The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Robert A. Heinlein

That Hugo Award generally gets them right. This is a straight up science fiction story. But the story is not only about the science fiction. We also get revolution, self determination, politics, love, family systems, and thinking about the individual vs. society. Manuel Garcia O'Kelly is a computer technician on the Lunar Penal colony. He was free born, spent some time on earth in school and then came home. He gets mixed up in a scheme to initiate a revolution and have the lunar colony declare itself independent from earth. What I love about this book is that we spend a lot of time with Manuel and get to know him. We also get treated to trivial little descriptions of what life is like on (in) the moon. The fact that residents use language of 'cubic' instead of 'area', the use of the lunar cycle and how it affects life, the way that "laws" and social conventions have developed in this prison with no guards. It is all fascinating. So while the plot is about revolution and independence, the story is about life and decisions in a strange place. Love this.

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