"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert A. Heinlein

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein, published 1966.

What do I say about this?

Libertarian sci-fi with style.

The year is 2075. People are living on the moon, or Luna as they call it. Originally Luna was a penal colony, controlled by Earth. It still is, but there are free people living there too, now.

One of them is Mannie, a computer technician with a robot arm. One day he realizes that the colony supercomputer — or “Mike” as he calls it — has become self-aware.

After the local government clamps down unusually hard on a workers’ meeting, one thing leads to another and suddenly Mannie finds himself plotting a revolution, along with his old teacher Prof, his new acquaintance Wyoh, and Mike the computer.

Wikipedia tells me this book is very popular among libertarians. And it’s not hard to see why. Through and through it champions free markets, maximum personal freedom, minimal government.

The characters are reasonably real, albeit borderline stereotypical. The language still feels fresh. Surprisingly fresh, considering it was written in 1966 (60 years ago).

All in all, I liked it. This was actually the first Heinlein I read. But will read more.

Recommended.