"Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne (1828-1905)

 

Publisher: Crown Publishers, Inc.

Copyright: 1983

ISBN: 0517413736

This book is another classic in what would come to be known as science-fiction. It was originally written in 1869, and illustrates Verne's fascination with science. It is true that the science depicted in this and other of Verne's stories does not match what we consider to be science today, but for the most part it is accurate as far as the scientific knowledge of the time is concerned.

This is essentially a story of discovery, in that Professor Arronax is taken on a voyage under the sea, and being a naturalist is enamoured with the things he sees. It is true that the book is quite long, but the detail Verne goes into is excellent. He is one of a number of authors that I would have loved to have met.

I recently rewatched the Disney version of this book which came out in 1954. As is typical the director once again took huge liberties with Verne's story.  However, considering the year this was made they weren't all that bad as the movie would've had to be quite a bit longer to encompass the entire story. One major change they made however was to hint that Captain Nemo had discovered nuclear energy, and that the Nautilus was powered by it, this was also reinforced when at the end of the movie Nemo's base was destroyed, and a telltale mushroom cloud was evident. Neither of these things were part of Verne's story, and considering that the story is set in 1866, it seems rather silly to contemplate as atomic theory was definitely in its infancy, and Albert Einstein wouldn't be born for 13 years. Add to this that the nature of the atom was formulated in 1911, that electron surrounded the nucleus was discovered in 1897, etc. and we are once again confronted with age old puzzle of why Hollywood can't do basic research.

It would be nice to see some studio take on this and many other classic stories and do them as a miniseries, as the author intended.

"The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton (1942-2008)

 

Publisher: Dell
Copyright: 1969

    The Andromeda Strain is a book I haven't read for many decades, but I can distinctly remember the first time I read it when I was in junior high school (about 1973 or so), and poring over maps of Nevada to see if a place like Wildfire was on them. The ultimate test of an author is if they can make you believe that the story they are presenting is true, and Mr. Crichton definitely does that with this novel. This puts it in the techno-thriller genre, but most people likely consider it to be hard science fiction.

    The story for those of you who have never heard of it revolves around a satellite that returns to earth a couple of days after being launched, bearing an organism that kills almost all the people in a small Arizona town. There are only two survivors an old man and a 2 month-old baby. The satellite and the survivors are taken to a secret laboratory in Nevada so a top team of scientists can determine what happened. The way this books is presented is in the form of a report that describes the events as they happened over a 4-day period.

    A movie was made of this book in 1971 directed by Robert Wise, and starring Arthur Hill, James Olson, David Wayne, and Kate Reid and it is a movie you must see if you like quality science fiction that deals with an actual story rather than relying on special effects. There was also a four episode mini-series made of it in 2008, however I haven't seen it.

    A fantastic story, highly recommended.

"The Magic Labyrinth" by Philip José Farmer (1918-2009)

 

 

Publisher: Berkley Medallion
Copyright: 1980
ISBN: None listed

The Magic Labyrinth is the fourth book in the Riverworld series, and like the previous instalments: "To Your Scattered Bodies Go", "The Fabulous Riverboat", and "The Dark Design" the story revolves around getting the source of the river. The original characters of Richard Francis Burton, Samuel Clements, Hermann Goering, and many others make return appearances, and most of them end up dying in one way or another.

I personally found this book to not be as well written as the others, but rather than harp on the fact that I had some trouble believing the various developments the Riverworld residents made. I will this say that while the concepts good, the multi-chapter detailed review of how a war is fought between two river boats just way too long to be worth reading. The characters that we'd met before (at least those who were still alive) were written well, but some of the new ones weren't as well developed, and in some cases they played what I felt were significant parts.

This fourth book overall was in my opinion the poorest of the four. This was mainly due to the points mentioned above, but also because of the rather long passages of exposition to I assume explain who certain characters were for those who couldn't be bothered to read the first books or utterly failed history class in school. I still believe the amount of potential the initial premise had it could have been much better exploited in a myriad of ways rather than as a goal to see who could reach the polar sea first, no matter who suffered.

This book concludes the series or so we are led to believe by the book jacket, however it turns out there is another in the series entitled "The Gods of Riverworld" but at this time I don't think I'll be reading it any time soon.

