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Orphans of the Sky

(Future History or "Heinlein Timeline" #23)

Robert A. Heinlein

3.79 · Rating details · 9,879 ratings · 490 reviews

A fix-up consisting of the novelette Universe (1941) and the novella Common Sense (1941). First published in 1963.

Hugh had been taught that, according to the ancient sacred writings, the Ship was on a voyage to faraway Centaurus. But he also understood this was actually allegory for a voyage to spiritual perfection. Indeed, how could the Ship move, since its miles and mile ...more

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Paperback, 224 pages

Published December 1st 2001 by Baen (first published December 1963)

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Oct 10, 2011 Lyn rated it liked it

Lord of the Flies meets Lost in Space.

Not one of Heinlein's masterpieces but also not bad, very imaginative and creative. At it's best it is an interesting religious and political allegory, at worst it is campy pulp. But not bad. I think the producers of Disney's Wall-E may have been influenced somewhat by the generational ship concept. This began as a couple of novelettes in the early 40s and then put together in book form and published as a novel in 1963, so this was at least one of his earli ...more

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Aug 01, 2016 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

An imaginative if improbable tale (or more accurately: pair of SF tales combined together to make a short novel) by Robert Heinlein, about a spaceship voyage to colonize another planet. The trip has taken so long that the people being born, living, having children and dying on the huge ship have lost all scientific knowledge about what the ship is and where it's going. To them, it is the world and the universe. The story of where they are from and where they're going has turned into a religion. ...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Amal El-Mohtar rated it it was ok

WOW this cover is not the cover I have, which is far less ... Whatever the hell this cover is. ("That must have been the '80s," said my Glaswegian. Goodreads has this as the 2001 cover from Baen. It's a good thing feminism fixed all the world's problems or who KNOWS what kind of cover we'd have.)

I picked this up second-hand (Mayflower-Dell paperback, June 1965), curious to read some more Heinlein in the wake of having recently finished Jo Walton's Among Others. Thus far the only Heinlein I'd rea WOW this cover is not the cover I have, which is far less ... Whatever the hell this cover is. ("That must have been the '80s," said my Glaswegian. Goodreads has this as the 2001 cover from Baen. It's a good thing feminism fixed all the world's problems or who KNOWS what kind of cover we'd have.)

I picked this up second-hand (Mayflower-Dell paperback, June 1965), curious to read some more Heinlein in the wake of having recently finished Jo Walton's Among Others. Thus far the only Heinlein I'd read consisted of the bowdlerized edition of Stranger in a Strange Land, picked up from my local library when I was 14 on the recommendation of one of the first people I Knew From the Internet. I remember enjoying Stranger in a Strange Land, in a distant "this was odd by enjoyable" kind of way, and still find myself blinking in perplexity at the stuff people tell me is in the non-bowdlerized version.

All this is to say that I had not read enough Heinlein to be able to conceptualize the misogyny which many people have pointed out runs rampant through his books. If Orphans of the Sky is representative, though, I now understand with perfect clarity.

This book is essentially Ayn Rand's Anthem in space, except with more men and poorer treatment of women. ("But wait," I hear you say, "there was only one woman in Anthem! She didn't have a name until our hero gave her one! Her entire purpose in the book was to adore him!" Yes. And this is worse.) It's often interesting, and competently written, except for the bit where every aspect of this society's ignorance is complicated and problematized and addressed -- except for the women-are-silent-chattel aspect, which up until the very last page of the novel, is taken as read.

It was an interesting window into early Heinlein, and it was even more fascinating to follow this book immediately with some Ursula Le Guin essays from the '70s, notably "A Citizen of Mondath," in which she says "I got off science fiction some time in the late forties. It seemed to be all about hardware and soldiers....I almost totally missed Heinlein, et al. If I glanced at a magazine, it still seemed to be all about starship captains in black with lean rugged faces and a lot of fancy artillery."

