The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

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The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Robert Heinlein The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is novel written in 1966 by science fiction writer Robert Heinlein, about a revolt against rule from Earth by the lunar penal colony. Originally serialized in Worlds of If (Dec 1965, Jan - April 1966), a science fiction magazine that ran from 1952 until 1974, the book received the Hugo Award for best science fiction novel in 1967. The Novel is in three parts, “That Dinkum Thinkum”, “A Rabble in Arms”, and “TANSTAAFL.” The story is about the revolt of the inhabitants on the Moon (Luna) against the Lunar Authority and later Earth. The inhabitants of Luna are convicts, political exiles and their descendants, as being sent to Luna was a life sentence. The lower gravity of the Lunar warrens made it impossible the human body to readapt to the higher gravity on earth. The inhabitants live in tunnels underneath the moon's barren surface and complete vacuum; mostly farming wheat using lunar ice reserves that are mined like coal on earth. The narrator of the novel is Manuel "Mannie" Garcia O'Kelly-Davis. Mannie was born on Luna and worked as a computer technician after losing his arm in a mining accident. Mannie speaks in a language peculiar to Luna, a mixture of many cultures but strongly influenced by the Slavic language that does not use the article “the.” There is disparity between the number of men and women by more than two to one, this has led to customs of Polyandry, and the introduction of the idea of line marriages which last over generations protecting both property and children. The uneven number of women to men also led to Females being protected and powerful in Luna society. The people of Luna call themselves “Loonies” and earth side inhabitants “Earth worms” In “That Dinkum Thinkum” we are introduced to the HOLMES IV acronym for High-Optional, Logical, Multi-Evaluating Supervisor,

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