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 Like most of the other reviewers, this book starts great, has some great moments, but has some of the most dullest, boring, RAH I have ever read.
While bad RAH is often better than good other authors, if you enjoyed The Number of the Beast, you have some great reading ahead of you with his other works.
Still would not mind having a "Gay Deceiver" myself,... even in its standard form
I rarely reread books, but I have The Number of the Beast in three different editions (including an illustrated version), and have read the book several times in my life. The book allows readers to mystically transport themselves, becoming part of an awesome adventure that starts at a California party. The book's tremendous strengths are its characters, dialog, and ideas. (Heinlein makes occasional references to other science fiction characters. For example, Deja Thoris is a princess of Mars in an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel.) Although the Number of the Beast diffuses a bit toward the end, I consider it the best of Heinlein's books and hope to be reading it and rereading it until I die. Lose yourself in it. Become immersed in it. Fly with it. The book deals with parallel universes and other dimensions, subjects also treated with great creativity by Cliff Pickover in his book "Surfing Through Hyperspace." Get either book, and learn to soar.
A lot of people seem to try, an awful lot. They also know what a Heinlein Novel "should be," and what it shouldn't be. "The Number of the Beast," they say, shows what it shouldn't be. Some people use it as an example of a failure of the Dean's mental facilities. Others use it as an example of bad storytelling. All of which stuns me. "Number of the Beast" is a highly consistent, fast paced novel in three (clearly identified) parts. It is experimental, to be certain, but the experiment succeeds in so many ways. The novel is broken into chapters, alternating between points of view between the four main characters and highlighting their differences as they undergo adventures through time and space. Along the way, truly fantastic concepts are revealed (not the least of which is the idea that All Stories Are Real, Somewhere -- a truly appealing notion). But through it all, we also see the evolution of a family through the pressures that come from marriage and love, in a situation where duty must intercede. The evolution of the characters and their perception of leadership, ability and their views of each other keep you reading throughout. Occasionally you want to throttle some of the characters for being boneheads -- in part because they remain likable while being boneheads. The subject matter is mature -- the characters are very open and experessive about their sexuality (though there is only one "on screen" sex scene, which itself wouldn't interest a reader of any supermarket romance novel). One of my personal favorites, and a strong novel that deserves to be read. But only pick it up if you have an open mind -- both about society's mores and about Robert Heinlein in general. If you do, you'll have a lot of fun |
