Robert A[nson] Heinlein - Citizen of the Galaxy - 9

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KiltanneN
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Robert A[nson] Heinlein - Citizen of the Galaxy - 9

Post by KiltanneN »

Citizen of the Galaxy


This work is what first introduced me to Heinlein as a young teenager. It made a profound impression on me, this marked the time when I first began to enjoy reading Science Fiction as opposed to Fantasy. I still remember the place I found it on the shelf in my school library.

It struck a very strong chord within me, and I eagerly sought out all of Heinlein's other coming of age Juvenile novels.

It gives us the story of Thorby Baslim, a young slave in the system of Sargon. We follow his life, and growing up until he is revelealed as the heir to one of the richest families in Earth's system.

We see a naked look into the deep and intense hatred of slavery that occasionally crops up in Heinlein's work, and in addition, he weaves for us a pleasent tale of a young boy who finds himself, while searching for his lost family.

Like most of his Juvey works, Heinlein stops short of giving us romantic closure, but there is a small glimpse of a possibility towards the end.

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Post by PolarisDiB »

I will be reading Stranger in a Strange Land for the first time at the end of this month, but inside the cover Heinlein has quite a long list of other books he's read, and I've not heard of most of them. Thank you for this review, and may I ask, is most of his work really good? He's a big name, I got that, but if I like it I'll definitely be down to hunting out those other books, so I'm looking for pre-recommendations.

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Post by Omphalos »

Heinlein wrote a lot, and his career is divisible into different phases. His early stories up until WWII were excellently conceived, but a bit rough around the edges. Heinlein really added a lot to the Golden Age of SF, mostly by contributing social ideas to SF, for example in The Roads Must Roll. The Middle Period of Heinlein, up until The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, was when he published his really well known books and stories. Literally, there are dozens of books and many short stories (though not as many short stories as in the first period). This is alos the period where Heinlein really nailed down his unique style. His ideas, however, which I think are the yardstick by which SF must be measured, were as incredible as ever. The Third Period, following Moon, IMHO was characterized by weak stories, an unusually strong focus on sexuality, and IMHO a weariness for SF. There is a Fourth Period as well, but to my eye it is not much different than the third. The book you will be picking up soon is from the early part of the Third Period. Its regarded as one of his most famous books, and many people view it practically as a bible. Its a libertarian work with strong themes of sexuality, individualism and government. I never liked it myself, but I acknowledge its importance to the genre, and in Heinlein's body of work. Its one of those books that I think anyone who has an interest in SF should read. But I also think that there are 7-8 other Heinlein books and maybe 25 short stories that "should" be read too.
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Post by PolarisDiB »

Omphalos wrote:But I also think that there are 7-8 other Heinlein books and maybe 25 short stories that "should" be read too.
List'em, please!

It's interesting that in fiction, I tend to have a strong preference for libertarian themes, whereas in real life, I'm appalled by libertarians. This is probably because there's like five different types of "libertarian" and they all have completely different beliefs entirely. (Redundancy in grammar acknowledged and intentional). Perhaps that's for the soapbox... but anyway, it's made me look forward to Stranger in a Strange Land even more.

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Post by rip8fan1 »

PolarisDiB wrote:
Omphalos wrote:But I also think that there are 7-8 other Heinlein books and maybe 25 short stories that "should" be read too.
List'em, please!

Here is my list (of novels), which probably does not match others':
Farmer in the Sky
The Puppet Masters
Have Space Suit - Will Travel
Stranger in a Strange Land
Glory Road
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Time Enough for Love
Job: A Comedy of Justice

And I enjoy his short story collection:
The Past Through Tomorrow

BTW, I did not like:
The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag, but like almost everything else by Heinlein.



Also check out a list of 'all' works here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._ ... bliography
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