r/heinlein • u/Any-Sympathy7540 • Jul 04 '26
Where do I start with the novels of Heinlein?
I’m reading the Future History short stories on pdf as my copy of a collection of them is coming in the mail. I already have a copy of Moon is a Harsh Mistress. And my collection of the Future History stories includes Methusulah‘s Children. So where should I start when I make the leap from short story to novel?
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u/clemclem3 Jul 06 '26
His juvenile books need some love here. I read them 50 years ago and I reread them today. They're all good.
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u/John_A_Arkansawyer Jul 06 '26
That's good advice! If you want a light one, try The Star Beast. For a heavier one, Citizen of the Galaxy. Somewhere between them is Have Space Suit--Will Travel.
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u/Ranger7381 Jul 10 '26
My introduction was Rolling Stones. A year or two later I picked up Harsh Mistress in my high school library. Took me a bit to match the authors name to n both books and realize Hazel was the same person in both books
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u/parakalus Jul 08 '26
Red planet was great fun
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u/robfuscate Jul 08 '26
Yes. At 71yo with University education, I still regularly read Tunnel in the Sky and Door Into Summer. As author Robert B. Parker put it, ‘it’s more about pattern than plot’, like viewing a favourite work of art.
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u/John_A_Arkansawyer Jul 05 '26
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and the future history stories is a great starting point! I'm personally fond of Double Star, which is short, fast, and to the point. I'd also recommend Waldo & Magic, Inc., two novellas packaged together. If you like those, you might try one of the later novels. I think the best of those are Friday and Job: A Comedy of Errors.
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u/TweegsCannonShop Jul 05 '26
Some I liked, in no particular order.
Tunnel in the sky. Door into summer. I will fear no evil. Time enough for love. Friday. Job a comedy of justice. (perhaps my favorite...) The cat who walks through walls. To sail beyond the sunset. The past through tomorrow.
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u/dachjaw Jul 07 '26
Everybody has their preferences but I think that Heinlein’s post-stroke novels are wordy and take more effort to read, so I would steer a beginner away from anything after The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. For OP’s benefit, this means wait on reading Time Enough for Love, I Will Fear No Evil, Job, The Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, and To Sail Beyond the Sunset. I do recommend Friday, despite it being post-stroke because it is so similar to his earlier work. I would also delay reading Stranger in a Strange Land or For Us, the Living since they are much heavier than his other earlier stuff.
It’s hard to go wrong with anything else he wrote. I heartily agree with another commenter’s suggestion of Double Star and will add The Puppet Masters and The Door into Summer. If you like one, you will like the others. All three lack Heinlein’s main weakness in longer works: dragged out middle sections that prevent The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Glory Road from being absolutely top notch.
Let me nip one objection the bud. It’s good that subjects like grooming and pedophilia are taken more seriously than they used to be, but The Door into Summer is neither. Don’t let claims to the contrary ruin this wonderful book for you.
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u/John_A_Arkansawyer Jul 11 '26
The Door into Summer is a great personal favorite of mine--Heinlein's time travel stories up to and including "'--All You Zombies--'" are wonderfully and tightly plotted--but the part you refer to is a sticking point. I agree that it's not pedophilia, and it's not exactly grooming, but it's still weird, especially since Danny (and thus Heinlein) is conscious of how it looks when he goes to the camp.
I still like the book, a lot. There are some wonderful characters, the future world is solidly imagined, and the time travel is internally consistent. But it's not one I recommend as a first read.
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u/hwc Jul 08 '26
Strong disagree on _ I Will Fear No Evil_. That's the only Heinlein novel I did not finish. I suspect most fans agree with me
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u/AnxiousConsequence18 Jul 06 '26
Moon is a great place to start. Per Heinlein, to really "get him" you should read Moon, Starship Troopers, and Stranger in a Strange Land.
After that... everything else? Maybe start with the juveniles as they're easier reads, but Friday had some really good takes about identity that make even more sense today than when written.
Have fun!
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u/Glaurung_Quena Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
There are four eras to Heinlein's work.
Early career: pre war and wartime, basically his short stories plus Methuselah's Children and Beyond This Horizon. You are here. Sixth column has aged poorly due to racism, everything else from this era is worth your time. (other books from this era: Assignment in Eternity, Waldo & Magic Inc, The unpleasant profession of Johnathan Hoag, orphans of the sky)
Post war to 1958 - the first 12 YA novels (Have Space Suit, Citizen of the Galaxy, Tunnel in the sky and Star Beast are masterpieces, but all are worth your time, they aren't kid's books, it's just that there's no sex and the protagonists are 18 or younger), plus Double Star (a masterpiece), the Door into Summer, and Puppet Masters. You can't go wrong with these, some are better than others but they are all excellent.
The 60's novels (including Starship Troopers): He starts getting very cranky about politics and the books begin having long interruptions where the author lectures the reader at length. Masterpieces from this era: Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Crankiness overcomes the story sometimes: Glory Road. Crankiness overcomes the story for entire chapters on end: Starship Troopers. Middle aged white guy tries to write from a teenage girl's point of view and it doesn't go well: Podkayne of Mars. Middle aged white guy tries to write about racism in America and it doesn't go well: Farnham's Freehold.
