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Green Hills of Earth
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Green Hills of Earth
THE GREEN HILLS OF EARTH is a collection of short stories from one of the masters of science fiction who has held readers spellbound for over thirty years.
First published in 1951, this collection includes "Delilah and the Space-Rigger," "Space-Jockey," "The Long Watch," "Gentlemen Be Seated," "The Black Pits of Luna," "It's Great to Be Back," "We Also Walk Dogs," "Ordeal i
...moreMass Market Paperback, 270 pages
Published
January 1st 1987
by Baen Books
(first published 1951)
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In Robert Heinlein's short story collection, we get to read about a future history that never happened, where the Solar System is colonized by a bunch of ambitious, optimistic, happy-go-lucky space entrepreneurs. They cut corners, break the rules, and quite often get themselves killed. But it works. The American dream reaches the stars, or at least the planets.
In the real world, manned space-flight reached its peak around 1970 with the Apollo landings and then stagnated. Reagan went into the bli...more
In the real world, manned space-flight reached its peak around 1970 with the Apollo landings and then stagnated. Reagan went into the bli...more
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Despite the title, Earth is mostly in the background in this wonderful collection of short stories. It's mostly concerned with everyday life off the planet. Heinlein has taken a lot of mundane situations & put them a head a century or three. People are still people, although they've traded in their cars for spaceships.
Some of the stories are a bit dated, such as "Delilah & the Space Rigger" - what happens when a girl shows up to work on a space project with an all boy crew? Heinlein exam...more
Some of the stories are a bit dated, such as "Delilah & the Space Rigger" - what happens when a girl shows up to work on a space project with an all boy crew? Heinlein exam...more
Heinlein got his start in the pulps, but he was not content to stay there. This collection represents his time of initial expansion, perhaps the height of his power as a writer of short fiction. As such, these stories carry an extra level of sophisitication, breaking out from the techno-centered character of his earler work. He is no longer appealing only to the pre-war "geek" culture, but to the population at large. Heinlein, however, does not content himself with appealing to the lowest common...more
Mar 30, 2009
Mary JL
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
any science fiction fan
Shelves:
main-sf-fantasy
This a another of the very few Robert Heinlein short story collections. They ten stories are all quite good. Speical favorties of mine among the then stories are "The Green Hills of Earth" and "Ordeal in Space".
Heinlein's short stories are not as well known as his novels, but he is a good story teller whether writing novels or short stories.
Heinlein's short stories are not as well known as his novels, but he is a good story teller whether writing novels or short stories.
May 05, 2011
Hayley Farr
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
san-francisco-bookshelf
It was Robert Heinlein's short stories that initially drew me into his writing and fandom, and it's his short stories where I will always prefer to stay. That said, this book is full of somewhat exciting though in many cases brief glimpses of different "futuristic" lifestyles, achievements, and careers. The title story is enjoyable, but not particularly inspirational. My favourite story in the collection is "the Long Watch," which surprised myself. It's not typically the sort of story that would...more
Overall, I found the collection an interesting walk down Classic SF Lane. Most were entertaining, some a bit sexist, other taking on some Big Picture items such as slavery. While this collection was a bit entertaining, I won’t be rushing out to borrow more Heinlein. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is still my favorite Heinlein work, and superior to what is found in this collection.
Tome Weiner did a decent job of narrating the individual stories. Typically I avoid short story collections in audio fo...more
Tome Weiner did a decent job of narrating the individual stories. Typically I avoid short story collections in audio fo...more
This is my first attempt at Heinlein. I really liked it. I am looking forward to more. He thinks like me. Is this scary, yes! But it makes me happy. I do recommend this to anyone who enjoys science fiction. My two favorite quotes:
"It had surprised his ancestors that the transported criminals of Botany Bay should develop a high civilization in Australia. Not that Wingate found the phenomenon of Botany Bay surprising - that was history, and history is never surprising - after it happens."
"You have...more
"It had surprised his ancestors that the transported criminals of Botany Bay should develop a high civilization in Australia. Not that Wingate found the phenomenon of Botany Bay surprising - that was history, and history is never surprising - after it happens."
"You have...more
I'm a big fan of bite-sized fiction, and this collection didn't disappoint me. While a few of the stories had me guessing to the very end as to how events would turn out, overall you could tell the direction of the story from the very beginning. It's not to say the stories are bland or uninteresting - despite the candy-coated "happy endings," they're still very entertaining and a far cry from a lot of the badly-written and overly-depressing fiction that exists out there now, especially in the sc...more
Dec 28, 2009
Sara Elice
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
short-stories,
sci-fi
I really enjoyed reading these short stories. Sometimes I get bored reading story after story in an anthology, but each one was slightly different with recurring places and companies that sort of linked the world of the stories together. Most were well paced and had good messages, with most ending up on a positive note, unlike many sci fi short stories where things just go to hell and the lesson learned is pretty much shoved in your face. I really appreciate Heinlein's view of how people find th...more
May 05, 2011
Erik Graff
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Heinlein fans
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
sf
I was born with almost perfect teeth--except for one canine which was a bit bent out of line. To treat this Dr. Rice gave me a retainer to wear to bed. It worked well enough to allow the resulting cavity at the root to fill with fluids and become infected, leading to a tremendous fever which hit during the last week of junior high. Other than some interesting hallucinations the most memorable part of that period was the day Dad's mother, Lajla, came by to fill in for my working parents. The swif...more
Nov 06, 2012
Delicious Strawberry
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
robert-a-heinlein
This is a nice volume which collects some of Heinlein's Future History books. Personally, I find the collection 'Past Through Tomorrow' to be a better collection of Heinlein's short Future History stories, but of course you could always go with the shorter books if you don't want to deal with a really thick book. This collection features some nice classics, my personal favorite being 'Delilah and the Space Rigger' as well as 'We Also Walk Dogs'. With Heinlein, you can't go wrong with this book....more
Oct 14, 2012
David
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
audiobook
This is a fun anthology of short stories by Heinlein. All of the stories revolve around colonization of planets in our solar system. The themes are not about the technology, but about contemporary problems and dilemmas that we still have today; indentured service as slavery, prejudice against women in the workplace, young brats given too much freedom and too little discipline, phobias, and more. These contemporary themes help to explain the "staying power" of Heinlein's stories.
