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Jim's Reviews > Tunnel in the Sky
Tunnel in the Sky
by
by
Jim's review
bookshelves: 1audio, ya-and-kids, scifi, 2fiction
Mar 19, 2013
bookshelves: 1audio, ya-and-kids, scifi, 2fiction
Read 2 times. Last read March 19, 2013 to March 22, 2013.
This is not the correct edition. Mine is an OLD mono rip from cassettes done probably 20 years ago or more.
I'm 2/9 of the way in & quite impressed (no, not by the sound quality) by all the things Heinlein's managed to pack into the beginning of this novel. It's not just the neat new way of traveling to the stars, but the whole way he's done the colonization idea. The contrast between low tech pioneering & super high tech travel is economically & socially feasible.
I have to say, sending mules & steers across makes absolutely no sense & undercuts the point for using hay burners that he just made, though. A few to get started - maybe - but if the economics are tight, varieties that can breed make a lot more sense. Last I heard, mules are the sterile offspring of a stallion & a jenny, while steers had their jewels stolen.
Oh well, his point on guns was very well taken & demonstrated. I loved the way he put it too. The family circumstances are quite a good, poignant point, too. All in all, I don't when I've last liked the setup to an entirely new world so well.
Like most of Heinlein's juveniles, this one has a lot of lessons to teach, but some are more apparent than others. Rod, our hero, is black according to Heinlein. He wasn't allowed to say so, though. There isn't anything to point out his race one way or the other, mostly the clues are in the lack of descriptive elements. While others get sunburned, Rod never is nor is his skin ever described as being tanned. Kind of cool that he slid this one through. He has some very strong, smart women, too.
The book has its problems, but I think they're overwhelmed by its good points. Rod isn't a perfect hero, but he's pretty much a perfect adolescent male & firmly plants his foot in his mouth more than once. Didn't we all? But he's basically a good guy who does a lot of growing & never gives up, so he gets what he wants eventually. Love it. Lot's of fun with a great many things for kids, teens, & even adults to aspire to. What boy wouldn't want adventures of this sort? (I still do!)
;-)
I'm 2/9 of the way in & quite impressed (no, not by the sound quality) by all the things Heinlein's managed to pack into the beginning of this novel. It's not just the neat new way of traveling to the stars, but the whole way he's done the colonization idea. The contrast between low tech pioneering & super high tech travel is economically & socially feasible.
I have to say, sending mules & steers across makes absolutely no sense & undercuts the point for using hay burners that he just made, though. A few to get started - maybe - but if the economics are tight, varieties that can breed make a lot more sense. Last I heard, mules are the sterile offspring of a stallion & a jenny, while steers had their jewels stolen.
Oh well, his point on guns was very well taken & demonstrated. I loved the way he put it too. The family circumstances are quite a good, poignant point, too. All in all, I don't when I've last liked the setup to an entirely new world so well.
Like most of Heinlein's juveniles, this one has a lot of lessons to teach, but some are more apparent than others. Rod, our hero, is black according to Heinlein. He wasn't allowed to say so, though. There isn't anything to point out his race one way or the other, mostly the clues are in the lack of descriptive elements. While others get sunburned, Rod never is nor is his skin ever described as being tanned. Kind of cool that he slid this one through. He has some very strong, smart women, too.
The book has its problems, but I think they're overwhelmed by its good points. Rod isn't a perfect hero, but he's pretty much a perfect adolescent male & firmly plants his foot in his mouth more than once. Didn't we all? But he's basically a good guy who does a lot of growing & never gives up, so he gets what he wants eventually. Love it. Lot's of fun with a great many things for kids, teens, & even adults to aspire to. What boy wouldn't want adventures of this sort? (I still do!)
;-)
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
(Paperback Edition)
January 4, 2008
– Shelved
(Paperback Edition)
October 8, 2008
– Shelved as:
scifi
(Paperback Edition)
March 19, 2013
–
Started Reading
March 19, 2013
– Shelved as:
1audio
March 19, 2013
– Shelved
March 19, 2013
– Shelved as:
ya-and-kids
March 19, 2013
– Shelved as:
scifi
March 22, 2013
–
Finished Reading
December 11, 2013
– Shelved as:
1paper
(Paperback Edition)
October 21, 2014
– Shelved as:
2fiction
October 23, 2014
– Shelved as:
2fiction
(Paperback Edition)
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It depends on his preaching. With a few exceptions, I pretty much hated his books after 1970, but I thought the goals he espouses in his juveniles & early books are good ones. Best, his books were shorter, more to the point. His work bloated later on.I've read Varley's Titan trilogy & really liked the first book, but it went downhill from there. I tried re-reading it a decade or so ago & couldn't get into it, so I got rid of the books when we moved down here. I think I read another book or two by him, but can't recall for sure. It was too long before GR for me to properly rate & review.
Took a peek at you history with Heinlein. 60 books! And I thought I got to most of them, but apparently not. Pretty good alignment in our ratings. We both put our 5 stars on "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and "Stranger in a Strange Land" (so you liked that hippie theme, eh?). My other 5 was for "Revolt in 2100", close to your 4.
A recent read I had the pleasure of was a great homage to Heinlein by John Varley called Red Lightning. A scenario with a Mars colony, a first contact, and a conflict between colony and home planet. If you would like that feeling of wonder back again and of youth trying to do something courageous, I highly recommend it. (P.S. If you like it, you might go on to enjoy his classic Titan/Wizard/Demon trilogy, a cross between hard sci-fi and fantasy, and more his more recent "Steel Beach" nanotechnology tale).