heinleinblog

If you are not familiar with the work of Robert A. Heinlein, do not read his posthumously published novel, “For Us, The Living.”

If you are a casual fan of his work, do not read it, either.

You will not enjoy this book.

Hell, I’ll be the first to say it: It’s boring. Relatively speaking.

But, if you are a serious fan, or consider Heinlein to be a teacher or a personal guru of some sort – then buy the book, turn off the television and take the phone off the hook. You will learn much about the First Grandmaster of Science Fiction and see the germs of ideas that permeated his fiction for the following 50 years.

There are people who have compared FUTL to some of RAH’s supposedly weaker work, such as those written under his “Anson MacDonald” pseudonym. This novel aspires to reach that level.

The sparse plot is this: Navy pilot Perry Nelson dies in a car crash in 1939 and awakes in the body of a catatonic man in the year 2089. He stumbles almost immediately into a relationship with a young, beautiful dancer who starts to teach him the ways of late 21st century society. Very little happens plot-wise, except that Perry is the recipient of one lecture after another about how the United States achieved near Utopian perfection.

What are the lectures about? Perry is taught that prosperity was achieved by adopting the Social Credit Theory and passing out newly-minted money to everyone, and by reigning in the power of the banking industry. RAH’s libertarian-minded fan base must be grinding their teeth at the very idea.

Perry also learns that this society has adopted a new libertarian-minded Constitution that bans any law establishing victimless crimes and also establishes an explicit right to privacy. That sounds more like it.

Of course, free love is the rule of the day, and the climax of the story (pun intended) comes when Our Hero comes to terms with his antiquated notions of propriety and overcomes his sexual jealousy.

Serious Heinlein fans will notice bits and pieces that were mined for future works. Nasty old Nehemiah Scudder is here, as is Coventry and the roads that must roll. Essentially, FUTL was the first of his groundbreaking Future History. FUTL doesn’t fit into the FH, because the dates and details are inconsistent.

And for those who claim that Heinlein became a fascist when “Starship Troopers” (1959) proposed giving only veterans the vote, FUTL contained the germ of that idea as well — before World War II and before he met future wife Virginia Gerstenfeld, later accused by Isaac Asimov and others of seducing him away from liberalism.

This book was rejected by at least two publishers. There is speculation about why Heinlein refused to seek its publication later in his career when publishers would be more than willing to publish anything he had written.

Simply put, as a piece of fiction, this book is weak. But it wasn’t written to be commercial, pulp-style science fiction. It is science fiction only in the sense that it is set in the future. It’s a book about politics and culture.

Well, sure, almost all of Heinlein’s books were about politics and culture, but that stuff didn’t get in the way of the fun. There is nothing fun about this book, including all the (very mild as it turns out) sex scenes people are talking about. It lacks any humor or wit. It’s dry to the bone.

In his introduction, Spider Robinson postulated that Heinlein intended this novel to change the world. That didn’t happen, but Heinlein realized he liked science fiction writing and needed to pay a mortgage, so he set out to be the best he could be. For that to happen, his stories had to be what people wanted to read. Because FUTL failed to meet the high standards he set for himself, he set it aside. Instead, he contented himself to mine the ideas from FUTL for the rip-roaring science fiction that paid.

It’s good that this book was published because it sheds some light on the man and his work. It’s probably better that it was published after his and Virginia’s deaths, because neither would care for the academic discussion and the idle speculation this book will create.

As a member of the Heinlein Society, I want this book to be a best-seller. But I can’t in good conscience recommend it to anyone who isn’t really into Heinlein. But, if you are really into Heinlein, then run to the bookstore or The Heinlein Society to buy a copy. Dr. Robert James’ afterword alone was worth the price to me.

From an Anime News Network review:

So the question then becomes, just what is Five Star Stories? As the title suggests, the storyline revolves around the various political, military, and social interactions within a galaxy of five stars and six inhabitable planets. More so than most other manga, it draws on two Western traditions, that of the “future history” and of the realist novel of the 19th century. The “future history” genre, seen in the science fiction writings of authors like Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and Cordwainer Smith, establishes a timeline of human development for thousands of years from a given start point; stories illustrate both the everyday and the truly enormous events over a span of thousands of years.