"The Dark Design" by Philip José Farmer (1918-2009)

 

Publisher: Berkley Medallion

Copyright: 1977

ISBN: None listed

The Dark Design is the third book in the Riverworld series, and much like the "The Fabulous Riverboat" the story revolves around the building of in this case a Zeppelin for the purpose of getting the source of the river. WE once again meet some interesting characters such as Tom Mix (1920s &30s Hollywood movie star), Jack London (Author), Nur el-din el-Musafir as 12th Century traveller who wrote extensively about his exploits, and many others. Hermann Goring once again makes a brief appearance, as do a few other from the first two books.

I personally found this book to be well written, but once again had some trouble believing the premise behind the various developments the Riverworld residents made. Yes, I realise that "the willing suspension of belief" is a key component to science fiction, however when you have scenarios which have people developing 20th century technology without the background or specialized equipment to doo so, it simply stretches believability a little too much in my opinion.

Once again in this novel I felt that the characters weren't as well developed as they were in the first.

This book overall was good, but no, as I've said before a good as the first "To Your Scattered Bodies Go", and considering the amount of potential the premise had it could have been exploited in many ways rather than as a goal to see who could reach the polar sea first, no matter who suffered.

It has been many years since I first read this book, and while it was a good read I'm still out on a limb as to whether it's a good as some people say.

"The Fabulous Riverboat" by Philip José Farmer (1918-2009)

 

Publisher: Berkley Medallion

Copyright: 1971

ISBN: None listed

"The Fabulous Riverboat" is the second novel in the Riverworld series, which is set sometime in the far future when all people who ever lived on earth are resurrected along the banks of an enormous river. No one knows why they were resurrected, or by whom but some are determined to find out.

This novel has it has as its primary character Samuel Langhorne Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain) who is determined to get to the headwaters of the river, and to do so decides to build a paddle-wheel riverboat.

Some of the other characters you'll meet are the Viking chief Erik Bloodaxe, Lothar Von Richthofen (brother to the Red Baron), Prince John Lackland (brother to Richard the Lion Hearted), Odysseus, and Herman Goering also makes another appearance.

I my opinion this novel wasn't quite as good as "To Your Scattered Bodies Go", which I reviewed 2 weeks ago. This is primarily because the time span is in the order of a number of years, but should be many decades. The main reason I come to this conclusion is because they were using technology that would not have been known, or even thought of during the time of Clements. It is true this is explained somewhat by the fact that other more modern engineers assisted him, but it still did seem a little too much of a stretch. The techniques used to build the riverboat also seemed to advanced, to be able to be performed with essentially very rudimentary tools and techniques. I'm sure there are many who will disagree with this, but that's why I said it was my opinion.

In addition to this the characters themselves didn't seem to be quite as well-developed as they were in the first book. This may be because a lot more people have read Clements' books as opposed to those of Burton and therefore have a context to frame his character, but I still feel it would've been nice to see more character development. On the other hand there was some good interaction between Clements and some of his neighbouring peoples with regards to discussions about race, and how Clements portrayed this in his novels.

Race relations do play a large part in the latter part of this novel, so a reader should be prepared for some rather strong language, if that is a concern.

Even with these draw backs, I did enjoy the book as it has been many years since I first read it.

"To Your Scattered Bodies Go" by Philip José Farmer (1918-2009)

 

Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons

Copyright: 1971

ISBN: 0425028097

The Hugo award winning novel"To Your Scattered Bodies Go" is the first book in Farmer's very popular River World series. In which every person who has ever lived on earth is resurrected from the dead and finds themselves naked on the banks of as immense river. There is no explanation as to why they are there, or what they are supposed to do.

The primary character in this novel is a Sir Richard Francis Burton. For those who don't know, Burton was a real person, and is the translator of One Thousand and One Nights (also known as the Tales of the Arabian Nights), he's the co-founder of the Royal Anthropological Society in Britain, the discoverer of Lake Tanganyika, and accomplished many other exploits during his life. Even with all these credits to his name he was an extremely controversial figure who was not well liked by many in the world, especially many religious leaders.

Burton is somewhat unique in the story, as he was one of very few characters that woke up prior to arrival on the shores of the river, and therefore was aware that other beings were manipulating them. Some of the other characters he meets are Alice Hargraves Little, Herman Goering both of whom play rather significant roles in Burton's quest to find out what is really going on.

This is a very entertaining read, and I would recommend it to anybody who likes essentially classic science fiction, although some have classified this more in the fantasy genre.

