Rating: 
Summary: 3 1/2-4 stars for Revolt, 5 for Methuselah's Children
Review: The two books (and four stories) that are included in this collection include the two most famous of the "Future History" stories, -If This Goes On and Metheselah's Children (the entire series in in the omnibus short story collection The Past Through Tomorrow as well as in the two previous collections The Man Who Sold the Man and the Green Hills of Earth). If This Goes On is a good story once you get into it. It starts out a little bit too cliched at first, and is perhaps a bit unrealistic, but it is a good reader and a page-turner. The next two stories, the shorts Covenant and Misfit aren't that good in themselves (although Covenant starts out very well) serve to set up the last story in the collection, Methuselah's Children.Now, MT, on the other hand, is one of the best Heinlein stories that I have thus far read. The story is very exciting, fast-paced and suspenseful, it is also a page-turner. Oh, and it stars LAZARUS LONG. Required reading before you dive into Time Enough For Love. The only thing I don't like about this otherwise excellent story is that Heinlein says that the Howard Families enjoy what is basically immortality simply because they selectively bred families that had histories of long lives. This is impossible. But then again, Heinlein never was a "hard" SF writer, indeed he basically introduced the social aspects into science fiction, which is the main underlying theme and foundation of these stories (and indeed of the entire Future History). All in all, reccommended reading for Heinlein fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Some of the Stories that Made Heinlein's Reputation
Review: There are two ways to appreciate this collection of two short stories, a novella, and a novel. First is on its own merit. The novella "Revolt in 2100" stands at the beginning of a long tradition of undergrounds battling future tyrannys. Here Heinlein gives us a Masonic cabal subverting a future American theocracy. Its protagonist gradually finds himself, for the love of a woman, transformed from guard of the Prophet to a revolutionary and questioning his own most basic beliefs. "Coventry" is one of those stories about what happens when convicts are allowed to build their own societies without supervision. Its literary critic protagonist doesn't find the liberating anarchy he expects amongst society's outcasts. In the novel METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN, a group of long-lived humans flee a resentful Earth and head out to the stars. It's neatly divided between a first half featuring a chase thriller and the more philosophical second half with its multiple alien contacts and what they say about man's purpose in the universe. One story, "Misfit", is not that interesting in itself, but, like the entire collection, reveals a lot about Heinlein's appeal. It's detail-filled tale of a mathematical genius working on a futuristic Cosmic Construction Corps project to turn an asteroid into a space station probably inspired many a future aerospace engineer. Those familiar with the science fiction of the late thirties and forties, when Heinlein got his start, will be reminded, by these tales, why he was so appealing. His tales are filled with minutae of political thought, engineering, military tactics, biology, and human psychology. Almost as much a Renaissance man as his famous Lazarus Long, first introduced in METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN, Heinlein speculated on the future of many things. However, as this collection shows, he was also a man of his time. Think FDR's CCC for the Cosmic Construction Corps or note the references to Freud and Alfred Korzybski's General Semantics, remnants of the days when science fiction writers were convinced social sciences would soon produce the predictability of the physical sciences. Heinlein fans unfamiliar with this edition will appreciate notes by Heinlein on the Future History stories he didn't write and why. Those who have categorized Heinlein as a fascist or anarchist may want to rethink their opinions after reading this collection, especially "Coventry".
