Citizen of the Galaxy

No cover

Robert A. Heinlein: Citizen of the Galaxy (1977, Scribner)

Board book

English language

Published Sept. 1, 1977 by Scribner.

ISBN:
978-0-684-15364-3
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
4017285

View on OpenLibrary

3 stars (23 reviews)

From helpless slave to beloved son to aspiring merchant to prodigal heir, Citizen of the Galaxy shows the inner and outer growth of a young man in a far-flung Galactic culture. From the moment he is bought and freed by the beggar Baslim (who is far more than he seems), young Toby learns the values of family, self-reliance, discipline, and self-knowledge. Galactic in its scope and personal in its depth, Citizen of the Galaxy is a well-crafted coming of age story set against a galaxy of contrasts.

In a distant galaxy, the atrocity of slavery was alive and well, and young Thorby was just another orphaned boy sold at auction. But his new owner, Baslim, is not the disabled beggar he appears to be: adopting Thorby as his son, he fights relentlessly as an abolitionist spy. When the authorities close in on Baslim, Thorby must ride with the Free Traders …

19 editions

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, …

avatar for ospalh

rated it

5 stars
avatar for betty

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Lasu

rated it

3 stars
avatar for moopet

rated it

2 stars
avatar for whami

rated it

3 stars
avatar for sir_diesalot

rated it

4 stars
avatar for bondolo

rated it

3 stars
avatar for serj

rated it

5 stars
avatar for JollyRoberts

rated it

4 stars
avatar for dx

rated it

3 stars
avatar for scifijack

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Stacks

rated it

3 stars
avatar for chaos_angel

rated it

3 stars
avatar for BigJay

rated it

5 stars
avatar for acdha

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Iamgmm

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Iamgmm

rated it

2 stars

Subjects

  • Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
  • Non-Classifiable
  • Literature - Classics / Criticism