Customer Reviews

The Man Who Sold the Moon

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The stories in this book belong to Heinlein's Future History series, and most editions of this book reproduce the two page chart of that future, detailing the social, scientific, and political changes that would happen in the next seven hundred years or so.

"Life Line" was Heinlein's first published story, and it was immediately evident that he brought a new focus to field of science fiction, for although this story has a neat gadget, a machine that can predict the exact day and hour of a person's death, all the emphasis of the story is on how such a device will impact individuals and society as a whole, rather than on the `golly gee whiz' of the device itself. Certainly not his best story, as it is too short and the characters are not fully fleshed out, but it started a revolution.

"Let There be Light" deals with two scientists who figure out a way to transform sunlight into electricity at near 100% efficiency and extremely cheaply, but who find they can't sell it due to pressure from the existing power generation companies. The two main characters are near stereotypes, and the attitude of the male towards his female counterpart may strike many as extremely chauvinistic, an attitude that was quite prevalent in Heinlein's writing from this period. But it should be kept in mind that this was the general American attitude towards women at this point in our history. Of more interest is the apparent `conspiracy' of the power companies to bury this invention. Heinlein's explanation for their actions brings this into focus as a natural reaction of companies attempting to protect their source of income - and in doing so exposes one of the real problems with unfettered capitalism.

"The Roads Must Roll" gives you get a good sense of just why Heinlein came to dominate the science fiction field so rapidly, as the story rings with real world ambience, even though the envisioned technology is one case where Heinlein got it seriously wrong, seeing giant conveyor belts, or rolling roads, as replacing the car and railroads, thus leading to a strong dependence of the economy on them. Those who keep those roads rolling are in an obvious position of power and the story is all about one such case of the `little guy' attempting to force things to go his way. The story is well told, the characters on both sides of this battle are quite believable, the social organization makes sense. Thematically, the story addresses the sense that many who work in essential industries have that THEY should be the ones who make all the decisions, who cannot see that our civilization is made of many specialties, all of whom are necessary to the continued functioning of the society as a whole. Within the confines of this story there is an encapsulation of many of the larger battles caused by this attitude, from the great owner/union fights of the early portion of twentieth century, to the more generalized battle between the ideas of socialism and capitalism.

"Blowups Happen" deals with the stresses that men come under when trying to monitor and control an atomic power plant, with the knowledge that one small error could make the whole thing blow up and wipe out at least three states, if not the whole planet. Written in 1940, before the exact details of controlled nuclear fission were known, it may seem a little dated today. But as the story is truly about how people react under this kind of extreme pressure, and what, if anything, can be done to help people cope with it, it is still a very relevant story.

"The Man Who Sold the Moon" is the longest piece here. D. D. Harriman is a man who not only has a dream of traveling to the moon, he has (almost) the financial means to do it. Harriman's schemes to not only raise the necessary money but to ensure that he will retain control of the moon once he gets there are convoluted, devious, devastatingly logical - and almost the complete antithesis of the way NASA has actually gone about it. You might think that this story is hopelessly outdated - after all, we've actually been to the moon! But the story has much to say about the world of today. Government financing of space travel will only go so far. Private financing and people figuring out how to make a profit out of this frontier will be the ultimate driver - and a very large amount of the points this story makes are very applicable to such an approach. But perhaps more important than the actual method Harriman uses to achieve his dream is the very fact that he has such a dream. Heinlein invariably presented the point that without dreamers there would be no progress, no hope for an eventual better world. Perhaps this is flaw in his writing, but I, for one, would much rather read about heroes, the dreamers, those who are attempting to change things for the better, than yet another story detailing the tribulations of a semi-neurotic Joe everyman.

"Requiem" continues the story of D. D. Harriman, now very old and in frail health, still trying to get to moon, having been prevented by his financial partners from going as too valuable to risk. This story pulls out all the emotional stops, though it is quite understated in terms of direct exposition. I have read it multiple times, and it still causes me to choke up a bit when I reach the end. It's the best story here.

