Saw some questions on Robert A Heinlein today.?

Question

What would you say is him most enjoyable read? Not necessarily form a literary sense but just a great entertaining tail?

P.S. I did not really care for Stranger in a Strange Land!

Answer 1

Personally, I really enjoyed Glory Road. Heinlein wrote it relatively quickly, and it isn't as dark as some of his other work.

Glory Road is sort of a crazy science fiction/fantasy work that starts out in southeast Asia and is a sort of holy-grail tale in search of a phoenix egg. There's a lot of humor in it, which is why I enjoy it so much. It is nice to see a science fiction writer let go and have fun.

At any rate, I agree with you: I didn't like Stranger in a Strange Land as much as I thought I would, considering the buzz on it.

Answer 2

My favorite was The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. I liked the idea about somethings are funny once, some twice and some always. I liked the ties to the American Revolution.

I liked virtually all of the juveniles EXCEPT Podkayne because I couldn't stand the character. It was much easier picturing myself as one of Heinlein's male characters than that fashion fluff.

Answer 3

I think his short stories, particularly of the late 1930s and 1940s, are very enjoyable. They are still entertaining as far as plotting is concerned, and there is the extra thrill, in most of them, of either encountering things that were science fiction then (e.g., not only nuiclear weapons but also devices like LEDs, which he wrote about around 1940 but which weren't invented till the early 1960s). A list of his stories is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Short_stories_by_Robert_A._Heinlein . The ones that most stand out in my mind, from when I read them in the 1950s, are "The Roads Must Roll" and the longer story, " — 'and he built a crooked house' —". But try almost any one of them, and you won't be disappointed.

Answer 4

Glory Road
Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
Starship Troopers

Many of his "juvies" are also excellent reads for adults. I still like Man Who Sold The Moon and Citizen of The Galaxy, among others.

Answer 5

i think the title was..."to sail beyond the sunset" it was about parallel time travel the main character was named Maureen and she had a cat. i read in 1988. also didn't heinlein wrote "have space will travel"? if he didn't i still like that sci fi book.

Answer 6

My favourite is Stranger in a strange land.