equal to its fame as a defining novel

A superb and imaginative take on the social, political and legal ramifications of colonisation propelled by a narrow cultural perspective

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Epic - well written & narrated

V enjoyable and thought provoking. Had a big impact on the 60s i guess . One of best books in a while that I’ve listened to.

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The Hippies' Bible

As ageless as 1961 SF can possibly be, with its talk of "tape recorders" - solid classic.

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Great read

My first heinlen book and I was not disappointed. Money well spent great story well delivered

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Interesting: gender and sexual mores from 1950's were challenged

Interesting: gender and sexual mores from 1950's were challenged but in the 21st century it is uncomfortable to hear some of what is expressed. Only by assigning it to an alternate reality can one justify some of it.
The jump from the restricted civilisation to the open freedom of the final chapters is somewhat clumsy, the opening chapters maybe being caricature even when written perhaps.
The voice artiste is excellent, pitch and timbre varied for each character to good effect.

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Excellent

It is a beautiful story. I love the plot, characters, their path, and narration. I highly recommend this book.

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From and for a bygone time

It's hard to judge a social commentary of a book that is now 53 years old. Some ideas like free love are now dated, and probably won't shock any listener that has watched television in the last 10 years, while the proposed libertarian ideals might resonate with others.

While religion is touched a few times, I would have preferred a harder stance on either side, pro or con, but the listener is left with a weak (by today's standard perhaps) compromise on it.

Even though I'm a fan of Heinlein's Starship Troopers, I can't recommend this book, which I ascribe partially to its age, and partially to my disinterest in the aforementioned topics.

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3 people found this helpful

It's Alright - not what I was expecting

This book has always been on my to-read list and I expected something along the lines of 2001 or Foundation - a bona fide hard SF classic but it's more like a sci fi pulp romp/social commentary and VERY of it's time.

It's not bad per se, there is some nice imagery and Heinlein has a good turn of phrase but it's l-o-n-g and so incredibly dated both in the technology described (a risk with sci fi of course) and most noticeably in the sexual politics. It's very naff bordering on cringeworthy in places to modern ears. And there's a fair dollop of casual racism/homophobia too as is common in a lot of popular fiction from the peiod.

I think the narrator has been given a rough deal in some of these reviews, I thought his style actually suited the material as it's definitely more AMAZING STORIES! than Sorlaris or something but the main character of Jubal - who talks a LOT - was so hectoring and so strident I realised I was getting stressed out after a while just listening. I gave up just under halfway and returned it.

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Very thought provoking

Quite a slow book, but a really interesting take on how language shapes the world

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Heinlein's best

A true classic and in my not so humble opinion, the best RAH ever wrote.

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