"We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick (1928-1982)

 

Publisher: Citadel Press

Copyright: 1987

ISBN: 0806512091

This is an anthology of 27 of Philip K. Dick's short stories, all of which are well worth reading. The title story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" may be recognizable to many as it was the inspiration for the two movies entitled "Total Recall" the first starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1990, and the second starring Colin Ferrall in 2012. While neither of these movies followed the story too closely they were obviously influenced by elements in it.

Many of the other stories in this anthology deal with a post-apocalyptic world in which humans are trying to survive. One of the better ones being "Planet for Transients" in which the world has survived a nuclear war, but it has changed so much that humans are no longer the dominant life form. The first story in the collection "The Cookie Lady" I found to be a really great read, but I'm not going to spoil it for you as it isn't very long.

All in all this is a very good introduction to the late Mr. Dick's work, and I'm looking forward to reading more. I'm not sure why I'd never read any of his stories before, but it might be because I used to have a definite dislike for short fiction, as when I was young I had read some rather poor work, and this guided me towards only reading novel lengths work for many years. I have since come around.

I think you'll like this book.

Enjoy

"Titan" by John Varley

Publisher: New York : Berkley Pub.,
Copyright: 1979
ISBN: 9780441813049

Titan is the first book in a trilogy that was nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula awards.

Titan is another first contact novel, but once again with a bit of a twist. An object is detected orbiting Saturn, and a spacecraft captained by Cirocco “Rocky” Jones the first female captain of a vessel, the Deep Space Vessel Ringmaster. When they get close enough to the ring shaped object they realise that it could only be the product of an alien civilisation. Foregoing plans to investigate the object they approach and are captured. The ship is destroyed, and the crew drawn into the object and kept isolated is a condition of almost total sensory deprivation.

Eventually after an unknown duration the crew are released into the interior of the alien space craft. They encounter centaurs, angels, gas filled whales that sail though the air. Rocky set out though this world to find her crew and to determine what makes the alien spacecraft which they have named Gaea.

Her travels took her and one of her crew Gaby though many adventures, and eventually they meet the person who is in charge of the ship.

This is a very good book, which I would recommend to anyone who is looking for a well written story that explores some interesting aspects of human relations.

"The Foundation Trilogy" by Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)

Publisher: Doubleday
Copyright: 1951

The Foundation Trilogy is considered by most readers to be one of the classic science fiction story. It one science fictions most coveted award the Hugo in 1966, and has never been out of publication since it's original release in 1951. Very few other science fiction stories hold this publication record, one of the few being "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein.

The story itself is that many thousands of years in the future, and Earth (And the origin of humans) is a legend at best, but probably closer to a fable. Humans have essentially colonized the vast majority of the Milky Way Galaxy, and are governed by an Emperor who is located towards the centre of the Galaxy. It should be noted that in 1951 when this book was written it was unknown that a black hole is in centre of the Milky Way galaxy.

The empire however is in dire straits, and essentially falling apart. Hari Seldon, a mathematician develops the science of psychohistory-the mathematical formulation of sociology-which can be used to predict with fair accuracy the future based on group dynamics. He is able to predict the future of the empire, and its eventually downfall. His calculations indicate that there will be a gap of 30,000 year before the new Empire is founded. He however predicts that through the establishment of two Foundations that this can be reduced to 1000 years, even though the downfall of the current Empire is unstoppable.

The story tells of the events over a period of approximately 500 years following the collapse of the empire and prior to the predicted establishment of the second empire.

In the early 1980s Asimov wrote four other novels set in the same universe. Two were sequels: "Foundation's Edge" (1982) & "Foundation and Earth" (1986), and two were prequels "Prelude to Foundation" (1988) and "Forward the Foundation" (1993).

Enjoy!

"Time Enough For Love" by Robert A Heinlein (1907-1988)

Publisher:New York : Berkley Medallion
Copyright Date:©1973
Characteristics:  589 pages

As mentioned in my review of Methuselah's Children a couple of weeks ago Time Enough for Love is the second book in a series. It takes place many centuries after Methuselah's Children, and the only character that is in both books for any substantial amount is Lazarus Long who is now about 2000 years old (although others are briefly mentioned). 

With the aid of the Libby – Sheffield Drive humans have essentially colonized the near galaxy in what is referred to as the Great Diaspora. We learn during the stories that are related in this novel that earth is essentially uninhabitable, due to a limited nuclear war, and pollution, etc. It is for the most part avoided by pretty much everyone.

