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Citizen of the Galaxy

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Citizen of the Galaxy is probably Heinlein's most mature juvenile novel and is certainly one of his most inspirational. It contains a sweeping indictment of slavery and provides a stirring message about citizenship and civic responsibility. Thorby is a slave; the only memories he has are a tangled morass of mistreatment spread among faceless men on nameless worlds; all he brings with him to Sargon are a filthy piece of clothing and an ugly assortment of scars and sores. On the block, no one values him enough to even bid on him, all except for the beggar Baslim. He takes him home (a hole beneath the abandoned amphitheatre) and raises him as a son rather than a slave. Thorby learns the art of begging from his new Pop and enjoys the happiest years of his life with him. Then Baslim, whom Thorby eventually learned was much more than a simple beggar, is arrested as a spy. Thorby satisfies his Pop's wishes by evading capture himself and taking a message to a certain ship's captain. Captain Krausa adopts Thorby as his own son and makes him a member of the Free Trader family on the ship Sisu. Here Thorby learns the complexities of Free Trader family life, makes real friends, and assumes a pivotal job protecting the huge spacecraft from raiders. Then Thorby is displaced once again, as Krausa takes him to the first ship of the Hegemonic Empire he comes in contact with. While Thorby hates to leave his new family, he does it to satisfy Baslim's ultimate wish for him to find his true family. Thorby soon learns that wealth does not make you rich as he strives to fight slavery in the galaxy and become the son his birth parents wanted him to be

Heinlein gives us three strikingly different looks at family life. While Thorby is happy as a part of the immensely complicated Free Trader family on Sisu, he looks back at his days with the beggar Baslim as the happiest of his life. On the ship, one is barely acknowledged as existing if he/she is not a part of the family. The only person who talks to Thorby at first is an anthropologist, and she gives a poignant explanation of this type of society. The family is free, yet each individual in that family is in some way a slave; Thorby is told what to do and when and where to do it. The ultimate lesson is learned on Terra, where the prescripts of Baslim continue to guide Thorby's actions. He is determined to fight against the slave trade, which is something most Terrans don't even believe exists because it is taking place far, far away. For Thorby, it is personal and he devotes his life to fighting against it. The ultimate responsibility he learns is to fully devote himself to the noble cause, to be willing to give us his own freedom, even to become a beggar as Baslim did, in order to work for the freedom of others. The story is as much fantasy as science fiction, but the message it contains and the moral lessons it teaches make it one of Heinlein's most important and enjoyable novels.

I've only read a few books by Heinlein, but the more of his stories I read the more I see two trends. First, he likes to take an idea, and then run with it through every possible effect and ramification it could have. Secondly, he seems to (unless I miss my guess) be writing his adventure stories from the dual perspective of himself as a youth, and himself as an older world-weary traveler (in his own eyes anyway). Reading this book I got the same feeling from Starship Troopers and Tunnel in the sky, that our protagonist is struggling to learn the essential life lessons that he will one day be in a position to hand down. But that's just Heinlein...

In this story, our master of sci-fi take the idea of freedom to it's absolute philosophical limits. First, he shows us the world of a person who is an actual slave and has no rights whatsoever. Then, he takes that individual, and shoves them into situation after situation that leave us wondering what exactly freedom is. When Thorby is taught by his adoptive father how to think, he is freed mentally. When he is adopted by space-traders he is almost totally free in a physical sense (the traders travel all of space), but he finds himself enslaved to a way of life, a series of traditions, and many many rules. As part of the intergalactic space police force (or its equivalent), he finds himself fighting for freedom, yet again a slave to the ideals and way of life (and organization) behind it. The real kicker though, is when Thorby finds himself in a position of super-powerful financial might, with literally the world at his fingertips, yet enslaved to that power and all the responsibilities that it implies.

Perhaps the real message of the story though, (to me anyway), is that freedom really is in the mind of the beholder, and helping others to overcome enslavements of a hateful, evil sort (like literal slavery) is a very good thing indeed. And no matter where you go, you will always be enslaved to something. So you'd better learn to survive, to be happy, and to make the most of what you have. And forget about the limits others try to impose upon you. A person with a mind that is free...is a Citizen of the Galaxy.

