Robert Heinlein's Expanded Universe: Volume One

Robert Heinlein's Expanded Universe in 2 Volumes #1

by Robert A. Heinlein

“The single most important and valuable Heinlein book ever published.”—Spider Robinson


Robert A. Heinlein has been hailed as one of the most forward-thinking science fiction writers of all time, and Expanded Universe (presented in two volumes) offers the perfect collection of his works to provide readers with true insights into his uniquely creative mind.


Heinlein personally selected each story or essay for inclusion in this collection, which is ordered chronologically, starting with his first sale in 1939 of “Life-Line” to Astounding (for seventy dollars).This remarkable collection highlights the development of Heinlein’s writing style and his philosophy on life throughout his career.


More importantly, this collection is as close to an autobiography as anything Heinlein wrote during his life. Heinlein was an extremely private person who never wrote much about himself. In this exclusive collection, he offers forewords to most of his stories and essays (and an occasional afterword), giving readers a rare glimpse into the inner mind of the master.


Expanded Universe is a must-have for any Heinlein enthusiast and any fan of science fiction.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Science Fiction Fantasy, Novels, Essays

255 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 21, 2015

About the author

Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking. His plots often posed provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores. His work continues to have an influence on the science-fiction genre, and on modern culture more generally.
Heinlein became one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science-fiction novelists for many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered the "Big Three" of English-language science fiction authors. Notable Heinlein works include Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers (which helped mold the space marine and mecha archetypes) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. His work sometimes had controversial aspects, such as plural marriage in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, militarism in Starship Troopers and technologically competent women characters who were formidable, yet often stereotypically feminine—such as Friday.
Heinlein used his science fiction as a way to explore provocative social and political ideas and to speculate how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion, and sex. Within the framework of his science-fiction stories, Heinlein repeatedly addressed certain social themes: the importance of individual liberty and self-reliance, the nature of sexual relationships, the obligation individuals owe to their societies, the influence of organized religion on culture and government, and the tendency of society to repress nonconformist thought. He also speculated on the influence of space travel on human cultural practices.
Heinlein was named the first Science Fiction Writers Grand Master in 1974. Four of his novels won Hugo Awards. In addition, fifty years after publication, seven of his works were awarded "Retro Hugos"—awards given retrospectively for works that were published before the Hugo Awards came into existence. In his fiction, Heinlein coined terms that have become part of the English language, including grok, waldo and speculative fiction, as well as popularizing existing terms like "TANSTAAFL", "pay it forward", and "space marine". He also anticipated mechanical computer-aided design with "Drafting Dan" and described a modern version of a waterbed in his novel Beyond This Horizon.
Also wrote under Pen names: Anson McDonald, Lyle Monroe, Caleb Saunders, John Riverside and Simon York.

Reviews

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first volume of Expanded Universe two-book collection of Robert A. Heinlein’s shorter prose, not only SF but other fiction (e.g. crime) as well as essays. The original publication was in 1980, but the main pieces are from the 1940s-1950s. Almost each piece has a foreword and afterword, written by the author for this publication.

