Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Satisfying
Review: I read this book simply because it was by Robert Heinlein, and based on many of the reviews here I was expecting a lighthearted adventure tale with some romance thrown in. I got more than I expected. Heinlein is a master of the human mind, and the inner strugles of his charachters are the real story in this book, the unusual settings simply give a better way to portray these inner struggles, and demonstrate better the differences in interaction between cultures. This is a book about love, finding yourself, then dealing with love and your true self without sacrificing either. It's about friends, culture, and social constraints.Not to say the adventure in the story is weak, of course not! This is a fun adventure, starting light-hearted, but quickly becoming intense when Oscar, Star, and Rufo are on thier way. This book also breaks the norm of finishing the book off quickly after the danger has been averted, the damsel no longer distressed. In real life you don't have 'happily ever after' endings, and this book filled a gap I almost always feel after reading a good book..."What happens now?"...for some reason, the typical ending just doesn't cut it for me. This book left on an unexpected, but good note. A different, and very good book.
Rating:
Summary: Heinlein's homage to John Carter et al
Review: Unlike most of Heinlein's work, this doesn't stand on itself. It requires that the reader have some idea of the body of work that is "science fiction" before some of the references and situations work as they're intended. "Star" is the Empress of the Five Universes and she needs a job done. She is kind of Dejah Thoris of Barsoom, The Empress of Isher, Glenda, Barbarella, and Galadriel all rolled up into one. So she puts an ad in the International Herald Tribune for a hero, and she gets "Scar Gordon" who is, of course, a composite of John Carter of Mars in particular, and just about every heroic, competant male protaganist that SF has ever produced. Then there's the comic relief, Rufo, and the Grand Quest Against Impossible Odds, naturally to save Star from Horrible Things. Heinlein was having a lot of fun, and your enjoyment will greatly depend on knowing the body of work that this was built on. God, but I loved it. Some won't.
Rating: 
Summary: I didnt like it
Review: The language of this book is way too old fashioned even for heinlien it just made the whole book sound ... annoying. Dont get me wrong i love heinlein but this is not one of his better ones, trust me ive read em all.
Rating: 
Summary: I Just Didn't Like It
Review: I wish that I could have given "Glory Road" a better rating but to tell you the truth, I thought that it was terrible. I felt that the whole book in general had no purpose and it did not entertain on any level. The story is a bout Vietnam veteran Oscar who meets a gorgeous woman on a French island. He finds an ad in the paper and goes in to see if he can get the job that is being offered. It ends up that the woman that he met put out the ad and she wants him. He is hired as a hero to go on an adventure to find the Egg of the Phoenix. Sure, the plot sounds promising, but put simply, it's not. This book has many flaws. You have no clue about the adventure and why Oscar is being dragged to other planets until you are around halfway through the novel. Sure, you want to know what everything's about, but Robert Heinlein just lest everything drag on for way too long and you will become very bored with the book. Less than 100 pages into the book I wanted to stop right there but I kept going thinking that it would get much better. It didn't. As the book moved on, the plot got even more pointless and it got to a point where you wonder why you are reading this piece of drivel. The characters are one-sided and you won't even care about them. The characters are boring and not even worth reading about. The quest that Oscar, Star, and Rufo (you'll learn about him after the quest is done) seems so pointless. All the characters do is fight monsters and dragons and get in trouble with a lord. This could have been a lot of fun but Heinlein just was not writing as to keep you interested. You do not even find out what the whole plot is about until you are over 100 pages into the book and then after the quest you find out about the signifigance of the egg. I guess that I am going to have to read more Heinlein to really enjoy his works. "Glory Road" does have it's rare, good moments and that's why I gave the book 2 stars. This novel is flawed and has no depth, making for a painful and boring read. I really do not recommend this book to any reader; there's a lot better stuff out there. Happy Reading!
Rating:
Summary: Got Any Dragons You Need Killed?