Orphans in the Sky was published as a two-part serial in 1941.

I'm still curious to read more Heinlein, in the ways in which one is curious about history, or bacteria: knowledge I'd like to have of things I'd just as soon remained at arm's length, or that I'm aware of as colonizing my body in various ways. ...more

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Feb 16, 2009 Manny rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, transcendent-experiences, blame-jordan-if-you-like

I rather like this religious allegory. They've been on a huge spaceship ("The Ship") for many generations, and all they can remember of Earth are distant legends kept alive in an oral tradition. According to these myths, the Ship was built by "Jordan". Once, there had been a Golden Age, when the ship was ruled by "Jordan's Captain", the guardian of the sacred "Plan". But then there was a mutiny, led by someone called Huff ("accursed Huff, the First to Sin"), and the Plan was lost. Now the Ship i ...more

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Aug 02, 2019 Ivana Books Are Magic rated it really liked it

Orphans of the Sky describes an extremely primitive human society living inside of a space ship. The glorious irony of this idea deserves praise. Knowledge is fragile, history has proved us that a number of times. Many great civilizations disappeared completely, taking their technological advances and learning with them. Orphans of the Sky describes a society that lives in a space ship but does not know it. Divided into two classes, scientist and farmers, the organized part of the crew society i Orphans of the Sky describes an extremely primitive human society living inside of a space ship. The glorious irony of this idea deserves praise. Knowledge is fragile, history has proved us that a number of times. Many great civilizations disappeared completely, taking their technological advances and learning with them. Orphans of the Sky describes a society that lives in a space ship but does not know it. Divided into two classes, scientist and farmers, the organized part of the crew society is horribly ignorant. Besides this so called civilized society, there are also mutants who live in an ongoing state of war with the rest of the crew. Hiding in the vast spaces of the ship, the mutants are a constant treat. I must say that I quite liked the concept of the novel. Moreover, from a scientific point of view, this book has aged pretty well. The idea of a ship that spins to imitate gravity is scientifically correct and Heinlein makes good use of it. The contrast between the ship, that is described as extremely technically advanced and the morons inside is startling. The so called scientists are more learned than farmers but are none the smarter for it. They have no idea what space or space travel is and they are slaves to religious dogmas. The wonderful irony of a scientist preaching dogmas! For that alone, this book would be worth of a recommendation.

Definitely not a book to read if you are looking for strong female characters. With a small and not that relevant exception of one mutant lady, ladies play no part in the events. In fact, the physical and verbal abuse of women seems to be extremely common in the "civilized" part of the ship. We never do learn exactly how women are treated in the mutant community but we can assume it is not good. With the exception of one mutant character, they are not exactly portrayed as caring or intelligent individuals. Mostly, mutants seem a wild bunch. So, we can assume that ladies like the mutant knife maker are exceptions to the rule (the writer stresses that her dwelling is a respected taboo among the mutants because of her occupation, i.e, it is not herself that yield respect but the work she does). At any rate, all the significant characters, both the positive and the negative ones are men.

THE ABUSE, THE VIOLENCE AND THE HORRIBLE TREATMENT OF WOMEN
A fair warning _ this book is quite violent. Heinlein does not dwell much on descriptions of violence, but violence is a big part of the story. Cannibalism, violence and murders are common place occurrence in this book. They might reflect the primitiveness and ruthlessness of the society imagined and described, so the violence does make sense to the story, but still these things are disturbing to read about. If you are very sensitive to them, you might want to skip this one.

THE CHARACTERS AND THE ONLY THING I DO NOT GET
I can swallow the all men caste and forgive Heinlein for lacking any strong female ones taking into consideration that the society described is primitive, but there is one thing I do not get. It is not the main characters or the protagonist as such. The characters themselves are developed well enough. The "heroes" are quite credible and their development makes sense. They really are a good balance of the good and the bad. The negative characters are well portrayed too. There is even one Machiavellian villein that is extremely credible. On overall, the characterization is not badly done.

