NationStates Jolt Archive

When I was a young child, no older than 10, my father read a story to me about a group of high school students in the future who get teleported to a new world and as part of the assignment, they are ordered to survive. Sadly, I do not know the name of this book in question, and my dad is aging and he does not remember. I vaguely remember it being a Heinlein book, but I honestly don't know. Now my question is, does anyone here on NSG have any inkling to what this book is called? lol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_in_the_Sky

There you go...

...a good read, though by no means Heinlein's best.

Ah, you beat me to it. If ever there was a thread that had my name on it...

I know 'Stranger in a Strange Land' is supposed to be his epic, but I always preferred 'Starship Troopers' or 'The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.'

Ah, you beat me to it. If ever there was a thread that had my name on it...

:tongue:

I know 'Stranger in a Strange Land' is supposed to be his epic, but I always preferred 'Starship Troopers' or 'The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.'

I like 'em all...though I think my favorite is "Job: A Comedy of Justice", if only because it takes all the tenents of far-right evangelism and tears them into tiny bits.

Friday is a good one too, as are Glory Road and Puppet Masters, which has spawned I don't know how many movie adaptations.

Friday is a good one too, as are Glory Road and Puppet Masters, which has spawned I don't know how many movie adaptations.

...I note that both of us are avoiding Lazarus Long like the plague. :tongue:

Yeah, just because you write a book where the main hero lives for thousands of years, doesn't mean you have to describe each one of those years. It gets a bit...convoluted.

Plus, as much as I like his work, sometimes it seems like he's being shocking just for the sake of shock, and the whole Lazarus seducing his own mother I think fits that.

I like 'em all...though I think my favorite is "Job: A Comedy of Justice", if only because it takes all the tenents of far-right evangelism and tears them into tiny bits.

I second this. My favorite Heinlein book by far. I'm going to have to disagree about Stranger and, well, any stories involving Lazarus Long...I enjoyed them thoroughly, they're just not really the kind of books I'd likely give a second read-through, at least not for a long, long time.

Ah, you beat me to it. If ever there was a thread that had my name on it...

I know 'Stranger in a Strange Land' is supposed to be his epic, but I always preferred 'Starship Troopers' or 'The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.'


Revolt in 2100 isn't bad, albeit a tad disappointing towards the end. In general I'm simply not a Heinlein fan...I didn't like starship troopers for example.

The First Heinlein novel I read was Citizen Of The Galaxy. I've since read a few others, but that one always stuck with me.

First one I read was The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, I was maybe 11 or 12, and it was my favorite book for a good while. Still in my top ten.

"The most ridiculous concept ever perpetrated by H.Sapiens is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of his creations, that he can be persuaded by their prayers, and becomes petulant if he does not receive this flattery. Yet this ridiculous notion, without one real shred of evidence to bolster it, has gone on to found one of the oldest, largest and least productive industries in history."

"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Nations and peoples who forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms."

Heinlein is one of my favorites and has been since I was old enough to read. I go back and reread his stuff every couple of years - in fact, I just finished rereading Door Into Summer - not one of his best, but a good read.

Heinlein is okay, although I haven't read too much: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (rather liked), Stranger in a Strange Land (fairly average), and He Built A Crooked House (pretty good). Friday is in the pile to read, right after Dune.

He's okay, but I would rank the big three as Asimov, Clarke, and then Heinlein, although I may have simply not read enough. It might be his politics, which I don't particularly agree with and tend to feel a bit anvilicious. I think that Ursula K. LeGuin is a much better author, though. For one, she can write political SF without it feeling like a sermon.

Heinlein is okay, although I haven't read too much: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (rather liked), Stranger in a Strange Land (fairly average), and He Built A Crooked House (pretty good). Friday is in the pile to read, right after Dune.

He's okay, but I would rank the big three as Asimov, Clarke, and then Heinlein, although I may have simply not read enough. It might be his politics, which I don't particularly agree with and tend to feel a bit anvilicious. I think that Ursula K. LeGuin is a much better author, though. For one, she can write political SF without it feeling like a sermon.


I did sort of like the massive propaganda theme to Starship Troopers though....except I felt that it was abit overpowering at times.

"Have Space Suit, Will Travel" was a good read. I think it was the first Heinlein book I read, some 15 years ago or so.

My favorite has been Beyond This Horizon for a long time. Yet it was one of his earliest works.

My faves were "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Job" and "I Will Fear No Evil".

My faves were "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Job" and "I Will Fear No Evil".

"I Will Fear No Evil" was, perhaps, the one I liked least. My favorites are "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress," Farnham's Freehold," and J.O.B. I like almost all of his juveniles.

Damn all of you guys beat me to Tunnel in the Sky, I enjoyed that book read it when I was about 11-12.

The First Heinlein novel I read was Citizen Of The Galaxy. I've since read a few others, but that one always stuck with me.

I enjoyed this book also, one I didn't like at all was Starman Jones.

"I Will Fear No Evil" was, perhaps, the one I liked least. My favorites are "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress," Farnham's Freehold," and J.O.B. I like almost all of his juveniles.

I liked "I WillFear No Evil" for the same reasons I liked "Stranger..." although I thought the former was far, far inferior to the latter.

I liked the fact that Heinlein did what I think he did best - pushed the envelope. I liked the fact that Heinlein was resolving arguments decades ago, that are resonating hard cross America today.

Has no one made a "TiTS" joke yet?

Sad to say, on the cover of my copy of TiTS the hero is portrayed as a white guy. Whoops.

The First Heinlein novel I read was Citizen Of The Galaxy. I've since read a few others, but that one always stuck with me.

I think that's one of his more underrated books...I liked the depiction of the Free Trader society, as well as the overall anti-slavery plot. Good stuff.

First one I read was The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, I was maybe 11 or 12, and it was my favorite book for a good while. Still in my top ten.

Every time I read it, I catch myself speaking and thinking in "Loonie" for a couple of days afterwards. :tongue:

Heinlein is one of my favorites and has been since I was old enough to read. I go back and reread his stuff every couple of years - in fact, I just finished rereading Door Into Summer - not one of his best, but a good read.

That book rules, if only for the sequence where Pete the Cat kicks the shit out of Belle and Miles. :D

My favorite has been Beyond This Horizon for a long time. Yet it was one of his earliest works.

That's one of the few Heinlein books I haven't read...I'll have to pick it up next time I'm at the library.

"I Will Fear No Evil" was, perhaps, the one I liked least.

I liked the concept...the execution, not so much.

"Farnham's Freehold,"

I liked the first half...I thought the second half hammered the whole race-reversal in society aspect a little too hard, but the book is a product of it's time, so it's to be expected.