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'''''The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress''''' (1966) is a [[Science Fiction]] novel written by [[Robert A. Heinlein]]. It's notable for originating many sci-fi tropes, including a sentient computer, [[Colony Drop]] tactics, and virtual acting.
The action is set in 2075-2076. The moon (Luna) has been a prison colony for several generations, but is well on its way to becoming a full-fledged society of its own. The proud Lunar people (Loonies) have their own distinct culture: they value politeness, respect, fair trials, hard work and consensual polygamy. But they also see no problem with [[Thrown Out the Airlock|killing people]] who break their unwritten laws. They're a harsh but loving society, built on sexual autonomy and religious freedom.
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{{tropelist}}
* [[Abuse Is Okay When Its Female On Male]]: Lampshaded and explained. Because of the huge gender disparity on the Moon, a woman can hit a man "so hard she draws blood", and the man will be severely punished ''by other men'' if he retaliates, because of the intense competition for female favors. Attitudes on Earth, where there is no sexual imbalance, are very different.▼
* [[Ambiguously Brown]]: Not quite [[In the Future, Humans Will Be One Race]], but there is a lot more racial admixture on Luna than on earth due to its smaller population. When one group wants to ban immigrants from Luna, Manuel muses about what race they would put ''him'' in.
** Sidris, one of Mannie's wives, is implied to be very black. Another, Ludmilla, is implied to be very pale.
* [[Artificial Limbs]]: Mannie has a cybernetic arm which can be swapped out for other prosthetics.
* [[Author Appeal]]: Heinlein's politics ''and'' Heinlein's ideas of sexuality.
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Then he did die.}}
* [[Colony Drop]]: The Loonies declare their independence from Earth by throwing rocks at it. Very ''large'' rocks. From a railgun.
* [[Continuity Nod]]: In theory, this novel is in the same (sub)continuity as the young adult novel ''[[The Rolling Stones]]''. Hazel Meade in this novel is to grow up to be Hazel Stone in that one. ''The Rolling Stones'' has the same Martians (presumably) as ''[[Stranger in A Strange Land]]'', and from there on there are links to about a dozen other books, including ''[[The Cat Who Walks Through Walls]]'' which functions as a sequel, when the series was officially tied into the World as Myth.
* [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul]]: Apparently believed of Cyborgs, as even Mannie refers to them as "ex-humans".
* [[Distracted by the Sexy]]: When a new bunch of Earth soldiers is transferred to Luna, female revolutionaries take to walking around very nearly naked (not at all uncommon on the Moon) right in front of them to keep them from doing their jobs. Their boss ''begged'' for them to have their own women, brought up from Earth, but was refused; a group of soldiers finally snapping and attacking one of the women is the spark that ignites the Revolution early.
▲* [[
* [[Elite Mooks]]: The Peace Dragoons who are sent from Earth to pacify Luna. After a group of them {{spoiler|rape and murder a Loonie woman}}, however, there's no chance for them.
* [[Emergent Human]]: Mike, in some ways.
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* [[Freudian Trio]]: Mannie, Prof, and Wyoh. The exact sub-trope is tough to nail down. Prof is the most experienced of the trio, and the most logical, but is also a but whimsical and subversive, oscillating between treating the Revolution as [[Serious Business]] or a big game. Wyoh is the most emotional, often thinking with her heart rather than her head, but isn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Mannie, in an [[Gender-Inverted Trope|Inversion]] of [[Closer to Earth]] is the most grounded and level-headed of the three, though in a rather cynical way.
** [[Freudian Trio]]: Mannie is the Ego, the Prof is the Superego and Wyoh is the Id.
* [[Future Imperfect]]: If Manny is any indication, Loonies have a rather shaky grasp of history. He thought [[Thomas Jefferson]] freed the slaves, and confused [[The American Revolution]] with the [[American Civil War]].
* [[Future Slang]]: The very analytical dialect spoken on Luna, which is also full of foreign loanwords, e.g. "Gospodin" (Russian) for "Mr.", "no huhu" (Chinese) for "no problem", and so on.
* [[Gender Rarity Value]]: Women are completely in charge when it comes to sex, and any man who attacks a woman will find himself [[Thrown Out the Airlock]]. Very, very literally.
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