Post by: Pebcac on January 26, 2007, 11:52:47 AM
Post by: m1911owner on January 26, 2007, 11:57:32 AM
Post by: Sindawe on January 26, 2007, 12:01:12 PM
If you want to jump right to the deep end, Starship Troopers or The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress are a good place to start.
Post by: wingnutx on January 26, 2007, 12:29:46 PM
It's kind of on the border between his juvenile and adult books, and is an enjoyable, easy read.
I like "Stranger in a Strange Land", but I can see how some poeple would not.
ST is on my list of books everyone should read at some point.
My second suggestion would be "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress".
Post by: BryanP on January 26, 2007, 12:34:50 PM
Pre-Stranger in Strange Land breaks down into his Juveniles and everything else. Then there's post-Stranger. Somewhere past Stranger he had a stroke and his writing gets a little bit weird. Still good mostly, but weird.
The previously suggested Past Through Tomorrow collection is a great place to start. If I remember correctly that collection puts his original Future History trilogy (three books of short stories titled The Man Who Sold the Moon, The Green Hills of Earth, and Revolt in 2100,) and Methuselah's Children in one big volume
Personally I rank his best work as pre-Stranger non-juveniles, then his juveniles, then the post-Stranger work. The later stuff can be good but uneven.
Post by: mgdavis on January 26, 2007, 12:45:10 PM
Post by: 280plus on January 26, 2007, 01:19:01 PM
Post by: Preacherman on January 26, 2007, 04:01:37 PM
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
Starship Troopers
Time Enough For Love
Glory Road (sci-fi/fantasy)
Stranger In A Strange Land (preferably the recently-published full-length edition).
I'd read them in that order, too.
Post by: AJ Dual on January 26, 2007, 04:03:27 PM
I'd start with "Starship Troopers", even all his juvenile stuff is readable by adults. (Standards for kids were a bit different in those days)
I would also consider "Stranger in a Strange Land" the midpoint too.
Even though some of it is pretty "straight" I would save everything involvoing "Lazarus Long" until you've read everything else, and you really like Heinlein. When the immortal guy gets way into the future it's rather crazy and incestuous. Although if you've read plenty of other "out there" stuff, and enjoyed it, or took it for what it's worth without being bothered, then I'd not worry about it.
Probably all rather tame by today's standards.
Post by: Strings on January 26, 2007, 04:07:48 PM
Although I didn't read it as my first, Starship Troopers is a REALLY good piece of sci-fi. I started with the full version of Stranger..., and am now working on having everything currently in print...
AJ: regarding the incestousness of Lazarus Long. I have to admit that I find Heinlein's arguements (within the storys) to be fairly convincing: so long as there's absolutely no possible genetic repercussions (and assuming functional, consenting adults), what IS the basis of the stigma attached to incest?
Not to say I'd be willing to sleep with a family member, it's just a bit of a sociological question...
Post by: m1911owner on January 26, 2007, 04:12:22 PM
(BTW, it's about PG-13 rated--it's not that kind of fantasy!)
Post by: gunsmith on January 26, 2007, 04:50:08 PM
Robert A. Heinlein Centennial
http://www.heinleincentennial.com/
Post by: brimic on January 26, 2007, 04:56:33 PM
Post by: mgdavis on January 26, 2007, 08:46:34 PM
Somehow, I don't think To Sail Beyond the Sunset would be a good intro: unless I'm thinking of a different book, that ties WAY to much together...
It does do quite a bit of that. What was the first in the Lazarus Long series? I'm not entirely sure there was a first, the way those books all interacted.
Lets see, some other goodies... "Job: A Comedy of Justice" (lots of religious commentary in here) and "Stranger in a Strange Land" (my current read). "Podykayne(sp?) of Mars", "Starman Jones", and all the rest of his juvenile novels are great reads also. How about "Farnam's Freehold"?
Post by: CatsDieNow on January 27, 2007, 04:11:59 AM
Post by: danny on January 27, 2007, 04:20:48 AM
Post by: MechAg94 on January 27, 2007, 05:25:00 AM
Friday - a good read.
Number of the Beast - been a long time since I read it. It was interesting in high school.
Job: A Trajedy of Justice was a bit weird, but still entertaining.
Starship Troopers - A very good read.
Orphans of the Sky - a little bit different approach to your average SciFi book.
Tunnel in the Sky - A pretty good survival book.
Stranger in a Strange Land - An interesting story, a long read, and a lot of pseudoChristian crap. Not sure I would bother unless you really like Heinlein.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Tunnel in the Sky are shorter books that are easy to start with. Friday a more recent book I think.
