"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein

In 2075, Luna, the Earth's moon, is a colony of Earth, administered by the "Lunar Authority", which maintains a tight grip on the Lunar population through a totalitarian and bureaucratic control over the Luna economy and chiefly the almost one-way trade which sees grain and other food produced on Luna shipped to the hungry masses on Earth. Luna is an ex-convict colony/prison and most of Luna's population are former inmates or the descendants thereof; anyone living on Luna for more than a few weeks typically undergoes permanent physical changes due to the reduced gravity that prevent them from returning to Earth to live. The central protagonist, Manuel "Mannie" O'Kelly is a ex-ice miner turned computer technician (after loosing his arm in a mining accident) who, while fixing the Authority's central computer, the HOLMES IV (who Mannie nick-names "Mike"), discovers that the machine has become "self-aware". Mike, seeking "not-stupids" to talk to, befriends Mannie. While attending a public meeting setup by the Lunar "Sons of Revolution" on Mike's request, Authority troops raid the dissident-gathering and in the ensuing fire-fight, Mannie escapes with hot-headed revolutionist Wyoming "Wyoh" Knott. While in hiding, the pair meet up with another revolutionist, Professor Bernardo de la Paz, an old friend and tutor to Mannie. Mannie introduces the others to Mike and the group ask Mike to simulate and predict the expected future of the Lunar population under the current rigid rule of the Lunar Authority, to which Mike predicts that at the current rate of exports to Earth, Luna's system of agriculture will most likely collapse in the next seven years due to the impoverishment of soil nutrients. The group begin to plot their own revolution, using Mike as their ally and secret weapon.

Using an anonymous cell-system, the group recruits thousands of Loonies to the cause, and eventually when the rape and murder of a woman colonist sparks riots, the revolutionaries make their move, take control of Luna and declare independence from Earth. Mannie and the Prof travel to Earth looking to drum-up support for the independence, but receive only apathy to their cause and are labelled criminals by the majority of Earth's governments, who seek to continue the exploitative shipment of food from the moon. The pair return to Luna and are democratically elected into a Free Luna government (amongst others) and continue preparations for the inevitable conflict with Earth. The authorities on Earth eventually send a "peace-keeping" force designed to subdue the independence movement, but the soldiers and ships are defeated by angry hoards of Loonies (and with Mike's help in tracking and targeting incoming ships). The Loonies begin a campaign of "throwing rocks" at Earth by using mike to pilot empty food barges into specified targets on Earth while demanding recognition of Luna's independence and for Earth to cease their attack upon the colonists. The effort is eventually successful; Earth capitulates and recognises Luna as a free state. Suffering from exhaustion, the Prof dies of a heart attack after giving a victory speech to his fellow comrades and Mike ceases to communicate with Mannie and Wyoh as a self-aware entity, due to damages sustained during the attack from Earth. Years pass and Mannie reflects on the bright new future of the free colony.

"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" is a nice read, filled with its' libertarian themes and parallels to the American revolution. The plot is engaging and Heinlein does a good job of creating a fascinating world of the future on the Earth's moon with it's lawlessness and strange customs including ad-hoc courts, polyandry and line marriages. The novel contains a interesting bunch of characters from no-nonsense Mannie and his Loonie pidgin-English and beige-prose, which gives a nice touch to the storytelling, to Mike and his computed practical jokes. Mike is interesting as a supercomputer that gains self-awareness but then assists the protagonists rather than turning against its human creators (a la HAL9000). The prof somewhat plays the same role as Jubal Harshaw in "Stranger". As with Heinlein's other works, the book is packed with long rants and characters pitching their political and philosophical ideologies to the reader. Still, it's definitely not as annoying or boring as in "Stranger in a Strange Land" because the story and characters are interesting in themselves and the action keeps on flowing through the book.

Perhaps the most negative aspect of the book is its portrayal of women (a trait once again shared with Heinlein's other works). It's all a bit to hard to shallow; it's always the girls asking the stupid questions, getting a nice pinch or pat on the bum. The scene in which Wyoh refers to her child, which died shortly after birth due to mutation, as a "monster" is also a bit unpalatable; it's pretty hard to believe that a mother would refer to her dead child in such an insensitive way. Also its strange that Wyoh starts off as a strong part of the politics for free luna but then just fades off into the background as the real revolution begins.

Besides the few negative qualities, this was a really enjoyable book to read. Even though I found myself objecting to the "tanstaafl" philosophies presented by the characters, I still found the presentation intelligently thought out and entertaining. Recommended reading and easy to see how it won a Hugo.