What I found troubling is that among the "heroes", the only guy who treats his wife with some respect is Alan, who also happens to be the most stupid of the bunch. Literally, he is the only one who thinks of saving his wife when their lives are in danger, the other "heroes" seem to abuse their wives and could not care less. I can understand that this society is very primitive and ruled by religious dogmas, but if our heroes were brave enough to fight that society I do not understand why they keep being so brutal. It seems more logical for them to change their attitude at least a little bit, I mean they undergo some big character changes.

WHY ONLY ALAN I WONDER....
It is only Alan that is decent, a guy that is so proud at himself for being able to count above ten. He is so stupid he does not comprehend anything of what is going on, but curiously enough he is the only character to have a fully developed moral sense. Others have their strikes of generosity and virtue but Alan is the only one who is brave in his loyalties and quite selfless. Interesting choice to make him the moral vertical. Unless his virtue is an illusion. Honestly, some things do not quite make sense in this novel. I can understand the lack of female characters but not the fact that none of the protagonist seem to give the unfair treatment of women a single thought. Nevertheless, it is an interesting and thought provoking work. We should try to understand that it is really a work of fiction representing a primitive future society and not a book that gives guidelines about how to treat women...Well, at least I hope that is what it is. As a work of fiction, I did enjoy it. It is not one of Heinlein's best works, but it is very thought provoking. If you are not overly sensitive to violence, do give it a read. ...more

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Jun 21, 2015 David rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: muties, dwarves, engineers and astrogators who have never seen the stars

Shelves: science-fiction, audiobook, space

This is one of the original "lost generation ship" stories, a novella stitched together from two of Heinlein's earlier short stories. Considering it was originally written in the 40s, Orphans of the Sky still holds up reasonably well as pure science fiction, with little to betray its golden age origins other than the fact that all the tropes are so well worn by now.

The "crew" of the Ship has never known anything but the Ship, a massive multideck vessel which to them is literally the entire unive This is one of the original "lost generation ship" stories, a novella stitched together from two of Heinlein's earlier short stories. Considering it was originally written in the 40s, Orphans of the Sky still holds up reasonably well as pure science fiction, with little to betray its golden age origins other than the fact that all the tropes are so well worn by now.

The "crew" of the Ship has never known anything but the Ship, a massive multideck vessel which to them is literally the entire universe. They have no conception of movement, or there being anything "outside" the Ship. They have long since lost their understanding of the ship's technology and origins, even as they do the rote things necessary to keep its systems running. "Scientists" are now basically bards reciting holy writ passed down without understanding. And in the upper decks of the Ship dwell "muties," mutants who are descended (supposedly) from mutineers.

The story is about a young man on track to become a scientist who is captured by a band of muties led by a particularly intelligent two-headed leader named Jim-Bob. Jim-Bob, with a library of his own which he actually understands better than the so-called crew does, shows Hugh the stars and the true nature of the Ship. When Hugh goes back to tell his fellow crewmembers the truth, it goes over about as well as you'd expect. What follows is more than one mutiny and betrayal, as Hugh tries to make everyone understand that the Ship is not only moving, but that it's about to arrive at its destination.

Okay, Heinlein's rocket science, as usual, holds up much better than his biology, and there aren't even any Heinleinian women here, just "wives" who are little more than chattel and don't have a single line of dialog. This was not one of his more progressive stories, but while there aren't a lot of politics in it either, it still packs a fair amount of flinty and contrarian human nature, treated honestly and realistically, even when the humans in question are two-headed mutants. People react stupidly, some adhere to their religious faith in the face of contrary evidence, others doubt, others scheme, some are opportunists and some are idealists. Heinlein's strength, besides his imagination, was always in presenting very human characters with human foibles rather than archetypes. Well, aside from the women.