There are places where the age of these stories is all too evident, a congenital hazard to writing science fiction, and in places Heinlein's writing technique is not as polished as it could have been, being written very early in his career. But these stories still have power, are still engrossing, still have much to say about people and the world of today.

Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

The Man Who Sold the Moon, the first entry in Heinlein's Future History, assembles six of Heinlein's earliest short stories from the late 1930s and 1940s. All but one of these stories deal either directly or indirectly with the moon and the means of getting there. Certainly, most of the scientific ideas Heinlein espouses here are obviously dated and untenable, but that really doesn't matter to me. The excitement over the idea of leaving the confines of earth and traveling to the moon and planets is downright infectious and stimulating. Mankind set foot on the moon a year before I was born, but Heinlein's stories really convey the passion and desire that yesterday's dreamers must have felt about an idea that was patently absurd to many people in 1950. This amazing spirit, willful determination, and lifelong obsession to reach the moon are revealed most powerfully in the person of D.D. Harriman. Harriman is the proverbial man who sold the moon, a man whose presence and influence is felt throughout the entire book. The title story, almost the size of a novella, is an account of Harriman's bold plans and even bolder strategies for getting to the moon. His wheelings and dealings for funds make for an enjoyable read; he has endless ideas for promoting the project and securing funds from any number of sources. Here he is the embodiment of commercialism and steadfastness, but then, in "Requiem," we see the human side of his character. This story is a touching tribute of sorts to Harriman-stripped of all business guises, we see Harriman the dreamer, the little boy who looked up at the moon at night and swore that some day he would set foot on its surface. "Requiem" is a more than appropriate title for this tribute to Harriman and his vision.

One thing you are going to need in order to reach the moon is fuel. "Let There Be Light" describes the development of an unlimited power source. "The Roads Must Roll" warns of the new kinds of dangers to be expected in a world of rapidly advancing technology; abundant energy does not eliminate the sometimes negative effects of human nature. "Blowups Happen" is centered around the preeminent nuclear power plant in the world. Any slip up here would lead to incomprehensible disaster, and workers there, especially the engineers who single-handedly keep the atomic reaction red-hot yet under control, are subject to total breakdowns caused by stress. Each worker is supervised by a psychiatrist who has the authority to yank the guy from the job at the slightest hint of a mental hiccough. It is here, though, that the rocket fuel needed for space travel is discovered, tying the story in nicely with the rest of those assembled here. "Life-Line" is notable for being Heinlein's first published story; published in Astounding in 1939, the author received a rather impressive figure of $70 for it. Its protagonist claims that he can scientifically foretell the time of any person's death, an idea which does not go over well with either academics or insurance agents. The contempt expressed toward professional sciences is rather curious here.

With the exception of "Life-Line," these stories are all interrelated. D.D. Harriman is one of Heinlein's most memorable characters; I believe there is a lot of Heinlein in Harriman, and that is one reason these stories are as enjoyable now as they must have been upon publication. As I said, the fact that man has already reached the moon by different means than Heinlein suggested here takes nothing away from the joy, wonder, and hopeful optimism that pervade all of these pages. In fact, Heinlein rekindles the love of learning and dreaming that led to the types of scientific advancements we take for granted today and will lead to the astounding advances of tomorrow.

The principal story bears the title of this collection of short and not-so-short Heinlein tales, most of them a part of his "Future History" timeline.

Delos Harriman, an aging business mogul with the dream of traveling into space, makes good his childhood hopes by creating the first moon shot through commercial and private ventures rather than with government or military support. His pursuit of this dream against opposition on all sides makes for a wonderful tale of legal chicanery, innovation, and genius. Through commercialization of space, Harriman opens the final frontier to humanity and establishes the basis of many Heinlein stories to come.

A later story in the book, "Requiem," brings Harriman's tale full-circle as the founder of all space travel finally achieves his personal dream of reaching the moon; legal wrangling and fear of his health had kept him earthbound for decades after the first moon mission.