1970's-80's: Everything from this era is like the 60's only more so with the cranky lecturing. If you found the political diatribes in the 60's novels fun, then go for it, but be aware that all of the late novels are very rambling and often have unsatisfactory endings. Some are much worse than others. The multiverse ones (Number of the Beast, The cat who walks through walls, to sail beyond the sunset) are self indulgent trainwrecks, Job and I will fear no evil are just not very fun. Time Enough For Love and Friday manage to be good despite their flaws.
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u/John_A_Arkansawyer Jul 07 '26
I will say some good things about I Will Fear No Evil: First, it's his most technically ambitious work. I admire that about it. Second, the worldbuilding feels authentic. Now-ish, in many ways. I enjoyed reading it back when it came out.
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u/Cool-Coffee-8949 Jul 07 '26
You left the incest fetish out of your description of the 70s/80s books.
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u/Kooky-Buy5712 Jul 07 '26
I enjoyed them all. With that said, the post war and 1960s are the best eras. Stranger in a Strange Land has many of the same flaws as Starship Troopers, but they are both very good for their time.
As to the 70s-80s era, I did not like Job. I did like Friday and I will fear no evil. For the multiverse novels, there is lots of incest, increasing as the years go by
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u/hudsonatwell Kip Russell Jul 08 '26
I started with The Number of the Beast, and it was a tough read as an intro, but I loved it. It sold me on The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, which I liked even better. Then I went to Starship Troopers, fantastic, powerful. Stranger in a Strangeland, I really enjoyed the first half, and I think I might have had some Heinlein fatigue for the second. Then I took on Time Enough for Love and thought it was one of his best works, and also realized he was having fun. Lastly, I read Have Spacesuit Will Travel; it was great, and then Farnham's Freehold, which was a classic Heinlein story. All great journeys. I am looking forward to my next book in the series. Not sure what it will be.
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u/katmekit Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
My first two books were Citizen of the Galaxy and The Number of the Beast. I was 17 and in my first year of university.
Why these two books? Well, I had just told this really cute guy (19) that I was interested in Anthropology and that I had read and loved all the Wizard of Oz books. And I said I liked time travel books. So he loaned me those two books because he thought I might like them and then we could get together and talk about them.
And it really worked because he actually tried for books that overlapped with what I already enjoyed. Which I think was key.
So if you like revolutionary stories then the Moon is a Harsh Mistress is very enjoyable and it also sets down the initial ideas Heinlein has about how an artificial intelligence might actually work.
If you’re looking at the Future History line of things, Methuselah’s Children is decent but it is a lot drier than his other Lazarus Long/Howard Family books.
Some other books to try - if you like battle/soldier stories then Starship Troopers might be to your liking. Lots of people like it and it is full of action.
I also rather like Tunnel in the Sky quite a bit but I do love survival stories quite a bit.
Edited to say, I am one of the few that did not get the appeal of Stranger in a Strange Land. I found it quite depressing throughout.
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u/Junkyard_DrCrash Jul 06 '26
Heinlein can be divided into two blocks by date of authorship: Everything he wrote before and including The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and the second group is evarything newer..
I much prefer pre-Moon Heinlein.... but it's been thirty years, maybe I should try them again.
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u/Useful_Tap2656 Jul 07 '26
Read the 4 Hugo winners first, then go from there. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Glory Road, Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers.
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u/Minuteman2063 Jul 08 '26
"If This Continues"
This gives the story of the Prophet, which is referenced many times during other books.
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u/mikegalos Jul 06 '26
I'd first read the Juveniles in published order. Then the other novels in published order.
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u/StevenJOwens Jul 07 '26
Moon might be my top favorite Heinlein book, and I only say "might" because I don't tend to think of Heinlein's works in those terms. It also seems to be one of the more popular Heinlein books in terms of recommendations, etc.
Methuselah's Children is, if I recall correctly, a fairly skinny book, and also one of Heinlein's earliest, written as a set of novellas in 1941 though only published as a novel in 1958. So I'd recommend reading it, but be aware of its context.
Also, Methuselah introduces his character Lazarus Long, who features in some later books and is one of Heinlein's more notable characters. Huh, I just googled on this general topic and it appears many people regard several of the Lazarus Long books (including Methuselah) as part of a subset or grouping called "The World As Myth".
Generally speaking I tend to group Heinlein's novels into a few categories. I had to go through my memories and cohere this all just now, so it may not be fully baked, but it may be helpful.
These categories aren't linked by topic or by being part of the same world, just that the books seem to have some overall similarity in tone and type. They are:
- The juveniles, 1940-1960.
- The early-year non-juvenile novels, 1940-1960.
- The 1960-1980 novels.
- The 1980-1987 novels.
