Heinlein's "Future History" Epic: On the Moon, Mars and Space Station One, it's pure Heinlein all the way in a stunning vision of adventure and cou...
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Nov 12, 2010
Manny
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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 in More...
In the real world, manned space-flight reached its peak around 1970 with the Apollo landings and then stagnated. Reagan went in More...
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Mar 10, 2009
Jim
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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 cr 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 cr More...
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Mar 30, 2009
Mary JL
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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.
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May 05, 2011
Hayley
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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
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Jun 03, 2010
Cynthia
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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 - afte 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 - afte More...
Sep 24, 2009
Scott
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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, especial
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Dec 28, 2009
Sara
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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
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May 05, 2011
Erik
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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
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Oct 10, 2011
Nick
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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.
Jul 24, 2011
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.
Nov 11, 2011
"Heinlein knows more about blending provocative scientific thinking with strong human stories than any dozen other contemporary science fiction writers." - Chicago Sun-Times
Listen to The Green Hills of Earth on your smartphone.
Listen to The Green Hills of Earth on your smartphone.
Nov 27, 2011
Kelley
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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
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May 19, 2010
Tom
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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.
Jul 17, 2011
Garymcguire
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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.
Sep 27, 2009
Frank
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Stories from the 40's by a very good storyteller. Heinlein is a well deserving Grand Master of Science Fiction.
Nov 11, 2009
Mike (the Paladin)
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Read long ago. Short stories that tie into Heinlein's over all history.
May 22, 2011
Lauren
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It was a very challenging read but it was also very informative and well worth the effort. Heinlein combined various sciences with his love of writing and our sense of adventure. This book was filled with various correlating short stories portraying a sense of freedom and humanity. Only Heinlein can provide an out of mind and body experience through the written word. I highly recommend to any science fan and to any adventurers or philosophers!!
Feb 14, 2008
Matt
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A truly timeless thoroughly enjoyable collection of short stories. These are some of the best SF tales ever penned. They have the unique virtue of being every bit as enjoyable by the 10th read as they were back at the first.
Aug 28, 2007
Heather
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I read this book maybe 10 years ago, but I didn't realize I'd read it until halfway through the first chapter, so I guess it can't have made much of an impact on me, so I thought I'd give it another go.
Feb 05, 2008
Kathie
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The short story "The Green Hills of Earth" captures the space wanderlust and patriotic-type love for Earth that I have felt since childhood. This is one of the all-time best stories for me.
Dec 16, 2009
Nell
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Worth reading just for the title story, especially if you are prone to being sentimental about your planet.
Jul 22, 2010
Leto2
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Heinlein always has some interesting ideas, but I'm not a huge fan of short stories.