Besides all the great philosophy and ideas that Heinlein is famous for is of course a great adventure that really captures the imagination. I love every Heinlein story I've read so far, for the characters, the slick dialog (especially for it's time
), and the amazing universes he always manages to have up his sleeve. This book is DEFINITELY an enjoyable read for sci-fi fans.

Personally, I believe this is the type of book we should have on the required reading lists at our schools - a book that is fun and fascinating to read, that introduces creative concepts about society, technology, and people...and a book that makes you think. It makes you think about the importance of freedom, about the slipperiness of the concept of freedom...about the choices that we make, and the choices that are made for us...about how people may have more to them than we suspect based on first impressions or based on their chosen profession. The first time I read the book, I was disappointed in the ending. In rereading it, I realized that Heinlein was showing one more aspect of freedom - and, in having his character give up what many people would consider an almost ideal life, in being rich with no responsibilities --- and choosing to take on the burden of those responsibilities...Heinlein was showing even more about the importance of values, of character, over superficial fun.

This book rates as one of my favorite Heinlein books to be read and re-read. In it, a child made a slave is bought by an old beggar in the slave market. However, neither the child who has so far survived a harsh childhood nor the old beggar are what they seem to be to the other dwellers in the poverty area adjoining the space port. After Pop is executed, Thorby must get to a certain stranger with a message from Pop, plus a headful of messages he doesn't know he's carrying. This dumps him into a Free Trader culture totally different from what he knows and in another language on a starship. Eventually Thorby is sent off to go with the equivalent of space cops. Who Thorby really is and the "warm" reception from relatives he never dreamed of lead up to the climax of the book. Like other Heinlein books, the Grand Master sneaks in his view of humans, moral behavior, and doing the right thing for the right reason. Makes me wish that dear Mr. Heinlein were still alive and well enough for visitors. One learns something on a gut level in all of his books.

I first read this book when I was 15, and ever since I have remembered it as one of the best books I had ever read. I recently moved and unpacked my copy. Curious, I reread it and found that the passing time has not dimmed it at all. I still believe it is one of the best books I have ever read. This breaks from the stereotypical pattern of Robert Heinlein and all science fiction. It covers such borad topics as racism, slavery, corporate corruption, and the people who are willing to sacrifice everything they have to change the world.

The book opens at a slave auction,in a far away galaxy, where a young boy is up for sale. It doesn't take long for the reader to get caught up in the many twists and turns this story takes. Not one of the characters in this book is who he first appears to be. Thorby (the boy for sale) is bought by an old, crippled beggar man and ends up travelling throughout the universe. His observations on life are truly insightful. This may just change the way you see the world around you.

This book is the epitome of Heinlein's adventure novels. It reminds we humans that we are not truly civilized beings. He points out clearly that slavery is one of the most awful things we can entrap our fellow beings in, and also points out that there are more types of slavery than actual enslavement. Humans can be trapped by family, friends, work, and, as Heinlein shows near the end of this novel, by money. Humans do not have never known any true freedom, even though we tend to feel that capitalism or socialism are ways for us to achieve freedom. Heinlein points out that none of these systems will make us free. I also really enjoy the fact that Thorby never really cares about his past; he only wants to live in the now, the way humans should. This is an easy book to read even though its plot is like some sort of roller-coaster. Even though somewhat deep ideas are expressed in this book, I think it would be best suited for teenage readers.

This is undoubtedly one of Heinlein's finest 'juvenile' novels (and anyone who thinks there were no female characters in it must not have read more than 10% of it).

I usually list _Tunnel in the Sky_ as my favorite of Heinlein's young-adult novels of the 1950s, and I still think it belongs at the top of the list. But this one is very close.

As I'm sure you know already, it's the tale of a young fellow named Thorby, a slave on the planet Sargon who comes under the protection of one Baslim the Cripple. A sort of outer-space version of Kipling's _Kim_, the novel traces Thorby's life and development through several changes of venue -- and ends on Earth, where Thorby finds out who he really is and takes on some heavy, adult-sized responsibilities.

It's a very well handled coming-of-age novel, and it expresses Heinlein's own remarkable take on maturity very nearly as well as _Tunnel_ (in some ways arguably better). And like _Tunnel_, it devotes _just a little_ space, toward the end, to preaching against straw men. (Here, it's a couple of custard-headed pacifists whose sole literary function is to mouth inane slogans that Heinlein wants to show up as irresponsible nonsense. There was _loads_ of such stuff in _Starship Troopers_ but in this one it's kept to a minimum.)