This is clearly one of his early works, and while not one of the better ones, it's also far from the worst. It's a quick classic adventure that has left its fingerprints on every story of lost generation ships that followed. ...more

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May 24, 2011 J.G. Keely rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, america, reviewed, novella

This novella collects two of Heinlein's earliest stories, both from 1941, but unlike other such combinations, the two stories were originally meant to go together, and form a continuous narrative. As this is a very early attempt from Heinlein, it wouldn't be surprising to find his writing rough and flawed, but it's an unexpectedly solid yarn.

His writing is direct and unobtrusive; something many authors aspire to, but few ever manage. Even at this early stage, his naturalistic prose sets him abov This novella collects two of Heinlein's earliest stories, both from 1941, but unlike other such combinations, the two stories were originally meant to go together, and form a continuous narrative. As this is a very early attempt from Heinlein, it wouldn't be surprising to find his writing rough and flawed, but it's an unexpectedly solid yarn.

His writing is direct and unobtrusive; something many authors aspire to, but few ever manage. Even at this early stage, his naturalistic prose sets him above van Vogt or other pulp authors.

The story, itself is straightforward; an adventure with some light politics and quite a bit of violence. It is also one of the earliest depictions of a 'generation ship' on a mission to colonize far worlds.

There is also a central philosophical theme, a staple in Heinlein, this time concerning the fact that the crew have grown exceedingly detached from reality, thanks to the long voyage. Numerous generations pass in space and the crew forget their mission, their history on Earth, and the most basic tenets of science. Instead they persist in a murky feudalism, fighting over territory in ship and considering 'Earth', 'The Trip', and the destination (Proxima) to be mystical, supernatural concepts.

Heinlein is able to play a quite amusing satire on religion, tradition, and ignorance here, successfully providing the characters with very realistic and unusual responses to the world based on their own limited understanding. They are not merely modern characters transplanted in place and time, Heinlein works hard to give them a psychology fit to their situation.

Unfortunately, in this brutal, superstitious, uneducated, warlike place, women are fully second-class citizens. Heinlein doesn't harp on this--in fact it rarely comes up--but when it does, it is not entirely pleasant to see. However, it's not an unrealistic portrayal, and it would hardly have made sense to depict a violent, ignorant society as having modern, egalitarian social mores.

Heinlein could have tried to make some stronger female characters living under this repressive structure; or alternately, used this as another opportunity to indulge in satire, but instead, we get a bit of the old sci fi boys' club. However, these occurrences are few and late in the book and hardly detract from the story, as a whole.

This is a well-crafted adventure story with satire, politics, and intriguing, active characters. Certainly not Heinlein's strongest work, but not without its charm. ...more

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May 04, 2021 Kevin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, classics, science-fiction, reviewed, my-favorite-books

After decades of trans-generational/trans-galactic migration, the command structure of the starship ‘Vanguard’ has seriously devolved. With the original crew long since dead and gone, their descendants have slowly usurped science and reason, filling the widening gaps in their knowledge base with dogmatic claptrap. In this Heinlein universe the priests are now the “scientists” and subjects like math and astrophysics are heretical and blasphemous.

This is vintage Heinlein (1941). I hesitate to cal ...more

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Jun 08, 2015 Kara Babcock rated it did not like it

Shelves: science-fiction, 2015-read, from-library

Second Heinlein collection in this book (the first being The Man Who Sold the Moon ). Now we have two related 1940s novellae fixed-up into a single novel in the 1960s. Oh, science fiction publishing, you are so fun.

Orphans of the Sky is one of the ur–generation ship tales. Heinlein immediately seizes on the possibility that something could go so disastrously wrong during the voyage such that the entire crew forgets it is on a ship. For all intents and purposes, the Ship is now the universe. A Second Heinlein collection in this book (the first being The Man Who Sold the Moon ). Now we have two related 1940s novellae fixed-up into a single novel in the 1960s. Oh, science fiction publishing, you are so fun.