When the story opens Lazarus, has essentially given up on life and decided he wants to die. However, the leader of the planet Secundas (and as it happens one of his great-grandchildren) has decided that they need to keep him alive in order that they can learn what he knows. This is a point of contention, because everybody in the story essentially lives an extremely long time the right to end your life is something that cannot be taken away. However, they do that, much to Lazarus' annoyance.

He finally relents and allows them to proceed with his rejuvenation on the condition that they find him something new to do. In order that they know how to proceed, and what he has done in the past he is asked to relate stories of his life and experiences which will be used to assist in the search.

The stories he relates, along with connecting material of what he's going through during his rejuvenation make up the bulk of the novel. With the remainder being made up by the new life they lead after migrating to a new planet, and the adventure they find for him.

There are some rather mature themes in this novel that may be unsuitable for young adults, but I read the novel for the first time when I was quite young and it the only thing it did was to open my eyes to the infinite different ways the a person can see the world. There are many discussions about genetics, sex, death, politics, religion, family values, and the like but it is done in an honest, and open style that will teach readers. This is also something that is rarely addressed in virtually any other science fiction, even though society is one of the more fluid things in the world. After all, this book was written in 1973, and look how much has changed between then and now only 47 years later.

Enjoy this book, I have read it many times, and I've always found new things that made me think about our world.

"Methuselah's Children" by Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988)

Publisher:  Signet Books

Copyright: 1958

Methuselah's Children is one of the more important novels written by Robert A. Heinlein. It is part of his Future History series which includes: "The Man Who Sold the Moon" (February 11, 2019), "The Green Hills of Earth" (February 18, 2019), "Revolt in 2100" (January 14, 2019), "Orphans of the Sky", and "The Past Through Tomorrow". The first three of these I have already reviewed on the dates shown.

These six books lead the reader into the World as Myth series, the first book of which is "Time Enough For Love" (1973) which I'll be reviewing in a few weeks. The other books in the future history series are: "Number of the Beast" (1980), "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls" (1985), "To Sail Beyond the Sunset" (1987). Which will be reviewed in the future, but I'm not sure exactly when as they are all rather long books.

As for Methuselah's Children it introduces and tells the story of the Howard Families who are extremely long lived individuals. This is due to the fact that they are the result of an experiment in eugenics. In which individuals were encouraged to marry and have children within a select group who have a history of long lived relatives.

At the beginning of the story there is a crisis within North America because the general population has found out about the existence of the Howard Families, and mistakenly believe they have found the fountain of youth through some experimentation of their own. Because of this erroneous idea the government is being pressured into obtaining the secret of their long life for everyone.

This is when we first meet Lazarus long, the senior of the Howard families (the oldest member at 214), who is attending one of their meetings for the first time in a number of decades. Due to the above crisis things quickly come to a head and Lazarus is forced to act for the families and help them escape before they are arrested and tortured for their 'secret'.

IN the course of this novel we are also reacquainted with another character Andrew Jackson Libby, a mathematical and engineering genius, who was introduced in the short story 'Misfit' from the 'Revolt in 2100' collection.

This is an extremely good story, which I have read a number of times. It does tend to drag slightly in the beginning due to backstory being presented, but for the most part this not only doesn't detract from the story, but in fact helps in introducing the Lazarus character. It may be considered by some to contain slightly more mature themes than would normally be recommended for very young adults, but this shouldn't mean they can't read it, but that it might take a little explaining on the part of someone older.

"Three Hearts and Three Lions" by Poul Anderson (1926-2001)

Publisher: Avon books

Copyright: ~1953

This book tells a modern version of the story of Holger Carlsen, an engineer, who is slightly wounded, and passes out while fighting with the Danish underground, during the Second World War. He awakes naked in another time, and seemingly in another place. But what place, or rather what a place?

He is provided with a full suit of mail armour, clothes, weapons, and a huge black stallion. Thus begins his quest to find out where he is, and why he's here.

This novel is the first of two books  known as the Holger Dansk series. For those of you unfamiliar with Danish folklore (which is likely most of you), he is the legendary Prince of Denmark who in his cradle was given strength, luck, and love by the fairie folk who wish men well. According to legend he sleeps beneath Kronberg Castle, and will awaken in the hour of Denmark's need.

Poul Anderson has crafted a great story that meshes the folklore / legend of this famous man, with the events of the period when it was written. In this book the reader is treated to a general overview of Celtic mythology, and it is done very well. One thing I particularly liked was that one of the characters spoke with a very distinctive accent, and Mr. Anderson wrote it in dialect which gave it a wonderful flavour.