Review: Heinlein did not write very many fantasy works, but when he did, the result was usually a rather different and fun romp. Glory Road is probably his best work in this genre, and it makes most other sword-and-sorcery stories pale in comparison. Oscar, our hero, is a Vietnam veteran idling away his time on the Isle du Levant, a small island off the coast of France known for its lack of haute couture (or clothing of any style), when his eye is caught by the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, sleekly muscled and with regal bearing. When she offers him a job with 'great adventure and great risk' he blindly accepts, little realizing just what an incredible jaunt he has let himself in for. A journey that will travel through some of the 20 universes that Star is Empress of, on a quest to retrieve the stolen Great Egg. Along the way you will be treated to a sword/bow and arrow fight with a very real set of dragons (with a rather amusing fight strategy), a hand to hand fight with a very dirty (and smelly) giant, pentagrams and spells for magical flight. All of the incidents along this trip are treated with a fair dollop of humor and satire (and at least a partial parody of other sword & sorcery epics such as Conan the Barbarian), while at the same time Heinlein manages to present some pseudo-scientific explanations for the 'magical' incidents, something he did in just about all of his fantasy works, so that it is somewhat problematic to call this a 'fantasy'. The climatic sword battle with the 'Eater of Souls' is very different from the standard hack-and-slash portrayal of sword fights in all too many movies and novels. Heinlein was a member of the fencing team during his time at Annapolis (for some possible reasons for why he took up this sport, see the "Lazy Man" portion of Time Enough for Love), and this experience and knowledge is directly transposed to the battle descriptions of this book, making for a very fascinating and exciting read. But there is more to this book than just a fun trip down the yellow brick road of swash-buckling heroes and dragons. Oscar is not your typical mighty-thewed simple-minded adventurer, but is rather a man who thinks about his actions, who has a strong sense of moral responsibility, who can (at least intellectually) comprehend that customs change with different cultures, a true hero who understands the need for noblesse oblige. Nor is Star a simpering damsel-in-distress, but rather a hard, practical, self-reliant, intelligent and rather commanding woman. The interaction between these two strong characters forms the starting point for Heinlein's exploration of how relations between the sexes is defined by cultural biases and expectations, the individual's own sense of self-worth, the ability to communicate and compromise, and the problems that married couples face. This philosophical type of discourse occupies a good portion of the last third of the novel, and may not seem at first glance to be well integrated with the first two-third's emphasis on action. But on reflection, the last third forms the completion of the thematic structure of the work, whose groundwork is well laid in the first portion, and provides a level of meaning that is not common in fantasy works. Of course, this being a Heinlein novel, expect to find some sharp remarks about the IRS and taxes, how to fight (and not fight) a war, status symbols, horse racing and lotteries, laws about carrying greater than six inch blades in public, veteran's benefits, Congressional methods of making laws, the bizarre workings of military organizations, the relative strengths and weaknesses of democracy versus monarchies and feudal structures, and under-the-table tactics for motivating an individual. As always, Heinlein will make you think about and question your own opinions and assumptions on these things, even if you don't agree with his expressed viewpoint, as he always makes his viewpoint at least sound logical and correct. Read this one for the fun and humor. Then let it soak in and expand your sense of the possible, the correct, the moral, and the reason for living.
Rating:
Summary: On the road to misery and happiness
Review: I've read a handful of Heinlein's novels, and I'll probably read a couple more. They're pretty easily identified -- his distinctive voice is usually detectable by the second sentence, no matter whether the point of view is that of a 14-year-old Boy Scout colonizing a Jovian moon, or that of a veteran courier for an intergalactic intelligence agency. Here, that voice seems to have found an interesting, and unusually appropriate, speaker in the form of a twenty-something American soldier coming off a nasty bayonet wound that ended his tour of duty in Vietnam. Finding himself wandered into France, our man is recruited by a stunning nudist for some light mercenary work. Transported to a fantastic locale, our hero is rechristened "Oscar" while his new employer accepts the name "Star." Suddenly, the light mercenary work is morphed into an intergalactic treasure quest. The consequence of Heinlein throwing his voice so clearly into his protagonists is that they often end up seeming like slightly distorted versions of himself. It doesn't always work so well, making certain characters unbelievable, but it's almost perfect for Oscar, giving the character the right attitude as he takes on increasingly grueling physical, mental and emotional challenges as the book progresses. Star's a pretty good creation, a puzzlebox of a woman with so many layers and secrets that it will take more than Oscar's adaptability to handle her. Not surprisingly, the Quest is just a sideshow, giving Heinlein a chance to explore sexual mores, the relationship between power and knowledge, and, of course, the absurdities of the American tax code. The novel drifts a bit at the end, but Heinlein uses the space to make few final satisfying points about the value of an adventurous personality. Clearly, this is a good novel to introduce yourself to a most unique writer.
