This book is inspired by Heinlein (especially The Moon is a Harsh Mistress) and other great libertarian sci-fi books of the past 50 years, but stands on its own as a very good work itself. Essentially, the story of pro-business and pro-liberty entrepreneurs on the Moon and their fight against a corrupt government on Earth. The biggest problem is the Earth government is almost a caricature of socialist/corrupt/bureaucratic statism, but on closer inspection, isn't actually terribly far off the mark for realistic speculation and extrapolation. The Moon characters and setting are quite sympathetic without being two dimensional. The second of a 4-book series. (I accidentally read this one first (I have reviewer copies which aren't labeled as well), but it's actually a decent book on its own -- it was a bit of an in media res opener/cliffhanger from the first book, but it's not unreasonable.) I think book 2 is actually better than book 1. ( )