There is a second book in the series which I'll be reviewing in  two weeks.

"Genus Homo" by L. Sprague de Camp (1907-2000) and P. Schuyler Miller (1912-1974)

Publisher: Berkley Books
Copyright: 1950

What happens when a group of 25 men and women who are on their way to a scientific conference are waylaid due to an accident, and wake up in the world so changed they don't realize where they are?

The story itself deals with a group of humans that are in advertently put in suspended animation following a bus crash, and the subsequent collapse of a highway tunnel. When they awaken they eventually realise that at least a million years have passed on earth and human civilization has ended. The way they discovered this is very well presented by the author as he does it through discussions between the characters with regard to changes in the constellations, the growth of trees and other plants, how animals have evolved,  and more.

Approximately the first half of this book is a story of how they survive, the interactions between the various members of the of the group, and so on. It does go into a fair bit of detail with regard to group psychology, group organization, survival, and so on and this is explored as the group learns how to live by themselves.

Depending on how much science-fiction you have read in your life this could lead you to see similarities with ither stories.  Probably the most obvious or possibly well known would be the book "Planet of the Apes" by Pierre Boulle, which was published in 1965. Genus Homo however was published in 1950, so is it possible M. Boulle was influenced by genus Homo? It's true there are a lot of similarities, but being that M. Boulle wrote his story originally in French I somehow doubt that this book influenced his work. In addition, while apes in Genus Homo are one of the dominant species on the earth, there aren't many other similarities, in they become good friends with the few remaining humans and welcome them into their community.

I found this to be a very good story, with a wonderful message. Highly recommended, however possibly difficult to find.

"Have Space Suit Will Travel" by Robert A. Heinlein (1908-1980)

Publisher: Ace Books
Copyright: 1958

This book is the twelfth in what people refer to as the Heinlein Juveniles and the last one I'll be reviewing at this time (see the postscript below for why). The story is about a young man by the name of Clifford Russell or 'Kip' for short. Kip wants to go to the moon, and while it is a rather lofty goal for a high-school student, it is something that is a regular occurrence when this story is set. Samuel Russell, Kip's father is a well respected, but somewhat unorthodox scientist who gives his permission, but leaves it up to Kip to figure out how to get there. A hinderance to Kip's plans are that his education is somewhat lacking, not due to him, but because the curriculum at his school is somewhat useless (something like what is to be found in certain places even today), luckily for Kip his father gets wind of this, and corrects the problem before he graduates.

Even with his extra knowledge, Kip realizes that his chances of getting to the moon are poor, so on a whim he enters a contest where the first prize is a trip to the moon. He doesn't win, but the consolation prize is a surplus space suit. He takes the prize and that's when his adventures begin. He fixes up the suit, and when he is taking the suit out for one last time before sending it back to the company in return for $500 dollars that he plans on putting towards his education, a spaceship lands next to him with a friendly alien and a young girl called Peewee who are trying to escape kidnappers.

The adventures of the three expand from this point, including visits to the moon, Pluto, Vega, and the Large Magellanic Cloud.

This was a fun book to read, and it had been many years since I had done so. It doesn't comfortably fit within the general universe of some of the other Heinlein Juveniles, but it is well written and even though it was written 61 years ago stands the test of time quite well. It does make me curious why Hollywood never seems to twig into what it takes to make a good movie: a good story. I think these and all the other Heinlein Juveniles would make great movies, especially for children and young adults. As long as they stick to the story that is!

Postscript:

The novel "Starship Troopers" is considered by some to be one of the Heinlein Juveniles, however as it was published by a different house, this is also debated by others. In any case, I already reviewed this book back on November 20, 2017 so please refer to this entry for my views.

"Space Cadet" by Robert A. Heinlein (1908-1980)

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Copyright: 1948

I wrote this review quite some time ago, but for some odd reason neglected to publish it. So here you are ...

Space cadet is the second novel in the series classified as the Heinline juveniles. It was written in 1948, and takes place in the year 2075. Which is approximately 125 years after "Rocket Ship Galileo".

The story tells the tale of a young boy by the name of Matthew Dodson who has been excepted as a cadet recruit in the Solar Patrol, which is essentially the police force for the solar system. In the Heinlein Universe in which this series is set, a fair amount has occurred since Rocket Ship Galileo, in that both Mars and Venus have been explored, and found to be inhabited, and their are human settlement on numerous planets. Also, as was found in the previous book the moon had at one point been inhabited as well, but that was many thousands of years ago.

