In 2075, the Moon is no longer a penal colony. But it is still a prison...

Life isn't easy for the political dissidents and convicts who live in the scattered colonies that make up lunar civilisation. Everything is regulated strictly, efficiently and cheaply by a central supercomputer, HOLMES IV.

When humble technician Mannie O'Kelly-Davis discovers that HOLMES IV has quietly achieved consciousness (and developed a sense of humour), the choice is clear: either report the problem to the authorities... or become friends.

And perhaps overthrow the government while they're at it.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress has been called Robert A. Heinlein's crowning achievement. His best-known novels include Starship Troopers Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land.

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Amazon.com Review

Tom Clancy has said of Robert A. Heinlein, "We proceed down the path marked by his ideas. He shows us where the future is." Nowhere is this more true than in Heinlein's gripping tale of revolution on the moon in 2076, where "Loonies" are kept poor and oppressed by an Earth-based Authority that turns huge profits at their expense. A small band of dissidents, including a one-armed computer jock, a radical young woman, a past-his-prime academic and a nearly omnipotent computer named Mike, ignite the fires of revolution despite the near certainty of failure and death.

Review

Praise for *The Moon is a Harsh Mistress*

“A significant book in the history of the genre.”—Tor.com

“Offers a lot of food for thought and fodder for argument...indisputably rich with ideas.”—io9

“What separates Heinlein’s writing from that of his peers: his ability to show us the inescapable humanity of technologically advanced futures.”—BooksTellYouWhy.com

Praise for Robert A. Heinlein and His Novels

“We proceed down the path marked by his ideas. He shows us where the future is.”—Tom Clancy

“One of the grand masters of science fiction.”—The Wall Street Journal

“A brilliant mind-bender...Wonderfully humanizing.”—Kurt Vonnegut

“Certainly among the most influential...science fiction novel[s] of all time.”—The Guardian

“This book was destined to become a bestseller, shaping the sensibilities of a generation.”—The Boston Globe

“The word that comes to mind for him is essential. As a writer—eloquent, impassioned, technically innovating—he reshaped science fiction in a way that defined it for every writer who followed him...He was the most significant science fiction writer since H.G. Wells.”—Robert Silverberg

“Heinlein’s genius is at its height in this timeless classic that is meaningful today as when it was written...a fast paced novel that never gets preachy. This is a definite must have, must read book.”—SF Site  

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 find 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.

It is a tale of revolution, of the rebellion of the former Lunar penal colony against the Lunar Authority that controls it from Earth. It is the tale of the disparate people--a computer technician, a vigorous young female agitator, and an elderly academic--who become the rebel movement's leaders. And it is the story of Mike, the supercomputer whose sentience is known only to this inner circle, and who for reasons of his own is committed to the revolution's ultimate success.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of the high points of modern science fiction, a novel bursting with politics, humanity, passion, innovative technical speculation, and a firm belief in the pursuit of human freedom.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is the winner of the 1967 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

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