Lunar Connection
I grew up reading science fiction, following in my father’s footsteps, since he was a fan of the genre. As an adult, I have branched out to other genres, but I continue to enjoy reading sci-fi and even write it.
Recently, I reread a Robert A. Heinlein classic, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. The older works by the early giants (Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke) don’t always age well, but it’s still interesting to see where their predictions for the future have come true. Moon, which won the 1967 Hugo Award for Best Novel, didn’t disappoint in the what-has-come-true area:
- One of the main characters is a sophisticated computer named Mike that has become sentient—the ultimate outcome of our current AI focus.
- Set on the Moon, the former lunar penal colony decides to fight for the right to govern themselves, using their ingenuity to wage battle—that’s straight out of current Ukraine, for example.
- On the darker side, the lunar revolutionaries manipulate the information they disseminate both to the colony and to officials on Earth—again, straight out of current events.
Those are just some of the highlights. As the Nebula Awards website says: “[Moon] is one of the high points of modern science fiction, a novel bursting with politics, humanity, passion, innovative technical speculation, and a firm belief in the pursuit of human freedom.”
Among other aspects of the story that I appreciated: The lunar colony, founded as a penal colony (a la Australia), is a mix of races and ethnicities, with all newcomers welcome. The main character, Manuel, is disabled and uses a range of artificial arms for the specific jobs he does. The computer Mike switches gender to better connect with its human “friends”; when talking to Manuel, he’s Mike; when speaking with the firebrand agitator Wyoming, Mike becomes Michelle.
I have a soft spot for Heinlein because he was from my hometown area; born in Butler, Missouri, he spent his childhood in Kansas City. He was trained as an aeronautical engineer and stressed scientific accuracy in his fiction. Over his writing career, words he coined have become part of our language: grok, waldo, space marine, and speculative fiction. The motto from the Moon revolutionaries also made it into our general idioms: TANSTAAFL (There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch).
One of Heinlein’s principles, according to the Heinlein Society, is to “pay it forward.” It’s a principle I try to follow in my own life. Thanks, Robert!
~ Dianna Sinovic