When the story opens Matthew is just arriving at the patrol headquarters in preparation for training, he meets another boy there by the name of Tex, and they proceed through training together as co-protagonists. These two are joined by another two week young man by the name of Oscar Jensen and Pierre Armand. Oscar is a Venus colonial, and Pierre is from Ganymede. It's probably quite a bit different

The training that is described in this book in the first few chapters, is probably quite a bit different that astronauts would go through today, but considering it was written many years ago it is quite thorough and gives the reader an idea of exactly what they might have gone through.

The adventures of these four boys, after they leave the Academy forms the basis of the story, and takes them on a rescue mission to the astroid belt, another and another rescue mission to Venus where they are required to interact with the native population.

This was one of the first Highland books that I actually read many decades ago that hooked me on his writing style and characters etc. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for good but not necessarily juvenile science-fiction though, has Mr. Heinlein tend to write for well read readers.

"Citizen of the Galaxy" by Robert A. Heinlein (1908-1980)

Publisher: Ballantine
Copyright: 1957

Citizen of the Galaxy is the 11th (and second last) book in what are considered to be the Heinlein juveniles. As far as I can tell it is not set in the same timeline as some of the others are. However, if one wished to consider it to be in the same framework then it would have to be much farther in the future then pretty much any of the other books. I say this because interstellar travel is common, as it is faster than light travel, and many many stars have been colonized, etc.

The story itself tells the tale of a young orphan boy named Thorby. Later on in the book we learn that at the beginning of the story he is approximately four years old. When the story opens Thorby is standing on a slave block in the process of being auctioned off. He is purchased for a very small amount by a begger named Baslim the Cripple.

The first part of the story tells of the time Thorby lived with Baslim, which seems to equate to approximately ten years. The rest of the story is unfortunately hard to relate in a review without giving away the entire plot. However, in general Thorby is forced to leave Baslim, and the planet they had lived on and escapes on a starship. He lives aboard this ship for approximately two more years, then once again moves on, unwillingly at first, and joins the Hegemonic Guard at which time he is finally identified, reunited with his biological family (which has both good and bad points), and learns about his place in the world.

While I could be mistaken I believe this was one of the very first Heinlein books I ever read, and I still consider it to be one of my favourites (even after close to 50 years). It is a well written novel, with great characterization, a well devised plot, and a great message.

Highly recommended to anyone who likes classic science fiction.

"Time for the Stars" by Robert A. Heinlein (1908-1980)

Publisher: Ballantine / Del Rey
Copyright Date:©1956

This story in another in the "Heinlein Juveniles" collection, and tells the tale of Tom and Pat who are part of a great experiment to explore the stars. I don't believe it is set in the same universe as most of the other stories, but once again this can't be specifically confirmed. If it is then it is set after "The Star Beast", but not as far as Tunnel in the Sky (this assumption is based on the technology described).

In the beginning we are introduced to Tom and Pat who are identical twins, and have the gift of telepathy (which is supposedly something that many twins share to some degree). They join a space exploration project in which one gets to go to the stars and the other stays on Earth. Why? Because telepathy defies Einstein's Theory of General Relativity and provides instant communication with the Earth.

The story is well written, and goes into a fair bit of detail with regard to time dilation theory, as the ship they use can travel fast enough to approach to nearly the speed of light.

An enjoyable book to read lithesome interesting twists that should make a young reader more interested in science.

"Tunnel in the Sky" by Robert A. Heinlein (1908-1988)

Publisher: Ballantine / Del Rey
Copyright: 1955

"Tunnel in the Sky" is another of the Heinlein juveniles that does not conveniently fit within the same framework as the others. It is hard to estimate approximately when this story is supposed to have taken place, but it can be assumed it is in an extremely far distant future as spaceships are now obsolete.

Instead what is used is a type of hyper-spatial tunnel that can connect any two points in the universe. The development of this type of transportation is described as an offshoot of the development of stasis technology. It is typically also used to get around to various places on Earth, as well as throughout the solar system, and the universe. As far as I'm aware this is the only time in a Heinlein story that a device such as this makes an appearance, most other use spaceships of various types.

The overall premise of the story is the population of earth is now so high that colonization of other planets is desirable for many, and in some cases it is hinted that it may be mandatory. The hyper-spatial tunnels make this extremely easy, and because there is so much call for opportunities new planets there is a need for explorers/adventurers to see if the planet itself is suitable for colonization.