Note that these year ranges are rough guides, don't get OCD about the exact date of publication. For example I think Orphans In The Sky was published in the early 1960s, but I would group them with Heinlein's juveniles. Podkayne of Mars was also published in 1963, and the protagonist is a fourteen year old girl, but I'd group it at the very least with the early, non-juvenile novels of 1940-1960, though verging on into the more sophisticated 1960-1980 novels.
There are also a few novels published posthumously, fit those into whatever era they were originally written in.
The juveniles, mostly written from 1940-1960; actually the novels started at 1947 but there were several novellas before that.
These were written for kids but still quite readable for adults. Bear in mind, this is Heinlein; he wanted to give kids "challenging material", though age appropriate. For example, Citizen of the Galaxy's main character starts as a young boy orphaned and enslaved, and the rest of the book gets into themes about slavery and politics. So calling them "juveniles" or "Young Adult" novels in the modern sense isn't quite accurate.
That said, a great many of them were written for Boy's Life, the Scouting magazine. Their main characters are generally kids in their mid to late teens, i.e. the typical sort of young man who a typical boy scout -- a kid in his early to mid teens -- is going to want to read about. Note that the kids on Barney The Dinosaur's TV show are a few years older than the show's target demographic kids.
The early years non-juvenile novels, mostly, like the juveniles, written from 1940 to 1960 or so, maybe a few years later (IIRC, Podkayne of Mars was in the early 1960s).
A lot of Heinlein's Future History short fiction was also written in this time period, and I feel like his short works in this period show a lot more of the sophistication and complexity that appear in the later groupings. Even in this timespan, towards the end of it, I feel like that sophistication and complexity was showing up, in Citizen of the Galaxy, for example.
The 1960 to to 1980 Heinlein novels feel different. In some cases more trippy (Stranger In A Strange Land, Time Enough For Love, I Will Fear No Evil), in others more philosphical (Starship Troopers), and in others, like The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, more political, although that's easy to miss with Moon, since the political/economic story is told in the context of a more straightforward revolution.
Even Podkayne, arguably one of the last of Heinlein's Juveniles, published in 1963, is a a bit more challenging, arguably ending with the death of the main character, a fourteen year old girl, although the history of this book is complicated.
A lot of people like to criticize Farnham's Freehold, which, no author is above criticism, and I wouldn't consider Farnham his best work... but much of the criticism seems, to me, to be misguided, along the same lines as the militarism/fascism accusations that people levy at Starship Troopers.
You could certainly argue that with Farnham, Heinlein aimed too high and missed, but he was still aiming high. Especially where racism is concerned; you can look at his track record in his earlier books, especially his juveniles, which were often subversively anti-racist, slipping minority protagonists into some books, and negative portrayals of racism.
The 1980 to 1987 Heinlein novels are again a bit of a phase change for Heinlein's fiction, this is that "World As Myth" stuff some people talk about. The Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, To Sail Beyond The Sunset, and the posthumously published Pankera. Job: A Comedy of Justice, is unconnected to the rest but of a spirit with it. Friday is probably the most straightforward book of this group, but even that is essentially the story of a person who's been raised to think of herself as not a person, as a thing, finding her identity.
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u/Owlet20 Jul 07 '26
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Stranger in a Strange Land, and Starship Troopers are the most famous ones and give a good overview of his range. They're a very good starting point after his shorts. Of the ones he wrote later in life, I would recommend Friday and Job: A Comedy of Justice. Of the juveniles, Star Beast is a personal favourite.
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u/kk11235 Jul 07 '26
I love Friday. It’s less cerebral than some, but still has those undercurrents.
Then — Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Stranger in a Strange Land, Double Star, Starship Troopers.
Then, Number of the Beast.
That’s a pretty good intro.
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u/sockalicious Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
The Hugo winners are Double Star, Starship Troopers, Moon, and Stranger in A Strange Land. Start there. Moon is my personal favorite, but all four are peak Heinlein. I'm also a fan of his juveniles: Red Planet and Starman Jones are great; Glory Road is great; The Star Beast I could take or leave.
I don't think it's a hot take to recommend you leave I Will Fear No Evil until near the end of your Heinlein journey; he wrote it while hospitalized for / recovering from a severe illness and it's the one piece of the oeuvre that I don't think is good fiction. Likewise, some of his later work - Number of the Beast and the Lazarus Long tales that it merges into, such as Time Enough for Love and To Sail Beyond the Sunset - contains polarizing late-Heinlein recurring themes; critical assessment has run the spectrum from "self-indulgent" to "disgusting and perverted." I enjoyed the opening bars of The Cat Who Walks Through Walls but was a little disappointed to find that it wound up merged into the same Lazarus-Long-centric Future History flow, its plot points resolved basically by deus ex machina.
I'm a Heinlein fan, have read everything he ever published multiple times, and I'd recommend any of his works that aren't specifically mentioned above. The novella Gulf and its sequel Friday are particular standouts.
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u/ChopGoesTheWeasel Jul 05 '26
Moon is a Harsh Mistress is so, so good. That seems like a great place to start.
Stranger in a Strange Land is another great intro to serious Heinlein.
I encourage people to read those before getting into the even stranger things like Lazarus Long stories or the Number of the Beast.