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78 of 81 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shorter Stories from the Dean of Science Fiction, March 2, 2006
All things have a history. Science fiction has an illustrious modern history, with roots in Verne and Wells. There was a time when science fiction meant scantily clad women and tentacled monsters. All that changed with John Campbell and Robert Anson Heinlein.
Heinlein had a firm belief in the individual. Yet, he also believed in a strong military. Heinlein also had a good science and engineering education. Heinlein disliked a government that interfered in the everyday affairs of people, and Heinlein, having grown up in the Midwest, had a distrust of people with "religious" motivations. All these characteristics show up in Heinlein's novels and stories, and are well represented in this collection.
I am amazed at Heinlein's prescience. He stated in "On the Slopes of Vesuvius," written in 1947, that New York was an inevitable target. How well we know that considering the events of 9/11. Heinlein did a marvelous job of describing the first landing on the moon in "Destination Moon," from 1950. "Jerry Was a Man" from 1947 predates Pierre Boulle's "Monkey Planet," more commonly known as "Planet of the Apes," by a substantial amount. Heinlein even wrote a story called "Free Men" in 1947 that describes a United States subjected by a foreign power, with his focus on the men fighting back as guerillas. His story is significantly better than the much later movie "Red Dawn."
Heinlein's short stories extended well beyond unintentional predictions of the future. Heinlein enjoyed stories of time travel and the possible paradoxes of time travel. The convolutions in "All You Zombies" are a treat for any fan of time travel stories. "Elsewhen" is another clever story that mixes time and space, and the ending of this short story foreshadows the novel "Time Enough for Love." "By His Bootstraps" bears some similarity to "All You Zombies," with a different outcome.
Heinlein also seemed to like stories about extrasensory perception (e.s.p.). "Lost Legacy" is a marvelous alternative reality story that has echoes in television shows like "Charmed." "Project Nightmare" describes how a disbelieving government uses such talents to save the nation, in spite of disbelief. "Gulf" takes things a step further, predicating the existence of a new race of men with intellectual capabilities well beyond the average.
Stories of harder science fiction are in this book also, as you would expect. "The Year of the Jackpot" describes a mathematical prediction of events that lead to a tragic end. "Water Is for Washing" is an almost mundane story that combines man's hubris with the actual configuration of southern California around the Salton Sea. "Sky Lift" provides a poignant reminder that man may remain noble in space, and that space is a dangerous place. "Universe" and "Common Sense" are actually one story describing what we currently think will be the most feasible way of traveling to another solar system.
I was surprised and pleased that "A Tenderfoot in Space," written in 1958 for "Boy's Life," is included in this collection. Heinlein was known for his juvenile books, and this story is an excellent example of that category of book.
There are many more stories that encompass multiple dimensions, aliens, metaphysics, the past, the future, and just about everything else. Heinlein was a remarkable writer with incredible subject breadth.
I find it interesting that some modern readers describe Heinlein's stories as "cliche." In fact, the cliche's were frequently created because of Heinlein's stories. In a way, Heinlein's stories have become a victim of their success. But, remember this, and remember it well: These stories (or cliches) began here.
Heinlein also receives credit for introducing the words "waldo," "grok," and TANSTAAFL, or "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch," a variation on "there's no such thing as a free lunch," popularized by Milton Friedman. Heinlein originally used this term in the 1967 novel "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress." The first use of TANSTAAFL in economics literature came in a 1971 book by Edwin G. Dolan.
Heinlein was one of the big three in science fiction, the other being Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. Reading these stories, that range from very short to novelette in length, I remember being young in the 60s and discovering Heinlein's marvelous books for the first time. While things have changed much in the intervening time, Heinlein's influence on science fiction and on writing in general can never be overestimated.
While there are some weak stories in this collection, even those are thought provoking and may just provide you with an interesting perspective. Fans of classic science fiction and Robert A. Heinlein will love this collection. Enjoy!
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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
RAH's non-series short stories - Great Stuff, February 5, 2006
Robert A. Heinlein is was the Great Dean of Science Fiction and one of the Big Three writers of the field along with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. This book contains the early stories of his that do not fit into his Future History series.
Some of the stories in this book are among the best short stories in all science fiction.
"They" is probably the best single story in the book. It explores paranoia and solipsism to a very scary if logical conclusion. It is, in my opinion, the single best short written by Heinlein.
Among the other stories here is "Solution Unsatisfactory". It anticipated the nuclear stalemate and the Cold War that came at the end of World War Two. This is all the more impressive when you consider that the Manhattan Project was top secret at the time. Heinlein even predicted the United Nations in the story, along with its large scale weakness... but then, the League of Nations had the same issues.
Also of note are "Universe", "By His Bootstraps", "Gulf", "-And he Built a Crooked House-" and "-All You Zombies". All are very much worth reading today.
This book nicely complements the book "The Past Throught Tomorrow". That book collects all the short stories of Heinlein's Future History series.
This is a great book that should be on the shelves of anyone who likes science fiction.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heinlein has always been on of the best, August 19, 2007
RAH, over the years has been accused of just about every political incorrectness that has come over the horizon, everything from militarism and sexism to racism. Oddly enough, the very evidence to correct every one of these impressions is there in his work. The most critical and important facts that help explain Heinlein in context are "where" and "when." RAH is from the deepest midwest, Missouri, and grew up with World War I. Prohibition, the Depression, a failed career as a Naval Officer due to lost health, and a lost political campaign colour his experience. This is his background. It helps define not only who he was, but what he rebeled against and the metaphors that he employed to give meaning to the world he experienced
But, more important than all this, Heinlein was a writer who was aware of his audience(s) and wrote to entertain (and maybe tweak their thinking a little). More over, some of his most important years of writing were spent under a contract that demanded politically juveniles from him. Still despite his publisher's censors, he slid works like Podkayne of Mars past them.
Another fact of great importance that readers and critics seem to perpetually forget about their favorite writers, is that those same writers, just like the readers - and perhaps unlike the critics - are human beings. They grow, mature, think, and change their opinions. You cannot simply toss a label at a writer and expect it to both stick AND be meaningful.
It useless and meaningless for instance to say Heinlein was "militaristic" without expounding the point to where either the fact is acceptably demonstrated or the fallacy exposed. Heinlein admired the soldiers and officers that compose "the military." They are people who for some reason or another have volunteered or have been drafted into placing their lives on the line for principles. But did Heinlein admire the politicians and government bureauocrats that frequently misuse the military, spending lives and treasure for little discernible reason beyond illusory WMDs? Hardly. Heinlein's definition of an honest politician is one that stays bought. He would have appreciated the definition of a statesman as a politician so propped up by conflicts of interest that he can't fall down. He was explicitly against the draft and expresses repeatedly low opinions of many aspects of military thinking, and he was immensely antiauthoritarian. He not only wrote Starship Troopers - a "militaristic" novel with a Phippino protagonist - but also Stranger in a Strange Land, not only Space Cadet but The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
Off The Main Sequence provides access to some of his very best short fiction. Read it, read the subtexts, think about it, and form your own ideas about Heinlein based upon that thought.
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