The protagonist of the story is a high school student by the name of Rod Walker who is taking a Social Studies course called "Advanced Survival" which if he passes will allow him to become a colonial explorer. When the story opens he is about to depart on his final exam for the course which is Solo survival.

What this exam consists of is that the student is essentially transferred somewhere and have to survive on his own or her own. After which they will return to Earth, assuming they've survived.

The test conditions are fairly basic:

1. Any planet, any climate, any terrain;
2. No rules, all weapons, any equipment;
3. Teaming is permitted but teams will not be allowed to pass through the gate in the company;
4. Test duration is not less than 48 hours, not more than 10 days.

Sounds pretty basic. But I'll leave it up to you to find out what happens.

Outside of the story, Heinlein as usual explores other concepts, which is one reason that I really enjoy his stories. In this case he looks at individual and group psychology, basic government, interpersonal relationships, and a brief look at religion.

Some reviewers have called this story a combination of "Robinson Crusoe", and "The Swiss family Robinson". However I believe it surpasses both these stories 100 fold.

"The Star Beast" by Robert A. Heinlein (1908-1988)

Publisher:   Ballantine Del Rey
Copyright: 1954
ISBN: 0345275802

The Star Beast is set quite some time after the Rolling Stones, but it is never explicitly stated when, although it implies a span of at least 100 to 200 years. I say this because not only have the events from Starman Jones taken place, but interstellar travel is very common and numerous other lifeforms have been encountered, and diplomatic relations established with them. In addition the great-great-great grandfather of the protagonist was on one of the first starships to attempt interstellar travel, which provides the backstory for this novel.

The protagonist is John Thomas Stewart the XI, who happens to own a pet by the name of Lummox. Lummox is an alien creature, from an unknown/uncontested species that was collected/adopted by John's great-great-great grandfather and smuggled to earth. Lummox has been a family pet that has been passed down from generation to generation and has now been with the family over 100 years.

The first part of the book is an exploration of the relationship between John and Lummox, and some of the trouble he caused when he escapes from home and reeks havoc throughout the town, there was also the time when Lummox ate a Buick, but this was in the past.

The book also explores in a fair bit of detail how interstellar politics could manifest itself, when we contact another civilizations, such as when Lummox's people come looking for him as they consider that he has been kidnapped. This includes, but is not limited to the political wrangling, arguments, petty politics inherent in the system. It also humorously touches on subjects such as xenophobia, hidden agendas, conspiracy theories, isolationist policies, and the general silliness that is inherit when dealing with groups humans.

Once again this is a wonderful book for teens and young adults but one that will probably be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

"Starman Jones" by Robert A. Heinlein (1908-1988)

Publisher: Ballantine / Del Rey
Copyright: 1953
ISBN: 0345301048

Starman Jones is another book that is somewhat hard to place chronologically within the Heinlein Juveniles series, as no dates are mentioned. However, it seems as if would be taking place quite sometime after "The Rolling Stones" as humanity has crossed the brink of interstellar travel. What I mean by this is that while it is becoming more common there is still significant risks involved with regard to ships getting lost etc.

The story itself revolves around a young man named Max Jones, who describes himself as a hillbilly, with dreams of becoming an astrogator like his uncle was. He does however have an extremely good head for mathematics, and a very good memory (not photographic as he points out, as he actually has to read the page). In the beginning his stepmother surprises him one day by bringing an unwanted guest to their shack, which causes trouble right from the start. When his man who it turns out is Max's new father decides to sell their farm, and other things Max runs away and falls in with a hobo.

The political climate on Earth at this time is one where almost any job worth having is controlled by a guild, and many of these restrict entrance to sponsored kin. Which Max was under the impression his uncle had done for him. After a couple of minor adventures Max makes it to the guild hall for the astrogators, where he finds out the truth. But his hobo acquaintance shows up again with a crazy plan that works. Soon thereafter Max is in a starship and on his way.

Heinlein's characters were always well rounded, and he does a very good job of bringing the dynamics of crew personalities into the story. There is the bully, the con man, the slacker, and more.

During this voyage Max grows up rather suddenly, after some prodding by a young lady, which results in him getting found out to be a stowaway, but also gets him the opportunity to try  out the profession of astrogator.

This once again was a very good book, that I believe young adults (and most others) will enjoy.