(Truthfully he probably gets into it because he wants to “bundle” with Wyoming, and he knows the Prof.) He is a self-described apolitical, like, he tells us, most Loonies. Manuel isn’t actually all that interested in revolting, at least not at first. And along with an old exiled professor and a political firebrand from Hong Kong Luna called Wyoming, Mike and Manuel plan and launch a revolution against the Terran-controlled Lunar Authority that runs their lives. He’s also the only person, Loonie or Terran, who knows that the central lunar computer is sentient. He was born on Luna to transported parents. Manuel/Manny/Man O’Kelly-Davis is a computer repair technician. This is an idea that has been explored repeatedly since this novel was published, but those stories almost all owe a debt to this one. Robert Heinlein manages to take the idea of a penal colony on the moon and turn it into a romantic story of political revolution. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is an emblem of political science fiction. It didn’t take me long to understand why this book received such acclaim and is still regarded as a classic.
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