Between Planets, The Rolling Stones, Starman Jones, The Star Beast by Robert A. Heinlein was a Science Fiction Book Club omnibus published in 2004. I had read all four Science Fiction juveniles in the late 1950s when I binged on every Heinlein book I could get my hands on.
These four novels illustrate the range of Heinlein’s interests. Between Planets is a political novel. The Rolling Stones (aka, Space Family Stone) features an unusual family touring the Solar System and getting involved in adventures that teenagers (the target audience for these books) would love.
Starman Jones is frequently considered the best of Heinlein’s juvenile novels (I mildly disagree because I love Citizen of the Galaxy). Heinlein’s themes of personal characteristics overcoming problems and motivation come to the fore in this novel. The Star Beast features a high school senior who discovers his extraterrestrial pet is way more than he thought it would be.
Some people mock Science Fiction Book Club editions as cheap knockoffs, but I find the SFBC omnibus editions well worth collecting and reading. Are you a Heinlein fan? GRADE: A
This would be right up my alley! I’ve liked the Heinlein that I’ve read but I’ve only read a few!
Bob, I read all of Heinlein’s SF juveniles when I was a juvenile. Fun reading!
Same here!
Generally SF for me was something totally new, surprising and worth thinking about. Late in the 50s paperback editions of novels and collections by the best known British/US started to appear – as paperbacks, so I could afford to buy them.
They were often translated as a kind of hobby by fans who didn’t make much money there.
I met several of them later in the 60s when I went to cons.
But Silverberg got boring for me as I grew up and got to know more different authors, too formulaic for me.
Wolf, like you I became a Science Fiction fan in the late 1950s and 1960s. The paperbacks were inexpensive and plentiful!
Not a fan. As a teenager I read all his books. I never liked his juveniles even then because I thought them, well, too juvenile. Starship Troopers, Double Star, the short story All You Zombies are my favorites of his. Never cared for Stranger In a Strange Land. And his later novels bloated doorstops with weird sex such as incest and elderly men with teenagers. His best stuff is probably better than Asimov’s but not nearly as good as Arthur C. Clarke’s, Theodore Sturgeon’s or Bradbury’s from the same time period.
Less see if I can post this. I’ve already tried twice and got rebuffed.
Steve, sometimes WORDPRESS gets surly. Sorry about that, but this program has a mind of its own. I agree with you on the later Heinlein novels. Bloated and weird. But Heinlein wrote some great short stories and novellas in the 1940s and 1950s.
I was 12 in ’56 and am fairly certain that’s when I discovered Heinlein. The first of his novels I remember reading was “The Puppet Masters”, which absolutely knocked me on my 12 year old ass. I really didn’t get into the juveniles until I’d read a couple of the other adult novels, and probably that was the reason they never resonated with me as much as the adult work, although I do remember liking “The Star Beast”. So I kept going until “Stranger in a Strange Land”, which I thought was really awful. After that, the only novel I really liked was “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”, and the relentlessly long, silly novels that started in the early 70s finally did me in.
Michael, like you I found THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS the last Heinlein novel I really enjoyed. HAVE SPACESUIT, WILL TRAVEL was my first Heinlein SF juvenile. I then quickly read every Heinlein juvenile I could get my hands on. And, then I went back and read Heinlein’s more mature SF stories and novels.
I should have read the juvies when I was a kid like you did, but was reading other stuff then. Years later I did read several of them and liked most of the ones I read, but I have never been a big fan. I prefer Clarke and Bradbury too, like Steve.
Jeff, the Heinlein SF juveniles were groundbreaking because they created a whole new market for Science Fiction. I moved from Heinlein to Andre Norton’s SF novels and then there was no stopping me.
I read STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND but cannot remember it at all. Not much of a science fiction fan with the possible exception of LeGuin.
Patti, STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND was an iconic book, especially in the 1960s. I have a “complete” edition that was published a few years ago but it remains on my shelf. Ursula K. Le Guin, lionized by the LIBRARY OF AMERICA, was just thinking about writing SF when STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND was published.
For me Heinlein hit his stride in the 50s. A lot of his earlier stories, no matter how brilliant, just did not do it for me. I liked most of his juveniles, probably THE STAR BEAST most of all. I did stick with him and read all his published work up to his death, but the later books had me scratching my head. Despite his many (to me) flaws, Heinlein also threw in some pretty interesting stuff, even in his most didactic work.
Jerry, you’re right. Heinlein was an “idea” guy. And when I discovered Heinlein in the 1950s, his stories and novels rocked my world!
The Heinlein juveniles were my favorite books when I was growing up. I even bought the Scribners hardback editions with my first paycheck at 16.
Jim, I was as thrilled with the Heinlein juveniles as you were. I first read them by taking the books out of my school library. Then, when I made money mowing lawns, I bought the paperback editions. I regret that I didn’t pick up the hardcover editions when they were available…and inexpensive.
As you know, since I read and reviewed all of the Heinlein juveniles on my blog Tipthewink, with a summary of them in best to worst order, I like this books, some more than others.
Rick, your reviews of the Heinlein juveniles motivated me to dig out this omnibus edition. I have another omnibus edition around here somewhere and if I find it, I’ll review the rest of the Heinlein juveniles.
George, what did you think of the “virtual” NFL Draft broadcast yesterday? I thought it was extremely lame and was surprised they couldn’t do better considering they had plenty of time to put it together. Trey Wingo was especially bad. I was so put off I won’t bother watching any more, and will rely on media (ESPN website, Sprts Illustrated blog, Bleacher Report, etc.) to catch up. Bah.
Rick, I had a similar reaction to the lame NFL Draft last night. Very little suspense. Tedious commentary. I won’t be watching tonight. Like you, I’ll rely on other sports outlets for analysis and insights. Double BAH!