Rating: 
Summary: Glory Road is a Great Adventure
Review: Glory Road was one of Heinlein's most entertaining works. I enjoyed the spirit of adventure in which he writes this. Our hero in for some great Science fiction fantasy adventure after he answers a compelling personal ad in the newspaper. After launching on his journey with his companions, they not only break local on customs in foreign universes, they fight with demons, slay giants and essentially sword fight their way to the glory of winning the universe and all!
This is one of Heinlein's great classics and I am glad I finally got around to reading this one. I think you will enjoy it tremendously.
Rating:
Summary: The best book ever.
Review: Tilting at windmills, a knight with honor and more than a touch of both sarcasm and self-deprecation.I have read this book five times and wish I had read it more often. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Heinlein Fantasy
Review: Glory Road is a stunning work of fantasy, although it is imbued with a science fiction world-building essence. This book tells the story of a man coming to grasp with the fact that he is a hero. What makes this story refreshingly different is Heinlein's distinct view of life. Most fantasy books interpret a different world, but keep the same moral structure. This book doesn't. It allows that people from different worlds are going to view ethical codes is different way. Also despite many of these reviewers, the ending is perfectly in tune with the rest of the novel. Without giving anything away, the ending is both original and realistic, creating good closure. This is neither Tolkien or Heinlein's normal work, but it is worth reading by any serious science fiction or fantasy fans.
Rating:
Summary: A road with no landmarks
Review: The cover proclaims this as one of "The best SF novels of all time!" and well they're very much entitled to their opinion I think they're way off the mark here. Not only is this far from Heinlein's best book, it doesn't even have a prayer of cracking the top ten. Is it bad? No, it's far from his worst, the master is clearly trying here and when he starts it's very promising. Told in the typical first person of a slightly jaded soldier looking for some meaning and purpose to his life, he answers a random personals ad and winds up getting whisked away by a gorgeous woman and her servant. At first Heinlein seems to be setting up a parody of heroic fantasy from a skewed SF perspective, the narration seems almost tongue in cheek and the events are so absurd that it's great fun. Unfortunately he forgot to provide any depth. Other than the main character, he mostly stumbles from situation to situation like a blind man, everyone else is about as thin as the paper the book is printed on. The "Amazon" Star uses the word "darling" at least once every sentence and is so one note that it she must represent someone's fantasy (maybe not Heinlein's) since her unwavering devotion gets tedious real early on and then doesn't let up. The quest is just as bad, with no apparent goal it's three people walking through a random forest and killing things without any reason to it. At least the quest ends before the book is over but then any momentum that has been garnered now dissolves as the true nature of Star is revealed and Heinlein switches to Preacher mode, turning the already cardboard characters into mouthpieces for a glorified libertarian lecture (which can be done in an entertaining fashion, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress being a good example) . . . it also nicely showcases another fantasy, where women can throw themselves at a man and your wife not only doesn't care that you were tempted but tells you to basically go ahead and maybe even yells at you for not taking the poor girl up on the offer (while vowing to remain forever true to you . . .). If you can get past all of this (and I did, after a fashion) you'll have a good time just enjoying the ride, the narration is swift and very funny, it alone probably saves the book when Heinlein exhausts his ideas early on. Needless to say not the first, the third or the fifth choice to start with but once you've gotten used to Heinlein, it's not so bad, really. But I had to get that off my chest. It's also my last Heinlein review, so whoo-ho! It's been fun and at least try all his books, just about every one offers something for your time. Just remember to not take it all too seriously.
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