Friday

The fiction is okay, not Heinlein's finest – but the social aspect feels eerily relevant today. Just two quotes (the novel is from 1982!):

"Pick one. A theocracy ruled by witchburners. Or a fascist socialism designed by retarded schoolboys. Or a crowd of hard-boiled pragmatists who favor shooting the horse that misses the hurdle. Step right up! Only one to a customer!"

"Only in California will you find the clear-quill, raw-gum, two-hundred proof undiluted democracy. The voting age starts when a citizen is tall enough to pull a lever without being steadied by her nurse. <...> Three years ago a grassroots economist noticed that college graduates earned, on the average, about 30 percent more than their fellow citizens who lacked bachelor's degrees. Such an undemocratic condition is anathema to the California Dream, so with great speed, an initiative was qualified for the next election, the measure passed, and all California high-school graduates and/or California citizens attaining eighteen years were henceforth awarded bachelor's degrees. A grandfather clause backdated this benefit eight years. This measure worked beautifully: the holder of bachelor's degree no longer had any undemocratic advantage".

This is perfectly enjoyable, but neither his best nor his worst. As he tended to do later in life, this novel ties back to earlier work of his. Kettle Nelly Baldwin from the short story Gulf reappears as Friday's "Boss", for instance. As for Friday herself, she is an Artificial Person, created by genetic engineering, and the genes involved include those from "Mr. and Mrs. Joe Greene", also from Gulf. She has enhanced abilities, and has been working for Baldwin's organization as a "combat courier". The setting is a Balkanized future North America where the nations we know have been broken apart into smaller splinters. One of the big themes of this book is the prejudice against Artificial People (APs), which Friday faces in various ways. She is attacked, goes on the run, and eventually makes it back to her organization, only to have The Boss die and the organization disband. But she has been given a bequest in his will which is specifically to finance her moving off-planet, which she eventually does.

Heinlein is kind of writer who provokes strong reactions, both for and against, in both readers and other writers. For example, see:

https://www.tangentonline.com/articles-columnsmenu-284/1115-remembering-robert-anson-heinlein

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2018/08/dread-of-heinleinism.html

https://www.tor.com/2010/08/16/a-brief-thought-about-why-heinlein-discussions-frequently-become-acrimonious/