It also shares part of its 'skeleton' with _Stranger in a Strange Land_ (on which Heinlein was also working at about the same time, still under its provisional title 'A Martian Named Smith'). Why, there's even a climactic courtroom battle, with Thorby represented by a crusty lawyer not terribly unlike Jubal Harshaw. (In general lawyers don't come off well in Heinlein's novels; in the final analysis the sharklike Garsch is no exception, although Harshaw fares somewhat better.)

At any rate, the anthropological insights come fast and furious here (aided in part by a character who may remind you of Margaret Mead). One nice touch is revealed in Thorby's time with the Traders; like every other people in history, they call themselves 'the People' and everybody else subhuman ('fraki').

No s-e-x, though. At this time Heinlein was still publishing under the watchful eye of Alice Dalgliesh and Thorby's interactions with the opposite camp are as chaste as melting snow.

I credit Heinlein with three absolutely magisterial works -- _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_, _Double Star_, and _The Door into Summer_. This one belongs to the second tier of near-magisterial material, well worth reading and rereading despite a few warts.

Thorby's beginings are shrouded in mystery, lost somewhere on the long road seared into him by many masters, and many lashes. He knows only that he is about to be brought to yet another problem in a long road of problems, as he is on the slavers selling block once again. An old beggar takes notice of him, and since no one else wants to bid on the beaten and bedraggled youth, the price is [reasonable] enough that even a beggar can purchace him.
This is a change in his fourtune which will take him on a long road of knowledge and a raise in status. His new master adopts him as a son, and does his best to care for him. Thorby learns the trade of a beggar, and runs errands for 'pop' who isn't quite like other beggars.....teaching Thorby to speak and read in several languages, advanced mathmetics, basic history, and what morals can be passed on while living as a poor beggar.

Until pop's death, at which time he delivers a message to a ship in port which Baslim the Cripple has instructed him to do in case of his death. He is adopted by this ship's family, and becomes on of them...a tribe of people, proud of thier heritage and elitist freedom. But, once again he must loose all which has become dear to him and move on to another fate, to find his true heritage.

Many lessons are contained within Citizen of the Galaxy. Learning to become one with the culture you are in, what 'family' can mean, learning to fight for what is right, and finally, learning that fighting for what is right may not nessicarily be on the front lines in the battle against slavery, but can be far away, buried in legal mazes of businesses who's leaders may not be aware of what evils are burried in the depths of thier empire.

Now, in our current age of a battle against terrorism, this lesson is espically apparent. The evils which lurk across the globe can have connections to us at home, through finantial ties, and levels upon hiden levels of business fronts and drug cartels. All levels, from executive office to the streets to forign lands must have those who are vigilant against a threat.

Robert A Heinlein was not called the "Dean of Science Fiction Writers" for nothing: like most (if not all) of his other books, in "Citizen of the Galaxy" he takes a concept - in this case slavery: deconstructs and analyzes it in many different ways, and presents his thoughts on each aspect of it to us in the context of a compelling and entertaining story.

The story centers on Thorby: a boy perhaps in his early teens, and of unknown parentage, who enters the story as a rebellious and angry young slave on the auction block. We follow his life through several major transitions as he is bought, then educated and finally freed by "Baslim the Cripple", a beggar with mysterious and very un-beggar-like qualities; through his escape from Baslim's murderers to live with the galaxy-roving "Free Traders". Then, after a brief stint in the military, he returns to Earth where he learns of his own origins and heritage, and eventually how and perhaps why he was sold into slavery. He also learns who Baslim really was, and finally takes on what he learns was Baslim's true mission as his own.

To me, like most of his books, one of the most interesting aspects of this story is how Heinlein illustrates and expands upon his central theme in so many different ways: At first we see Thorby in the role of a classic slave, with a master - Baslim, but with a twist, as Baslim is a man who bought Thorby purely because he detests slavery - and teaches Thorby that what makes a man free is his mind, not whether another claims to own and control his body in a physical sense.

Then, when Thorby finds his way to the Free Traders, we see a society that claims to be freer than any other in history - which is true in that they roam the entire galaxy at will - going where they want, when they want, without constraint. But, their life-long and crowded existence onboard their spaceships has created a society where tradition, familial, and social constraints limit them in ways more profound and limiting then Thorby had ever experienced before.

