Tunnel in the Sky is a science fiction book written by Robert A. Heinlein and published in 1955 by Scribner's as one of the Heinlein juveniles. The story describes a group of students sent on a survival test to an uninhabited planet. The themes of the work include the difficulties of growing up and the nature of man as a social animal. Time for the Stars (1956) is slightly dated-less so than some of the others that have more noticeable computers in them-but not really all that much. The story is an exploration of the Twin Paradox-a thought experiment that explains how relativity works. If you had identical twins, and one of them accelerated away from Earth and the other stayed home, so much more time would pass on Earth than in the spaceship that the Earth twin would be a hundred years old when the space twin came home, only a few years later. Heinlein took this concept and made it a real story with characters-and he made the twin thing relevant by using twin telepathy (which works faster than light...) as a means of communicating between Earth and ship. What Heinlein was unbeatable at was writing total immersion. His universes hold together perfectly, even though he describes them with very few strokes. From the first words of Citizen of the Galaxy (1958) you're caught, you're there beside the slave block that stands by the spaceport in Jubbalpore as a beggar buys a slave. The story is quite simple. Thorby is a slave, recently arrived on the world of Jubbalpore in the hold of a slaver's spaceship. He is bought by Baslim the Cripple, who is more than a beggar and who educates the boy. Then Baslim is killed and Thorby whisked off planet by a ship of Free Traders, a Finnish speaking spacer clan who adopt him in gratitude for past services by Baslim. Baslim has made them promise to deliver Thorby to a vessel of the Space Navy, (The Hegemonic Guard, his own service) in the hope that they will be able to identify Thorby....
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Three excellent Heinlein juveniles,
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This review is from: Infinite Possibilities (Hardcover)
"Infinite Possibilities" contains three of Robert Heinlein's excelent juvenile novels.
"Tunnel in the Sky" is about a teenage boy who choses to take a test that requires him to step through a "Tunnel" that puts him on a planet circling a very distant star. Four classes of students in Survival on 'new' planets are scattered over miles of terrain. Then, problems occur. The result is much adventure for the students. This novel is an excellent read, especially for teenagers. Rating: 5. "Time for the Sky" is about travel to the stars on board a spaceship that approaches the speed of light during each segment of the trip. The problem: How does one communicate over light years? Heinlein suggests that telepathy might be a possibility. Thus, one twin goes and one twin stays. They communicate. Adventures happen. A near disaster happens. Then, there is an end to the trip. The twins meet again, many years after their parting. And, a suprise or two is in store. This is a very readable story. Rating: 4. "Citizen of the Galaxy" is about a boy put up for sale as a slave, many, many light years from Earth. He is bought by a begger. He is taught by the begger, who is more than he seemed at first. The boy grows. The begger is put to death by the government, as a spy. The boy flees, as the begger told him to do. Three very different spaceships and years later, the boy is alive and is much more mature and his fortunes have changed. The end of the novel is the beginning of the man who had been a slave boy. Rating: 5
5.0 out of 5 stars
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This review is from: Infinite Possibilities (Hardcover)
I've read all these before and liked them very much. I got the collection to introduce RAH to a family member.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Far from Home,
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This review is from: Infinite Possibilities (Tunnel In the Sky; Time For the Stars; Citizen of the Galaxy) (Hardcover)
Infinite Possibilities (2002) is an SF omnibus, containing Tunnel in the Sky, Time for the Stars and Citizen of the Galaxy. In these novels, humanity is spreading far away from Earth.