Given that these SF stories were written more than 60 years ago, this is really a prescient collection. Heinlein envisions a future that hasn't yet quite come to pass yet (he places most of these stories in the late 20th, early 21st centuries, with moon colonies and people buzzing around to other planets). But he uses the SF form to address human rights issues such as women's right to work and slavery. Good, but I couldn't quite get past the datedness of these pieces.
I actually listened to this one on audio. It was a refreshing break from the previous Heinlein I had listened to. I think I get too irritated like my friend Carol when I read his works due to the way he treats the female characters.
It's strange, because, as in this collection of short stories, he can come across as making an attempt at feminism and forward thinking for his times. Yet in other stories (even some among these) he may have thought he was forward thinking, but it just comes across l...more
It's strange, because, as in this collection of short stories, he can come across as making an attempt at feminism and forward thinking for his times. Yet in other stories (even some among these) he may have thought he was forward thinking, but it just comes across l...more
I wish I had a copy of this in hand. Heinlein's anthologies contain many stories that are only found in those same anthologies--or in old science fiction pulp magazines, where many of them were first published.
Without a copy to hand, I can't even hope to remember which were in this book. I'll just have to keep an eye out for a copy, because while I know I've read this anthology, I don't know which stories I first encountered in it.
Without a copy to hand, I can't even hope to remember which were in this book. I'll just have to keep an eye out for a copy, because while I know I've read this anthology, I don't know which stories I first encountered in it.
This book consists of 10 short stories. I first read them in the late '60s when I was in high school. I still think they are great stories and worth reading today, over 50 years ago from when they were first published! All of them deal with outer space with our solar system populated with people living on the planets or moons throughout our solar system and cities on the moon (there is always a Luna City in some form).
My friend got me a 1951 printing of this book for Christmas, which is a big deal for me because the earlier edition, the better. Sort of beat up and used, but it just adds to the character. Looking forward to reading it when I have a chance.
Nov 27, 2011
Kelley Ross
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sci-fi,
story-collections
These stories are realistic, thought-provoking, and the sort of classic science fiction that every sci-fi fan should read. I think my favorite thing about Heinlein's writing is his ability to make everything believable... it is entirely possible that there will one day be a huge corporation that is paid simply to take on near-impossible jobs, or a woman worker being discriminated against because she supposedly can't handle the manual labor of a stocking job in space. Heinlein takes small concept...more
May 19, 2010
Tom Rowe
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who want to be engineers.
A series of short space stories that tell the future through the perspectives of engineering, politics, and commerce. I love the out of date language. It gives the stories some real flavor.
the master stirs up a lot of emotional turmoil as humans try to adjust their behaviour as they enter a new and strange universe. the green hills of earth is a wonderful reminder of our place in the cosmos and our undying spirit to discover the new.
Mar 27, 2013
Ross Armstrong
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
short-stories
While some of the stories are somewhat dated, it is still a strong collection of tales from one of the great science fiction authors.
This is a very good collection of short stories written in the "Golly Gee" Era. Some classic Heinlein stories, just long enough to whet your appetite!
Four stars for the group ..... too bad it's not a novel?
Four stars for the group ..... too bad it's not a novel?
Sep 27, 2009
Frank Taranto
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
short-stories
Stories from the 40's by a very good storyteller. Heinlein is a well deserving Grand Master of Science Fiction.
Over-rated like most things Heinlein - blind, space traveling, singer-song writers may enjoy.
One of the best collections of short stories I have ever read. A real look into the nature of man.
A collection of short stories about a futuristic time in which there is a colony on the moon.
Nov 11, 2009
Mike (the Paladin)
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction
Read long ago. Short stories that tie into Heinlein's over all history.
Contains my favorite poem, even if it hasn't been written yet.
The Green Hills Of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein (2000)
The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein (1980)
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Robert Anson Heinlein was an American novelist and science fiction writer. Often called "the dean of science fiction writers", he is one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of "hard science fiction".
He set a high standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of literary quality. He was the first SF writer to break into mainstre...more
More about Robert A. Heinlein...
He set a high standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of literary quality. He was the first SF writer to break into mainstre...more
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