robert heinlein fans out there?

Question

whitch short story did you like best and least?and whitch long story the best and least

Answer 1

i recently found the original uncut version of "Stranger in a Strange Land", with a forward by his wife. It was really great. I first read that book in high school and have actually read it about 6 times (i'm now 50)

Answer 2

I read quite a bit of RH's output in my younger days. While I cannot recall any of the short stories well enough to rate, I do have best/worst in the long story category. My nominee for Best is "Starship Troopers" and Worst is "Farnham's Freehold."

Starship Troopers is about a titanic struggle for survival of the human race against Monster Bugs from Outer Space. It could so easily have been a horrible book in lesser hands. RH created a fresh, sometimes startling look at what society might become.

Farnham's Freehold is about a tightly focused struggle for survival of the human race after Armageddon in the form of nuclear war between the USA and the then-Soviet Union. It is the story of a family that emerges from its bomb shelter after the radiation has died down (as if). There is all sorts of nastiness, including incest in the name of repopulating the United States.

I always thought Stranger was RH's rather weak appeal for readership among the hippies and youth culture generally in the late 1960s. It's okay but The Master was not at his best in this period. Readers interested in a classic RH sci-fi novel might want to try "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" wherein RH imagines life as a colonist on the Earth's Moon.

Answer 3

I loved two of his short stories.

-We also Walk Dogs
The Menace From Earth

Starship Trooper gets mentioned a lot though I it think it was a reflection of its time. I liked the stories by later authors (60s and 70s) that used it as a reference point for other views on war:

Bill the Galactic Hero (Harrison)
The Forever War (Halderman)

Answer 4

I only read Stranger in a Strange Land (because my library had about 4 copies of it, and no other of his books), and it was a fantastic read. A very compelling story, with an interesting philosophy. I read it in three days it was that good!

Answer 5

He has a new book coming out next month. What? you ask, I believe he is quite dead. Yes, sadly true, but sci-fi author Spider Robinson has been authorized by the estate to finish an unfinished work. Spider's quite the scribe himself so I look forward.

Answer 6

I have only read one of his books - Stranger in a Strange place. Very different kind of story but has realities in this day and age.

Answer 7

"Stranger in a Strange Land" is his best work,
maybe "the Moon is a Harsh Mistress" second.

worst? "Farnham's Freehold" didn't do much for me.