Contents:
Life-Line (1939) the first published SF story, quite popular judging by the number of reprints. The plot is about a ‘mad scientist’ who finds a way to precisely predict a person’s death. He keeps the method to himself, while insurance companies, which lose business try to denigrate him. A great debut. 5*
Successful Operation (1940) the Leader (Hitler?) needs a pituitary gland transplantation but the only capable surgeon to do it in Fatherland is Doctor Lans, who is considered inferior (Jew?). The doctor successfully demands to make the operation abroad, saving himself and his family. transplant shifts consciousnesses, so the Leader wakes up in a prisoner’s body and his guards beat him 4*
Blowups Happen (1940) another famous piece, this one in its original version, not the 1949 re-write (which added words like Hiroshima). The engineers operate ‘the Bomb’ as the refer to the nuclear reactor. They know that it can go supercritical at any moment and this stress destroys their psychics. The director requests help from the best psychologist, one of RAH’s all-around geniuses
“Why, that’s hard to say. Naturally, there isn’t any one leading psychiatrist in the world; we specialize too much. I know what you mean, though. You don’t want the best industrial-temperament psychometrician; you want the best all-around man for psychoses nonlesional and situational. That would be Lentz.”
[…]
“I started to say that you must know his work in symbology—theory of abstraction and calculus of statement, all that sort of thing—because of its applications to engineering and mathematical physics.”
“That Lentz—yes, of course. But I had never thought of him as a psychiatrist.” The psychologist calls for the immediate shutdown of operations and there is an interesting very progressive take, when board of directors say We try to conduct the affairs of the company with reasonable wisdom and in the public interest. But we have other responsibilities, too. There are hundreds of thousands of little stockholders who expect us to show a reasonable return on their investment. You must not expect us to jettison a billion-dollar corporation just because you’ve taken up astrology! Moon theory! (note that it was published before A-bomb was a thing) 5*
Solution Unsatisfactory (1941) published in May 1941 Astounding stories, I guess it was finished in the late 1939. I note the date because there is a ‘nearest future’ (1940-1950) history and it went wrong even as it was published. In this history line (1) Germany still bombs the Great Britain, (2) “Russia shifted her weight from side to side as usual, apparently with the policy of preventing either side from getting a sufficient advantage to bring the war to a successful conclusion” (3) the USA are not in the war; (4) Stalin dies in 1941 and Hitler in 1944 (and there is ‘Everybody knew, of course, that the new group in power called themselves Fifth Internationalists, but what that meant, aside from ceasing to display the pictures of Lenin and Stalin, nobody knew.’ And the USSR is now called the Eurasian Union (5) Japan concentrates on its Asian conquests. Just think how different the end of 1941 was in our reality! The story itself is concentrated on what to do with the absolute weapon – here the USA created radioactive dust, which can be dropped from planes to sterilize large areas. It ends the war but now everyone can try to make the same dust, and destroy its enemies… 5*
The Last Days of the United States; How to Be a Survivor; Pie from the Sky (1947?) these are three essays that were originally written after Hiroshima but before the USSR got own A-bomb (1949) and they say that there are no way to hide and no way to prevent if enemy attacks with atomics.
They Do It with Mirrors (1947) a murder mystery. A ghost writer visits a new pip-show, the one with a gizmo: half-naked girls pose on the other side of a glass wall, with lights turning on/off, so that the glass turns into a mirror. One of the girls is murdered on the scene. 4*
Free Men (1966) a novelette, the USA lost the nuclear war, but the resistance is still here. The base of Morgan’s group was neither better nor worse than average of the several thousand other camps of recalcitrant guerrillas throughout the area that once called itself the United States. The Twenty Minute War had not surprised everyone. The mushrooms which had blossomed over Washington, Detroit, and a score of other places had been shocking but expected—by some. The story was supposedly written in the 1940s, but published only in 1966. It is full of pathos, heroic guerrillas stop a detractor, they can die but won’t be slaves kind of story. Rather weak. 2*
Also an interesting sidenote: in foreword RAH says “Rocket Ship Galileo. […] Instead of shelving it, I took it across the street … and won a Hugo with it.” But there wasn’t Hugo Award in 1947, only since 1953 and RAH’s first Hugo was in 1956 for Double Star, which isn’t even a juvenile!
No Bands Playing, No Flags Flying— (1973) a mainstream story about 1930s medical practices collapsing lungs to prevent spread of disease. A young doctor has one patient dying and after him, another. A freak accident but a patient volunteers for the procedure to return confidence to the doctor 3.5*
A Bathroom of Her Own (1980) a mainstream story about post WW2 local elections in the USA, supposedly RAH’s own experience. Party machine backs a young woman, who honestly wants to improve people’s living conditions but will be just a pawn if elected. The protagonist is initially her main rival. A gritty real politics. 4*
On the Slopes of Vesuvius (1980) a short piece that a-bomb can drop in any moment, so run now 3*

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of Heinlein’s short stories from the first part of his career. They’re all good tales because it’s—Heinlein. What else would you expect? What makes Expanded Universe really worth reading are the forwards from Heinlein in which he talks about his life and how he got writing and sometimes about the stories themselves. Most amusing was Heinlein’s early conviction that he was only going to write until he paid off some bills and then his house. Then he was going to retire. A friend tells him that there are no retired writers, just people who are writing but not getting published anymore. How true.