The stories in this book all make up a portion of Heinlein's "Future History," but the order they are presented in is not logical. "Blowups Happen" and "The Roads Must Roll" should be among the first tales and "Requiem" one of the last, but as a timeline for the Future History is included, one can see where the tales are supposed to fit in.

Some of the technical details are indeed dated as Heinlein penned many of the stories during the Golden Age of science fiction; he decided upon attempting revisions to "Blowups Happen" that such changes actually detracted from the stories as continually revising them for new developments was counterproductive. Read them for what they are and the ideas they contain, not necessarily for the scientific aspects.

Readers wishing to see the Future History unfold in their logical order and entirity should consider the book "The Past Through Tomorrow," another Heinlein anthology devoted to the stories of that series--but this book is a good place to start.

You can't stop reading this book once you start. I'm not much of a SF freak, but this book really got me hooked.Heinlein doesn't focus on the inventions and discoveries in the future, he looks into the social impact they have.In "The roads must roll",Heinlein concentrates on the workers' unions and politics surrounding mechanized roads rather than the technology itself.A must-have for every Heinlein fan.A pity it is out-of-print.

Robert A. Heinlein was in his thirties when he first took up writing. That relatively advanced age for a beginning science fiction writer may account for the power of his work, its feeling of authenticity. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Heinlein wasn't just interested in science and technology. He also had a knowledge and appreciation of how the worlds of business, law, and politics worked and how they intersected with the world of the lab.

The stories in this collection represent the beginnings of Heinlein's Future History series. Events since their publication in the 30s and 40s have dated them, but most still entertain.

"Life-Line" and '"Let There Be Light"' have dated the least, and both concern supression of new technologies. The former concerns a scientist who earns the murderous ire of insurance companies because he can predict the date of a person's death. The latter concerns development of a very efficient capture method for solar energy.

The extrapolation around the dated, but still enjoyable, "The Roads Must Roll" probably seemed quite reasonable at the time of its writing. America's increasing use of cars, resultant urban sprawl and expense, coupled with increased fuel cost and "super-highways", would lead to giant, high-speed conveyor belts carrying people and products between cities. Some of the engineers who tend the road decide to bring it to a stop unless their demands are met. Their political philosophy of "functionalism" sounds modern and plausible though it's really an old idea found in the Bible and Roman history.

"Blowups Happen" is one of those atomic power stories from the forties. Like "The Roads Must Roll", Heinlein is as interested in the men maintaining the machines as the machines themselves. Here the technicians who tend a giant nuclear pile in Arizona frequently crack under the stress of knowing what disaster a mistake could bring.

Heinlein the social animal is on full display in "The Man Who Sold the Moon". Less concerned with scientific and technical details than with political, legal, and business intrigues, it tells the story of how one Delos Harriman gets man to the moon. He's the first in a new line of robber barons and, perhaps, the founder of a new imperialism that will show up later in the Future History series. Harriman's real goal, though, is denied him. He isn't interested in putting just anyone on the moon. He wants to go there.

Heinlein's famous "Requiem" is both prequel and sequel to "The Man Who Sold the Moon". In it, we get the details of Harriman's lunar obsession and the realization of his dream. Unusual for Heinlein, it's a very emotional story full of poignancy Anyone interested in classic science fiction, the beginnings of Heinlein's influential career, or just how the future looked in the forties should enjoy this collection.

This collection of early Heinlein works is worth reading, though the somewhat formulaic stories contrast sharply with Heinlein's later works. It is a great example of early pulp short stories, but the works are largely technology driven and the collection really shows its age.

On the upside, this collection's most character driven story is "Requiem", which chronicles the aging title character's desperate quest to finally fulfill his lifelong dream. This tale seems to foreshadow the style that would eventually land Heinlein amongst the ranks of the great masters of the genre.

If you are at all interested in the history of science fiction, or how the genre got to where it is today, read this collection. It is definitely worth it.

