ratfactor reviewed Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert A. Heinlein
Review of 'Citizen of the Galaxy' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Unfortunately, these Heinlein "juveniles" have been pretty uneven. I think we lucked into the better ones near the beginning. Citizen of the Galaxy is considered one of his better books, but I couldn't disagree more. The pacing was great in the beginning and I thought he handled some interesting and challenging subjects very well (slavery and all sorts of classism). But as a story, it just increasingly sucks. The ending on this perhaps even more of a let-down than Time for the Stars. And like that book, it's got not one, but two instances of "gosh, my cousin sure is hot" (one instance being more literal than another). Does anybody know what the deal with that is?
At any rate, these last two juveniles have reminded me less of fun SF adventures with thought-provoking elements and more of his 1960s work that I pretty much despise (and mind you, …
Unfortunately, these Heinlein "juveniles" have been pretty uneven. I think we lucked into the better ones near the beginning. Citizen of the Galaxy is considered one of his better books, but I couldn't disagree more. The pacing was great in the beginning and I thought he handled some interesting and challenging subjects very well (slavery and all sorts of classism). But as a story, it just increasingly sucks. The ending on this perhaps even more of a let-down than Time for the Stars. And like that book, it's got not one, but two instances of "gosh, my cousin sure is hot" (one instance being more literal than another). Does anybody know what the deal with that is?
At any rate, these last two juveniles have reminded me less of fun SF adventures with thought-provoking elements and more of his 1960s work that I pretty much despise (and mind you, I started on a bad foot with him by reading the unbelievable garbage, The Number of the Beast!). My kiddo was also very disappointed by the abrupt and unsatisfying ending. And for that reason, I'm gonna give this a low rating.
It's sad, really, because there are some very good elements in this.
