# More Heinlein Suggestions Please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552 "2009-02-26T19:56:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/21 "2009-02-27T00:05:03Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > And once you’re done with the collected works of Heinlein, I’ll be glad to steer you towards the **best of Joe Haldeman** , George R.R. Martin and John Scalzi, each of whom write stuff that RAH would be proud of. The section I bolded is nonsensical. Are you trying to imply that some of Haldeman is less than brilliant? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/22 "2009-02-27T03:32:56Z")
You could take a look through this thread I started a while ago “Ask the guy who’s rereading all of Heinlein”: > **[Ask the guy who's rereading all of Heinlein](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=381565)** > > A couple of weeks ago I was out of books to read during my commute, so I grabbed a couple of Heinlein juveniles off the shelf for some easy rereading. After rereading all the juveniles and having a great time, and with no other newly released books... ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/23 "2009-02-27T11:52:21Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > David Brin has some excellent and intelligent Science Fiction. If you can find some of Poul Anderson’s older Sci-Fi he was a Heinlien fan himself. Spider Robinson and David Niven are two more. I hope you mean _Larry_ Niven! ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/24 "2009-02-27T12:54:21Z")
I’ve always thought that Allen Steele’s writings were strongly influenced by Heinlein. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/25 "2009-02-27T13:20:47Z")
Add \*Time enough for love \*and _Glory road_, and you’re done. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/26 "2009-02-27T13:35:50Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > I hope you mean _Larry_ Niven! Yep. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/27 "2009-02-27T14:51:32Z")
_Early_ Niven. His output the last decade or so has been garbage at best. But definitely read **Ringworld** , all of the **Known Space** stories, all the **Gil the ARM** stories, and his collaborations with Jerry Pournelle. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/28 "2009-02-27T15:13:32Z")
> [@GildedLily](#): > > To clarify, I have enjoyed all his books a lot. Citizen was enjoyable, but my assumption is that it is one of his juvenile novels, so it didn’t grab me as much. Fair enough, but don’t dismiss his [juveniles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinlein_juveniles) just because they’re “juvenile.” Some people think they’re among his best work. _Starship Troopers_ was originally intended as a “juvenile.” ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/29 "2009-02-27T16:38:30Z")
Just to add a bit of background on some of the books on your list: “The Green Hills of Earth” is a collection of short stories. This forms the middle part of his “Future History” series… all the stories in that series take place within a single, unified vision of what would happen to the human race starting with what was then the present (i.e., mid-20th cent.) and going out a couple of hundred years. Many of his novels also fit, to a greater or lesser degree, within the “Future History.” “The Menace from Earth” is also a collection of short stories, but very different. The title story is a featherweight, but the rest are uncharacteristically (for Heinlein) “New Wave”-ish… they’re kind of disturbing. I agree with some other posters that “Mistress” and “Stranger” are his best, but there are a number of other works of his that I also like very much which are not on your list, such as “Orphans of the Sky” (really two novellas, “Universe” and “Commonsense”); “Have Space Suit - Will Travel” (my favorite of his juveniles); and the rest of the “Future History” series (anthologized as “The Man who Sold the Moon”, “Revolt in 2100”, and “Methusaleh’s Children”, IIRC). I also loved a couple of his other anthologies – “Assignment in Eternity”, which contained stories having to do with expansion of the potential of the human mind, and “The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag”, which contained stories of science fantasy. (I bet the “hard science” types will be all over me for that.) And then there’s “By His Bootstraps”, possibly my favorite of his short stories. For libertarian themes, you might also check out “Farnham’s Freehold”. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/30 "2009-02-27T16:42:28Z")
