Beyond
This Horizon, Fantasy, 1948.
A cobbled novel of a postscarcity civilization wherein people in
general
spend their time wondering what to do with their time, and the
Heinleinian
heroes make sure it is something very interesting (serialized in Astounding
Science
Fiction, April, May 1942).
Sixth
Column, Gnome Press, 1949.
The Pan-Asian hordes have attacked and invaded the United States.
Opposed
to them is a group of researchers hidden away in an unmarked spot
in the
Rocky Mountains. Finally, when there are only six men left in the
secret
laboratory, they launch their secret weapon which only kill those
with
Mongolian blood (serialized in Astounding Science Fiction,
January,
February, March 1941).
The
Puppet Masters, Doubleday, 1951.
Heinlein's paranoia-laden tale of sluglike creatures, arriving in
saucer-shaped
crafts to enslave the human population by the gruesome procedure
of growing
into each person's nervous system from a position on the upper
back of
the victim, making his or her profile hump-backed (serialized in Galaxy,
September, October, November 1951).
Double
Star, Doubleday, 1956.
Lorenzo Smythe, down-on-his-luck actor, is hired to impersonate
kidnapped
political leader Joseph Bonforte in a crucial ceremony on Mars.
Smythe
must overcome his aversion to Martians and his arrogance, before
the ceremony
can be successfully carried out. When the real Bonforte dies as
the result
of the abuse he receives in captivity, Smythe steps permanently
into his
shoes to carry out the plans of the fallen leader (serialized in Astounding
Science
Fiction, February, March, April 1956).
The
Door Into Summer, Doubleday, 1957.
Dan Davis, an electronics engineer, invents an all-purpose robot
and
is shanghaied into suspended animation for thirty years by his
business
partner and his fiancee. He returns by way of time machine,
rescues his
cat, starts a rival company, proposes a future marriage to a
twelve- year-old,
and returns to the future to reap his reward (serialized in Fantasy
&
Science Fiction, October, November, December 1956).
Methuselah's
Children, Gnome Press, 1958.
Members of the 'Families' were ordinary human beings, except for
one
slight difference -- they were extraordinarily long-lived. In the
year
2125 A.D. this distinction was intolerable and they were hounded
for a
secret they did not possess. 'The Families' were forced to choose:
torture
and extinction by their jealous, short-lived fellow men or flight
from
Earth on an untested spaceship. They chose the spaceship and to
their horror,
discovered that the alien stars nourished a threat more terrifying
than
the one which had taken them from Earth (serialized in Astounding
Science
Fiction, January, February, March 1941).
Starship
Troopers, Putnam, 1959.
A vast interplanetary war is being fought between Earth and the
"Bugs".
A young junior officer in the Terran Mobile Infantry recounts his
experiences
from his recruit days through a stint as a junion officer. In his
rite
of passage, the young space cadet has talks with wise veterans
discussing
such topics as capital punishment, juvenile delinquency, civic
virtue,
and why war is necessary (serialized in Fantasy & Science
Fiction,
October, November 1959).
Stranger
In A Strange Land, Putnam, 1961.
To the Earth of a not-too-distant future comes Valentine Michael
Smith,
a human being born on Mars and educated by an alien race. Upon his
arrival
on Earth, he is befriended by some as he progresses from ignorance
of Western
culture to an understanding of human psychology. After spending
some time
under the tutelage of Jubal Harshaw, Mike sets forth on his own,
eventually
founding a new religion (uncut version published in 1990).
Glory
Road, Putnam, 1963.
Oscar Gordon is chosen by Ishtar, queen of seven universes, to
rescue
the 'phoenix egg', the key to the computer complex of her
government. He
succeeds after several adventures that prove his courage
(serialized in
Fantasy
& Science Fiction, July, August, September 1963).
Farnham's
Freehold, Putnam, 1965.
Hugh Farnham and his family are caught in the blast of an atom
bomb
and dumped into the far future. The master race is black and they
consider
all others slaves. Farmham becomes a slave but eventually earns a
very
limited freedom. Hugh gets his family back to the proper time
before the
blast with a 'time machine. His family prepares for the fateful
day and
survive the nuclear blast in a cave (serialized in IF,
July, August
1965).
The
Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, Putnam, 1966.
Manny Garcia is thrust unwillingly into a position of leadership
in
a lunar revolution, along with a wise old professor, a comely
female companion,
and a sentient computer named Mike. Luna, in the twenty-first
century,
is a penal colony with a large free-born and former-inmate
population.
The mechanics of the revolution are set out and the rationale
endlessly
discussed. The heroes unsuccessfully try to avoid bloodshed all
the while
knowing that some blood will have to flow (serialized in IF,
December
1965, January, February, March, April 1966).
I
Will Fear No Evil, Putnam, 1970.
Johann Sebastian Bach Smith, an extremely wealthy man, is being
kept
alive with the use of life support systems. A suitable donor is
found,
but it is the nubile body of his young secretary, who was killed
by a mugger.
Both personalities inhabit the same body and talk to each other.
Johann
Smith learns to look around with new eyes as a female (serialized
in Galaxy,
July, August, October, 1970).
Time
Enough For Love, Putnam, 1973.
In 4272, Lazarus Long arrives at the planet Secundus to die.
Rescued
and rejuvenated against his desires, he is enticed into dictating
his memoirs,
amid philosophical debates concerning the nature of love. Lazarus
learns
the most about love from Dora, a woman of short lifespan.
Eventually, following
the removal of Lazarus and a coterie of his admiring descendents
to a comfortable
group marriage on another planet, the old man, restored to a
youthful appearance,
goes back in time to fulfill his desire for a new experience.
The
Notebooks of Lazarus Long, Putnam,1978.
A collection of quotations from the book, 'Time Enough For Love'.
The
Number of the Beast, Fawcett Columbine, 1979.
A book of anagrams and in-jokes paying homage to many of his
literary
heroes and mentioning a number of fellow writers and friends by
name (serialized
in Omni, October, November 1979).
Friday,
HR&W, 1982.
A secret courier for a man known to her only as 'Boss', Friday
tumbles
from one scrape to the next, desperate for human identity and a
place she
can call home.
Job:
A Comedy of Justice, Doubleday, 1984.
Fundamentalist preacher and fundraiser Alexander Hergensheimer
walks
through fire in Polynesia, passes out, and wakes up in a different
world.
Margrethe, the Danish stewardess, becomes his lover and they are
flipped
through a series of different worlds. Alex ends up in Heaven as a
Saint
but Margrethe cannot be with him. He joins her in Hell, which
turns out
to be a fairly civilized place. Satan helps Alex be reunited with
Margrethe
and they end up settling down in another world similiar to Earth.
The
Cat Who Walks Through Walls: A Comedy of Manners, Putnam
1985.
Follow a traditional Heinlein hero, part philsopher, part rogue,
Colonel
Colin Campbell, alias Dr. Richard Ames, alias Senator Richard
Johnson as
he travels the worlds of past and future in an effort to control
fate and
avert disaster across time and space.
To
Sail Beyond The Sunset, Putnam, 1987.
The autobiography of Lazarus Long's mother, it was a mix of ideas
about
sex and politics and longevity, as well as reminiscence of growing
up in
the midwest at the turn of the century.