Assignment in Eternity

There are two major Heinlein camps and a few crossovers. This may account for the wide variation in what people think of this book. Artists in any field paint what is real, and then what is real to them. Realists like the early works that they can relate to on their daily lives and see the later works as off the deep end. Others see the early works as silly or something that they could do better and the later works as profound and insightful. They see two people instead of one in the process of transition. The reason I bought this book is for a story that deals with transition. "Lost Legacy" (1941) I do not want to go into too much detail as it is fun to have the story unfold in its time. However the story speculates as to what the so-called unused portion of our brain is for. Heinlein is not the first to speculate, but he does put together a great story combining many previous speculations. While enjoying his story, look at the rudiments that will be used in later Heinlein writing, "Stranger in a Strange Land." Even some of the names are the same.

For anyone who fantasizes about how the future is going to be better than today, you have to check these stories out. They were written in the forties which makes them a bit of a sociological study - they're still way before their time in many ways. They're not, by any means, his best work, but they are imaginative and philosophical and I ate them up with fervour.

Aside from the supremely corny cover art (almost enough to keep one from buying it) that pervades this particular series of Heinlein novels, this is a truly great book. Of the four included stories, the best of them is the leadoff, Gulf. It is a short, thought-provoking story that was entertaining and kept me reading. However, I think if it was expanded a bit more it could have been on of RAH's all-time great short novels. The ending of the story, in particular, was a little too abrupt. Of the remaining stories, Elsewhen is an entertaining "What if?" romp. Lost Legacy, the other short novel, is a very nice story as well. Despite it's greatness, I read the story with some disdain, as it focuses on a theme (what would happen if we found out how to use the remaining parts of our brain that we don't currently use) that I thought I had come up with on my own. Seems RAH already thought of it, small wonder. But I disgress... Jerry Was A Man is the only story in the collection that I don't think is particularly interesting, but it still has it's merits and doesn't hold down the rest of the book. Like Heinlein always did at his best, this book is extremely thought-provoking and may make you re-examine what you thought was possible in the world around you. Often the book leans more toward fantasy than science fiction, which may turn off some, but this is definite reccommended reading for Heinlein fans.

Aside from the supremely corny cover art, which is almost enough to keep one from buying it, this is a truly great book. Of the four included stories, the best is "Gulf," the leadoff. It is a short, thought-provoking story that was entertaining and kept me reading. However, it could have been on of Heinlein's all-time great short novels if expanded more. The ending, in particular, was a little too abrupt. Of the remaining stories, "Elsewhen" is an entertaining "What if?" romp. "Lost Legacy," the other novella, is a very nice story as well. "Jerry Was a Man" is the only story that I don't find particularly interesting, but it still has merit and doesn't hold down the rest. As Heinlein always did at his best, this book is extremely thought-provoking and may make you re-examine what you thought possible. It often leans more toward fantasy than science fiction, which may turn off some, but this is highly recommended for fans.

This is an intriguing book, especially the last story, "Jerry Was A Man", in light of the clone news. Also, if you look carefully, you will be introduced to "Kettle Belly" Baldwin, Friday's Father(or 1 of them