The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress tells the story of a Moon colony, Luna, whose people fight to gain independence from Earth and build their own country. The book follows how the rebellion is organized and how the characters work together to create a new political system and lead a revolution from such an unusual environment.

I really enjoyed the book, especially the story. While it includes a few familiar science fiction tropes, like the supercomputer becoming sentient, that wasn???t the part that interested me most. It???s not that I don???t like those tropes, but they felt a bit clich??. What really grabbed my attention were the other aspects and themes of the story.

One of the most compelling parts for me was the society the characters in the book created. They live in a moon colony where they???ve built a libertarian society based on scarcity. Since resources on Luna are limited, scarcity shapes both their activities and the social structure of the colony.

Another aspect I really liked was how women were treated. Because women were scarcer than men, they were considered very precious. I remember a scene where a tourist arrives on Luna and treats a female character in a disrespectful way. The people there react as if he???s committed a huge crime, and the proposed punishment for his actions was death. This strong reaction to what we might see as a crim that wouldn't deserve capital punishment highlights just how important women are in that society.

I also enjoyed the way family is structured. It???s a bit confusing, but the concept of family is tied to broader ideas of brotherhood and shared responsibility or connection between people. Relationships aren???t strictly monogamous: women can have more than one husband, and some relationships in the group resemble polyamory.

The writing style, though, can be a bit daunting. The main character doesn???t narrate the events in plain English but in a simplified form of English that???s standard in the Moon Colony. It???s not difficult to understand once you get used to it, but it does require some adjustment. I would suggest that readers first preview the book to see if they???re comfortable with this style before committing to hundreds of pages of it.

One issue I had with the book was that many things are simply explained through dialogue or plain descriptions, instead of using a “show, don???t tell” approach. I enjoy books where readers can discover things on their own, but in this case, everything is laid out clearly. Another thing that slowed down the pace for me was that one specific character often explained the political ideas of the Lunar Society, but not through conversations. Rather, this character simply expressed his thoughts in long, essay-like monologues. While political discussions aren???t inherently bad, this approach felt a bit heavy-handed and slowed the overall pace of the book.

Most of the book focuses on how the fight and war against Earth is conducted. While war combined with science fiction is not my favorite mix, I have to say that the events in the story are adventurous and well narrated.

This book can be interesting for people who enjoy political intrigue, space wars, and the social aspects of how a society living with scarce resources could be shaped through anarchism and libertarianism to assure mutual respect and prosperity.