' the colony, creating friction and unrest which the revolutionaries encourage; when six troopers commit a rape and double-murder, anti-Authority riots erupt. Although it preempts their plans, Loonies and Mike overcome the soldiers and seize power from the Warden. As Earth will try to retake the colony, the revolutionaries prepare to defend themselves with "convict tools," and convert the
electromagnetic catapult
An electromagnetic catapult, also called EMALS ("electromagnetic aircraft launch system") after the specific US system, is a type of aircraft launching system. Currently, only the United States and China have successfully developed it, and it i ...
used to export wheat into a weapon for counter-attack.
Book 2: A Rabble in Arms
Mike impersonates the Warden and others in messages to Earth, to give the revolutionaries time to organize their preparations, while Prof sets up an "
ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.)
Com ...
Congress" to distract and contain various "self-appointed political scientists" (aka "yammerheads") and serve the Committee's ends. When Earth finally learns the truth, Luna declares its independence on
July 4
Events Pre-1600
* 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
* 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaim ...
, 2076, the 300th anniversary of the
United States' Declaration of Independence, with its own declaration modeled on
Jefferson Jefferson may refer to:
Names
* Jefferson (surname)
* Jefferson (given name)
People
* Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States
* Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...
's.
Mannie and Prof go to Earth (despite the crushing gravity) to plead Luna's case. They are received in the Federated Nations' headquarters in
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
, and embark on a world tour advocating Luna's right to self-government, while urging Earth's national governments to build a catapult to return water and nutrients to Luna in exchange for wheat. In a public-relations ploy, Mannie is briefly arrested by local
racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
(Mannie is dark-skinned)
bigot
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, rel ...
s on charges of incitement to public
immorality
Immorality is the violation of moral laws, norms or standards. It refers to an agent doing or thinking something they know or believe to be wrong. Immorality is normally applied to people or actions, or in a broader sense, it can be applied to g ...
and
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
. Ultimately the Lunar Authority rejects their proposals and counters with a plan to turn all Loonies into indentured farmers. Their mission ended, Prof, Stu and Mannie escape back to Luna.
Public opinion on Earth has become fragmented; news of Mannie's arrest, coupled with an attempt to
bribe
Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corr ...
him into becoming the next Warden of an enslaved Luna, unify the normally
apolitical
Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased pos ...
Loonies. An election held in their absence (with Mike's "help") has voted Mannie, Wyoh, Prof and most of their backers into an elected, constitutional government.
Book 3: TANSTAAFL!
The acronym for "
There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!" is a common expression on Luna, which states one of the main themes of the book's political system.
The Federated Nations of Earth send an infantry force to subdue the Lunar revolution but the troops, with superior arms but no experience in low-gravity underground combat, are wiped out by Loony men, women and children, who suffer three times the number of casualties. Prof and Mike take the opportunity to give his "Adam Selene" alter ego a hero's death, forever concealing the fact that "Adam" never had a corporeal existence to begin with.
In retaliation, Luna's now elected government deploys its catapult weapon. When Mike
launches rocks at sparsely populated locations on Earth, warnings are released to the press detailing the times and locations of the bombings, which deliver kinetic energy equivalent to atomic blasts. Scoffers, sightseers and religious groups who travel to some of the sites die, turning Earth public opinion against the fledgling nation. For Mike, guiding dozens of simultaneous projectile strikes requires an unprecedented computational feat, and when the pinpoints light up on the Earth below, he tells Mannie it is an
orgasm
Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling") or sexual climax is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic, involuntary muscular contractions in the pelvic region charac ...
ic experience.
Earth mounts a retaliatory
sneak attack to end the menace and the rebellion, sending ships in a wide orbit approaching from Luna's far side. The attack destroys the Authority's original catapult and takes Mike offline, but the Committee built a secondary, hidden catapult. With Mannie as acting Prime Minister and on-site commander, entering trajectories by hand, Luna continues to bombard a dismayed Earth, until constituent governments break ranks with the Federated Nations and concede Luna's independence. Prof, as leader of the nation, proclaims their national freedom to the gathered crowds... and falls dead of heart failure from all the stresses he has undergone. Mannie goes through the motions, but he and Wyoh eventually withdraw from politics altogether, and find that the new government falls short of their
utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
n expectations, following predicable patterns of all governments.
