Rating: 
Summary: A worthy read, but don't make it your first Heinlein
Review: Starman Jones isn't one that I'd recommend for the sci-fi primer; if you're new to the genre there are just too many good books to read, and a lot of them are other Heinlein novels. But for a person who's past that point and is just looking for more good books, this one's worth it.I guess I'd call Starman Jones a "formula" Heinlein novel. Its main character is a boy who dreams of becoming an astrogator, who gets his chance the hard way. It's full of a lot of the same types of characters, including father/mentor types like the ship's captain, and has those same hard life lessons and idealism that exemplify his other books. Still like every book Heinlein wrote, there is a uniqueness to the story of this one that makes it worth reading. Like other Heinleins, there are a few dated elements. In Starman Jones, his habit of consistently writing computers as big, clunky things incapable of more than simple calculations pops up in force because it becomes an important element of the story. Still that dating gives it some charm and adds a little sense of what-if to the tale. As a Heinlein fan I find it easy to forgive his few misses at foresight and squint past the rougher spots to read the story for what it is. But that's why I say this shouldn't be a first Heinlein for anyone; it's not a good introduction to his work and won't be as fully appreciated by someone who hasn't read and enjoyed his more classic books. This book will satisfy younger readers (and older ones) well, but I'd still recommend "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress", "Have Space Suit--Will Travel", "The Rolling Stones", and "Tunnel In The Sky" (all by Heinlein) before this one to anyone who hasn't read them yet. People who have read and appreciate those books will find this one more enjoyable for it.
Rating:
Summary: One of Heinlein's Best Juveniles
Review: The typical hero of Heinlein's "juveniles" is a decent, modest--yet heroic--lad who overcomes challenges as he comes of age. Starman Jones, along with Space Cadet and Starship Toopers, is one of the best of these novels. Readers dismayed at Heinlein's at-times lecherous novels for adults should overcome their fears and buy this book for a youngster. Those dismayed to find Heinlein writings stories that *aren't* lecherous should read it anyway. ;)
Rating:
Summary: The best young man's book ever written!
Review: This enchanting novel is one of the first books I ever read. It was given to me by my brother when I was only twelve years old and our parents were going through their divorce. Through the miracle of Heinlein's writing I was able to escape the nasty stuff at home. Eventually I earned a degree in English because I learned to read from Heinlein. If you have a little brother who is a "dreamer," and you want to make sure he learns how to read rather than do drugs, this is the book for you
Rating: 
Summary: ...What Was Set Before Him
Review: This is just about my favourite of Heinlein's "juveniles". Like other SF authors of the era (particularly Andre Norton), Heinlein realised that the audience he was aiming at would, aside from being younger than the audience he reached through magazines like "Astounding", be just about as literate and as quick to accept and comprehend new ideas as the audience for his "adul" works. So, like Norton (and Edward Eager, to mention another) his sole concessions to the "juvenile" nature of the market were the age of his protagonists and a tendency to slightly less complex language -- not writing down, just speaking a bit more plainly. He assumed that his audience would be familiar with things that, perhaps, the general audience would not -- the discussions of the implications for a "truck" of negative-lift streamlining and an anti-gravity field that varies by an inverse-cube law in this book are a classic example of that. The story here, of a young man's passage into adulthood, is one that Heinlein has told many times in many guises, but i think that this may be the most poignant (except possibly for the relativity-separated twins of "Time for the Stars"), as Max Jones must be, essentially, orphaned twice along the way to that maturity. Heinlein postulates a time when unions/guilds so totally control work qualifications that if you're not a guild member, you can't work. Max Jones, whose father has died, has nothing more to look forward to than a life on a back-country farm with his mother and her jerk of a new husband. That is -- he has nothing to look forward to unless he can persuade the Astrogators' Guild, of which his uncle was a member, to accept him as an apprentice. Taking his uncle's working manuals, Max sets out to hitch-hike to Guild HQ and sign up. Of course, that doesn't work -- along the way he meets Sam -- the only name he'll give -- who attempts to, in essence, steal Max's identity and get himself appointed a Guild Apprentice. But the Guild will accept neither. So Sam -- convincing Max that he wants to get off Earth just as badly as Max does and that, with his connections and Max's money (a legacy from his uncle via the Guild), they can get faked papers and get into space. And they do -- as members of the Stewards' Guild. To this point, a description of the book reads like a lot of other formula juvenile adventure books; but it's the details woven into the story that make the difference -- like the story Sam tells casually about this fellow he knew who wound up accidentally deserting the Imperial Marines... a story that sounds a lot like a first person narrative, though Sam denies it. By a series of unforeseen events, Max is allowed to become an astrogator after all, becomes an officer, and eventually he is the *only* astrogator surviving after a seemingly-hospitable planet upon which the ship lands turns hostile... But he and one of the passengers have been taken prisoner by the nasty centauroids who rule the world... Max Jones is a brave young man who does all that is asked of him and answers the call whenever he is needed. His friend Sam is a probable deserter, a card cheat, a con man and a brawler. It's Sam, the man who "...ate what was set before him" that you will remember forever after you read this book.
Rating:
Summary: If Max could cut it, so could I....
Review: This is one of the few books that I read as a boy that stuck with me all the rest of my life. While I never studied to be an "astrogator", this book did inspire me to study astronomy, navigation, physics, and calculus. It gave me a dream to build on. You see, the hero, Max, is a poor, rural kid from a highly dysfunctional and abusive family (actually, white trash is more accurate.) Being lower class, Max has no realistic chance of going to college or entering a profession ( a "guild".) Yet Max not only escapes, he goes on to Captain a starship. He succeeds entirely on his own against incredible odds. Instead of accepting a life of rural idiocy and poverty he literally remakes himself and his destiny from the ground up. Whenever I was up against it in my own life I inevitably remembered Max. How many modern books provide an example like this for lower class kids? My only regret is that there wasn't an Astrogator's Guild that I could have joined. If Max could cut it, so could I....
Rating:
Summary: Great storytelling by the Dean of SF
Review: This story really could not be improved upon. Bound to have a great impact on anyone near the "golden age of science fiction" (around 13), but enjoyable for anyone
Rating:
Summary: A fun book about growing up
Review: Young Jones is a farmer, who hates being a farmer and can think of nothing better than to head out into space. His uncle was an astrogator, and left his books to Jones when he died. After an upheval of his home life(which he wasn't really attached to anyway) he decides it's time to head out on his own, hopefully to become an astrogator. Being young and nieve, he makes some bad calls in charachters of someone he meets on the way, and finds out the hard way that you can't trust everyone who seems nice. I'd write more, but don't want to give away the storyline. Being one of heinlein's early 'juvies' this book isn't as involved as his later and better known works, and at times I felt it was too predictable. But, Heinlein was a master of portraying people, thier dreams and desires and fears. This is a fun young adult book about growing up.
Rating:
Summary: A fun book about growing up
Review: Young Jones is a farmer, who hates being a farmer and can think of nothing better than to head out into space. His uncle was an astrogator, and left his books to Jones when he died. After an upheval of his home life(which he wasn't really attached to anyway) he decides it's time to head out on his own, hopefully to become an astrogator. Being young and nieve, he makes some bad calls in charachters of someone he meets on the way, and finds out the hard way that you can't trust everyone who seems nice. I'd write more, but don't want to give away the storyline. Being one of heinlein's early 'juvies' this book isn't as involved as his later and better known works, and at times I felt it was too predictable. But, Heinlein was a master of portraying people, thier dreams and desires and fears. This is a fun young adult book about growing up.
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