Reviews

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

keinbock's review

• 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.

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

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

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 against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Incest, Sexual harassment, and Infertility

bperl's review

3.0

Well-conceived, well-executed, but it lacked an emotional impact. Too much intelligence, not enough boots on the ground.

wolfgold's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative slow-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? Yes

3.25

edbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

4.0

rgleason's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

cjvphd's review

5.0

The pinnacle of science fiction. In this retelling of the American Revolution, Heinlein challenges your understanding of what it means to be alive and free in a masterful story about ideology, family, truths and lies, crimes and punishment, risks and rewards. An uncannily prescient novel despite being written 55 years ago because the core themes were equally as important in 1776 and 1966 as they are today (2021) and the novel's big questions remain unanswered. Written at the peak of RAH's considerable powers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is not to be missed.