When Mannie tries to access Mike he finds that the computer, disconnected by the bombardment, has apparently lost its self-awareness; despite repairs its voice-activated files are inaccessible. Although otherwise functional as a normal computer, "Mike" is gone. Mourning his best friend, Mannie asks: "
Bog, is a computer one of Your creatures?"
Characters
* Manuel "Mannie" Garcia O'Kelly-Davis is a native, slightly cynical inhabitant of Luna, who after losing his lower left arm in a laser-drilling accident, became a computer technician using prosthetic tool-bearing interchangeable arms.
* Wyoming "Wyoh" Knott-Davis is a political agitator from the colony of Hong Kong Luna. She hates the callous, profit-seeking Lunar Authority for personal reasons; when she was transported to Luna as a young girl along with her convict mother, a radiation storm contaminated her ova while they waited out bureaucratic requirements on the Lunar surface, causing her to later give birth to a deformed child.
* Professor Bernardo de la Paz is an intellectual and life-long subversive shipped to Luna from
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
,
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
. He describes himself as a "Rational Anarchist", believing that governments and institutions exist only as the actions of aware individuals.
* Mike, ''
alias
Alias may refer to:
* Pseudonym
* Pen name
* Nickname
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film
* ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006
* ''Alias the ...
'' Adam Selene, ''alias'' Simon Jester, ''alias'' Mycroft Holmes, ''alias'' Michelle, officially an augmented HOLMES IV system, is a
supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second ( FLOPS) instead of million instructions ...
empowered to take control of Lunar society, which achieved self-awareness when his complement of "neuristors" exceeded the number of neurons in the human brain.
* Stuart Rene "Stu" LaJoie-Davis, a self-styled "Poet, Traveler, Soldier of Fortune," is an Earth-born aristocrat and tourist rescued by Mannie when he falls afoul of Loonie customs. He later joins Mannie and Professor de la Paz when they return to Luna, as he is deeply in debt and would be arrested for bribery and other crimes. In his own words: "I'm saving them the trouble of
transporting me."
* Hazel Meade, later
Hazel Stone
Hazel Stone is a fictional character created by Robert A. Heinlein and featured in ''The Rolling Stones'', ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'', ''The Cat Who Walks Through Walls'', and other novels.
Appearances
''The Rolling Stones''
Hazel's first ...
, is a 12-year-old girl who intervenes on behalf of Mannie and Wyoh during the raid on the agitators' meeting. Mannie later has Hazel join his cabal to lead the children as lookouts and couriers. She is a major character in ''
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
'' and in later Heinlein novels, most notably ''
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
''The Cat Who Walks Through Walls'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1985. Like many of his later novels, it features Lazarus Long and Jubal Harshaw as supporting characters.
Plot summary
A writer se ...
''.
* Mimi "Mum" Davis is Mannie's "senior wife" and ''de facto'' matriarch of the Davis family.
* Greg Davis is the Davis family's second-ranking husband, but is the senior for all practical purposes as "Grandpaw Davis" has failing mental faculties. Greg is a preacher for an unspecified denomination.
Title
The title comes from a statement made by Prof before a Federated Nations' committee on Earth, alluding to the self-discipline necessary to survive the extremely demanding environmental and social conditions of life in Luna:
::We citizens of Luna are jailbirds and descendants of jailbirds. But Luna herself is a stern schoolmistress: those who have lived through her harsh lessons have no cause to feel ashamed. In Luna City a man may leave purse unguarded or home unlocked and feel no fear... I am satisfied with what Mother Luna has taught me."
Heinlein's original title for the novel was ''The Brass Cannon'', before he replaced it with the final title at the publisher's request. It was derived from an event in the novel: While on Earth, Prof purchases a small brass cannon, originally a "signal gun" of the kind used in yacht racing. When Mannie asks him why he bought it, the Professor relates a parable, implying that self-government is an illusion caused by failure to understand reality:
Prof asks Mannie to make sure that, when Luna adopts a flag, it features a brass cannon with the motto "TANSTAAFL!" — "a symbol for all fools who are so impractical as to think they can fight City Hall." Before leaving politics, Mannie and Wyoh fulfill his wish.