Rating:
Summary: Some of the Stories that Made Heinlein's Reputation
Review: There are two ways to appreciate this collection of two short stories, a novella, and a novel. First is on its own merit. The novella "Revolt in 2100" stands at the beginning of a long tradition of undergrounds battling future tyrannys. Here Heinlein gives us a Masonic cabal subverting a future American theocracy. Its protagonist gradually finds himself, for the love of a woman, transformed from guard of the Prophet to a revolutionary and questioning his own most basic beliefs. "Coventry" is one of those stories about what happens when convicts are allowed to build their own societies without supervision. Its literary critic protagonist doesn't find the liberating anarchy he expects amongst society's outcasts. In the novel METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN, a group of long-lived humans flee a resentful Earth and head out to the stars. It's neatly divided between a first half featuring a chase thriller and the more philosophical second half with its multiple alien contacts and what they say about man's purpose in the universe. One story, "Misfit", is not that interesting in itself, but, like the entire collection, reveals a lot about Heinlein's appeal. It's detail-filled tale of a mathematical genius working on a futuristic Cosmic Construction Corps project to turn an asteroid into a space station probably inspired many a future aerospace engineer. Those familiar with the science fiction of the late thirties and forties, when Heinlein got his start, will be reminded, by these tales, why he was so appealing. His tales are filled with minutae of political thought, engineering, military tactics, biology, and human psychology. Almost as much a Renaissance man as his famous Lazarus Long, first introduced in METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN, Heinlein speculated on the future of many things. However, as this collection shows, he was also a man of his time. Think FDR's CCC for the Cosmic Construction Corps or note the references to Freud and Alfred Korzybski's General Semantics, remnants of the days when science fiction writers were convinced social sciences would soon produce the predictability of the physical sciences. Heinlein fans unfamiliar with this edition will appreciate notes by Heinlein on the Future History stories he didn't write and why. Those who have categorized Heinlein as a fascist or anarchist may want to rethink their opinions after reading this collection, especially "Coventry".
Rating:
Summary: Some of the Stories that Made Heinlein's Reputation
Review: There are two ways to appreciate this collection of two short stories, a novella, and a novel. First is on its own merit. The novella "Revolt in 2100" stands at the beginning of a long tradition of undergrounds battling future tyrannys. Here Heinlein gives us a Masonic cabal subverting a future American theocracy. Its protagonist gradually finds himself, for the love of a woman, transformed from guard of the Prophet to a revolutionary and questioning his own most basic beliefs. "Coventry" is one of those stories about what happens when convicts are allowed to build their own societies without supervision. Its literary critic protagonist doesn't find the liberating anarchy he expects amongst society's outcasts. In the novel METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN, a group of long-lived humans flee a resentful Earth and head out to the stars. It's neatly divided between a first half featuring a chase thriller and the more philosophical second half with its multiple alien contacts and what they say about man's purpose in the universe. One story, "Misfit", is not that interesting in itself, but, like the entire collection, reveals a lot about Heinlein's appeal. It's detail-filled tale of a mathematical genius working on a futuristic Cosmic Construction Corps project to turn an asteroid into a space station probably inspired many a future aerospace engineer. Those familiar with the science fiction of the late thirties and forties, when Heinlein got his start, will be reminded, by these tales, why he was so appealing. His tales are filled with minutae of political thought, engineering, military tactics, biology, and human psychology. Almost as much a Renaissance man as his famous Lazarus Long, first introduced in METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN, Heinlein speculated on the future of many things. However, as this collection shows, he was also a man of his time. Think FDR's CCC for the Cosmic Construction Corps or note the references to Freud and Alfred Korzybski's General Semantics, remnants of the days when science fiction writers were convinced social sciences would soon produce the predictability of the physical sciences. Heinlein fans unfamiliar with this edition will appreciate notes by Heinlein on the Future History stories he didn't write and why. Those who have categorized Heinlein as a fascist or anarchist may want to rethink their opinions after reading this collection, especially "Coventry".
Rating:
Summary: 4 stories for the price of one...
Review: These were some of Heinlein's earlier works, and as such, don't have the length and depth of some of his later, Hugo-Award winning works. Here's a short synopsis and review of each of the four stories. The first and the last are longer, multi-chaptered "short books", while the two in the middle can more appropriately be termed short-stories. Revolt in 2100 - America is now a theocratic dictatorship ruled by the "Prophet" who is really a corrupt leader dependent upon brutal suppression of dissidents to maintain power. John Lyle, the main character, is a graduate of West Point and a young officer who, through the love of a priestess, joins the Revolution and overthrows this dictatorship. The story is somewhat shallow for those who are familiar with Heinlein's later works, but it is still entertaining. One thing Heinlein never did well was write romance. The interactions between his male and female characters are awkward - had he developed the talent for it, he could really flesh out the motives of many of his characters. Coventry - Dave McKinnon, banished to "Coventry" for striking a man and refusing psycological adjustment, finds out just how brutal and uncivilized man can be when he enters the wall-less prison. A nice short story, but with an unresolved (and somewhat predictable) ending Misfit - Here we are introduced to A.J. Libby, who will play a part in the next story. He is a young man working in a space construction crew, but discovers that he has a remarkable talent for mathematics. Extremely short, its more like a preview for the last story included in the collection. Methuselah's Children - The Howard Families - 100,000 members strong, are having their civil liberties trod upon because their unnatural lifespans lead other humans to believe they possess the "fountain of youth" Lazarus Long, a rogueish character, leads the Families to steal an interstellar spaceship and pilots it to two alien planets before finally returning to earth. This was by far the best of the four, very entertaining, but in some parts, Heinlein delves a little too far into esoteric subjects that are of interest only to physicists and theoretical mathematicians - there are passages I skipped because they proved too difficult to understand for someone just looking for a fun fiction experience. Altogether, this is a worthwhile purchase.
