Rating: 
Summary: Strange but beautiful
Review: I wish I could say I loved this work completely, but count me repressed when I say I cannot completely accept his ideas. These ideas were also expressed in his novels about the long-lifers, though neither as poignantly nor as eloquently as in this novel, I must say. I do understand that, as a friend of mine put it, he was really exploring a new social order, and the sex is mostly symbolic. I guess you could say my reservations about the book are purely philisophical, not literary. I simply cannot imagine myself opting for such a life. And I did think that his use of the TV-evangelical style was a bit disappointing. It seemed to be such a mundane and dishonorable way of fulfilling Michael's earlier promise as a character. But to be sure, this is RAH's most important and most intellectual work, where he examines a very real society through a very speculative situation, and presents a very different alternative. It is what science fiction does at its best.
Rating: 
Summary: A Brilliant Let-Down
Review: Well, I agree with everyone that this book is a fantastic philosophical masterpiece - it has the potential to be life-changing and eye-opening, but the ending was SUCH a let-down!! I was completely engrossed in the mind-blowing moral issues and the problems of philosophy, when RAH copped out and brought in the Archangel aspect. Until that point, I thought that the story had been believable - practically realistic (if you go in for all that martian stuff) - but this plot twist was a pathetic attempt at tying up a loose ending. Couldn't they have just killed him off and left it at that???
Rating: 
Summary: I've read better- but not much!
Review: I read this book as a research topic for my senior English class and loved it. At first, I started it because I thought it was about a man on Mars but when he came to live on Earth and I saw how he interacted with his surroundings and his "water brothers" I didn't know what to think. As I got further into the book I realized it was not about "the man from mars" but about Earth and the human race. The book talks about people not understanding something because it is different and that is so true in today's society. This book was great and I would recomend it to anyone who wanted to read good science fiction.-Danielle
Rating:
Summary: Classic
Review: Granted, this was pretty shocking stuff back when it was first marketed, and now, it's hardly worth a second look....but that doesn't keep the book from appearing dated, or trite. The story is the classic man-kills-messiah, with a very amusing, and significant, twist. The character of Jubal Harshaw is well worth the price of the book alone-it reminded me alot of one of Heinlein's other characters, Lazarus Long. When I first read the book and came across Jubal for the first time, it was like meeting a very special friend who knows all the secrets of the world. And besides all that, Heinlein writes in a very fluid, easy to read style-even while intellectualizing. I first read the book over ten years ago now, but since then, I've read it over and over again.
Rating: 
Summary: Go back to the original published version!
Review: This "uncut" version, published thirty years after the original publication, shows how wise editors can be. The original "Strangers" is a great book, influencing a whole generation. The "restored" material in this version slows down the story, and its blatant sexism and dialogue are very offensive, dating the book. .
Rating:
Summary: Interesting story, but a bit too intellectual
Review: I will keep this brief: lots of people seem to love this book to death. I enjoyed it but parts of it were tedious. The book requires a lot of thinking. I consider myself to be of above-average intelligence but at times it took a lot of perserverance to finish. It was worth reading, but it isn't my favourite Heinlein book.
Rating:
Summary: Read the short version
Review: Quite simply, the short version is better. The stuff they added for the new edition only hinders the flow of the book. Also, it horrendously dates everything. All the sexist banter is restored making this novel seem to take place in the mid-fifties. Stick with the original.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT one of the greatest science fiction novels
Review: This is one of Heinlein's more embarassing efforts. He was clearly pandering to the free-love atmosphere of the 60s. I loved and read all of his books as a teenager. I have re-read many of them and have come to see that his thinking was often one-dimensional and predictable; patriarchal and pro-war. However, he had a very creative mind and no matter how bad his books are, they are still readable, and they are definitely better than Star Trek.
Rating:
Summary: This is an excellent book.
Review: I was surfing the Amazon looking at books I have enjoyed and I was quite suprised by the negative reviews of this book. This book is about love, tolerance and taking a stand without causing too much harm. (Michael, after he gained a sense of "earth morality", never killed a person who wouldn't be missed) About the sex. Ben Caxton was horrified by it too. Jubal got him to look at his (Ben's) problems and admit they were his problems; not Mike's. The talk Jubal gave about the hypocrisy of accepting some parts of a lifestyle while rejecting it's results was excellent. This book is also about choices, and understanding the choices. It is about not understanding the choices but going ahead anyway on faith. It is not about standing still. It is also about Sex Sells. Heinlein must have got a kick out of using sex to sell a diatribe about the shallow use of sex as a sales gimmick. Read it again and again. It'll get better.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, but not just Sci-Fi
Review: This book is by far one of the best books I have ever read. It is both an interesting science fiction novel and a profound philosophical text. If you read it as just a sci-fi book and nothing more, not only will you not get the full effect of the book, but you won't even enjoy it past the first half. Heinlin uses a very interesting science fiction idea - a man growing up on Mars and coming back to Earth, and uses it to portray very interesting ideas about the human psyche and ethics. Read just as a science fiction novel, it will fizzle once Michael ceases to be entirely confused by human behaviour. At this point, the book ceases to be oriented primarily toward the science fiction side. The first half of the book is meant to point out the flaws in human society, showing politicians, lawyers, reporters, and virtually everyone else trying to fight eachother to get on top. Mike doesn't understand this, and does not understand human society as a whole. The second section shows what Heinlin believes would be a utopia. A communal, loving environment, absent of all forms of politics. It is not communism, but rather love for all in every way. Michael takes on a Christ figure role when the human world fails to understand his ways. This is hardly a satire, as has been suggested. It may not be completely feasible, or something that can be enacted anytime soon, but it's a demonstration of what human interaction should, and perhaps, could, be like.
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