That’s not quite what happened: there weren’t so many discussions about who should be in charge as much as how one should treat the person in charge. Given how MANY of these discussions there are, the difference seems important to make.
Zeb started in charge, and everyone gave him lip, so he quit and Hilda got elected. She did a decent job through the interminable British-Barsoom sequence and Jake gave her TONS of lip. Then Jake was made boss and they had a “white mutiny” (aka: obey all his orders literally but in the worst possible light) and made his life hell since he was being such a dickhead. Then Deety was made leader so that they could all have a turn, and Jake was STILL a jackass (but less so). That lasted a bit beyond Oz, iirc and finally Hilda was made permanant captain.
I didn’t dislike Hilda nearly as much as Jake (who we’re supposed to dislike and who becomes a dick only when required by the plot) or Deety who talks in a Shirley Temple / baby doll voice. Bleah.
Anyway, I’ve gone through the thoroughly delightful (and FAR too short Oz sequence). Even though Heinlein got a few of the micro-detalis (the kind only a fanboy < coughs > would notice) he perfectly captured the flavor of Oz.
Then he takes us to a half-dozen other universes, bouncing back to Oz to correct mistakes they made earlier.
Gay is self-aware in Oz (which is fine), but not once they leave (which is also fine), 'till suddenly she is (which isn’t. WHY does she become self-aware: it happens on Earth-Dull). Major plot-hole in the book.
There’s MORE endless discussions about how to program search patterns, a very self-indulgent chapter where they meet Lewis Carroll (which is cool. Self-indulgence can be fun. In this case, it is) and then go to several more fictional universes (Lensman, King Arthur, Lilliput) (hmmm…maybe not in that order…Wonderland may have been last) 'till they eventually settle on Earth-Dull (“Bheuluah-Land”).
Here’s the thing: the way Heinlein set up the book, there’s no reason they couldn’t have gone to any fictional universe at any point in the universe’s history that they wanted. Why not go to Niven’s Known Space-verse after the Puppeteer migration: I can’t think of any better universe to have and raise a child (their prime goal). No better medical care exists, and other than the galactic core explosion (which is no big deal, we’ll just move by the time the radition gets here, and the possible fleet of Pak that may or may not be approaching (and we can kick the collective assess of the Pak) there’s no major issues to worry about. I understand that probably for copyright reasons Heinlein couldn’t use it, so why did he mentioned that the characters had read Niven’s Known Space? It just makes the main characters sound like morons.
Anyway, they get bored on Earth-Dull (why did he even introduce Earth-Dull? They only stay there long enough to get bored: about 12 days and 6(?) pages) and leave: no Bugs are needed to propel them to leave. As a matter of fact, we haven’t seen a bug since British-Barsoom, and those were proto-Bugs: barely sentient. So I have to conclude that Gharlane was just wrong about that aspect.
Anyway, they end up in a parallel version of Heinlein’s Future History: This is NOT the same Lazarus Long we’ve read about in earlier books, despite what Heinlein says. The “real” Lazarus wasn’t a thief by trade. He’d steal or cheat or lie to protect himself and his family, but he didn’t do it just for the fun of it…he’d be “too stinkin’ proud”.
This Lazarus has no morals, scruples, or ethics (the “real” one does). He promptly tries three(?) different times to cheat or steal Gay. Why? No one’s life is in immediate danger and whatever Lazarus-real was, he wasn’t stupid. The ship is a time machine and Lazarus needed it for a journey to the past. It wouldn’t have hurt to wait and negotiate.
And how did Dora/Lazarus, etc know to expect our heroes? Never explained. Another major plot-hole.
Like I said, I’m willing to believe that this book was intended to be a “How not to write a book” book, but I think it fails (or succeeds too well).
Fenris
PS: I forgot to mention: A rare occurance in Heinlein: he makes a huge massive mistake. During the Safe Harbor sequence there are long passages as characters decide what (if anything) to wear for breakfast. Finally it’s agreed that everyone’ll go topless and Deety starts cooking breakfast. Including bacon. Topless. I cooked bacon while nude. Once. I’ll NEVER make that mistake again and Deety’s enormous, much disccused “spung”-nippled “teats” are a far bigger target for random splatters of grease. Thus I conclude that she can’t be the genius she’s self-described as. (Yeah, I know, that includes me too, but I never claimed to be a genius)