Customer Reviews

Past Through Tomorrow: Bk. 2

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Past Through Tomorrow contains all 21 stories, novellas, and novels of Heinlein's Future History series. The four books making up the series (The Man Who Sold the Moon, The Green Hills of Earth, Revolt in 2100, and Methuselah's Children) used to be a little hard to find in the pre-Internet days, making this collection an absolute boon to Heinlein readers. In addition to the convenience of having everything in one volume, this book also includes two stories that are not to be found in my copies of the originating books: "Searchlight" and "The Menace From Earth." These are rather lightweight stories, but they are quite entertaining.

It was actually Joseph W. Campbell, Heinlein's editor at Amazing Science-Fiction, who came up with the term Future History; Heinlein did have some of the stories mapped out on a timeline, but he never intended to make this a series in any real sense of the word. Up until the final selection, these stories are largely independent of one another. With Methuselah's Children, however, Heinlein traces the tale's antecedents to his very first story "Life-Line," incorporates a few characters from other assorted stories, and casts a web of continuity over the whole package. Even still, this is only "a" future history, not "the" future history. Aspects of Heinlein's science indeed worked its way into the real world over time, but one would be wrong to label this body of work as some type of prophetic endeavor on the author's part.

The contents of this collection basically offer the reader the cream of the crop of Heinlein's early fiction. Among the stories deserving special mention here are the novella "The Man Who Sold the Moon," featuring one of Heinlein's most unforgettable protagonists, "-We Also Walk Dogs," the story of a company able to perform small miracles to meet the needs of its clients, "If This Goes On-," a tale of the repressive theocracy that followed in the wake of evangelist Nehemiah Scudder usurpation of power, and the novel Methuselah's Children which brings the vision of these stories all together. I have only one criticism of this fine collection: no special mention is made of the century-long gap between "Logic of Empire" and "If This Goes On-." The fall of American democracy at the usurping hands of Scudder is a story that Heinlein never told, so the reader may be shocked to find a forward-looking free America suddenly transformed into an anachronistic, brutal autocratic regime at the start of the latter of these two stories. In my copy of Revolt in 2100, Heinlein includes a postscript concerning the stories never written-this does much to explain the striking transition that defines the "missing century" of this Future History, and it's a shame that this postscript did not find its way into this omnibus collection.

The Past Through Tomorrow serves as a wonderfully useful map to the writing of Robert A. Heinlein. Not only does it contain the most important of his early short stories, it also sets the stage and provides the background material for Heinlein's later novels featuring the likes of the remarkable Lazarus Long.

Part of the "Future History" series in which Heinlein first got (or expressed) the desire to tie all his stories together in one coherant whole. Here he does it well. This was one of the first Heinleins i read, twentyfive years ago, and i still remember the power it held over me as i devoured it. Certain of the stories (a collection of short stories and novellas) are weaker, relatively, but everything is strong enough that the whole is a unified totality which can carry anything not to your taste (in my case, "The Roads Must Roll"). As he almost always does, Heinlein has created believable and (more important?) likable characters. The most fun story in the collection is "Methuselah's Children" which is the introduction of the Howard Families, and the (here much more) likable cuss, Lazarus Long.

This collection starts with Heinlein's first-ever published story (Life-Line), and continues through the next several years of his writing. These stories, of course, make up his famous Future History series. There is one novel among them (Methuselah's Children; the book's standout piece, and the debut of Lazarus Long), a couple of novellas (The Man Who Sold The Moon, "-If This Goes On"), and numerous short to medium-length stories. Unlike his longer later novels, in these works his agenda is not being an idealogue, but rather exploiting one small central idea, or even simply writing a good story. To be sure, there are several stories of lesser quality here, but there are also many classics (the ones I've already mentioned, plus The Roads Must Roll, Blowups Happen, Logic of Empire, Coventry, and others.) If all you know of Heinlein is his later "message" novels like Starship Troopers and Stranger In A Strange Land, then do yourself a favor and pick up this immaculate collection of his early fiction.

This is the first Heinlein book I ever read, and I have never looked back since. A fantastic collection of thought-provoking and interconnected stories made for a very excellent read. Personal;ly, my favorite stories were 'Requiem' and 'The Man who sold the Moon'. 'Methuselah's Children' is also part of this collection, introducing you to the Howard Families (and Lazarus Long)

If you're looking for a great Sci-Fi read that will take you out of this world, than you should read this great book by Robert A. Heinlein called, "The Past Through Tomorrow, The Future History Stories." It's such an intricate book full of short stories that interlace nicely with eachother. Heinlein is one of the greatest science fiction writers of all time. If you want to read more books by him, you should check out Stranger in a Strange Land as well. Boy, are both books great.

This is a collection of Heinlein's "Future History" stories, most written between 1939 and 1962. While written as entertainment, these stories prove disturbingly prophetic, describing not so much the technological innovations of the past 50 years, but more the social evolution which has come about. His emotionally charged scenarios, and unique characters are captivating, and the evocation of possible future events and discoveries are tantalizing.
This volume also serves as an excellent introduction to his novels which further explore these themes of social progress, frank sexual situations and technological wonder.