[Suzan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is Heinlein at his most crotchety--and, since it is in chronological order, most dated. If you have an academic interest in how people thought about atomic power pre-Hiroshima, this will let you ruminate upon it. There are several essays Heinlein wasn't able to publish about how we are all going to blow up as soon as someone besides the US gets the bomb. May still happen, but few are today buying a cave in the wilderness, per his advice. Heinlein chose these stories himself, originally in the 70s I think, and revamped the collection in 1980. By that time, he was mostly about riding his hobbyhorses. Basically, he was not a good judge of his best work.
I loved his juveniles as a kid; liked some of his adult work (though grew to hate Stranger in a Strange Land as soon as I grokked that the major function of women was to have Strong Men's Babies.) I still like many of his short stories. But not most of the ones in this collection. I've never been able to figure out how he reconciled strong libertarianism with the idea that we should all obediently follow the Strong Man.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

From predictions of nuclear power plants to MAD, this anthology highlights Heinlein's preternatural ability for prognosticating the technology and problems of the future. My only major critique is his approach to female characters. It's not that he doesn't think women can be competent or smart, but he clearly viewed women as innately different from men in a way that clashes with modern views. To be clear, his writing isn't blatantly sexist in the way his '40s and '50s contemporaries often were, but it doesn't match modern perspectives. This fast paced collection makes a great introduction to the worlds of Heinlein.

[Tony Calder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Heinlein is one of the authors that I grew up reading and I have always found his books to be highly readable and very enjoyable - although even as a teenager in the mid 70s I recognised the sexist overtones in his writing. And I prefer his more standard length novels (mostly those considered his "juvenile" series) to the much larger efforts such as Time Enough for Love and Friday.

In the mid-60s, Heinlein released The Worlds of RA Heinlein, which was a selection of short stories chosen by him to be a representative sample of his work. He then updated that in the late-70s. This has been expanded again to a two-volume set (this is part one). What makes this more interesting than a standard collection of short stories by an author, is the forewords that he has written for the book and for the individual stories. As RAH never wrote an autobiography, or released much about himself, these forewords are probably the closest most readers will come to getting to understand him.

The stories in this collection are all from his earlier period - I believe the latest was written in 1947 or 48 (the first in 39) and they are presented in chronological order. This period of RAH's life was, quite obviously, dominated by the Second World War and most of these stories have a strong military component, without being classed military sf.

Heinlein had a great respect for science, and went to some lengths to make sure the science in these stories was correct - a lot of it isn't, but it was considered correct at the time. This collection isn't all fiction - included are three essays he wrote attempting to warn the American public of the dangers of living in the Atomic Age, and the likelihood of a foreign power attacking America using atomic weapons. Fortunately for us all, he was overly pessimistic in his concerns.

His well known libertarianism doesn't show through as strongly in these stories and he exhibits far more respect for government and politicians than he would show later in his career.

Overall, this volume (and the second part) succeed as both a sampler of his work and as an insight into the man who was one of the most influential science fiction authors of the 20th century.

[Matthew Holloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several fantastic tales told in classic Heinlein style.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bronson Pinchot is a FANTASTIC narrator. I was really impressed by how much life he gave to the words. You could totally hear the () and "" and whatever else Heinlein wrote. The characters were incredibly unique and individual. I definitely will look for other things he's read. Initially I was really excited about the stories, but his primary focus was the atomic bomb and eventually it got wearing. Heinlein was clearly very concerned about the consequences of the bomb and he really felt the need to warn people about what it was going to mean for everyone. I'm hoping the next volume will move on from the bomb

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The forewords are both funny and illuminating. The stories and essays are all fine and interesting, but 4 stories deal with the atomic bomb, as do 3 essays. The heavy slant towards atomic war made this collection an exhausting read.

On the plus side, there is a charming mystery ("They Do It With Mirrors"), and a postwar campaign story ("A Bathroom of Her Own") that was quite fun. The book's great if you're really interested in Heinlein as a person or a writer, but I wouldn't recommend this to someone just looking for an anthology to read.

[Chung Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heinlein is one of my all time favorite author but I didn't care much for this collection. This is a collection of selected short stories and essays. I have read much better stories than those included here and essays were outdated and not very forward thinking in my opinion.