I like Heinlein and will have to look up some of the other books mentioned above.
Post by: InfidelSerf on January 27, 2007, 06:00:05 AM
great read, and any adolescent boy is going to LOVE her
and women can admire her.
I have always wanted a large spa or pool with an escape hatch like that
Post by: Ron on January 27, 2007, 06:52:30 AM
I read Stranger in a strange land years ago and really enjoyed it so I will probably really enjoy these books.
Post by: wingnutx on January 27, 2007, 07:33:55 AM
Post by: Old Fud on January 27, 2007, 08:33:57 AM
I enjoyed some of the very early works -- before he became a political activist, and WAY before he became a dirty old man.
For stories you wouldn't mind your kids reading, check out "Puppet Master", & "The Door into Summer". "Have spacesuit, will travel" was nice too.
To begin to get into his later "lazarus long" years, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistriss" is the best way to start. Only after you've read that will you be willing to get into the highly sexed line including "Friday" (Love that one), "the Cat who walks through walls" and others.
"Starship trooper" is very similar to "Gulliver's travels".
Both are adult political commentary, and both got trivialized by public attention. It's a good solid work on how a civilization should be run.
It's also a book you wouldn't mind exposing your pre-teen and teenage kids to.
Fud
Post by: RocketMan on January 27, 2007, 01:29:39 PM
Post by: m1911owner on January 27, 2007, 03:06:56 PM
22 years later, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.
That was 38 years ago...
Post by: Headless Thompson Gunner on January 27, 2007, 03:08:39 PM
Post by: lee n. field on January 27, 2007, 04:44:11 PM
Read first: Any of his novels (juvenile or adult) from the 1950s and 1960s. Time Enough For Love from 1973 is another good one, though some people have a hard time with it.
Read next: Past Through Tomorrow (his "Future History" stories from the 1940's), his other short story collections, Methuselah's Children and Beyond This Horizon (early novels, quite episodic). The stuff written after 1980.
Leave for last: I Will Fear No Evil, and Sixth Column. You'll know why when you read them. Farnham's Freehold might be a good one to leave for last too.
I have not read and have no opinion on the (complete! unexpurgated!) re-release of Stranger in a Strange Land, or anything published posthumously.
Post by: Ron on January 27, 2007, 05:38:46 PM
Can't wait to Grok my new book.
Post by: MechAg94 on January 28, 2007, 06:09:13 AM
Post by: Sindawe on January 28, 2007, 07:52:00 AM
Post by: Manedwolf on January 28, 2007, 05:08:35 PM
Considering that Firefly was ALL about "leave me alone" libertarianism, I think he'd do it right!
Post by: Balog on January 28, 2007, 07:49:11 PM
Post by: Manedwolf on January 28, 2007, 08:03:19 PM
I don't care for those.
Post by: AJ Dual on January 28, 2007, 08:19:29 PM
AJ: regarding the incestousness of Lazarus Long. I have to admit that I find Heinlein's arguements (within the storys) to be fairly convincing: so long as there's absolutely no possible genetic repercussions (and assuming functional, consenting adults), what IS the basis of the stigma attached to incest?
Not to say I'd be willing to sleep with a family member, it's just a bit of a sociological question...
Not to say I'd be willing to sleep with a family member, it's just a bit of a sociological question...
I'm on the same page. It didn't bother me. I more took it as a device to try and convey just how radicaly different life and morality would/could be thousands of years in the future, or for someone who'd lived that entire time. Then set that as the ultimate logical extension of Heinlien's reductionisim of culture and taboo (the ones he found to be "useful" at any rate) to what protected "pregnant women and children". i.e., the furtherance of humanity in it's most basic terms.
In simple terms, if humanity's oldest man travels back in time (boffs his "identical" teenaged twin sisters/daughters cloned from his body as a send-off) meets his mom during WWI, and sees her as a young adult, with adult eyes of his own for the first time, then does her too, well, no kids or pregnant women were harmed, so no foul, in the author's reductionist morality... I guess.
If there's any "advocacy" of "keeping it within the family" beyond stretching the envelope for it's own sake, I really didn't want to think about it.
However, I'd hate for that to be someone's first taste of Heinlien, and write him off permanantly either...
Post by: wingnutx on January 28, 2007, 08:37:23 PM
I have been meaning to get a copy of Starship Troopers, but it is expensive or hard to find most places I look.
You can get it on Amazon.com for under $5 used.
I bought my last copy at a used book store for 2 or 3 bucks.
Post by: Balog on January 28, 2007, 08:56:20 PM
Post by: Perd Hapley on January 29, 2007, 04:56:00 AM
I have been meaning to get a copy of Starship Troopers, but it is expensive or hard to find most places I look.