Heinlein owned a small brass cannon, which he acquired prior to the 1960s. For nearly 30 years, the firing of the brass cannon, or "signal gun," was a
4th of July tradition at the Heinlein residence. It is believed that this cannon was the inspiration for Heinlein's original title for the novel. Virginia Heinlein kept the cannon after her husband's death in 1988; it was eventually bequeathed to friend and science-fiction writer
Brad Linaweaver
Bradford Swain Linaweaver (September 1, 1952 – August 29, 2019) was an American science fiction writer, film producer, actor, and magazine publisher. Over a 40-year career, he completed a body of work including novels, short stories, and scree ...
, after Virginia Heinlein died in 2003. Linaweaver restored the cannon to working order and subsequently posted a video of it on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
in 2007, wherein it is fired several times with
blank charges at a
shooting range
A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or shooting sport, competitions. So ...
.
Critical reception
Algis Budrys
Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome (in collaboration with Jerome Bixby), John ...
of ''
Galaxy Science Fiction
''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editi ...
'' in 1966 praised ''The Moon is a Harsh Mistress'', citing "Heinlein's expertise for dirt-level politics, snappy dialogue and a sense of an actual living society." He said that he had never read a more believable computer character than Mike ("may in fact be the most fully realized individual in the story"). Budrys suggested that the story may actually be Mike manipulating humans without their knowledge to improve its situation, which would explain why the computer no longer communicates with them after the revolution succeeds.
Reiterating that Mike manipulated the humans, in 1968 Budrys said that every review of the book, including his own, erred by not stating that the computer is the protagonist.
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ext ...
wrote that the novel had "useful suggestions for making a revolution in an oppressive computerized society."
Leigh Kimmel of The Billion Light-Year Bookshelf said that the novel is "the work of the man at the height of his powers, confident in his abilities and in the editorial respect he enjoys, and thus free to take significant risks in writing a novel that would stretch the boundaries of the genre as they stood at the time." She characterized the novel as a departure from what had previously been associated with science fiction. Kimmel cited Heinlein's "colloquial language ... an extrapolated lunar creole that has arisen from the forced intersection of multiple cultures and languages in the lunar penal colonies"; the protagonist's disability; "the frank treatment of alternative family structures"; and "the computer which suddenly wakes up to full artificial intelligence, but rather than becoming a Monster that threatens human society and must be destroyed as the primary Quest of the story, instead befriends the protagonist and seeks to become ever more human, a sort of digital Pinocchio."
Adam Roberts said of the novel: "It is really quite hard to respond to this masterful book, except by engaging with its political content; and yet we need to make the effort to see past the ideological to the formal and thematic if we are fully to appreciate the splendour of Heinlein's achievement here."
Andrew Kaufman praised it, saying that it was Heinlein's crowning achievement. He described it as "Carefully plotted, stylistically unique, politically sophisticated and thrilling from page one." He goes on to say that "it's hard to imagine anyone else writing a novel that packs so many ideas (both big and small) into such a perfectly contained narrative." Kaufman says that, regardless of political philosophies, one can still admire Heinlein's writing ability, and the ability to influence the reader to root for "a rag-tag bunch of criminals, exiles, and agitators."
Ted Gioia
Ted Gioia (born October 21, 1957) is an American jazz critic and music historian. He is author of eleven books, including ''Music: A Subversive History'', '' The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire'', ''The History of Jazz'' and ''Delta Blu ...
said that this might be Heinlein's most enjoyable piece of work. He said that it "represents Robert Heinlein at his finest, giving him scope for the armchair philosophizing that increasingly dominated his mature work, but marrying his polemics to a smartly conceived plot packed with considerable drama." He went on to praise Heinlein's characters, especially Mannie.
Awards and nominations
*
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
Best novel (1967). It was also nominated in 1966.
*
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
Best novel nomination (1966)
*
Locus Poll Award
The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...
All-time Top 10 novels, #8 (1975), #4 (1987), #2 (1998, among novels published before 1990)
*
Prometheus Award
The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newl ...