Orphans of the Sky is one of the ur–generation ship tales. Heinlein immediately seizes on the possibility that something could go so disastrously wrong during the voyage such that the entire crew forgets it is on a ship. For all intents and purposes, the Ship is now the universe. Anyone, like Hugh, who challenges this worldview is accused of heresy. (There’s a nice little shout-out to Galileo’s trials and tribulations with the Catholic Church.) This plot was executed most memorably for me in “For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky,” an episode in the third season of the original Star Trek.

There’s something about generation ships that doesn’t really apply to me as a motif. I really didn’t like Journey into Space , and I wasn’t crazy about this book either. As far as the writing goes, it is pretty much what I expect from Heinlein now—a lot of conversation, a lot of scientific speculation and libertarianism disguised as the desire for open scientific inquiry.

The plot is mediocre. Lots of repetitive actions culminating in an all-too-predictable betrayal and a mad dash towards near-certain death. It goes through the motions, follows certain forms, and so it is minimally fulfilling in that barest of ways. While it is true that this is among the first (if not the first) story of its kind, I suspect that others who have since picked up on these themes have used them better, or in more interesting ways, or with better characters.

I also can’t forgive the level of misogyny in this book. Heinlein’s sexism in The Man Who Sold the Moon is problematic, sure, but mostly for its erasure of women—he does at least feature a single woman scientist, even if she is objectified. But in Orphans of the Sky, women play a far smaller and worse role. Women of the Ship, it seems, exist to be wives and breeders. Hugh “selects” two women, graciously “allowing” the first to keep her own name because she behaves. The other, however, is “wild as a mutie” and bites Hugh, so “he had slapped her, naturally, and that should have been an end to the matter” and then “had not got around to naming her.” Later on Heinlein talks about how she is better behaved after Hugh knocks out a tooth! Because there’s nothing like trivializing domestic abuse, amirite?

If you’re a diehard Heinlein completist (I’m not) or you have a particular fascination with the subgenre of generation ships (I don’t), you should probably read this. Otherwise, give it a miss.

...more

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Aug 14, 2016 Cheryl rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Some clever ideas, esp. re' 'scientists' as priests, but too much is undeveloped. And the misogyny is completely gratuitous - when we finally briefly meet them, we learn that women are quite literally chattel, generally not even allowed to keep their own names. (The GR default cover is absolute nonsense on several levels.) I do like Hugh, though, idealistic, intelligent, curious. Clearly this was written for teen boys, the primary audience for SF back in the day. ...more

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Feb 03, 2011 Andrew rated it liked it · review of another edition

Time now for another slice of classic science fiction - this time from the pen of Robert Heinlein. I recently stumbled across a series of essays entitled "The defining science fiction of the (Insert decade) which ran from the 1950s to the 1990s. They are absolutely brilliant and it got me thinking, You see as part of the essay there was listed each year the top most influential and as the title describes defining. This title was one of them and I was instantly drawn to reading it.

Well now I hav ...more

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Oct 23, 2009 Jeff Yoak rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2019, read-in-2020, read-with-kids, audio-collection, read-in-2009, read-in-2014, read-in-2006, read-in-2018, read-in-2021

This is a "big idea" novel for Heinlein. It tells the story of the first inter-stellar ship, planing to make a trip that will span generations. Mutiny and a general degradation of culture occur aboard and generations are born who are unable to conceive of, or believe in, a world outside the ship. The story centers on brave and clever men who start to regain this knowledge, stomping a foot on a deck plate and insisting like a similar brave man, "But still, it moves!"