Look for some used book stores. Any major city should have enough of those to yield a few inexpensive copies. But if you're way out in the boonies, the internet will be a better option.
Post by: Fly320s on January 29, 2007, 06:05:41 AM
I have been meaning to get a copy of Starship Troopers, but it is expensive or hard to find most places I look.
I grabbed a copy at Barnes & Noble yesterday. $14, IIRC.I've read only about 20 pages, but I am hooked.
Post by: Perd Hapley on May 26, 2007, 03:05:47 PM
Post by: Dixie_Amazon on May 26, 2007, 03:33:12 PM
Post by: meinbruder on May 26, 2007, 04:48:43 PM
Im surprised no one has mentioned For Us The Living; it was his first novel and went unpublished until well after his death. So many concepts were included that none of the publishers of the time thought it would sell. He took the various ideas and turned them into the basis of the individual stories, which shaped the rest of his literary career.
I read the entire juvenile series as a kid, along with all the other authors of the time. The real eye opener was Time Enough for Love and I was hooked on his adult storyline. I then began to collect the adult novels. Puppet Masters is the first of them but The Moon is a Harsh Mistress might be a better starting point.
There seems to be more than a few RAH fans on the board. I think most of you will greatly enjoy Grumbles From the Grave, his wife edited it together from letters and memoirs; it really gives a clear insight to his works.
}:)>
Post by: JesseL on May 30, 2007, 06:02:39 AM
Post by: Rocketman56 on May 30, 2007, 01:07:59 PM
Both shorter reads than the TIME series, where all the books should be read in order.. It helps..
And if you've seen the movie, read the book carefully... The divergence was almost sickening in spots..
(Hollywood screen writers, sheesh)..
Stranger in a Strange Land is a great book, particularly the unabridged version, but it's a heavy read, too.. (Think Tolstoy's War and Peace or Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago.. Lots of undertone and plot lines..)
My $.02..
Steve
Post by: Strings on May 30, 2007, 03:19:46 PM
(Hollywood screen writers, sheesh)..<
I wouldn't call it so much "departure" as I would "stealing the title and character names"...
Post by: dwarven1 on May 30, 2007, 04:13:13 PM
Others I'd recommend for a new reader are Double Star (along with Moon, ST & Stranger, Double Star won the Hugo Award for best novel) and a collection of short stories titled "The Green Hills Of Earth" - I still get teary eyed reading the last stanza of the song in the title story.
And if any new readers are FreeMasons, you simply HAVE to read "If This Goes On-", published in The Past Through Tomorrow and Revolt in 2100. You'll know why when you read it.
Post by: Perd Hapley on June 02, 2007, 07:05:05 AM
Quote
Farnam's Freehold was good but the incestousness was a bit distasteful. I'm all for practical libertarianism, but if you daughter is that willing to jump you something seems a little off.
Right. They had to repopulate somehow, so incest might have been necessary. But, "Daddy, you can have me anytime you want me," well, that was just disturbing. I also found the dialog in the first few chapters to be so witty as to sound very contrived, especially given the fact that they were all sitting through a nuclear attack. The plot was much different than I expected, but very interesting.
I intend to read more Heinlein, but he's already alienating me a bit. For one, he's not just a cat person, he's a cattist. In FF, he had the nerve to criticize dogs for being slavish, or whatever.
I like doggies. Cats I can take or leave. But, it takes all kinds. For all the Lazarus Long fanboys, here's a cute little picture I found. Nice shirt.
Post by: Sindawe on June 02, 2007, 08:46:45 AM
Quote
In FF, he had the nerve to criticize dogs for being slavish, or whatever.
Well, they are. Its just the way their minds and social structure works. Betas and below are subservient to the Alpha, and usually Humans are Alpha in a pack.
But how could you just take or leave a kitty like Odin? He's so sweet he even still drinks from a bottle and loves his bath.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=458282&in_page_id=1811
Post by: Perd Hapley on June 02, 2007, 10:26:26 AM
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Well, they are. Its just the way their minds and social structure works. Betas and below are subservient to the Alpha, and usually Humans are Alpha in a pack.
You say that like it's a bad thing. No, really, that's one thing I love about dogs. Unconditional love for the hand that feeds them. Patience to put up with whatever silly things you put them through, although they should revolt over that stupid bandanna around the neck trend. I hate that. Willingness to come when called and walk around with a leash on. I guess I just don't see the point in judging animals by human standards.
I was thinking dogs probably wouldn't be much use if they weren't so subservient. Unlike housecats, most dogs are big enough to be a serious danger if they won't submit.