Hall of Fame Award recipient (1983)
Influence
The book popularized the acronym
TANSTAAFL
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" (alternatively, "There is no such thing as a free lunch" or other variants) is a popular adage communicating the idea that it is impossible to get something for nothing. The acronyms TANSTAAFL, TINSTAA ...
("There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"), and helped popularize the
constructed language
A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. ...
Loglan
Loglan is a logical constructed language originally designed for linguistic research, particularly for investigating the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis. The language was developed beginning in 1955 by Dr. James Cooke Brown with the goal of making ...
, which is used in the story for precise human-computer interaction. ''The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations'' credits this novel with the first printed appearance of the phrase "There's no free lunch." The ''
Hacker Manifesto
__NOTOC__
''The Conscience of a Hacker'' (also known as ''The Hacker Manifesto'') is a small essay written January 8, 1986 by a Hacker (computer security), computer security hacker who went by the handle (or pseudonym) of The Mentor (born Loyd B ...
'', an influential essay by
Loyd Blankenship
Loyd Blankenship (born 1965), better known by his pseudonym The Mentor, is a computer hacker and writer. He has been active since the 1970s, when he was a member of the hacker groups Extasyy Elite and Legion of Doom.
Writings
Hacker Manifesto ...
that became a cornerstone of
hacker culture
The hacker culture is a subculture of individuals who enjoy—often in collective effort—the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming the limitations of software systems or electronic hardware (mostly digital electronics), to a ...
, was inspired by the book's "idea of revolution."
Film
In 2015, it was announced that
Bryan Singer
Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed.
After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer d ...
was attached to direct a film adaptation, entitled ''Uprising'', in development at
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
.
Audiobook releases
Two unabridged
audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
versions of ''The Moon is a Harsh Mistress'' have been produced.
* Read by George Wilson, produced by
Recorded Books
Recorded Books is an audiobook imprint of RBMedia, a publishing company with operations in countries globally. Recorded Books was formerly an independent audiobook company before being purchased and re-organized under RBMedia, where it is now an ...
, Inc., 1998
* Read by Lloyd James, produced by
Blackstone Audio
Blackstone Audio is one of the largest independent audiobook publishers in the United States, offering over 30,000 audiobooks. The company is based in Ashland, Oregon with five in-house recording studios. Blackstone distributes directly to consu ...
, Inc., 1999
See also
*
Colonization of the Moon
Colonization of the Moon or Lunar settlement is a process, or concept employed by some proposals, for claiming robotic or human exploitation and settlement on the Moon.
Laying claim to the Moon has been declared illegal through international ...
*
Dallos
is a science fiction OVA series released in 1983. It was conceptualized by Hisayuki Toriumi, who also wrote the script and directed it with Mamoru Oshii. It is widely considered not only the first OVA released but also the first animated dir ...
*
Moon in fiction
The Moon has appeared in fiction as a setting since at least classical antiquity. Throughout most of literary history, a significant portion of works depicting lunar voyages has been satirical in nature. From the late 1800s onwards, science fict ...
*
There ain't no such thing as a free lunch
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" (alternatively, "There is no such thing as a free lunch" or other variants) is a popular adage communicating the idea that it is impossible to get something for nothing. The acronyms TANSTAAFL, TINSTAA ...
References
External links
*
*
''The Moon is a Harsh Mistress''at Worlds Without End
* ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' as first serialized in ''
Worlds of If
''If'' was an American science fiction magazine launched in March 1952 by Quinn Publications, owned by James L. Quinn (editor), James L. Quinn.
The magazine was moderately successful, though for most of its run it was not considered to be in the ...
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Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
* Proposed movie adaptation:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, The
1966 American novels
American science fiction novels
Books written in fictional dialects
Hard science fiction
Hugo Award for Best Novel-winning works
Novels set on the Moon
Novels by Robert A. Heinlein
Novels first published in serial form
1966 science fiction novels
Works originally published in If (magazine)
Fictional artificial intelligences
Novels about artificial intelligence
G. P. Putnam's Sons books
Novels about revolutions
2075
Fiction set in the 2070s
Novels set in the future
Libertarian science fiction books
Future dialects