**Revolt In 2100** is a must-read. It’s really two novellas - “If This Goes On-” and “Coventry.” Both deal with libertarianism to one degree or another. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/31 "2009-02-27T18:28:29Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > The section I bolded is nonsensical. Are you trying to imply that some of Haldeman is less than brilliant? Wellllllll… yes. Yes, I’m afraid I am. I’m a big fan but not all of his stuff is good as his very best. Among his best, IMHO - and I think there’s no better SF writing out there - are _The Forever War_ (itself a clever, Vietnam-tinged response/rebuttal to _Starship Troopers_), _Tool of the Trade, The Hemingway Hoax, Worlds_ (but just the first one) and _All My Sins Remembered_, as well as as his astonishingly good short stories “Armajas Das,” “A Summer’s Lease,” “For White Hill” and “Seasons.” But he’s only human. He can’t _always_ be brilliant. :eek:😉 This might interest you, BTW: [http://io9.com/5062996/joe-haldemans-back-catalog-could-make-hollywood-billions](http://io9.com/5062996/joe-haldemans-back-catalog-could-make-hollywood-billions) I will confess to enjoying Heinlein’s _Sixth Column_ when I was a kid, although it wasn’t nearly as good when I re-read it a few years ago. Kind of an early SF precursor of _Red Dawn_. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/32 "2009-02-27T18:39:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Wellllllll… yes. Yes, I’m afraid I am. I’m a big fan but not all of his stuff is good as his very best. That’s okay. I was just being snarky. 😃 I mean, the man wrote TWO Star Trek novels. > [@](#): > > I will confess to enjoying Heinlein’s _Sixth Column_ when I was a kid, although it wasn’t nearly as good when I re-read it a few years ago. Kind of an early SF precursor of _Red Dawn_. Either you take that back, or we duel. Bear in mind that I cheat in all monomachies as a matter of policy. The above paragraph is less an actual threat than an excuse to use the word _monomachy_. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/33 "2009-02-27T18:56:03Z")
Fine. :rolleyes: Antimatter bombs at ten paces, then. Name your second. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/34 "2009-02-27T19:01:11Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I will confess to enjoying Heinlein’s _Sixth Column_ when I was a kid, although it wasn’t nearly as good when I re-read it a few years ago. Kind of an early SF precursor of _Red Dawn_. > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Either you take that back, or we duel. Bear in mind that I cheat in all monomachies as a matter of policy. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Fine. :rolleyes: Antimatter bombs at ten paces, then. Name your second. Wait a second. What is this dual about? That _Sixth Column_ is or is not good or the comparison to _Red Dawn_. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/35 "2009-02-27T19:08:55Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > That’s okay. I was just being snarky. 😃 I mean, the man wrote TWO Star Trek novels.\*.[/SIZE] Haldeman doesn’t exactly brag about those Star Trek novels. (I love Haldeman, but _The Coming_ and \*Guardian \*were pretty bad.) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/36 "2009-02-27T19:19:05Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Fine. :rolleyes: Antimatter bombs at ten paces, then. Name your second. Hold on, hold on. I’ve already gotten my anti-matter bomb primed & ready; I just have to finish booby-trapping yours so it electrocutes you, and hiring the snipers just in case you detect the booby-trap, and hiring mercenary ex-marines tasked to defend the snipers against the ninjas you will undoubtedly send to take out the snipers, and so forth. This plan has, like, 2686 steps. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/37 "2009-02-27T19:20:12Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Wait a second. What is this dual about? That _Sixth Column_ is or is not good or the comparison to _Red Dawn_. I don’t remember what the duel was about. I’m not in charge of keeping track of that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/38 "2009-02-27T19:50:09Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Qadgop, how is Sunset any more creepy than Time Enough for Love? Having mom rhapsodize about dad getting to have sex with their (adult) daughter in rather explicit terms squicked me out. I hear that sort of thing from my patients waaay too often, thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/39 "2009-02-27T20:26:12Z")
John Varley needs to knock it off with his sequels, but _Red Thunder_ and _Steel Beach_ are both homages to Heinlein and very much in the Master’s style. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552/40 "2009-02-27T20:52:39Z")
If you’re looking for post-Heinlein recommendations, I’d suggest John Scalzi. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-heinlein-suggestions-please/487552.md?page=3)