This book sat on my shelf since college where I read a few of the stories for an English class. I finally got around to reading the whole thing front to back and what an amazing piece of work. The thing that most amazes me most is the continuity in these stories that were written over several decades. The final story in the series is quite possible one of the best pieces of Scifi i've had the pleasure of reading. Enjoy!

This is a fantastic collection. To begin with, almost the entire contents of the two collections ("The Green Hills of Earth" and "The Man Who Sold the Moon") are here ("Let There Be Light" is not included). Next there is "Searchlight" a short vignette which Heinlein wrote as part of an advertisement for Hoffman Electronics. In addition there is "The Menace From Earth", "If This Goes On-", "Coventry", "Misfit", and the novel "Methuselah's Children. All in all, over 800 pages of stories from Heinlein's Future History.

This collection of Future History stories was published in 1967, and while the claim made on the back cover of having all the Future History works included is not true, it is a truly great collection of 21 of them. A couple of the missing ones include the aforementioned "Let There Be Light", and "Farmer in the Sky", and there may be some other ones which I have forgotten. The stories were all written between 1939 and 1962, with the majority of the work coming from the 40s. Here is a list of the included material, along with some of the recognition it has received:

* "Life-Line" - Short Story - August, 1939 - Tied for 14th on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll for Short Fiction written before 1940.

* "The Roads Must Roll" - Novelette - June, 1940 - Tied for 28th on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll of Short Fiction.

* "Blowups Happen" - Novella - September, 1940.

* "The Man Who Sold the Moon" - Novella - 1950 - Tied for 35th on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll of Short Fiction. 5th on the 1999 Locus All-Time Poll for Novella's. Won the Retro Hugo in 2001 for Best Novella for the year 1950.

* "Delilah and the Space-Rigger" - Short Story - December, 1949.

* "Space Jockey" - Short Story - April 26, 1947.

* "Requiem" - Short Story - January 1940 - Tied for 17th on the Locus All-Time Poll for Short Stories in 1999. Nominated for the Prometheus Hall of Fame in 2002. Won the Prometheus Hall Of Fame award in 2003.

* "The Long Watch" - Short Story - December, 1949 - Tied for 30th on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll of Short Fiction. Tied for 33rd on the 1999 Locus All-Time Poll for Short Stories.

* "Gentlemen, Be Seated!" - Short Story - May, 1948.

* "The Black Pits of Luna" - Short Story - January 10, 1948.

* "It's Great to Be Back!" - Short Story - July 26, 1947.

* "-We Also Walk Dogs" - Short Story - July, 1941.

* "Searchlight" - Vignette - August, 1962.

* "Ordeal in Space" - Short Story - May, 1948.

* "The Green Hills of Earth" - Short Story - February 8, 1947 - Tied for 2nd on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll for Short Fiction. 10th on the 1999 Locus All-Time Poll for Short Stories.

* "Logic of Empire" - Novella - March, 1941.

* "The Menace from Earth" - Novelette - August, 1957.

* "If This Goes On -" - Novella - 1940.

* "Coventry" - Novella - July 1940.

* "Misfit" - Novelette - November 1939.

* Methuselah's Children - Novel - 1941 - 26th on the 1966 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll for books. Won the Prometheus Hall of Fame award in 1997.

The stories are presented in Future History chronological order. The first story "Life-Line", takes place in 1951, and Methuselah's Children leaves us approaching the 23rd century. This is an outstanding collection of stories, from what many feel is the greatest science fiction writer of all time.

This is a collection of all the Future History stories beginning with 'Life-Line', RAH's first story written in 1939 through 'Methuselah's Children' which introduced Lazarus Long and the Howard Families which appear so prominently in his later works.

RAH's Future History, for those unfamiliar with the series, describes an alternative history of earth, particularly America. The stories begin during the 1930's and feature a society very much like the history with which we are all familiar. As the stories progress they build on each other and increasingly depict a society very different from ours, a permanent colony in the Moon has been established in the 1970's, Mars and Venus are colonized by the early 21st century while back on earth America falls to a religious dictator.

This is an excellent place to begin reading RAH's work and is definitely a volume that belongs in the permanent collections of any Heinlein fan. Many of these stories have appeared in other collections including: THE MAN WHO SOLD THE MOON, THE GREEN HILLS OF EARTH, REVOLT IN 2100 AND METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN and others.

I've been a fan of Heinlein's work for a while, so I snapped this book up as another chance to read some of his work.

Rather then a novel this is a collection of his short stories that, though on the surface may not seem to be, really are related.

Through subtle nuances that other authors leave out, he makes these stories engaging, thought provoking and thouroughly relavent for every generation. Telling the tale of a history yet to come, these stories travel the road of immortality and the way human life changes the universe.

One of his best works, though usually overlooked. A real gem for anyone that enjoys great science fiction or a fan of Heinlein's other works. Never a dull moment, you'll find it hard to put down.