[John RE Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I discovered RAH when I found a number of his novels on my dad's bookcase back in the early 70s. One in particular was Stranger in a Strange Land. I loved that book and it set me off on a reading frenzy of most of Heinlein's books, and eager for his new works to come out. I'd read many compilations of his early short stories and, at the time they seemed exciting and refreshing. 50 years on from those first reads, and 80+ from RAH's first works, many of which are included in this compilation, they seem very, very dated. A bit like watching those old Western films where the men were gung ho, cavalier, hubristic, and heroically misogynistic, you realise how out of date they are, and how patronising the characters are. It hasn't helped that many of the predictions upon which a lot of the stories were based have failed to materialise at all, or are out and out wrong. Understandingly, this is what it was like then but it makes the stories very hard to read.
I reread SIASL when an unexpurgated version was released some years ago by his widow. No longer a teenager, I realised that much of what RAH wrote about was probably personal fantasy. Disappointing to have my illusions shattered.
His books and stories have their place in history as some of the greatest sci-fi, but they're now like an opened bottle of fine wine, left to turn sour over the ages.

[Invadozer Misothorax Circular-thallus Popewaffensquat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beacon of cold war paranoia & preppers. He might mention the nuclear war, the only one, was via the US ----which was preventable since Tokyo was in ruins. He does slag on the army to screw things up royally which was nice to concede, but damn... What the US did during the cold war compared to 'THEM' was a gazillion times worse.
He mentions solar power offhandedly but then pushes full speed the atomic industry in a contradiction. Oddball bag of writings.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this at some point in the past. Listened to it this time in audiobook in Sept 2025. Very enjoyable read. As always love his short stories. Some of the essays included are dated, but I still enjoyed the way Heinlein's mind worked. Even in the rare circumstances where I don't necessarily agree with what he might be saying, I always respect his reasoning and communication skills. He always managed to make even somewhat dry subjects interesting or amusing.

[Jjohn_galt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of early short stories from one of the masters of SF. This volume includes some notes from Heinlein on the writing process or the events surrounding some of the stories. Heinlein anticipated the political problems that nuclear weapons would bring even before they had been developed, so it's worth paying attention to some of these pieces.

[Marcia Haskell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably read the original when it was first published. I’m sure I enjoyed it more then. Today it seemed dated and less fascinating. I read about 80% and decided that I didn’t want to finish it. Just to repetitive.

[Bruce Franck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of short stories. Compiled in a loose timeline Heinlein created. He connects these short stories in other books, often as comments within the stories, so you get connected to his other books.

[Charles Weir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still scary theory, But not his best

The storytelling is extremely good. But the pieces themselves are, ironically, tainted by his strong belief about the danger of the nuclear threat.

Even in retrospect, he’s still right, but it doesn’t make for such a good narrative.

[Austin Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Released in 1980. This book caused the most letters ever written to Heinlein!

[Sean Crowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh

It was pretty standard heinlein, but the discussions around each story are interesting. Lots of theorizing about nuclear war at the time the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exploration of the many areas of interest in the world of Heinlein.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not sure what was memorable here. "Solution Unsatisfactory" touches on mutually assured destruction.

[Linda Rae Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting collection

A little bit of everything, ending with a big boom. I really enjoyed this the first time I read it and I enjoyed it even more this time.

[Bookworm Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved.

[Joe Cascio · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than the stories themselves the forewords by the author give valuable insights into Mr. Heinlein’s motivation for writing each short story.

[Jimmy Unchanged · Rating 4 out of 5]

as my Introduction To Heinlein it was an absolute blast to see such a different brand of Sci-Fi. also I went from Three Body Problem to this so THAT was a doesy.

[Paul Schofield · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite authors, but I had forgotten how serious he could be. I first read these stories over 50 years ago and had forgotten what a downer they were, the forwards were very informative and useful. Overall worth reading

[Brian Pickering]

First volume, wish they had published all at once.

The Grand Master's summary of his career, touching on why he got into The Biz, his failings in politics (especially antinuclear weapon).

Where's the rest? :-)

[Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting insights into RAH in the forwards. Most of the stories hold up well since their publication.

[william johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

RAH

As fine a libertarian as ever entertained you and made you think at the same time. Some interesting and timely stories of the mid twentieth century.

[E MacLeod · Rating 4 out of 5]

As ever good

Though tempted to demand twice my money back as it did not live up to its guarantee I did not as it was well worth the money. A fun mix of fiction and Heinlein's factual history.