Customer Reviews

The Menace From Earth

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There are no truly bad stories in this collection though the title story features annoying teenagers in an annoying romantic plot. The teenagers annoy with their brilliance, and the plot annoys with its story of the girl narrator discovering, after the introduction of a beautiful Earth woman, that her boy friend is really her boyfriend. Still, you get a travelogue of Luna City, possibly the first example in science fiction of the sport of human-powered flight in low gravity, and another of Heinlein's Future History tales.

Not at all annoying, in fact a downright classic, "By His Bootstraps" is the grandfather of all those time travel stories where the protagonist crosses his own lifepath at different points to make a plot so confusing you need a diagram to sum it up. This one also features alien ruins and a changed humanity 30,000 years in the future.

"The Year of the Jackpot" is a tale about the cyclical nature of all sorts of natural and social phenomena from earthquakes to public nudity to ufo sightings to religious fervor and a whole lot more. Its mathematician hero notes that all the cycles will bottom out at the same time, and he decides to take his girlfriend and head for the hills to await the collapse of civilization. It's a fun story and distinguished by a shortage of the can-do spirit of much of Heinlein's work.

On the minor side are three stories. "Columbus Was a Dope" is a short, ironic tale about the sorts who are driven to explore and those that mock that drive. "Sky Lift" is about a space mission at very high gs to take emergency vaccine to an outpost on Pluto. "Project Nightmare" follows the efforts of a team of American psychics to stop a Soviet blackmail attempt that has concealed nukes in US cities.

The Gulf of California flooding the Imperial Valley after an earthquake is the engaging premise of "Water Is for Washing".

Stylistically, "Goldfish Bowl", one of the strongest and oddest stories in the collection, is typical Heinlein, but the plot and ideas reminded me of H.P. Lovecraft. Investigating the appearance of two permanent waterspouts, two scientists are captured by mysterious entities whose relation to us is not at all comforting.

This collection presents itself as a very interesting and wonderful reading indeed. However, I'd like to comment on one brilliant piece: "By His Bootstraps". If you have ever thought or wondered about the paradoxes of the time travel, the nature of time/space and our relationship with it, go and read it. You will find an example of one of the best time travel related reading in the world. Enjoy!

Out of the handful of stories in this book there are two classics that make it a must-read for any Heinlein fan. Most notably is By His Bootstraps, one of Heinlein's most famous shorts, and quite possibly THE definitive fiction on the time travel paradox. This is the grandfather of many subsequent time travel stories and plots, it's told quite cleverly and has a highly complicated plot that must have taken Heinlein quite a while to fathom. It's a must read for any SF fan. The other must-read in this collection is Goldfish Bowl. A story so shocking in it's implications, for Heinlein, that it took him some major convincing to get John W. Campbell, Jr. to publish it in Astounding. It's a notably different take on the way that we usually see aliens treat human beings in science fiction. The rest of the stories in this collection vary from worthwhile but hardly earth-shattering (The Year of the Jackpot, the title story), to inconsequential (Sky Lift, Columbus Was A Dope, Water Is For Washing.) Still, a Heinlein fan should pick this up, though it's not really a book you should start with if you're new to the author.

This is something of grab-bag of Heinlein shorts that don't really fit with his Future History or any other convenient category box. They range in age from his very early work to his mid-career, and like most such collections, the quality varies considerably from one story to the next.

A favorite of mine has always been the opening story of this collection, "The Year of the Jackpot", perhaps because its hero is a numbers man, something I've always been partial to, perhaps because the scenario painted of all the various cyclic phenomena such as stock market prices and women's dress length all troughing at the same time appeals to my sense that the world is explainable and predictable. There's some commentary here on free-will versus determinism, and whether humans are just as driven by forces beyond their control to irrational acts as lemmings are, that might make you pause and think. Regardless, it's well written and has an extremely explosive ending.

"By His Bootstraps" is often listed as one of the most seminal and definitive time travel works ever written, and it clearly points out not just the inherent paradoxes of time travel but that the whole idea of causality may not be valid. Still, I've always felt that this story is a little rough around the edges, with a main character who isn't very likable and certainly far less intelligent than the typical Heinlein protagonist. Heinlein eventually returned to this idea in a later, and I think much better, story with "...All You Zombies" (available in The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag).

"Columbus was a Dope" is a very minor story (in fact it's not much of a story at all), but it presents it point quite effectively.

"The Menace from Earth" is one of Heinlein's early attempts at having a female protagonist, in a story that is more a romance than a science fiction story, but there is one idea here that will definitely grab your attention, that of being able to actually fly (like a bird) on the moon. I think this was the first story to really use this idea, and as usual for Heinlein, he gets the details right. Many people have remarked on Heinlein's apparent inability to portray realistic women characters, but the main character here is actually pretty well fleshed out and charming, although infected with the bane of the cultural attitudes of the day (1950's) about the proper place of women. One of his better stories.

"Sky Lift" is another idea driven story, with some plot machinations that require a manned high-g constant boost trip out to Pluto, and showing just what the effects would be on a human body. Not a great story, but possibly important for its detailing of the use of a waterbed as an acceleration couch. I think this is his second mention of a waterbed (the first being in Beyond this horizon as a one-liner), but this idea didn't really seem to sink in until the depiction of one in Stranger in a Strange Land, and of course the later actual manufacture and marketing of same.

"Goldfish Bowl" imagines a truly alien intelligence built right here on Earth, and is something of a horror story, as to these `aliens' we're apparently worthy of no more consideration than ants or fish. Not the first story to imagine such, but quite effectively done, and provides at least one potential answer to the Fermi paradox.

