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Author Topic: Heinlein recommendations  (Read 7995 times)

makattak

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Heinlein recommendations
« on: March 21, 2011, 01:33:11 PM »
Alright, despite being a sci-fi buff, I have not yet read any Heinlein. (Please include a thorough scoffing in your responses.)

I had hoped they were out of copyright, but, alas, they will still cost me to read on the Kindle. Thus, I must prioritize my reading as I'm not about to just randomly start downloading $8 books.

So, what is the APS recommendation for where to start?
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PTK

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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2011, 01:33:58 PM »
PM me an address - I have a couple Heinlein books I can mail you, if you'd like. :)
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2011, 01:37:51 PM »
I started with an antholgie of short stories, which I liked as it gave me more range of his style then a single novel would have.

I also quite liked Podnekey Of Mars.
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roo_ster

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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2011, 02:26:46 PM »
Quote from: makattak on March 21, 2011, 01:33:11 PM
Alright, despite being a sci-fi buff, I have not yet read any Heinlein. (Please include a thorough scoffing in your responses.)

I had hoped they were out of copyright, but, alas, they will still cost me to read on the Kindle. Thus, I must prioritize my reading as I'm not about to just randomly start downloading $8 books.

So, what is the APS recommendation for where to start?

A list of them all:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein_bibliography

Some of my favorites:
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
Starship Troopers
The Puppet Masters
Starman Jones





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HankB

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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2011, 02:32:48 PM »
Starship Troopers
Starman Jones
The Sixth Column (aka The Day After Tomorrow)
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Phyphor

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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2011, 02:37:57 PM »
Variable Star by Robert Heinlein and Spider Robinson
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brimic

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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2011, 02:39:17 PM »
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is my favorite.
Starship Troopers is very good.
I found Stranger in a Strange land to be unreadable. =|
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2011, 02:46:31 PM »
+1  on STARSHIP TROOPERS.


Forget the movie.  If you've seen the movie, it's OK.  If you've read the book, the movie is revealed as the ineffable twaddle it really is. 
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #8 on: March 21, 2011, 02:50:50 PM »
Beyond This Horizon:  A quick, compact story and the origin of the name of APS.

Friday:  A fun adventure, often overlooked.

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls:  Starts off interestingly and becomes a trite mess.  Avoid it unless you become a hardcore Heinlein fan.

Starship Troopers:  A classic and a good one to start with.
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #9 on: March 21, 2011, 03:06:02 PM »
Quote from: makattak on March 21, 2011, 01:33:11 PM
Alright, despite being a sci-fi buff, I have not yet read any Heinlein. (Please include a thorough scoffing in your responses.)

I had hoped they were out of copyright, but, alas, they will still cost me to read on the Kindle. Thus, I must prioritize my reading as I'm not about to just randomly start downloading $8 books.

So, what is the APS recommendation for where to start?

SHUN THE HERETIC!!!  =D

Trotting out stock answer - Webscriptions.net.  Wait - are you wedded to the Kindle?  Actually, even if you are, try Baen for slightly-cheaper Heinlein, though they don't have everything of his yet.  They have books in multiple formats at Webscriptions.net, including, IIRC, Kindle format.  No DRM.

You ***MUST*** read 'The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress'.  All else is optional, though highly recommended.

Take that back.  Read 'Starship Troopers' as well.

'Strangers In A Strange Land' and 'To Sail Beyond The Sunset' are... weird.  'Friday' is not bad, but not his best.  'Farnham's Freehold' is good.  'The Puppet Masters' is excellent. 'Tunnel In The Sky' (one of his youth/teen novels) was a favorite of mine for many years. 'The Door Into Summer' also.  Actually, I suppose they still are.  'Job: A Comedy Of Justice' was entertaining - I'd rate it a little above 'Friday'.