This collection of Future History stories was published originally in 1950. There are six works of short fiction here, which were published between August of 1938 and September of 1940, with the exception of the title story, which was first published in this collection. This book was recognized by fans in the Astounding/Analog All-Time Polls in 1952, 1956, and 1966 where it was ranked 4th, 6th, and 14th respectively. There are some minor differences between this edition and the original edition. The stories in the original edition were in chronological order with respect to Heinlein's Future History, but for some reason they were put in a different order in this edition. The original edition also had an introduction from John W. Campbell, Jr., which is not included here.

The stories here are all very good if not great:

"'Let There Be Light'" is about a scientist who creates a cheap and efficient method of converting the Sun's rays into energy. When the establishment tries to take control of his invention, he finds a way to fight back. It was first published in "Super Science Stories" under the pseudonym Lyle Monroe in May of 1940.

In "The Roads Must Roll", moving roads have been created to efficiently transport people without the need of dangerous automobiles. A conspiracy of unsatisfied workers shut down one of the roads in an attempt to gain power, and lead a social revolution among the road technicians. This was first published in "Astounding", in June of 1940. It tied for 28th on the Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll of Short Fiction in 1971.

"The Man Who Sold The Moon" is one of Heinlein's D. D. Harriman stories. In this novella, D. D. Harriman is trying to gain ownership of the Moon. He plans and schemes with his business partners in an effort to generate the revenue needed to make travel to the Moon a reality. He wants to make sure the Moon is not controlled by any nation, to fulfill his dream of man moving to the stars, and his boyhood dream of traveling to the Moon. This story tied for 35th on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll of Short Fiction. It was 5th on the 1999 Locus All-Time Poll for Novella's, and won the Retro Hugo for Best Novella for the year 1950 that was awarded in 2001.

"Requiem", though written before "The Man Who Sold The Moon", takes place after it. In this story D. D. Harriman is desperately trying to get to the Moon before he dies. He does not meet the health requirements for space travel, but he does have his money, and a tremendous resolve. This story was first published in "Astounding" in January of 1940. It tied for 17th on the Locus All-Time Poll for Short Stories in 1999, and won the Prometheus Hall Of Fame award in 2003.

"Life-Line" is the story of a scientist who is scorned by the scientific community for his claims that he can determine when people will die. When his work starts to affect insurance companies, he is sued. For his defense, he forecasts the deaths of the same scientists who rejected him at the start. All that is left is to wait to see if he is correct. This story was first published in "Astounding" in August of 1939. It tied for 14th on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll for Short Fiction written before 1940.

"Blowups Happen" is a story about the dangers of nuclear power, and the psychological affect it has on those who work in the plant who are depended on to keep it from blowing up and killing millions of people. This story was first published in "Astounding" in September of 1940.

Considering this collection was written in the late 30's and early 40's, and was, in fact, the first volume of Heinlein's now-famous Future History, it has actually held up quite well throughout the ensuing years. However, some of the events in the stories have been inevitably dated. It is still well worth reading, though. Heinlein's quick-paced writing style and caustic wit, not to mention lovable characters, always make his stories worth reading, regardless of when they were released. Also, the stories here, for the most part, focus not on the scientific aspects of the technologies in question, but rather the sociological and political sides of them. This is what Heinlein brought to science fiction. He showed us that the key ingredient in good science fiction is story and characters, not the technology being showcased; and by focusing his stories on the characters within and their aspects, his stories are usually just as readable now as the day they were released, even if some of their inherent technology has been dated by subsequent advances in science. Aside from being the first volume in the Future History series, this book is also notable for containing Heinlein's first ever published story, Life-Line. I'm sure you all know the premise-a man invents a machine that shows when people will die-but it is an interesting read if you haven't, and an epoch in the sense of it being the starting point in the career of one of science fiction's greatest writers. Blowups Happen and The Roads Must Roll (does this story remind anyone else of H.G. Well's The Sleeper Awakes?) both focus on technologies that are now fundamentally debunk in the modern day world, but they both focus instead on the people running these technologies (atomic factories and rolling roads respectively), and are an interesting look into sociology and psychology in science fiction. Let There Be Light is a short, decent piece. The Man Who Sold The Moon novella is the title and longest piece in this collection. It is almost totally devoid of actual science, as it has a rather unique, in fact, plotline for science fiction; but has as it's protagonist a seemingly rather crooked, dishonest character who is not particularly of the usually lovable Heinlein kind. It's still an entertaining story, as the writing style is excellent and fast-paced, and the dialogue is exquisite. Requiem features the same main character, and shows a seemingly total different side of him. This story is quite a bit different from most Heinlein, as it is primarily and emotion-based bit, reminding me of something more along the lines of Arthur C. Clarke. Interesting. Although not his best stories, the ones contained in this collection are worth reading, and a must, eventually, for any Heinlein fan.

