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Outward Bound

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"Outward Bound" is a new title by Robert A. Heinlein, composed of three of his novels from 1958, 1959 and 1963, a period when his Juveniles were maturing and merging with his adult stories. Heinlein wrote 13 Juvenile Novels between 1947 and 1963, plus "Starship Troopers", which is listed as one of his adult novels, probably because it is the only one in the set in which the young protagonist becomes a man while fighting a war.

As I write this I am simultaneously rereading "The Rolling Stones", "Citizen of the Galaxy", and "Have Space Suit---Will Travel".

"The Rolling Stones" is about a family surnamed "Stone" who decide to leave their settled life on Luna and travel to Mars and the asteroids in their own spaceship. This is possibly the most humorous and sheer pleasure reading of all his novels.

"Citizen of the Galaxy" is arguably his best Juvenile. It is certainly the most inspiring. A young boy rises from slavery to a very influential and responsible position in a society of the far future.

"Have Space Suit---Will Travel" starts on an almost trivial note and expands by leaps and bounds. The author has a knack for suspending the reader's disbelief by knocking it unconscious.

Heinlein's Juvenile Novels and one on the borderline with his adult fiction have been republished in four volumes of three or four stories. Any of these volumes should make an excellent introduction to Science Fiction for young readers, and all of them make a convenient selection for older SF Fans to immerse themselves in some of the best and most readable stories of the period. If you are not yet a Heinlein Fan try one of these volumes. You are very likely to become a Fan and you might also become an addict. If you are already a Heinlein Fan but have not read some of these stories recently, now is the time.

Juvenile Novel collections by Robert A. Heinlein:
"Four Frontiers"
---"Rocket Ship Galileo" (1947)
---"Space Cadet" (1948)
---"Red Planet" (1949)
---"Farmer in the Sky" (1950)
"To the Stars"
---"Between Planets" (1951)
---"The Rolling Stones" (1952)
---"Starman Jones" (1953)
---"The Star Beast" (1954)
"Infinite Possibilities"
---"Tunnel in the Sky" (1955)
---"Time for the Stars" (1956)
---"Citizen of the Galaxy" (1957)
"Outward Bound"
---"Have Spacesuit---Will Travel" (1958)
---"Starship Troopers" (1959---not quite a Juvenile)
---"Podkayne of Mars" (1963)
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This is an omnibus edition, containing three of Heinlein's best juveniles, Have Spacesuit, Will Travel;Starship Troopers; and Podkayne of Mars. They are excellent stories and it would have been nice to include the information that this is an omnibus version, since I already have nice hardcover copies of all three. But the condition was as described and it arrived in good time.

Outward Bound (2006) is an SF omnibus edition of the Juvenile series, including Have Space Suit - Will Travel, Starship Troopers, and Podkayne of Mars. Only the first of these novels was part of the original series. The other two were published elsewhere.

Have Space Suit - Will Travel (1958) is the twelfth SF novel in this series. It is set in the near future when the Federation has a base on the Moon and Luna City is growing rapidly. Commercial travel to the Moon has just become available.

In this story, Kip wants to go to the Moon. He asks his father for advice and is told to investigate the possibilities. He figures that the chances are not good, but his best bet is to become an engineer. Then Skyway Soap has a contest with the first prize being an all expenses paid trip to the Moon.

At first, Kip is discouraged since he never wins any type of contest. He has even given up matching pennies. But his father tells him that the best prepared person is most likely to win. So he starts sending in slogans on Skyway soap wrappers.

After mailing 5782 entries, Kip and his parents sit watching their antiquated television set, waiting for the announcement of the final winner. After a short interruption of service, the winning slogan is revealed. Kip has won!

Yet somebody else is declared the winner. Kip learns that he is one of eleven who submitted the same slogan. The grand winner had an earlier postmark than his own entry. Instead of a trip to the Moon, Kip has won an spacesuit that had been used to build the second spacestation.

Despite his disappointment, Kip becomes intrigued by the spacesuit and soon starts putting it into working order. The soap company has offered to buy back the suit for $500, so he will probably send it back to the manufacturer to get college tuition money. Still, he has restored the suit as best he can and wears it one more time before shipping it back.

While out in the back pasture, someone interrupts his radio tests and asks for landing instructions. He answers the call and is soon almost squashed by a flying saucer landing where he had been. Some creature jumps out of the ship and somebody else in a spacesuit follows. Then another flying saucer lands and the creature is shot.

Kip lumbers over and discovers that the creature is a BEM. Later he learns that she is the Mother Thing. Then something hits him between his shoulder blades and he blacks out.

Upon awakening, he meets Peewee and learns about her family. He also hears about her kidnapping on the Moon and finds out a little about the Mother Thing. Then they are temporarily paralyzed and Peewee tries to tell him about HIM, but cannot finish her warning.

He is taken out of the room by two men and taken to the control room. There he is interrogated by Wormface, a very ugly and fearful alien. Wormface has a very intimidating look and Kip finds himself unable to protest or hold back any information.

