[Citizen of the Galaxy]

#646

Title: Citizen of the Galaxy

Author: Robert A. Heinlein

Publisher: Ace

Year: 1957/1971

253 pages

I've read this any number of times, but since I began competitive reading at Goodreads, I haven't  done much re-reading. I like Heinlein's later juvenile novels very much--the ones like this and Starman Jones, not the way-juveniles like The Star Beast. Yes, they all have the same tone, except Podkayne of Mars where Heinlein first develops the annoying faux-female narrator voice that's so jarring in Farnham's Freehold. Yes, you could pick up most of the secondary characters and plunk them into a different Heinlein novel without breaking stride. Still, I like the character of Thorby very much. He's one of Heinlein's most sympathetic young men and I believe in his growing maturity and conviction. Similarly, Baslim may be the best realization of the stern yet protective older military man with near-superhuman powers of recall or comprehension (this is Heinlein's pre-"bald old coot" Mary Sue). I like the four distinct phases of Thorby's life, and the way the fifth section brings them together. I like that there are so many heroes in this novel whose heroic acts consist mainly of thinking or doing their unglamorous jobs well.

I've always disliked Heinlein's portrayal of women, but on this re-reading I noticed how much of the action hinges on the actions of the women, from the women who hide Thorby when Baslim disappears to the Sisu's Chief to Leda's covert and overt assistance. This is ever so much more cheering than the "Now it's time for you, our father, who is immortal, but we're actually twins who are your clones, to impregnate us" of later Heinlein.