<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a novel by Robert A. Heinlein. What will 2076 look like? As Heinlein tells it, the moon has been used as a penal colony and its current residents are eager to cut their ties to Earth and govern themselves. Viva la revolución!

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, published in 1966 by Putnam, puts a diverse cast of characters to work on the problem of gaining independence. There's the narrator, Manuel Garcia O'Kelly Davis (known as Mannie), who speaks in a Lunar dialect that whips frothy bits of Russian and Aussie slang into English. There's Professor Bernardo de la Paz, a professional revolutionary from Lima; and Wyoming Knott, who combines beauty, brains, and a fighting spirit. Most of all, there's Mike.

Mike, short for Mycroft Holmes, is a supercomputer who starts by gaining a sense of humor ("Why is a laser beam like a goldfish?") and ends up as a full-fledged artificial intelligence. He takes on the role of revolutionary leader under the name Adam Selene. His personality develops throughout the story.

Heinlein uses Moon as a stage where he can play show-and-tell about politics, democracy, and government, with a sideline in human relationships (Mannie is part of a line marriage, which involves multiple partners). Economics lessons also make part of the mix. The acronym TANSTAAFL (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch) coined in the novel can still found be in use among science fiction fans. In more formal phrasing—There's No Such Thing As a Free Lunch—it was used as a nonfiction title by conservative economist Milton Friedman.

Widely considered to be one of Heinlein's most challenging and rewarding books, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress was awarded the 1967 Hugo Award for Best Novel.