Heinlein's skill at envisionin ...more

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Sep 21, 2013 Leah rated it did not like it

Because this sentence exists "the other wife, the unnamed one, kept out of his sight after losing a tooth, quite suddenly" ...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Leo Walsh rated it liked it

I am always of two minds about Heinlein. He writes clear, easy to follow prose. And he is better at drawing an engaging character than his peers in the classic age of SF, like Asimov and Clarke; One need only think of Mycroft Holmes and Mannie from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to understand what I am saying. And his ideas are pretty good too. Unlike most world-builders, he doesn't get too carried away. And I love the way that he just mentions a technology, and doesn't harp on its origin or e ...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Rebecca Schwarz rated it did not like it

I read this because it was one of the earlier examples of a story that takes place on a generation ship and I'm preparing to write a novel set on a generation ship. This is early Heinlein and I wished he hadn't mentioned women at all, sexism by omission would have seemed so much less sexist than the few sentences he included that reference women. In the first novella, the only mention of a woman is Hugh's (the main character) aunt, who looks up when he returns home but says nothing "as is fittin ...more

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Jun 24, 2008 Stephanie "Jedigal" rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, heinlein-myomnibus

This is the most memorable sci-fi title of my youth. I loved the idea that people born on a deep space ship might not know that it WAS a ship, that it was the extent of the universe to them, and that the concept of "outside" would be horribly frightening.

To anyone interested, this is a short one! Short & sweet. :o)
======================
June 2013 - finished another re-read. Still love it. ...more

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Jul 08, 2009 Quentin rated it it was amazing

This was one of the most important books of my childhood. The questioning of authority, existential inquiry and transcendence are just some of the themes that are explored.

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Jan 04, 2021 مشاري الإبراهيم rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction-fantasy-الخيال, أدب-literature

Most sci-fi novels have a clear philosophical or political message. Sci-fi authors execute this goal differently; some successfully deliver a fully developed story and a great allegory (e.g. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley) others, however, focus on the allegory, the parallels between the premise and the political message, and do a quick and dirty job when it comes to the story. This book is the later.

In, Orphans of the Sky, Heinlein structured the allegory in an extremely smart and insightful Most sci-fi novels have a clear philosophical or political message. Sci-fi authors execute this goal differently; some successfully deliver a fully developed story and a great allegory (e.g. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley) others, however, focus on the allegory, the parallels between the premise and the political message, and do a quick and dirty job when it comes to the story. This book is the later.

In, Orphans of the Sky, Heinlein structured the allegory in an extremely smart and insightful way... unfortunately this came at the the cost of telling a great story. The characters were bland with no clear arcs, the language was a bit too simple in some cases (and extremely complex in others).

Nevertheless, this is a classic. It talks about a ship's voyage from earth to a far planet. Due to the long duration of the voyage (hundreds of years), generations pass one after the other living in the ship. As time goes by, humans view of reality gets corroded and they come to believe that the ship is the universe and nothing else outside the ship is real.

As a result, they start misusing the ship. Even scientists reinterpret the use of some machines (e.g. the Conveyor). In the meantime, another set of people named the 'muties' live on the upper deck and come to discover the reality of this ship. The story's plot is about these two groups conflict.

At first, I thought the story was an allegory of the feud between science and religion, but I think it is much deeper, it discusses themes such as:

1) Human's fear of what's different (Even though it might be the truth)
2) Humans are victims to habit
3) How knowledge is obtained and skewed (Epistemology: The philosophy of obtaining knowledge)
4) How secular thinking can be blinding. The 'scientists' on the ship insisted that there is nothing outside the ship, and thus, this limiting hypothesis caused them to view all machinery in the ship in a corroded manner.

Overall, it is a short, but worthwhile, read. Do not, however, expect to see all building blocks of a proper novel/story. ...more

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Nov 24, 2014 SciFiOne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi

1977 grade A
1995 grade A-
2016 grade B+/A-

Failed generation ships were a pretty common theme in early hard SciFi. In fact, some publishers would give an idea to multiple authors and ask for each to write their own interpretation. No two that I read ever came out the same.