When he finally returns to Earth, Thorby finds that his place is at the pinnacle of power, wealth and fame - yet his wealth and power present new challenges: constraining his freedom in new and even more difficult to challenge ways.

In each of these situations, we see how Thorby uses the talents, skills and freedom he finds within himself, which Baslim had nurtured and trained, to overcome the challenges he is faced with: we also see how those around him are enslaved in ways both more subtle and more profound than Thorby had been when he had been "owned" by Baslim.

Heinlein presents slavery as a great evil that must be conquered and eliminated, and as a societal disease that can and will take root and flourish in many ways, in almost any society. He also shows us that slavery is less about the physical constraints and more about the enslavement of one's mind and spirit.

Through the experiences of Thorby, Heinlein shows us that true freedom exists only when a person is able to free their mind and rise above the shackles and constraints their day to day existence places upon them. That slavery is not just about the physical enslavement and exploitation of one person by another, but about enslavement of the mind and spirit.

As a teen, I did not find this particular book as appealing as I did most of the other works of young adult fiction written by Heinlein in the 1950's, such as "Between Planets", "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", and "The Rolling Stones". Yet, now that I have re-read "Citizen of the Galaxy" as an adult, I find it to be a more mature, richer, thoughtful, subtle and thought-provoking work than many of his earlier work: I highly recommend it.

Citizen explores just what freedom really is as it follows a young man, Thorby, as he matures from boy to man. Starting as a slave sold to a most unusual beggar, Baslim, we see the first aspect that many equate with the absolute opposite of freedom, though we see that in fact 'slaves' sometimes have more freedom of choice than 'free men'. The society he paints here is vivid and believable (though the economics of slavery in a star-travelling culture has always seemed a little dubious to me). Baslim is far more than he appears to be, and puts Thorby through a rigorous education, both academic and practical. How do you become a really good beggar? Here Heinlein falls in with Ayn Rand - whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability, from begging to juggling. Also there are several comments included here about the integrity of the self - lies to others and misleading yourself both come in for some dictums. These are items that may pass over young readers' heads, but perhaps planting seeds that all assumptions should be examined, nothing should be accepted on 'faith', that personal integrity is more important than 'success', that consequences of actions should be examined carefully before committing to that action.

Later, Baslim calls in some favors and sends Thorby to live with the Free Traders, a group of space merchants that keep to themselves with their own unique culture. Here Thorby discovers another aspect of freedom: a person's ability to do as he wishes is severely constrained by the culture in which he lives. The Free Trader society (which owes much to Margaret Mead's seminal ideas, and highlighted by an anthropologist character named Margaret Mader - Heinlein was not usually so obvious with his names) of rigid matriarchal domination and separation into moieties provides security, peace of mind, and the ability through rigid rules of formalism to allow a small group of people to live together for extended periods without breaking any heads, but has as its downside great limitations on freedom of choice. This section of the book may be the best part, as the society is so different from today's American culture that it becomes fascinating in its own right, apart from its effects on Thorby. Thorby himself grows and changes significantly in this part of the book, from first love to determining just how he must balance the demands of duty and personal desires.

The last section deals with Thorby back on Earth, within a society not much different from our own, and shows a third aspect of freedom: the internal courageousness to make your own decisions and act upon them. Freedom is just as constrained by internal timidity and/or defining decisions as by external forces. As this last section offers little in terms of new or different views of society (though it is a good mirror of some of the flaws of a capitalistic/lawyer dominated one), it isn't as engrossing as the first two sections, but is highly important in terms of completing Heinlein's thematic investigation of all aspects of freedom.

Characterization other than Thorby and Baslim is pretty thin, especially for the females that appear in supporting roles. This was fairly typical for his juveniles, as they were basically strong adventure novels with their primary focus on their central character. But the thematic line on slavery/freedom is much stronger here than most of his messages in other books, and as this particular position is also stated in some of those other works (most especially Farnham's Freehold), has to be seen as one of Heinlein's personal beliefs (unlike some other positions he proposes in his books that seem mainly designed to stir up debate).

This book is not Heinlein's absolute best, nor even the best of his so-called 'juveniles' (which are typically better reading than most 'adult' mainstream bestsellers), but still provides an engrossing, fun, and illuminating read. Recommended for all readers willing to look at life styles different from their own.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)