For those who don’t know, manga refers to Japanese comic books, characterized by characters with exaggerated eyes and larger-than-normal heads. It’s a very cartoonish style, but sometimes with very sophisticated storylines.

I’m not sure that Heinlein could be adapted very easily to comic book format. I think some of the juveniles could be done, maybe “Starship Troopers.”

I’m in favor of encouraging people to read new types of books. But, was it necessary to pitch this book by dissing Heinlein and other golden age greats?

“The City Trilogy,” by Chang Hsi-Kuo. This science-fiction novel (actually a collection of three novellas that are tied together in an arc) is the first English translation of this noted Taiwanese writer’s work. Banish from your mind thoughts of Heinlein, Asimov and Clark, and enjoy this look at the way Chinese culture has shaped thoughts of the future. As the Huhui people try to overthrow their interstellar overlords, the Han, they must gain the cooperation of the several other races that share their planet. Alliances continually shift, and political machinations abound, keeping readers on their toes in this very different allegorical tale.

Hrumph!

Actually, the person who wrote this blurb doesn’t know his/her Heinlein. Fighting to overthrow oppressors? Political machinations? Sounds like any number of Heinlein books — “If This Goes On …,” “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress,” “Red Planet,” etc.

I am hearing from sources in The Heinlein Society who have read the book that it is a good read. But, we may have to wait until the end of the year to actually see it on bookshelves.

“The American Zone,” like most of the books set in L. Neil Smith’s North American Confederacy universe, suffers from preachiness. Which is understandable, considering Robert A. Heinlein’s great influence on Smith. Heinlein has been accused of preachiness.

But, unlike the first grandmaster of science fiction, Smith lets the preaching get in the way of the action. For every page devoted to advancing the plot, it seems there are five that portray characters doing little more that sitting and standing around telling each other, in no uncertain terms, what an evil thing government is.

It’s hard to blame Neil for this. Becoming a libertarian is a, well, liberating experience. It’s like a damn bursts in your soul. Suddenly, even the slightest government intrusion — especially those once considered innocuous — are the horrible violations of personal liberty. Neil’s characters — unless they’re the statist villians — almost universally seem to be in the early stage of post-Libertarian conversion. It seems unnatural that people who are the products of 200-plus years of libertarian civilization would be that worked up about the evils of a form of government they have never experienced first-hand.

Smith is preaching to the choir. Anyone uninitiated into libertarianism is going to be very put off by this book, and write it off as far-right dogma. True believers aren’t going to learn anything new and will get bored quickly.

“Yeah, we get it Neil. Got anything new to say?” I had hoped to see Neil’s insights into the events of Sept. 11. Nothing.

At the end of the book, a bad, pro-government character is portrayed at having a sense of honor. Much the same thing happened to a different pro-government character at the end of “The Probability Broach.” Neither redeemed character was developed further.

I recommend “Probability Broach” and others book in this fictional universe, like “Tom Paine Maru” and “Brightsuit MacBear.” Both are libertarian science fiction at its best. In “The American Zone,” Smith neglected the science fiction part.

I’m about half-way through The American Zone and folks … it ain’t looking good.

L. Neil Smith’s new book, “The American Zone,” is out in bookstores right now. It is a sequel to his award-winning “The Probability Broach.” It features the newest adventure of Detective “Win” Bear, who escaped from an oppressive United States of America to the parallel universe of the “North American Confederacy.” Why is this news Heinlein-related? Heinlein greatly influenced L. Neil Smith. Readers of TPB and TAZ will notice Heinleinesque elements. Like his hero, Neil likes to toss out concepts that challenge our concepts of freedom, liberty, honor and responsibility. Also of note, in the universe of the North American Confederacy, Heinlein became a famous, war-hero admiral. (maybe the next sequel will have Heinlein as a character) Neil has been a guest on the Heinelin AIM chat. I am just getting started on TAZ and will post a review as soon as possible (it may be a while now that I have a day job).