The following description is not really a spoiler, but lightly describes the set up similar to that on a book jacket. After this review there are two other book themes mentioned. If anyone knows the names of those stories, pleas 1977 grade A
1995 grade A-
2016 grade B+/A-

Failed generation ships were a pretty common theme in early hard SciFi. In fact, some publishers would give an idea to multiple authors and ask for each to write their own interpretation. No two that I read ever came out the same.

The following description is not really a spoiler, but lightly describes the set up similar to that on a book jacket. After this review there are two other book themes mentioned. If anyone knows the names of those stories, please let me know in the comments. I read them long before I started keeping records and would like to read them again.

In this story, the crew structure has failed for some reason and, after many many generations, degenerated into a basically feudal society while the unfailing mega-ship drifts on. The officers have become basically a religious group who misinterpret the scientific texts and continue their governing power as the Scientists. The regular crew are now the farming/hunting Peasants. These humans live on the outer decks with gravity. The central low gravity decks are where the waring mutants live and the ship's controls are located. The story is about one human who manages to find the controls and figure out the truth.

The book is short, and took less than a day to read. It is also a fast and fun read despite the descending grades and the implausibility of the end. It is told in two sections that were initially published as separate stories. I will read the novel again eventually.

The first forgotten novel also had two areas as I recall. One was a plant area that had become a jungle in the intervening years. It is found again and I think the ship is just returning to earth after aborting the trip because of problems. The story is a bit more abstract than Orphans of the Sky.

The second forgotten title might be a short story. It has a long ship with the engines not running. To keep the ship moving, the people use a machine to activate a space anchor at the bow end of the ship. They then proceed to move the anchor to the back of the ship thus moving the ship along. They have been repeating the process for a long, long time. As I recall the ship is discovered by a faster than light ship generations later.

...more

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Oct 14, 2014 Rhett Bruno rated it really liked it

I downloaded this book because I have a huge interest in "Generational Ships" in my own work and was curious to see how one of the masters handled it. Overall I love the premise. No need to summarize it in detail as this is a well known enough novel, but the idea of creating a world that has become lost in time and space is almost like a writers playground. Anything is possible, and Heinlein fills his ship with a myriad of intriguing ideas.

Heinlein has this way of putting forth interesting bits ...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Elizabeth S. Q. Goodman rated it it was ok

I read it, and it was a quick Heinlein read and rather fun. However, the two appearances of women in the plot were so irrelevant and so misogynist (from the author more than the characters) that an editor might as well cut them out and change the genders of various main characters. I assure you, it would make no difference to the book, except that I wouldn't want to go back and punch Heinlein in the nose.

Seriously. This one dude gets picked out at the beginning of the story for being exceptional ...more

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Sep 19, 2013 Mary Catelli rated it liked it

Shelves: moderately-old-books, sf-interstellar, science-fiction-classics

A classic of the science fiction genre, a defining one for the trope of generation ship.

Hugh Hoyland lives on the Ship. After a venture to low weight decks, where he's endangered by a mutie attack, we find the humans living in farms on the high weight decks, and he hears the religious text on the Mutiny and is inducted into the ranks of the priestly scientists.

It's when he ends up a prisoner among the muties that he learns much of what the astute reader has pieced together earlier. The tale invo ...more

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Jun 26, 2009 Merciful rated it it was amazing

This book - like many of Heinlein's books - really blew my mind as a kid. Very trippy concept - a spaceship bound on a lightyears journey to colonize another world ran into trouble with its nuclear reactor and (at the time the novel begins) has been adrift in space now for centuries with countless generations come and gone and all knowledge of the outside world forgotten... Check it out, especially if you're a kid. It's a really cool idea.
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Jul 08, 2018 Roger rated it it was amazing

A classic about the degraded, isolated culture of a multi-generation starship population that's forgotten it's origins and fallen into ignorance. Orphans of The Sky is even better than I remembered it from first reading decades ago. The story follows Hugh Hoyland as he discovers evidence of their origin and reality in the dangerous, low gravity upper decks ruled by muties (mutants and mutineers). ...more

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Sep 16, 2016 Nathaniel rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi

First, I love the title. "Orphans of the Sky," is one of those titles that makes me love sci-fi.