Rating: 
Summary: Go get The Past Through Tomorrow
Review: This collection consists mostly of the last stories in the Past Through Tomorrow. PTT may well be one of Heinein's masterworks, a collection of short stories that retells history from the late 1890's but puts the world on a different course. By lopping off the last few short stories, this collection looses the continuity that made the PTT a great read. . .
Rating:
Summary: Go get The Past Through Tomorrow
Review: This collection consists mostly of the last stories in the Past Through Tomorrow. PTT may well be one of Heinein's masterworks, a collection of short stories that retells history from the late 1890's but puts the world on a different course. By lopping off the last few short stories, this collection looses the continuity that made the PTT a great read. . .
Rating:
Summary: More of Heinlein's religion-hatred and lousy science
Review: This four-story collection contains two major, highly regarded Heinlein classics that really don't deserve such high regard. "If This Goes On --" is Heinlein's village-atheist warning about a religious dictatorship in the U.S. (and its overthrow by some scientistic pragmatists who recognize that "morals" are nothing more than tribal customs intended to keep people from enjoying sex). His superficial parodies of Protestant Christianity notwithstanding, the fact is that Protestantism is even more opposed to dictatorship than Heinlein is - and on firmer principles, as it's hard to see what would be wrong with "enslaving" the stupid monkeys who populate Heinlein's fictional universe. (I wonder where he thinks "separation of church and state" came from in the first place.) No doubt the ~hypocrisy~ of certain "religious" leaders is therefore fair game for satire, but unfortunately Heinlein regards ~all~ religion as the "monkey customs" of inferior tribes. And like most village atheists, he puts the blame for hypocrisy and corruption on the doorstep of religion itself. (May we not therefore put the blame for Nazism and Stalinism on the doorstep of the Darwinists?) What does Heinlein propose to replace religion with? Bad science, apparently. In "Methuselah's Children," he fancies that it's possible to increase the maximum human lifespan simply by breeding for longevity. This is nonsense: if there were a single gene (or gene complex) that simply coded for lifespan, selective breeding couldn't increase such lifespan beyond the maximum value already present in the breeding population. (Selective breeding doesn't produce ~new~ genes.) But on this flimsy premise rests his entire fictional presentation of the "future history" of the Howard families, and the salvation of mankind via technologically-enhanced genetic selection. (Oops, except for Lazarus Long's ~own~ twelfth chromosome pair, which in good deus-ex-machina fashion turns out to have coded for effective immortality quite independently of the Howard breeding experiments - as we learn in TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE. So pseudo-scientific semi-plasuibility is salvaged later, at the expense of the original premise itself.) Neither of these major stories is particularly well-told; the new reader will wonder how Heinlein managed to get such a grand reputation. But "Coventry" isn't terrible, and "Misfit" (the little tale of Andy "Slipstick" Libby) is sort of cute. Frankly, most of Heinlein's works don't deserve the adulation they receive from his less critical fans. His finest four novels were THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS, STARSHIP TROOPERS, DOUBLE STAR, and THE DOOR INTO SUMMER; read those four and you've rest the best he has to offer.