The Man Who Sold the Moon (1950) is an SF collection of Future History stories. It contains six stories, published from 1939 to 1949, and a Preface.

- Preface (1949) states the follies of predicting the future. The author created the Future History Timeline to track the background of his stories. Some of these prediction came true while he was still writing these stories and others will probably never happen. But the Timeline produced a consistency not found elsewhere in science fiction. Note: This Preface is not found in later editions.

- "Let There Be Light" (Super Science Stories, 1940) concerns two scientists who invent a new power source.

- "The Roads Must Roll" (Astounding, 1940) is about an illegal work stoppage on the mechanical roads.

- "The Man Who Sold the Moon" (First publication, 1949) relates the story of D. D Harriman and his efforts to establish a base on the Moon.

- "Requiem" (Astounding, 1940) exposes the fate of D. D Harriman.

- "Life-Line" (Astounding, 1939) tells of the man who could predict the time of death of an individual; this was Heinlein's first sale.

- "Blowups Happen" (Astounding, 1940) depicts the tensions among the workers in an atomic breeder plant.

The title story was copyrighted in 1949, but was first published in this collection. Note that the title story is a prequel to "Requiem". The author added "The Man Who Sold the Moon" as an original story for this collection.

Various versions of this collection have been published with different contents. This version contains all the tales associated with this title. But the order varies from other editions.

In 1939, Heinlein submitted his first SF work -- For Us, the Living -- to various publishers, but it didn't sell. The feedback pointed out that the novel lacked adventure and excitement. So he started writing short stories for the magazines to learn his trade and was a success. But many of the ideas for his stories came from the original novel.

This was the first collection of stories in the Future History series by the author. The second collection is The Green Hills of Earth. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Heinlein fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of strange talents, future engineering, and a huckster who led the way to Luna. For those who want more tales by Heinlein, these and many other stories were included in The Past Through Tomorrow.

-Arthur W. Jordin

"The Man Who Sold the Moon " is a collection of six Heinlein "Future history" stories. I first read these stories in the early 1950's. Talk about putting red meat in front of a carnivore! I loved these stories. While they still are excellent, I know that Heinlein did even better later in his career.

"Life Line" is about a device that can foretell any persons death date. Kafka could not have done better.

"Let There Be Light" describes the development of a unique power source. It appears to be a nuclear power source that is in advance of our current nuclear power sources in 2008. I have read this story many times and the power source appears, to me, to be neither nuclear fission nor nuclear fusion but, rather, a sort of total nuclear destruction with the near 100% release of all the energy in the mass of the nucleus. If this thing ever had come into existence, it would be far more scary than present day nuclear devices.

"The Roads Must Roll" is a story based on solar power and a sliding road technology. The story asks the question, "Who will control electrical power and transportation?"

"Blowups Happen" deals with job stresses when the stakes are incredibly high. When reading this, please remember that we still do not understand all the possible disaster possibilities of future nuclear fusion plants.

"The Man Who Sold the Moon" is the longest story. D. D. Harriman wants to travel to the moon. He raises the money to ensure the first trip to the moon and to ensure that he will retain control of the moon. While we have, actually, gotten to the moon, we still do not have commercial travel there. So, will any part of this story come true? Stay tuned. Private financing and people figuring out how to make a profit out of moon travel may yet take this enterprise out of public control.

"Requiem" tells the story of D. D. Harriman, grown old and frail, still trying to get himself to the moon. It is a very human story.

Read the book! I still enjoy it.