Second, this is one of those books that originated--or at least was an early adopter--of ideas that have come to be central to sci-fi. In this case, the concept is a generation ship. Generation ships are slow-moving space ships that would take so long to get from point A to point B that entire generations would live and die in the ship during the journey (hence the name). According to Wikipedia, the ...more

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Apr 02, 2021 Julie Davis rated it liked it

It was interesting to read this example of the colony ship that's been traveling so long that generations have grown up aboard and forgotten that it is not the world ... and that the founders were not gods. I wonder if this was the first time this idea was written. It's for younger readers but still good and a quick read. ...more

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Jun 23, 2015 M. Dobson rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: how-times-have-changed

I've held off on writing this review for so many reasons. This was an Audible offering and I was excited to return to an author of my youth. Today, I'm sad for my young female teen self that had novels like this to guide her future. Yes, women are used to reading male main characters without question or concern. However this great story dives hard into female prejudices that should have shocked me even in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

I simply cannot recommend it unless it is a woman's liter ...more

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Mar 08, 2017 Andi rated it it was ok

review coming... was good up until the hero took two women and beat them up when they didn't do as they were told or when he was displeased by them. :/

So, god damn it, Sci-Fi was most certainly not for girls back in the 50's and 60's.

I liked the idea of a ship that kept building layers and layers ontop of itself and that the original 'explorers' and their 'mission' became lost over time. But, where the hell are all the women? Not a single woman was involved in this story. If they were involved, ...more

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Jun 07, 2016 Joseph rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I don't know if this was actually the first generation starship story, but it was almost certainly the most influential. Hugh Hoyston was born (as were his to-the-nth-generation ancestors) on the Ship, but to him it's just the world -- it's only natural that the Decks curve and that your weight decreases as you ascend. Then he gets captured by the Muties (Mutineers/Mutants -- take your pick) and their two-headed leader Joe-Jim, and discovers that there's actually an outside to the world ...

This ...more

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Nov 02, 2017 Ericka Clou rated it liked it

Shelves: book-club-dad, read-fiction, scifi, 0-own-fiction, own-read, 1960s, 1940s

Fun idea for science fiction and interesting religious metaphor. People aboard a generational ship forget everything about Earth, science, and technology, and as the areas with windows to the outside are shut off, they forget even that they are on a ship, but begin to think the ship is all of existence. It's a brilliant concept and I would have loved to see how StarTrek (STNG) would have handled it. Unfortunately, Heinlein's version is not very deeply thoughtful. The characters are not developed ...more

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About Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein

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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

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“Two bodies attract each other directly as the product of their masses and inversely as the square of their distance.' It sounds like a rule for simple physical facts, does it not? Yet it is nothing of the sort; it was the poetical way the old ones had of expressing the rule of propinquity which governs the emotion of love. The bodies referred to are human bodies, mass is their capacity for love. Young people have a greater capacity for love than the elderly; when thy are thrown together they fall in love, yet when they are separated they soon get over it. 'Out of sight, out of mind.' It's as simple as that. But you were seeking some deep meaning for it.” — 26 likes

“There is a misconception, geocentric and anthropomorphic, common to the large majority the the earthbound, which causes them to visualize a planetary system stereoscopically. The mind's eye sees a sun, remote from a backdrop of stars, and surrounded by spinning apples -- the planets. Step out on your balcony and look. Can you tell the planets from the stars? Venus you may pick out with ease, but could you tell it from Canopus, if you had not previously been introduced? That little red speck -- is it Mars, or is it Antares? Blast for Antares, believing it to be a planet, and you will never live to have grandchildren.” — 6 likes

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Orphans of the Sky

(Future History or "Heinlein Timeline" #23)

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