Seen with a more critical eye brought on with greater maturity (or so I hope), it becomes hard to overlook that many of his political views are not exactly enlightened, that there is some weird stuff going on with gender relations, and that there is overall way too much sermonising on whatever subject happened to catch Heinlein’s fancy at the moment – Stranger in a Strange Land, to cite but one example, is pretty much one long sermon from beginning to end. As I grew up, and moved from his juveniles to his later work, my youthful enthusiasm for novels like Have Spacesuit Will Travel began to wane somewhat. Heinlein – well, maybe not always: If I’m not mistaken I encountered him first when I was still a child, in German translation, and most likely abridged those weren’t even paperbacks but the brochure format that was and I think still is popular in Germany for all kinds of pulp literature and which I used to devour by the dozens back in the day, and through all genres – Science Fiction, Romance, Crime, Western… I read them all.Īnyway – Heinlein. Learn more about it on Tor’s blog.I have always had somewhat ambivalent feelings about Robert A.

In August 2010, Tor released the first of a two volume biography, ROBERT A HEINLEIN: IN DIALOGUE WITH HIS CENTURY ( Amazon), and are holding an online symposium discussion by current science fiction authors. Also worth reading for kids and adults is Heinlein’s fun HAVE SPACESUIT–WILL TRAVEL ( Amazon). This is a great book to start kids out on science fiction.ĬITIZEN OF THE GALAXY is a great book to start kids out on classic Science Fiction.ĬITIZEN should be available at most libraries and is almost always in print.

There’s also questions of loyalty and the cost of doing the right thing. Before he’s grown, however, everything goes awry and Thorby’s life changes.ĬITIZEN deals with themes of slavery, and how having an education ends Thorby’s slave status. But Baslim the Cripple isn’t everything he appears, and treats Thorby as a son, teaching him not only how to beg, but also mathematics, science, history, and several languages–and how to gather intelligence from the errands he’s sent on. Written in 1957, CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY ( Amazon) is about the boy Thorby who’s taken to a strange planet as a slave and is purchased by an old beggar for a pittance. I’m sure you all know about his classics including STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND ( Amazon), THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS ( Amazon), and STARSHIP TROOPERS ( Amazon).īut did you know he also wrote juvenile fiction? Heinlein is a god in the science fiction world, and for good reason: he brought literary quality and high scientific standards to a growing genre, as well as attention-grabbing controversy.

Heinlein citizen of the galaxy