So I just finished reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

[Vesayen]

......great book!

Why did I not read this years ago? I've been tracking down as many of Robet Heinlein's books as I can the last few months.

Poor Robert Heinlein does not get enough credit when people look at authors like Tolkein, Asimov or Herbert.

Loved the book.

I felt bad for poor Mike though! He should of survived.

[Japher]

Thanks... no need to read it now I guess.

Since you'll probably plagiarize it any way.

^not a bad idea!

[Vesayen]

Oh you suck, lol.

But it is still a great book. Why is poor Robert Heinlein not spoken of more when people speak of great fiction authors?

[Japher]

One of my MANY managers has a Masters in Pyshcology and then realized how worthless it was and got a BS in ChemE, he's a great boss... Anyway, you get him started on Starship Troopers and it's a 2 hour conversation. Would you like to more?

[snoopy369]

Heinlein is thought of as a great writer... not sure who you talk about but he's spoken of alongside Asimov as one of the two writers who revolutionized SF back in the day...

[Vesayen]

Snoopy: When people recommend books on say, Apolyton or elsewhere online, Henlein always seems to miss the list.

[Soltz]

Heinlein

[Tattila the Hun]

Just read a great compilation of his shorter stories. Funny, how a introduction written in 1970 critizises his pre-Apollo Moon story, how "it actually takes the resources of a nation state to build a spaceprogram"... Yet, we have entrepreneurs just like Harriman, working on spaceflight at this moment.

[onodera]

You should read his Starship Troopers. It's completely unlike the movie and depicts a successful fascist society.

[BeBMan]

Yeah, it's scifi.

[Vesayen]

Starship troopers is a great book.

[Ming]

Heinlein is considered one of the old time greats of Science Fiction by knowledgable fans. Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of my favorites as well. Stranger in a Strange Land is a mandatory read for many college English classes. Double Star is also a great novel.

However, Heinlein does sometimes take abuse for much of his work after Stranger in a Strange Land. His obsession with death and living forever dominates the themes of his later novels, many of which are nowhere near as good as most of his earlier work.

[Heraclitus]

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is ok, but the premise is a bit off, I'd think that the harsh environment would encourage collectivist ideals. And in any Lunar-Earth war Earth would win. As a metaphor the book's quite good.

[Elok]

Originally posted by onodera
You should read his Starship Troopers. It's completely unlike the movie and depicts a successful fascist society.

It's been called that, but after reading it I couldn't see it as fascist. Socially retarded and jingoistic, sure, and the fifties mores of the characters were amusing, but not fascist.

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Elok
...and the fifties mores of the characters were amusing, but not fascist.

This is so constant in a lot of golden age scifi. It's something I think SF writers do a lot better now - extrapolate changes in culture and society, etc.

But I wonder if, fifty years down the line, people will look back and say, "Oh my, those SF writers in the oughts were so stuck in their ways!"