Starship Troopers (1959) is the thirteenth SF novel in this series. This story takes place in a future time after an unspecified disaster. The previous government was gone, so veterans of the various conflicts that occurred during this time formed their own government. Only veterans need apply for citizenship; the meek and unblooded who had not risked their lives for their fellows were not allowed to vote or serve in public office.

In this story, Carl decides to join the military to earn his citizenship. Naturally, Johnny immediately declares that he has the same intentions. Yet Carl doesn't think that Johnny's father will let him join.

Legally, his father cannot prevent him from joining up. When Johnny brings up the subject, his father disparages the whole idea and then offers a trip to Mars after graduation. Johnny is very happy until he tries to tell Carl that he has other plans.

On the way to the recruiting office, Johnny and Carl meet Carmencita. She tells them that she is applying for pilot training. The boys think that she would be a great pilot with all her talents and skills.

Then Johnny joins the military, but all his choices for branch assignment are eliminated by his test scores and interviews. He is assigned to the Mobile Infantry, the default branch. Although he is disappointed, he unhesitatingly defends the branch after his temporary roommate belittles it.

Podkayne of Mars (1963) is the fourteenth SF novels in this series. It is set in a future after the Moon, Mars and Venus have been settled. Mars was an autonomous planet, but Venus was still run by the Company. The outer moons were settled, but had little political influence.

Earth had eight billion humans living on it. It was the economic and political powerhouse of the Solar System, but its huge gravity well made trade less profitable with the other planets. Even Luna had less trade with Earth than with other interplanetary ports of call.

In this story, the Fries family has plans to travel to Earth. But then the Marsopolis Creche makes a mistake and suddenly the Fries family has three more children, who are only a month old. Their plans have to be postponed in this family emergency.

Poddy takes her problem to Uncle Tom and he arranges a conference with the director of the creche. The creche agrees to fund a trip to Earth for Poddy, Clark and Uncle Tom. Best of all, the Tricorn is going to Earth via Venus, so Poddy gets a tour of the Triple Planets.

During outprocessing on Deimos, Clark makes a smart remark about two kilos of happy dust just as the inspector is opening Poddy's bag. Clark gets a full body search while Poddy and Uncle Tom are finishing their outprocessing and boarding the ship. For some reasons, Poddy's total mass is three kilos over the limit, but the ship is enough under mass that the clerk clears them to board.

On the Tricorn, Poddy meets some interesting people, including Girdie and Mrs. Grew. Before Poddy came onboard, Girdie had been the center of male attraction, but she befriends Poddy and even gives her some advice that her mother never mentioned. Mrs. Grew seem to be a very jolly person and Poddy enjoys her company.

On Venus, Uncle Tom is courted by the Chairman of the Venus Company, which essentially owns the planet. He invites the Fries party to stay at his official residence -- the "cottage" -- but Uncle Tom chooses to take rooms at the rather smaller Tannhauser hotel. Then Poddy is detained within the hotel while she finishes the course of treatments required to wander outside.

Have Space Suit - Will Travel is the last story in the original Juvenile series published by Charles Scribner's Sons. Although the series was highly popular during the late forty's and the fifty's, Heinlein had problems with Scribner's editors. When they rejected Starship Troopers, the author took it to Putnam for publication. Later he submitted Podkayne of Mars to Putnam.

These novels are classics of science fiction. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Heinlein fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of space adventures, alien cultures and aspiring young folk.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This volume collects the last of Robert A. Heinlein's juvenile novels in the Science Fiction Omnibus format. I was fortunate to have read Starship Troopers when I was still a teenager, but I hadn't read the other two novels here, Have Space Suit-Will Travel and Podkayne of Mars, until now. This grouping of stories does not reach the heights of Tunnel in the Sky, Time for the Stars, and Citizen of the Galaxy, which were collected in the third Omnibus volume of the series, Infinite Possibilites. Nonetheless these are enjoyable stories, well written in the Heinlein style, with only minor weaknesses. As with Heinlein's other juvenile novels, these are written on several levels, and can be enjoyed by adults as well as young people. Have Space Suit-Will Travel is the most dated novel of the three, with its 1950s references, but Starship Troopers holds up well, and with a little bit of suspension of disbelief, Podkayne of Mars is plausible. If you've seen the movie Starship Troopers, the book is significantly different, but many of the underlying sociological and philosophical themes are the same. The point is that Heinlein gets you thinking, whether you agree with him or not, which is why Starship Troopers won the Hugo award for best science fiction novel in 1960. In many ways Heinlein's vision of a military based society is similar to Plato's Republic-it's intended to make the reader think about what the rights and duties of citizenship are, and to ask the question, What is Justice? (Probably a good college thesis for someone there). These last three "juveniles" are like the beginning of the space age, the era when the X-15 rocket ship penetarted the edge of space, forming a long and lovely arc, but eventually returning to earth. These books fired the imagination of a generation with their freshness and novelty, but ultimately they had to give way to Heinlein's more mature fiction. Whether you are new to Heinlein's novels, or you are reading to bring back memories, this Omnibus is an excellent addition to your library and a great value.

"Outward Bound" contains three excellent stories by Robert Heinlein. Vanya has written a very good review.

I am only adding my two cents worth because I have doubts about putting three Heinlein novels into one book. My own choice would be to savor these stories, one by one.