Rating:
Summary: The capstone of Heinlein's Future History
Review: This volume is comprised of the two books that complete the original Future History series. More action-oriented than The Man Who Sold the Moon, and more focused than The Green Hills of Earth, the reputation of the Heinlein's Future History lies primarily with the longish story "If This Goes On -" and the short novel Methuselah's Children. "If This Goes On -" tells the story of John Lyle, a young legate in the temple guard of the army of the Prophet, head of the religious organization that has seized control of America's government. Lyle becomes enamored of Sister Judith, one of the Virgins of the Lord who personally serve the Prophet, and quickly becomes disillusioned with the politicking and corruption he discovers is commonplace there. He and his roommate, the cynical Zebediah Jones, soon find themselves embroiled in a plot to overthrow the Prophet himself. This story features plenty of action and suspense, as well as Heinlein's usual expertise in all matters military. The notion that American democracy might someday fall to religious fanatics is a powerful one, and provides a bold backdrop for Lyle's adventures. The short stories "Coventry" and "Misfit" serve to make the transition to the more mature civilization described in Methuselah's Children. This novel focuses on Lazarus Long of the Howard Families, a group which has for some generations been breeding for longevity, (i.e., longer lives). As a result, members of the Howards' bloodlines live nearly double the average expected life span. Having kept their existence secret for over a century, the Howards choose to make themselves known to the rest of humanity, with dire consequences. Only through the quick actions of Lazarus Long, the oldest living Howard, are the families able to escape with their lives, and try to find a new home among the stars. Lazarus Long is very significant in Heinlein's oeuvre, being featured prominently in the sexually charged Time Enough for Love among others. In fact, it can be argued that towards the end of his career, Heinlein himself began to identify very closely with Lazarus Long. In any case, Long is a wonderful creation - tough, crotchety, smart, but not super-smart, capable, confident, always ready for trouble, but never looking for it, sometimes crude, but always gallant with ladies, always looking out for number one, but not afraid to stand up for innocents when the odds merit the attempt - this is the Lazarus Long that Heinlein fans know and love. This book is an absolute must for Heinlein fans, and a fine selection for science fiction readers who are more interested in social patterns than in physics and engineering.
Rating:
Summary: The capstone of Heinlein's Future History
Review: This volume is comprised of the two books that complete the original Future History series. More action-oriented than The Man Who Sold the Moon, and more focused than The Green Hills of Earth, the reputation of the Heinlein's Future History lies primarily with the longish story "If This Goes On -" and the short novel Methuselah's Children. "If This Goes On -" tells the story of John Lyle, a young legate in the temple guard of the army of the Prophet, head of the religious organization that has seized control of America's government. Lyle becomes enamored of Sister Judith, one of the Virgins of the Lord who personally serve the Prophet, and quickly becomes disillusioned with the politicking and corruption he discovers is commonplace there. He and his roommate, the cynical Zebediah Jones, soon find themselves embroiled in a plot to overthrow the Prophet himself. This story features plenty of action and suspense, as well as Heinlein's usual expertise in all matters military. The notion that American democracy might someday fall to religious fanatics is a powerful one, and provides a bold backdrop for Lyle's adventures. The short stories "Coventry" and "Misfit" serve to make the transition to the more mature civilization described in Methuselah's Children. This novel focuses on Lazarus Long of the Howard Families, a group which has for some generations been breeding for longevity, (i.e., longer lives). As a result, members of the Howards' bloodlines live nearly double the average expected life span. Having kept their existence secret for over a century, the Howards choose to make themselves known to the rest of humanity, with dire consequences. Only through the quick actions of Lazarus Long, the oldest living Howard, are the families able to escape with their lives, and try to find a new home among the stars. Lazarus Long is very significant in Heinlein's oeuvre, being featured prominently in the sexually charged Time Enough for Love among others. In fact, it can be argued that towards the end of his career, Heinlein himself began to identify very closely with Lazarus Long. In any case, Long is a wonderful creation - tough, crotchety, smart, but not super-smart, capable, confident, always ready for trouble, but never looking for it, sometimes crude, but always gallant with ladies, always looking out for number one, but not afraid to stand up for innocents when the odds merit the attempt - this is the Lazarus Long that Heinlein fans know and love. This book is an absolute must for Heinlein fans, and a fine selection for science fiction readers who are more interested in social patterns than in physics and engineering.
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