Heinlein – Red Oasis

Stranger in a Strange Land is a bit of a head-scratcher, by design. Robert A. Heinlein always said that the reader was meant to supply the answers. Being your average dimwit that needs everything spelled out, I was somewhat stumped by the ending. That is, until I saw the cover art on the first edition. This cover only lasted a year before being replaced by a painting of colorful planets and a half-naked alien that was more appropriate to 60s sci-fi. My suspicion is that the publisher wanted a better visual hook, which is a mistake from a creative standpoint because the first edition cover hints at what Heinlein thought to be important about the book, and even helps to make sense of the final scenes. It has something to do with a bronze sculpture of a young woman who has been crushed under stone: Auguste Rodin’s Fallen Caryatid.Continue reading Heinlein’s Caryatid

Of course it’s the book we think brilliant, not the film. Why? What did you think? We would be incensed at any suggestion to the opposite, so keep it to yourself. Fine. To be honest, we hated the film on principal, but secretly loved every minute. We loved each poorly delivered line and two dimensional representation of something that was much better in the original form. The movie is a guilty pleasure and we would appreciate it if you kept that between us. K thx.

Robert A. Heinlein is considered a genre pioneer for a reason. It says a great deal that a novel which pre-dates the moon landings can remain an inspiration to this day. Since its release in 1959, it has been emulated for its gritty style that puts you in an MI trooper’s boots, along with its brazen social commentary. Starship Troopers added powered suits and colonial marines to the sci-fi catalog for so many others to draw on. If you’ve read The Forever War, or played StarCraft, you have Heinlein’s influence to thank.Continue reading Starship Troopers is Brilliant, but Starship Troopers is Awful