'The Moon is a harsh Mistress' by Robert A.Heinlein - a review
Review of 'The Moon is a harsh Mistress' by Robert A.Heinlein.
Rating 3.5/5
Genre: science fiction, humor, war
I have finished reading. So yayy! Reading this book has taken me longer than I expected. I know the reviews and ratings are overwhelmingly positive but I didn't find the book exciting. Perhaps it has got to do with the style of prose/language - the narrator Mannie writes it in a dull, passive tone that is occasionally sprinkled with humor and wit. But the storyline is not quite so bad and got me going at crucial points.
Instead of humans fighting off extraterrestrial aliens like we see in most movies/books, in this story they are fighting off fellow humans from Moon. In the year 2075 Moon(Luna) is populated with families and descendants of prisoners being shipped from earth(Terra) for over a century. Federated Nations and Lunar authority are the organisations responsible for operating the Luna project and seeing to it that trade(wheat grains cultivated on luna) happens. Warden is the assigned authority(like a dictator still operating on behalf of Federated Nations) and control over payrolls, communications and other administration responsibilities are programmed into an automated, "self aware" machine Mike(if it is the year 2075, haven't terrans learned enough about not putting too much power into a machine?). A group of dissidents spring up unhappy with the prices they are being offered for their grain produce and teaming up with Mike liberate Luna from Federated Nations. They overthrow the warden, take control of Luna and setup their own version of democracy(since it is a nascent nation with many people born on Luna i guess anything is possible), fight off Terrans and their missile attacks to finally win their place as "equals" and not "slaves" to other terrans.
Genre: science fiction, humor, war
I have finished reading. So yayy! Reading this book has taken me longer than I expected. I know the reviews and ratings are overwhelmingly positive but I didn't find the book exciting. Perhaps it has got to do with the style of prose/language - the narrator Mannie writes it in a dull, passive tone that is occasionally sprinkled with humor and wit. But the storyline is not quite so bad and got me going at crucial points.
Instead of humans fighting off extraterrestrial aliens like we see in most movies/books, in this story they are fighting off fellow humans from Moon. In the year 2075 Moon(Luna) is populated with families and descendants of prisoners being shipped from earth(Terra) for over a century. Federated Nations and Lunar authority are the organisations responsible for operating the Luna project and seeing to it that trade(wheat grains cultivated on luna) happens. Warden is the assigned authority(like a dictator still operating on behalf of Federated Nations) and control over payrolls, communications and other administration responsibilities are programmed into an automated, "self aware" machine Mike(if it is the year 2075, haven't terrans learned enough about not putting too much power into a machine?). A group of dissidents spring up unhappy with the prices they are being offered for their grain produce and teaming up with Mike liberate Luna from Federated Nations. They overthrow the warden, take control of Luna and setup their own version of democracy(since it is a nascent nation with many people born on Luna i guess anything is possible), fight off Terrans and their missile attacks to finally win their place as "equals" and not "slaves" to other terrans.
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