OK, Heinlein fans.....

[Xracer]

(And there seem to be a lot of us here)

What's your favorite Robert A. Heinlein novel?

This being the M&H Forum, I suspect that the majority will select "Starship Troopers" (which I enjoy very much each time I reread it)......but I still have to choose "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress".

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by Xracer

(And there seem to be a lot of us here)

What's your favorite Robert A. Heinlein novel?

This being the M&H Forum, I suspect that the majority will select "Starship Troopers" (which I enjoy very much each time I reread it)......but I still have to choose "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress".

A fine idea for a topic, X!!!! Heinlein had no equal.

OK, for me, in descending order, best to least best (NO Heinlein book was less than excellent ) . . .

1. Starship Troopers (no surprise there, I guess)

2. Time Enough for Love

3. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

4. Glory Road

5. Double Star

6. Farnham's Freehold

7. The Puppet Masters

8. Starman Jones

9. The Door Into Summer

10. Stranger in a Strange Land

I could easily go on. I've read ALL of them at least a half dozen times since I was a kid.

[clmanges]

I don't have a favorite, but go check his Wikipedia entry! Impressive!

[pickenup]

Stranger in a Strange Land was the first one I read.
Can't choose a favorite.

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by pickenup

Stranger in a Strange Land was the first one I read.
Can't choose a favorite.

Stranger was one of his more controversial books, mostly because few really knew what he was driving at in the novel. You'd be amazed at some of the articles I've seen that tried to "reveal" what Heinlein's "inner message" was. He later said that all such attempts were essentially BS. His original title for the novel probably hints at his real point better than anything else: "The Heretic."

The novel that really aroused the ire of some people, especially the critics, was, of course, Starship Troopers. To understand that, one must remember that it came out originally in 1959, but was republished in the 1960s during the Vietnam War. The liberals hated the book's pro-military stance. Heinlein basically told them all to take a flying leap at a rolling donut, the fans loved the book, and it ended up winning a Hugo.

[Nighthawk]

another Heinlien fan. think I've read all or almost all his books. didn't like books writen in his old age. seemed to be dreaming of eternal life and sex.

[pickenup]

Starship Troopers, the only way to become a "citizen" is.........
Militaristic? You bet.

Many of his books were controversial to one group or another.
I’m glad that he told everyone to take flying leap, and kept on writing.

[MRMIKE08075]

Farnhams Freehold
the Lazerus Long sags (Time enough for love???)
Starship Troopers
The door into summer

i have read all of them, big fan still even of the "kid" oriented works...

hated that one damn book "strangers in a strange land"

i do not "Grok" it.

american civics lessons in sci-fi form.

best regards, mike.

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by Nighthawk

another Heinlien fan. think I've read all or almost all his books. didn't like books writen in his old age. seemed to be dreaming of eternal life and sex.

Good point, Night. Many of Heinlein's fans have the same impression of his later books. Personally, I have somewhat mixed emotions on most of them. The quality of the writing and the plots were, as always, quite excellent, but yeah, he did seem unnecessarily obsessed with "unconventional" sex in many of them, especially in To Sail Beyond the Sunset and, to a lesser extent, in Time Enough for Love. From what I have read about his life and career, Heinlein was very libertarian in his views, especially those he held concerning sexual activity between consenting adults. From his books, it is often very difficult to categorize the man. By the time he wrote his later novels, he was such an enormously popular writer among SF fans that he could basically publish anything he wished.

[Recon 173]

Somewhere around here I have photos of Mr. Heinlein, his wife and a friend of mine. She gave me an autographed copy of one of his books that he signed for her. The photos were taken on a cruise ship that took them all to the Antarctic for a tour. My friend, now deceased, spoke very highly of him.

[Erich]

I enjoyed many of his works, but the ones that I re-read are Job: A Comedy of Justice, Starship Troopers, and the juvenile Have Spacesuit, Will Travel.

[Oneida Steve]

+1 for Time Enough For Love.

I read Stranger last summer for the first time. An OK book but TEFL is better.

MrMike, I suppose Heinlein went to his grave wondering why nobody ever picked up the term "grok".

[DWARREN123]

I like them all, just some better than others and the order has changed from time to time.

[millwright]

If like Heinlein, how do you feel about H. Beam Piper ?

IMO Piper was a better historian and his Foundation Series offered a better insight into how an exploring civilization will develop. (I'm also a Heinlein fan ) >MW

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by millwright

If like Heinlein, how do you feel about H. Beam Piper ?

IMO Piper was a better historian and his Foundation Series offered a better insight into how an exploring civilization will develop. (I'm also a Heinlein fan ) >MW

Actually, Mill, the Foundation series was written by Isaac Asimov, not Piper. I agree though, Piper was an excellent SF writer, especially if one likes the space opera genre. I particularly liked his Space Viking. It is sad that he chose to take his own life in 1964.

[obxned]

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Because of the questions it raises about the role of government.

[Pistolenschutze]

Originally Posted by obxned

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Because of the questions it raises about the role of government.

He also raises some very interesting ones in Starship Troopers, Ob. Heinlein's vision of government, I often noted, was highly oriented toward a libertarian society.

[gandog56]

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress

[millwright]

Originally Posted by Pistolenschutze

Actually, Mill, the Foundation series was written by Isaac Asimov, not Piper. I agree though, Piper was an excellent SF writer, especially if one likes the space opera genre. I particularly liked his Space Viking. It is sad that he chose to take his own life in 1964.

Quite true, PS !!!
Ironic Piper took his own life due to poverty at a time when a substanial check was seeking him in the postal system.........

H.B.P.'s "Future History" series was, IMO, far better than Asimov's "Foundation Series" in that it was more credible based upon what we know of human experience/emotions.

FWIW Jerry Pournelle is trying to sort out Piper's literary estate. Perhaps he'll succeed before his own demise. >MW

[DWARREN123]

Not take away from Heinlein but anyone read any of James P. Hogan's stuff. I find I like the way he writes and his way of setting up a story.
I have read "The Two Moons" and "The Two Worlds" lately and liked them very much. A lot more mature than most of Heinlein's stuff.