Tunnel in the Sky (1955) is the ninth SF novel in this series. It is set in the middle future, at a time when rocket ships were superseded by teleportation gates. Interstellar planets were only a step away. In this story, Rod is taking his final examination in Advanced Survival somewhere in human space. He gets some good advice from his teacher and his older sister Helen, an Amazon Captain. Then he finds Jimmy at the gate and they hurriedly agree to be partners just before Jimmy is called to the gate. When Rod is called, he first finds himself on Luna and then on a full gravity planet with a tropical climate. It looks like an African jungle and he begins to suspect that the exam is not taking place on an unknown planet elsewhere in the galaxy. Rod soon finds the corpse of one classmate in the jungle. At twilight, he selects a tree and starts toward it. When something attacks him, Rod jumps higher up the trunk than he has ever jumped before. He climbs even higher and then hangs his hammock far above the ground. Rod's first night on the planet is extremely frightening, with loud sobbing cries resounding through the jungle. He almost falls out of his hammock more than once. Finally he falls asleep, but is awakened sometime later by something fairly large staring at him. Then three things drop down the trunk. Rod is relieved to find himself still alive upon awakening the next morning. Of course, he almost falls out of the hammock again while getting out of it. Then he heads toward the exit gate. On the way, he is knocked unconscious and loses all his equipment, except his sister's knife. Lady Macbeth has been wrapped in a bandage on his leg and is overlooked by his attacker. Time for the Stars (1956) is the tenth SF novel in this series. It is set in the near future, after the invention of torchships and the discovery of telepathy. In this story, The Long Range Foundation tests Tom and Pat and finds that they are telepathic among themselves. When the LRF offers them a contract as communicators for a trip to the stars, their father and mother are seriously considering the ideal. Then they learns that the voyage will take about a century and go into intractable mode. Uncle Steve convinces them to leave their parents alone. He explains that the odds are against any of the twelve ships in Project Lebensraum ever returning home, so their mother will probably lose the twin who goes with the ship. Eventually the contract is signed and Pat goes away for training. Tom is upset because Pat has been selected to go while he remains behind. It seems to Tom that Pat always gets the better part of everything. Then Pat is paralyzed in a skiing accident and Tom gets to go on the interstellar voyage. The Lewis and Clarke is a torchship equipped and supplied for years of travel, although decades will pass on Earth. They will approach lightspeed in their flight, so relativistic effect wills slow shipboard time. The mission is going to Tau Ceti, a near twin of Sol and only eleven lightyears away. After that they will investigate other planets around further stars. When Tom goes aboard the Elsie, he encounters his Uncle Steve, now wearing the insignia of a major. Major Lucas is commander of the Ship's Guard. He has known about Project Lebensraum for over a month and had swapped assignments to get on the same ship as Pat. But now they are together on the voyage. Citizen of the Galaxy (1957) is the eleventh SF story in this series. It is set in the mid future, centuries from now. Humanity has long ago spread to stars. The Hegemony stretches almost five hundred lightyears from Earth in every direction. At the periphery, the Hegemonic Guard fights piracy and slavery, but at the center few know of these social ills. The Exotic Corps spends lives in hope of abolishing slavery within the next two centuries. In this story, Baslim is present when Thorby is put on the block. The previous item -- two young and pretty girls who might have been twins -- had stimulated a brisk bidding war. But Thorby is nothing special and the customers are encouraging the auctioneer to get on with it. He tries to get some bids, but nobody is interested in Thorby. The auctioneer finally asks for any bid and Baslim offers two minims. The auctioneer is offended at the very small bid, but other customers remind him of his words. Since the auction cannot proceed without at least three bids, a small spurt of offers runs the price up to nine minims. Tax on the sale is more than the final bid. Though Thorby tries to run away, Baslim keeps a hold on him until they reach Baslim's apartment under the old arena. Once there, Baslim dons a prosthetic leg and makes supper. Thorby tries to run again, but the door is securely locked. Baslim seats Thorby and serves supper, but the boy is too busy eyeing the door to eat. So Baslim opens the door and tells Thorby that he can leave if he desires. Thorby bolts out the door while Baslim is eating. After a while, Thorby reappears at the door; where else can he go in this strange and hostile environment? Baslim invites him back in and serves him a heaping plate of food. After Baslim cleans up the mess from the overfull boy, he gives him a more frugal meal appropriate for the half-starved youth. Baslim leaves the door unlocked when they lie down to sleep in the single bed. Baslim teaches Thorby many things about Jubbalpore. He also teaches the boy mathematics, history and other academic subjects. More important, he teaches Thorby how to observe and retain information. Thorby runs errands for Baslim all over the city. Later he sees Baslim dressed as a noble, with both eyes and legs. Thorby soon suspects that something is different about his master, but he also understands that others are not to be told about Baslim's affairs. These stories demonstrate the inconsistencies within the various Juvenile novels. This series was not conceived as an integrated and gradually developing story like the Future History universe. But the conflicting points are to be expected in a series that is intended as introductions to the many worlds of science fiction. I am reminded of one reason why I like Science Fiction. I have lost count of the number of concepts that were first presented in these works and later became part of everyday life. Naturally, everything did not come true, but many times just being an SF fan reduced the future shock. So one could say, "What, you don't already know about spaceships/robots/atomic bombs/cloning/interplanetary voyages/time travel . . .?" Highly recommended for Heinlein fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of future societies, exotic cultures, and the maturation of young males. For those who have not previously read this series, the initial volume is The Rocketship Galileo. For anyone who is convinced that he/she wants even more, Four Frontiers contains the first four volumes. -Arthur W. Jordin
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