"Project Nightmare" details a rather different use for those paranormal powers such as telekinesis and clairvoyance that infect much of science fiction, and of much greater utility than just influencing the roll of dice. But it's almost a pure idea story, with paper- thin stereotyped characters and somewhat artificial suspense.

"Water is for Washing" is a story for Californians, with their constant fear of the `Big One' hitting and sliding the state into the ocean. This one doesn't quite submerge the entire state, but the Salton Sea becomes a real sea again. As its main character is hydrophobic, this is obviously a problem. How he solves it, and along the way picks up some of the best qualities of man as a social animal, is very well portrayed.

Not the best collection of his short stories, but still very much worth reading.

---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

To me, "The Menace from Earth" is the book that sealed Robert Heinlein's place as the greatest science fiction author of all times. This little collection, considered to be one of his minor works, packs more creativity than most authors display in their entire career. For instance, in the story "Goldfish Bowl" Heinlein completely reinvents the human race's role on planet Earth, to quite scary effect. That's one that you won't stop thinking about anytime soon once you've read it.

In "By his Bootstraps" we read about a fellow who gets caught in a mysterious series of events involving other versions of himself time-traveling from the future. Contrary to some claims, Heinlein did not actually invent this concpet. What he does do here is to cook up an incredibly inventive, clever, and humorous plot for the story. He does a particularly good job handling the psychologoical state of the narrator as the stream of bizarre revelations comes in.

While the other stories may not break your head quite as totally as those two, they are all memorable. "Water is for Washing", the closing entry, has some quite memorable imagery. So, for that matter, does "The Menace from Earth", a tale of teenage angst and ambition on the Moon. Overall, I give this collection of stories a hearty recommendation.

I grew up inspired by Science Fiction, and eventually had the privilege of working on the Space Shuttle program for several years. Of all the many SF stories I have read, The Menace From Earth has always been one of my favorites. There are other stories more technically inspiring, or with better drawn characters. There is none that conveys the sense of humans fitting in to a non-earth environment and making it their home with such ease and inspiration. When the flying starts, the story becomes simply lyrical.

THE MENACE FROM EARTH by Robert Heinlein. c 1959.

A collection of Science Fiction stories spanning the years 1941(BY HIS
BOOTSTRAPS--a Time Travel loop story) to 1957 (THE MENACE FROM EARTH a
sort of teen age agst story set on a moon colony). Heinlein was---at
this stage anyway--a very level headed no patience for
imbeciles--liberal or otherwise-- type of writer and about as far away
from Rod Serling as it was possible to get. Except for COLUMBUS WAS A
DOPE--a proColumbus story by the way which would set modern Sci Fic
reader's teeth on edge---Heinlein does not trade in the twist or ironic
ending. His characters have a problem and they set about solving that
problem in a logical adult fashion---though usually while drinking a
geiser of whiskey and smoking enough to blot out the sun.
The best two stories in this reader's opinion are the exciting
disaster story WATER IS FOR WASHING which is about what would happen if
the Gulf of California broke into the Salton Sea area in the aftermath
of a major earthquake and PROJECT NIGHTMARE a brilliant Cold War story
involving telepathy, telekinetics, Atomic Bombs and communists. Both
would have made great 50s Sci Fic movies.

"The Menace from Earth" is another collection of Robert Heinlein's short stories. Heinlein was excellent at writing short stories. He wrote a lot of them.

Randy Stafford and hyperpat, both, give good story by story reviews. There is no need for me to repeat them.

Personally, I like "The Menace from Earth" best of this collection. I think it is rather insightful of teenage angst. However, "By His Bootstraps" is yet another reason why I think Heinlein is the best author of short time-travel stories. Also, I think that "Project Nightmare" is delightful. And, I liked all of the stories of this collection, each time I have read it (many times).

The Menace From Earth (1959) is a short story collection. These works were published in various magazines between 1941 and 1957.

The Year of the Jackpot concerns cyclic patterns in human beings and stars. By His Bootstraps is the classic time travel story nonpareil. Columbus Was a Dope shows the attitudes of those who go to the stars and those who disparage the whole idea, with a zinger for an ending. The Menace From Earth depicts a young couple on the Moon and a tourist who drops in for a visit.

Sky Light tells of the costs of spaceflight and human perseverance. Goldfish Bowl is about the reactions of a Naval Captain upon encountering an advanced race. Project Nightmare portrays the difficulties of defending the country using paranormal talents. Water Is for Washing accounts the trials of a hydrophobe when the sea reclaims the Imperial Valley.

These stories are about people in unusual situations and their responses to trying conditions. They demonstrate the differences between Golden Age Science Fiction and its predecessors. They are also quite entertaining.

While these stories are not equally strong, all display certain themes that return in his future works. Especially in the title story, which foreshadows Podkayne of Mars, Friday and other stories with strong female protagonists. The author was among the first SF authors to deal sympathetically with female characters, probably due to the example of his wife Virginia.

Highly recommended for Heinlein fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of strange situations, compassion, and perseverance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

In "The Year of the Jackpot", a statistician graphs the points of convergence
of cyclycal events. Overlapping his graphs, he notices that the
wavy lines are approaching extremes. Interesting times.
The story "By His Bootstraps" is not logically sound: How did Bob Wilson
get to the other side of the Gate so that he could operate the Gate before
sending for the first version of himself?
"The Menace From Earth" tackles Earth Moon female jealousy.
"Sky Lift" details the heroism of a rocket pilot carying an antidote to the
Pluto colony. "Goldfish Bowl" asks: What if humans were kept as pets by
disinterested intelligent beings? "Project Nightmare" is about
Psionic humans who are able to locate nuclear devices and prevent atomic
fusion -- using psi ability. "Water is for Washing" is about a mega
earthquake that creates a new sea between the Pacific Plate and the
North American Plate. The Gulf of California extends to Los Angeles.