Legendary SF Writer - Robert Heinlein

Politically, Robert Heinlein was a libertarian. And he used his beliefs to give flavor to many of his science fiction books. And I can understand it if someone whose beliefs differ from his can be turned off from Robert's books. For those who aren't too sure what Libertarians believe in... the shortest and easiest way I can describe it is: belief that less government interference is best for everyone.

But hey, if you got a better definition (or a worst one), well, feel free to leave something in the comment section below. (shrug)

But back to Robert, he won a lot of science fiction awards. And I think he deserved them all because the books he wrote are really that good. You may not agree with some of them, but you definitely will learn a little!

On a more personal note, Robert Heinlein was married three times and his 3rd (and last wife), Virginia Heinlein lived until 2003. She published several of his books posthumously. And established a literary society in her husband's name, the Heinlein Society.

But of course I will talk a little about his bestselling book, The Starship Troopers. This book was written in 1959 and outraged a lot of people that were sensitive to military topics. The Starship Troopers was a coming-of-age story about duty, citizenship, and the role of the military in society. It was about squashing the bugs. And a movie was based on the book. But like most of the time... the book was way better!

The next book that I wanted to discuss with you is The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Now this book, whew boy! It was about a future revolution and it is a great book on politics and hard science. In fact, I think this book is Robert's best book ever. Without spoiling your enjoyment of this fantastic book, I will give you the set up. There was a poor colony on the Moon and it broke away from the wealthy and much more powerful planet... the Earth.

Now what was happening was the rich and powerful authority on Earth was deliberatingly keeping the Loonies oppressed and poor so they could reap huge profits. As it happens, a small group of dissidents appeared against all odds to right this wrong. And this is how the story goes...

In my opinion, most of the science fiction writing has always been disregarded as "junk science" or one thing or another. But the test of time has proven that The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of the best SF books ever written. You would do well to get this book if you like to expand your mind on the ramifications of politics and the facts that human beings keep making the same political mistakes over and over again in history.

Stranger in a Strange Land is a kind of interesting twist for a SF writer with a military background. Robert graduated from Annapolis in 1929 and served in the Navy until 1934. But this book was very philosophical. And here is the set up. There was a guy that was the first human born on Mars and came back down to Earth. Now this guy was raised in a totally different philosophy in Mars so when he arrived in Earth. Well, that would be telling too much, right? :)

Needless to say, this book has withstood the test of time. Which in my opinion is the classic definition of GREAT science fiction. This book was published in 1961 and you probably wouldn't even notice it.

But back to the Stranger in a Strange Land. Our hero, Valentine Michael Smith (the Martian) arrives on Earth and finds out that he is the legal heir to an ginormous financial empire. And not only that, he has never seen a woman before! So you can only guess which direction this book will be heading.

And if you haven't read this book yet, boy, you are in for a treat. And you won't guess what happens! It is no accident that this book was the winner of the 1962 Hugo Award that is given to the best SF book of the year. All in all, this is a highly recommended book to read or get for a science fiction reader for his/her birthday or holiday.

Glory Road is a superbly written fantasy book. Now, I'm not a great fan of most fantasy books simply because they are mostly crap. This book was written in 1963 and believe me... you cannot even tell!

This book is about a Vietnam veteran that was wasting his time in an island off of France. The hero's name is Oscar and somehow, he answered an ad that practically challenged him... and met a very incredibly beautiful woman and a dwarf that led him away to an fantasy adventure. And this adventure is incredibly dangerous and Oscar had to reinvent himself to become the hero that was expected of him... or die!

I felt that Robert A. Heinlein outdid himself in Glory Road because it was an imaginative and very entertaining read. My understanding is that this is the ONLY fully fledged fantasy novel that Heinlein ever wrote. I'm sure if my information is wrong... someone will let me know about it in the comment section at the bottom of this webpage.