Lot Number Ninety-Seven....August 18, 2007 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Citizen of the Galaxy" is another fine addition to Robert A. Heinlein's series of `juveniles' he wrote for Charles Scribners Sons primarily in the 1950s.
We never find out what motivated the beggar, Baslim the Cripple, to buy the slave boy Thorby. In this distant future, mankind has spread out among the stars. The Nine Worlds do not even acknowledge any relationship to Earth and are not members of the Terran Hegemony.
Anyway on this frontier world, there exists the institution of slavery.
One thing becomes immediately apparent, Baslim is a lot more than a beggar. As their father/son develops, it is obvious Baslim is highly educated with a wide range of skills. It is also obvious, he is some sort of spy. Thorby doesn't care. Pops business was Pops business. Baslim raises and home schools his son.
Things come to a head years later when Baslim is found to be a spy. Thorby must flee for his life. However Baslim has foreseen this day and has prepared Thorby. Thorby is smuggled offworld and begins his quest for his true identity and completion of Baslim's mission.
The central theme of this book is the variation in human culture and the adaptability of man. Each group Thorby finds himself has it's own rituals and customs. Our hero is constantly required change, adapt and in the process grow as a man.
They don't write 'em like this anymoreJuly 16, 2007 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Heinlein was a master of the noncondescending juvenile SF novel, and this is, in my informed opinion, the very best of the dozen or so he wrote during the 1950s. In fact, it's one of his two or three best novels, period. Thorby starts out a slave, purchased on a distant world by an old beggar (who, of course, is more than he seems) and becomes intimate with the underworld -- then finds himself aboard a Free Trader vessel with an extremely complex social structure, where he's adopted in and makes a new life for himself -- then finds himself a very junior enlisted man on a "space patrol" ship, where he makes another new life -- then finds himself the long-lost heir to an enormous fortune back on Earth, where the various plotlines come together and (yes) he has to try to make a new life for himself. Thorby is nothing if not adaptable. The narrative is straightforward, moving along at a nice pace, and there's very little of the overwritten preachifying RAH was prone to in his later work. The characters are based on `50s archetypes, so today's kids will undoubtedly be amused by the state of gender relations, and they've probably never seen a slide rule, but, hey -- read and enjoy.
Classic Outworlds AdventureJune 8, 2007 Citizen of the Galaxy is a very good classic science fiction work. It is the third Heinlein novel which I have finished. While it is in Heinlein's juvenile stories, the novel is a great adventure saga. I enjoyed following the main character Thorby through his life education and experiences. Unfortunately, the ending comes much too quickly and in too "neat" of a 1950's manner. It is suitable for readers spanning ages 11 to decades beyond.
Moieties, Pirates and Begging, Oh My!March 9, 2007 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
One has to read Citizen of the Galaxy to understand the development of Heinlein's cultural themes and of his fascination with various forms of kinship and marriage as well as other aspects of social structure. Your first clue is that the anthropologist aboard the Sisu is named Margaret Mader.
Heinlein also takes on slavery in this book. And white collar crime. Plus there is a rapscallionesque lawyer who describes himself as "middlin honest". Coupled with a charming protagonist, ethical mentors and the Space Navy, all the elements of a great Heinlein adventure come together in Citizen of the Galaxy.
"Good Business".
The Heinlein I most wish had sequels or backstoryFebruary 21, 2007 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As Heinlein used to say, many great stories draw from others, with "the serial numbers filed off". At various conventions, he acknowledged his debt to Rudyard Kipling, but this, I believe, is Kim done better. It occurs to me that the protagonist's chief adoptive father believed in Robert E. Lee's observation "Duty is the sublimest word in the language. You can never do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less." That character lived by his conception of duty to mankind (side reference: think of the final pages in Failsafe), and managed to convey it to his protege, even as he experienced the Japanese proverb "Duty is heavier than a mountain; death is lighter than a feather." I don't mean to suggest this is oppressive and preachy. The protagonist, in the best tradition of Star Trek, explores new cultures, and learns from each. Some of those cultures, such as the Free Traders, cried out for Heinlein to write more about them. Absolutely the best Heinlein to start a juvenile reading him -- and I still get value reading it perhaps a half-century later.
