The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein about a 2075 revolt by a lunar penal colony against Earth's rule. Three million "Loonies" (lunar inhabitants) live in underground cities where a virtually anarcho-capitalist society has developed. When the Federated Nations threaten the colony's resources, computer technician Manuel "Mannie" O'Kelly-Davis, political agitator Wyoming Knott, and rational-anarchist Professor Bernardo de la Paz join forces with "Mike," a self-aware supercomputer, to plan an independence movement timed to culminate on July 4, 2076. The novel explores libertarian ideals, focusing on the concepts of individual liberty, voluntary association, and free-market economics. The book also popularized the term TANSTAAFL ("There Ain't No Such Thing As a Free Lunch"), which in the story underscores the Moon's harsh reality that every resource and every freedom carries a cost. The book is respected for its credible presentation of a comprehensively imagined future human society on both the Earth and the Moon. Originally serialized monthly in Worlds of If (December 1965 – April 1966), the book was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1966 and won the 1967 Hugo Award for Best Novel. The novel went on to influence later science fiction as well as discussions of economics, politics, and hacker culture.

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