For a bunch of his short stories and some nonfiction essays, read 'Expanded Universe'.  His fantasy, as opposed to science-fiction,

I've read nearly everything of his - though not, astonishingly enough, 'Time Enough For Love', one of his classics (speaking of "SHUN THE HERETIC!!!"...), and find most of it worth keeping on my Droid, if I can find ebook copies.  I have a bunch of them on the shelf in dead-tree form, as well.
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #10 on: March 21, 2011, 03:20:20 PM »
My favourites (not that I've read all) are Beyond This Horizon, Starship Troopers, Stranger In A Strange Land, Glory Road and Friday.
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #11 on: March 21, 2011, 03:33:12 PM »
Starship Troopers is amazing, Moon is a Harsh Mistress is libertarian porn, Stranger in a Strange Land didn't really do anything for me, Farnham's Freehold is from his "I loves me some incest, here's a forced justification for it" period.
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #12 on: March 21, 2011, 03:48:55 PM »
Let me pile onto the Starship Troopers bandwagon.  If I'm looking for an entertaining read, I grab that.  Also Glory Road is fun.   Stranger in a Strange Land can be fun, depends on the mood.  I did like Job: A Comedy of Justice.  Farnham's Freehold is good, but definitely odd.  Number of the Beast is also entertaining, but also a bit strange. 
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #13 on: March 21, 2011, 03:51:23 PM »
i read have spacesuit will travel in 3rd grade it was just right for me then and i was hooked
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RoadKingLarry

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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #14 on: March 21, 2011, 04:10:11 PM »
Find a list, start at the beginning, go in chronological order.

Some of my favorites-
The Man Who Sold the Moon
Methuselah's  Children
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

There are several very good anthologies
A good one to start with might be The Past through Tomorrow http://www.amazon.com/Through-Tomorrow-Future-History-Stories/dp/0399106200
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #15 on: March 21, 2011, 05:13:20 PM »
Quote
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls:  Starts off interestingly and becomes a trite mess

it's a wonderful comedy, right up until the magic door opens in the wall.

Between Planets.  Time Enough For Love.
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #16 on: March 21, 2011, 07:00:53 PM »
Heretic.  Unclean.  Shun!  Shun!

OK, now that we got that out of the way -

Nobody else is going to recommend The Cat Who Walked Through Walls?  Eroticism, time travel, WTF futurism, eroticism, some incest, eroticism, and alternative history, with just a hint of eroticis, thrown in to keep your interest.

And you could actually let older kids (say around 12+) read it without worrying about them catching smut.

stay safe.
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #17 on: March 21, 2011, 07:51:29 PM »
Starship troopers is good but you already know what it's about.

Moon is a harsh mistress is good.

Door into summer is a favorite of mine since it has some interesting (in the particular way they fail) futurisms.

I didn't like Stranger in a Strange land or Cat who walks through walls very much.
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #18 on: March 21, 2011, 09:46:11 PM »
After you read Starship Troopers, do yourself a favor and read the Forever War series by Joe Haldeman.
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #19 on: March 21, 2011, 10:30:47 PM »
No love for Red Planet?

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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #20 on: March 21, 2011, 10:56:26 PM »
Red Planet!  Willis the Bouncer!
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Quote from: Angel Eyes on August 09, 2018, 01:56:15 AM
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #21 on: March 21, 2011, 10:59:00 PM »
Citizen of the Galaxy is good, too.  One of his juvenile works. 
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MicroBalrog

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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #22 on: March 21, 2011, 11:34:39 PM »
I will pile in another vote for The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

It's classic to the point it's on college curricula by now.
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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #23 on: March 21, 2011, 11:48:07 PM »

As others have already said, read:

  • The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
  • Starship Troopers
  • The Sixth Column (aka The Day After Tomorrow)

Once you read SST, you might get the video and see how badly Hollywood the screwed up the story.  Sixth Column is early Heinlein and worth your time. 

If you've got early teens, get them a copy of The Red Planet. 

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/robert-heinlein/

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Re: Heinlein recommendations
« Reply #24 on: March 21, 2011, 11:56:47 PM »
I have to run over to Butler in the morning, I need to pick something up to read myself.

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