The Mysterious Planet

As much as I love Heinlein's early work, I would have to say that this novel by Lester Del Ray is probably the best single example of the post-war space opera. It has everything: the Federation, the idealism and tradition, the Cadet corps, the hard science details, the sense of optimism about the future.... It is just a good read. This is an idealistic book. It is not some simple minded "kill all the bugs" combat story. The members of the fleet are shown to be thinking men that hate the thought of war as much, or more, than anyone. And the aliens are simularly portrayed with depth, and yes, humanity. Here, sane and civilised men go out of their way to try to avoid the horror of total war, while never for a moment hesitating to fight that war to win it, should it be truly unavoidable. There is a line towards the end of the last chapter, "There had never been hatred, Bob knew, because cultures sufficiently advanced do not have to hate other cultures through lack of understanding." This may be a "kid's book", but this is not "kid's stuff"....