Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Signet (1962), Unknown Binding
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. Short Stories. HTML: From a master of science fiction comes eight startling stories of time and space. In "The Year of the Jackpot," a statistician charts a curve of unusual happenings throughout the earth, only to find that his facts and figures prove the approach of the end of the world. In "By His Bootstraps," a man steps thirty thousand years into time and is trapped in the fourth dimension with three strange, yet oddly familiar, people. In "Goldfish Bowl," people disappear one by one, in great swirling balls of fire, and are held captive in space by beings of vastly superior intelligence. Also in this collection of short stories originally published in 1959 are "Columbus Was a Dope," "The Manace from Earth," "Sky Lift," "Project Nightmare," and "Water Is for Washing.".… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Denise_Tzumli
Short stories. The title story is probably one of the best science fiction stories ever written, because it applies science to fiction.
In a lighter than earth gravity (the moon), a large cavern stores atmosphere at earth atmospheric pressure. People can fly by flapping their wings and behaving
An aging actress visits the moon, and causes heartache for our young heroine.
The science would make the basis for a fabulous film.
In a lighter than earth gravity (the moon), a large cavern stores atmosphere at earth atmospheric pressure. People can fly by flapping their wings and behaving
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like birds.An aging actress visits the moon, and causes heartache for our young heroine.
The science would make the basis for a fabulous film.
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LibraryThing member RandyStafford
There are no truly bad stories in this collection though the title story features annoying teenagers in an annoying romantic plot. The teenagers annoy with their brilliance, and the plot annoys with its story of the girl narrator discovering, after the introduction of a beautiful Earth woman, that
Not at all annoying, in fact a downright classic, "By His Bootstraps" is the grandfather of all those time travel stories where the protagonist crosses his own lifepath at different points to make a plot so confusing you need a diagram to sum it up. This one also features alien ruins and a changed humanity 30,000 years in the future.
"The Year of the Jackpot" is a tale about the cyclical nature of all sorts of natural and social phenomena from earthquakes to public nudity to ufo sightings to religious fervor and a whole lot more. Its mathematician hero notes that all the cycles will bottom out at the same time, and he decides to take his girlfriend and head for the hills to await the collapse of civilization. It's a fun story and distinguished by a shortage of the can-do spirit of much of Heinlein's work.
On the minor side are three stories. "Columbus Was a Dope" is a short, ironic tale about the sorts who are driven to explore and those that mock that drive. "Sky Lift" is about a space mission at very high gs to take emergency vaccine to an outpost on Pluto. "Project Nightmare" follows the efforts of a team of American psychics to stop a Soviet blackmail attempt that has concealed nukes in US cities.
The Gulf of California flooding the Imperial Valley after an earthquake is the engaging premise of "Water Is for Washing".
Stylistically, "Goldfish Bowl", one of the strongest and oddest stories in the collection, is typical Heinlein, but the plot and ideas reminded me of H.P. Lovecraft. Investigating the appearance of two permanent waterspouts, two scientists are captured by mysterious entities whose relation to us is not at all comforting.
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her boy friend is really her boyfriend. Still, you get a travelogue of Luna City, possibly the first example in science fiction of the sport of human-powered flight in low gravity, and another of Heinlein's Future History tales.Not at all annoying, in fact a downright classic, "By His Bootstraps" is the grandfather of all those time travel stories where the protagonist crosses his own lifepath at different points to make a plot so confusing you need a diagram to sum it up. This one also features alien ruins and a changed humanity 30,000 years in the future.
"The Year of the Jackpot" is a tale about the cyclical nature of all sorts of natural and social phenomena from earthquakes to public nudity to ufo sightings to religious fervor and a whole lot more. Its mathematician hero notes that all the cycles will bottom out at the same time, and he decides to take his girlfriend and head for the hills to await the collapse of civilization. It's a fun story and distinguished by a shortage of the can-do spirit of much of Heinlein's work.
On the minor side are three stories. "Columbus Was a Dope" is a short, ironic tale about the sorts who are driven to explore and those that mock that drive. "Sky Lift" is about a space mission at very high gs to take emergency vaccine to an outpost on Pluto. "Project Nightmare" follows the efforts of a team of American psychics to stop a Soviet blackmail attempt that has concealed nukes in US cities.
The Gulf of California flooding the Imperial Valley after an earthquake is the engaging premise of "Water Is for Washing".
Stylistically, "Goldfish Bowl", one of the strongest and oddest stories in the collection, is typical Heinlein, but the plot and ideas reminded me of H.P. Lovecraft. Investigating the appearance of two permanent waterspouts, two scientists are captured by mysterious entities whose relation to us is not at all comforting.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
With Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke I think their short stories are more impressive than their novels, and if I were to list my favorite short science fiction stories, Asimov and Clarke would crowd out almost everyone else in the top ten. With Heinlein I tend to think it's the reverse--that it's
But--it surprised me just how enjoyable these were. This is a reread, although I last read this ages ago in my teens. The story I remembered best--and still like the best, is the title story, "The Menace from Earth." It's quite light-hearted and there's a lot here to like. JK Rowling, eat your heart out, Quidditch has nothing on the winged flyers of the Moon! And I quite liked fifteen-year-old Holly Jones--she has quite a lot in common with Heinlein's Podkayne of Mars, only more level-headed and the ending of this novelette doesn't make me want to bounce the book against the wall. "By His Bootstraps," a time-loop story, is another one I found very memorable--although I don't think on first read decades ago I hated Bob Wilson oh so much. With "Goldfish Bowl" I definitely remembered the odd form of the water and the food--and the story does creepy well. "The Year of the Jackpot" is quite unsettling and like many of Heinlein's stories, features a nice little twist. The other four stories aren't as strong--but none is less than entertaining.
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his long fiction that is the most memorable--stronger than that of Asimov and Clarke just as their short fiction is much more memorable than that of Heinlein. I just don't think any Heinlein short is of the same caliber as Asimov's "Nightfall" or "The Dead Past" or Clarke's "The Star" or "The Billion Names of God." But--it surprised me just how enjoyable these were. This is a reread, although I last read this ages ago in my teens. The story I remembered best--and still like the best, is the title story, "The Menace from Earth." It's quite light-hearted and there's a lot here to like. JK Rowling, eat your heart out, Quidditch has nothing on the winged flyers of the Moon! And I quite liked fifteen-year-old Holly Jones--she has quite a lot in common with Heinlein's Podkayne of Mars, only more level-headed and the ending of this novelette doesn't make me want to bounce the book against the wall. "By His Bootstraps," a time-loop story, is another one I found very memorable--although I don't think on first read decades ago I hated Bob Wilson oh so much. With "Goldfish Bowl" I definitely remembered the odd form of the water and the food--and the story does creepy well. "The Year of the Jackpot" is quite unsettling and like many of Heinlein's stories, features a nice little twist. The other four stories aren't as strong--but none is less than entertaining.
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LibraryThing member bgknighton
A classic. And proof that Heinlein was versatile. If released today would qualify as YA romance and SF both.
LibraryThing member fuzzi
This is another good collection of short stories by Robert Heinlein, most written in the 1940s and 1950s. The dated aspect of some of the technology mentioned is easily overlooked for the intriguing plots and interesting characters of each tale. Definitely recommended, and not just for fans of this
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author. Show Less