A Robert Heinlein Omnibus was a second collection of Robert A Heinlein's stories to use the term "omnibus" the first being The Robert Heinlein Omnibus (1958), published in 1966. [1] Containing fifteen of Heinlein's short stories and novellas, this second "Omnibus" represents a short chronological period, 1940 to 1950, of Heinlein's writings.
It contained some of Heinlein's more popular stories, as well as a few variations of later more popular stories. The editors were more than a little careless as it also contained two of the three stories included in the previous publication.
Included in this a root story for one of Heinlein's Juvenile series, "Space Cadet", "The Long Watch". [2] As well, the first DD Harriman story, "Requiem", which forms the last chapter of the novel "The Man Who Sold the Moon". There is an eclectic mix of stories from the almost whimsical "Gentlemen Be Seated" to the seriousness of "The Roads Must Roll".
In these stories we can see some of the elements that go into Heinlein's later works. There is a willingness to look at society, humanity in a slightly askance manner, for example, Delilah and the Space Rigger argues for more gender equality, before the argument had grown in Europe, before spreading outwards to Britain and the US. Similarly, while only a "lowly secretary" in "We Also Walk Dogs", Grace Cormet, and scientist Mary Lou Martin in 'Let There Be Light', are very much role models for later, even more dynamic heroines like Helen Ripley. [3] Heinlein's views on women taking a greater role in the workplace were expounded in "Delilah and the Space Rigger', with G.B McNye and the attitude of her immediate boss. Given the role of women in the few SF films and books of the decade after these stories were written, which was to stand around and scream a lot or make up numbers, Heinlein was clearly displaying his radicalism and an amazing foresight that is unmatched by any other writer in the genre. Heinlein's feminist credentials were tarnished by revisionist reviews of his later female characters, but this was still the same man who, during an Apollo mission, reduced Walter Cronkite to a spluttering mess when he suggested women should be trained as astronauts. [4]
Heinlein also shows an influential and disturbing prescience in his story, "The Logic of Empire". [5] It could be argued that the story is a variation on Richard Henry Dana Jr's Two Years Before the Mast with a space age twist on employment contracting. Gordon R. Dickson's Childe Cycle stories took the same idea further with "closed" and "open" contract systems applicable in the Dorsai universe. Like Dana, Heinlein's protagonist, Sam Houston Jones, is determined to prove that the Venus contracted employment system is no better than ensuring slavery for anyone foolish enough to accept such a contract. Jones is also trying to prove that ultimately, such strenuous contract systems are unworkable, the same point Dickson makes. Heinlein may not have foreseen it, but in some ways, this story is questioning the advantages of globalization, the drives that place economic matters before people. [5]
In the end, it is personal taste that dictates individual acceptance, like or dislike, of any particular story. Heinlein writes about the things he knows, what he sees and takes them to a different level. All his stories have some point, something the reader can learn from, all the reader needs is to keep an open mind and listen to what a master has to say.
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking. His plots often posed provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores. His work continues to have an influence on the science-fiction genre, and on modern culture more generally.
Rocket Ship Galileo, a juvenile science-fiction novel by the American writer Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1947, features three teenagers who participate in a pioneering flight to the Moon. It was the first in the Heinlein juveniles, a long and successful series of science-fiction novels published by Scribner's. Heinlein originally envisioned the novel as the first of a series of books called "Young Rocket Engineers". Publishers initially rejected the script, judging going to the Moon as "too far out".
"Blowups Happen" is a 1940 science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. It is one of two stories in which Heinlein, using only public knowledge of nuclear fission, anticipated the actual development of nuclear technology a few years later. The other story is "Solution Unsatisfactory", which is concerned with a nuclear weapon, although it is only a radiological "dirty bomb", not a nuclear explosive device.
"Delilah and the Space Rigger" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. One of his Future History stories, it originally appeared in Blue Book in December 1949 and was reprinted in his collection, The Green Hills of Earth.
"Requiem" is a short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, a sequel to his science fiction novella "The Man Who Sold the Moon", although it was in fact published several years earlier than that story, in Astounding, January 1940. The story was also performed as a play on October 27, 1955, on the NBC Radio Network program X Minus One.
"The Black Pits of Luna" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a Boy Scout on a trip to the Moon and his novel way of finding his lost brother. Included as part of his Future History, it originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, January 10, 1948, and was collected in The Green Hills of Earth.
The Man Who Sold the Moon is a science fiction novella by American author Robert A. Heinlein, written in 1949 and published in 1950. A part of his Future History and prequel to "Requiem", it covers events around a fictional first Moon landing in 1978 and the schemes of Delos D. Harriman, a businessman who is determined to personally reach and control the Moon.
The Man Who Sold the Moon is the title of a 1950 collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Robert A. Heinlein.
The Green Hills of Earth is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1951, including short stories published as early as 1941. The stories are part of Heinlein's Future History. The title story is the tale of an old space mariner reflecting upon his planet of birth. According to an acknowledgement at the beginning of the book, the phrase "the green hills of Earth" is derived from a story by C. L. Moore.
The Robert Heinlein Omnibus is an anthology of science fiction published in 1958, containing a novel, a novella and a short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein:
The Past Through Tomorrow is a collection of science fiction stories by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, first published in 1967, all part of his Future History.
Requiem: New Collected Works by Robert A. Heinlein and Tributes to the Grand Master is a retrospective on Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988), after his death, edited by Yoji Kondo.
The science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) was productive during a writing career that spanned the last 49 years of his life; the Robert A. Heinlein bibliography includes 32 novels, 59 short stories and 16 collections published during his life. Four films, two TV series, several episodes of a radio series, at least two songs and a board game derive more or less directly from his work. He wrote the screenplay for Destination Moon (1950). Heinlein also edited an anthology of other writers' science fiction short stories.
Delos David Harriman, known as D.D. Harriman, is a character in the fiction of science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein. He is an entrepreneurial businessman who masterminded the first landing on the Moon as a private business venture. His story is part of Heinlein's Future History.
The Heinlein juveniles are the science-fiction novels written by Robert A. Heinlein for Scribner's young-adult line. Each features "a young male protagonist entering the adult world of conflict, decisions, and responsibilities." Together, they tell a loosely connected story of space exploration. Scribner's published the first 12 between 1947 and 1958, but rejected the 13th, Starship Troopers. That one was instead published by Putnam. A 14th novel, Podkayne of Mars, is sometimes listed as a "Heinlein juvenile", although Heinlein himself did not consider it to be one.
Off the Main Sequence: The Other Science Fiction Stories of Robert A. Heinlein (ISBN 1-58288-184-7) is a collection of 27 short stories by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, including three that were never previously collected in book form.
Shasta Publishers was a science fiction and fantasy small press specialty publishing house founded in 1947 by Erle Melvin Korshak, T. E. Dikty, and Mark Reinsberg, who were all science fiction fans from the Chicago area. The name of the press was suggested by Reinsberg in remembrance of a summer job that he and Korshak had held at Mount Shasta.
This is a list of the writings of the American writer August Derleth.