News and opinion related to Robert A. Heinlein, the first grandmaster of science fiction
I found the following link on alt.fan.heinlein.
You belong in the Cat Who Walks Through Walls. You
are creative and cunning. Your works often
feel empty to you, though others love them.
You suspect that the universe and everyone in
it are just characters in someone else’s story.
noticed the following entry at Jay’s Solo Verbosity:
It’s No Hugo Pinero…
I took the Death Test and learned I will die on July 23, 2033 at the age of 72 years old, most likely of heart disease.
It doesn’t ask about life expectancy in your family, which I would think would be a factor. In my case, 72 would be fairly young, even being male. Not that it would be surprising, but my grandfathers lived to 84 and a few month shy of 90, and were at greater apparent risk than I am.
It’s an entertaining test, if morbid. Found via Pascale Soleil.
The reference is to he The Master’s very first published story, “Life Line,” about a scientist who invents a machine that can predict the time and date of a person’s death.
The editors of the Science Fiction Book Club has included Robert A. Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land” to its list of the top 50 most important science fiction/fantasy works of all time. It was fourth on the list, behind (1.) J.R.R. Tolkien’ “Lord of the Rings”; (2.) Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation Trilogy”; and (3.) Frank Herbert’s “Dune.”
According to a press release:
Ellen Asher, Science Fiction Book Club Senior Editor, described Heinlein, author of “Stranger in a Strange Land,”; as “the single most popular and widest-read science fiction writer of all time. ‘Stranger’; was not only a phenomenon for science fiction readers. It jumped the borders into the wider culture, giving a new lexicon to the late ’60s and a new way of looking at the world.”
USA Today reporter Bob Minzesheimer chose a more sarcastic description:
Robert A. Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land”; (1961) features a child from Mars who adapts to life on Earth and founds his own church, which resembles a swinger”s club.
Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers” was listed as 46th on the full list, while Joe Haldeman’s “The Forever War” sort of a liberal’s version of “SST” was 24th on the list while Heinlein’s “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” didn’t make the list at all.
Did Heinlein get the respect he was due in this list? Well, you can’t really complain about finishing fourth. And as much as I love and respect Heinlein’s work, Tolkein’s masterpiece is much more influential. I like Asimov’s work, too. I think his Robot novels were more influential than the Foundation novels (although he later merged them into the same universe). I could never get past the first few pages of “Dune.”
I also would have included L. Neil Smith’s “The Probability Broach” and Spider Robinson’s “Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon.”
UPDATE: All complaints, criticisms and insults directed at this list concerning numbers 11-50 are invalid. It was just pointed out to me that except for the top 10, the books are listed in alphabetical order. In my defense, there is no explanation of this anywhere on the site, and it took someone with a better eye for detail than I to catch it.
Ginny, the wife of the late Robert A. Heinlein, died this weekend after a long illness. Heinlein is considered by many to be the greatest science fiction writer of the modern era. He wrote “Stranger in a Strange Land” and “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.” He was the first recipient of the title Grand Master of Science Fiction by the Nebula Awards.
His beloved Ginny was his partner for most of his professional life. It was her idea that sparks the novel that was to evolve into Valentine Michael Smith, the protagonist of “Stranger.” She helped keep Robert alive through two serious illnesses that could have kept Heinlein from completing the final handful of novels before his death. She served as a sounding board for all of his many wonderful ideas. Heinlein’s novels are populated with strong women, and Ginny was the model for all of them. She will be missed by all who knew her, myself included.
The full obituary is available. More information is available at The Heinlein Society Web site.
I went “googling” the other day. I searched the Web for the name Bill Dennis and found this site, from Belgium of all places, which had a link to THIS SITE. Think about it, Belgian people seeking information about Libertarian ideas were directed to my site. It is a frightening thought. Anyway, here is a reciprocal link.
I jumped the gun posting Randi’s “pic.” Soon as I get permission, I’ll post it. For those who saw it, I hope you enjoyed it.
The RAH Picture page is up and running, thanks to Stephen (Jump101). One pic he was afriad to put up really isn’t a pic at all, but a line drawing of the lovely “Randi.” Here she is: (Picture missing)
