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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the very best of the Heinlein "Juveniles", November 3, 2006
This review is from: Time for the Stars (Hardcover)
"Time for the Stars" is essentially a retelling of Magellan's catastrophic three-year circumnavigation of the globe. In fact, the fate of "Project Lebensraum," the title of the first systematic attempt to explore the near earth interstellar environment is comparable to that tragic voyage, at least in subjective/proper time, and in percentage of crew and ships lost.
The novel is compelling for its story, the strength of its characters, the remarkable efficiency in which the tale is told, its strong sense of history unfolding, and the impressive integration of its story threads. Moreover, when the science has to be right, it is. It is the best fictional introduction to Relativity theory I know of.
The story covers just over seven decades of tumultuous times. Like Magellan's voyage, the Project occurs on the edge of the transformation of one age to another. And also like Magellan's armada, these relativistic (i.e. high-velocity but slower-than-light) ships, are on their own. In fact, in one way it is even worse: they cannot even come to each other's aid.
Prepare for a rough ride. Despite the frequently humorous and optimistic tone of its narrator, Tom Bartlett, starship Lewis&Clark with its 80% fatalities over four years, is a death ship. It will suffer accidents, diseases, and violent attacks by local residents. As with Magellan's voyage, mutiny is an ever present danger. It will take a miracle, technological or otherwise, to save the survivors.
I cannot recommend this book enough. If you haven't read Time for the Stars, here is your chance. If you have, read it again.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
My Second Science Fiction Novel....., October 4, 2006
This review is from: Time for the Stars (Hardcover)
This is another one of those Heinlein 'juveniles' published by Charles Scribners that are no longer marketed as such. They never go out of print because they are such great stories.
Set in the future, Earth is overpopulated. An interstellar expedition is formed in order to identify and survey possible earth-type planets. At the same time, it is successfully demonstrated that telepathy is possible. To the astonishment of the researchers, telepathy is instantaneous and ignores the inverse square law. Distance is not a factor. A top secret project is formed to identify and recruit telepathic pairs for the expedition. Instead of waiting years for the fleet to report back, Earth can get the valuable information in real time.
Enter the Bartlett twins Tom and Pat. They sign up for the project. One will remain on Earth while the other goes with the expedition. However because of the Lorentz-Fitzgerald time contraction, the twin in space will age much slower than for his earthside counterpart.
What's the beauty of this book? It's a very strong character driven story. Tom and Pat are not Damon and Pythias. Tom has always been dominated by his brother in a million subtle ways. The relationships Tom forms with his fellow explorers are complex yet realistic. Heinlein understands the personal dynamics of shipmates from his time in the U.S. Navy.
Heinlein also understands the problems of exploration. The simple fact is exploration is an extremely risky business. Your superior technology may not help if your numbers are few and you're far from home.
I'll end this before I give up much more of the story. You will find it a fast and entertaining read.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very good story, January 2, 2009
This review is from: Time for the Stars (Hardcover)
"Time for the Stars" by Robert Heinlein is good reading, without any serious issues about the author.
Heinlein always offers some controversial thoughts through his characters, but he is not intrusive about this habit in this book.
While readers today may be more skeptical about telepathy than the folks of fifty years ago, the story is good enough that most people will be willing to suspend their disbelief in order to enjoy the really terrific science fiction. I will say that I have seen twins communicating by their own `secret' language and I understand that the phenomenon is more marked with identical twins. Is that really telepathy? Good question. These days, science is very skeptical about that, but, fifty years ago, science was halfway convinced that telepathy was real.
There are no wars here and no actual militarism, but there are dangerous encounters and crew members die. There is little politics (for Heinlein). However, there is a wonder filled interstellar trip, with lots of 'hard' science fiction. And, there is the development of the major character, Tom.
I do not feel compelled to tell you more than that and to urge you to read it for yourself.
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