Rating: 
Summary: Numb from this Beast of a Book
Review: I am a fan of Robert Heinlein. Like many people, I started out with the juvie novels when I was young. Then I moved onto novels like Stranger in a Strange Land, etc.Number of the Beast was a complete letdown. It is almost sad to think that someone kept their job after this novel was published. Heinlein, like so many other writers, had already reached his zenith creatively (and judging by the prose in Number Of the Beast--mechanically as well) by the time he sat down to write this book. The characters are straight out of workshop fiction hell. Sure, some of it was meant to be tongue in cheek. But it came off as self-indulgent. Dr. N.O. Brain? Come on. Granted, Heinlein had it in for academia and folks with advanced degrees. Oddly enough, he pursued, for a time, advanced degrees in mathematics and physics, but never received any of the degrees he loathed so much...hmm? Heinlein's downfall may have been Stranger In A Strange Land. When that book became the bestselling sf novel of all time, editors saw no reason to cut any material away from the novels he turned in as he grew older. Sadly, those editors kept their jobs. As for Heinlein, his contribution to speculative fiction will not be forgotten. With any luck, Number Of the Beast won't be remembered at all.
Rating:
Summary: I don't care if Heinlein was teaching us about writing...
Review: Heinlein was not a good prose writer nor was he a good storyteller at this stage of his life. This book is awful, the story is bad, the writing is even worse. It took me 1 read through to get that he's trying to teach the reader how to write well but if you read Heinlein's body of work, with a few notable exceptions where he does write well or tells the story well, most of his works are horrible prose and even worse in the story department. You learn from writing well by reading good prose and good writing not from reading the opposite. ...
Rating: 
Summary: good but way too dirty
Review: Good but way too dirty. Heinlein can be one dirty old man sometimes, in fact quite often. This is not bad in and of itself. However it is when it detracts from the storyline which it does in the case much too often. In this book he will often interupt the fast paced story for a nice little orgy or sex romp. Reads like a porn movie at times. He should have just stuck to hardcore sci fi, I mean hard sci fi AHHH! YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN =/
Rating: 
Summary: Parallel Universes
Review: In the Number of the Beast, a scientist builds a device that transports four people to parallel worlds. I enjoyed the adventure in the first half of the book better than the last half, but, as usual for Heinlein, he provides a novel rich in characters and ideas, thus making the reading very entertaining. I learned many new words from reading this book, like amphigory and floccinaucinihilipilification.
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't even finish it.
Review: I ~love~ Heinlein. I couldn't make it though this one, it was so revolting. The book was okay until it turned into a mastubatory fantasy for Heinlein... I dont object to sexual content in and of itself, but it came across like I was reading a novelation of a sci-fi soft porn flick rather than a legitimate sci-fi novel. I might go back and try and read it pretending it's an author other than Heinlein reading it. Maybe it won't be so bad then.
Rating:
Summary: Poor book by a great author
Review: In a matter of a decade, Heinlein went from churning out masterpieces like The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to passing off this slug. Don't buy it, find it in the library and read it, then you won't have wasted any money. What frankly amazes me is that the same author who preached the necessity of being part of the human race in such books as Podkayne of Mars and Have Space Suit, Will Travel, now preaches the virtue (vice?) of extreme individualism to the point of paranoia and excessive selfishness in this book. It was said of Clark Fries that he was quite willing to blow up the universe just to hear the bang. These characters come awfully close. The plot, what there is, is simple. Two married couples shoot off on a dimension-travelling vehicle. They have a series of mild adventures, and are highly offensive to almost everyone they meet, including each other. Dissatisfied with the "ideal" world they eventually find, they seek out Lazarus Long and are just as obnoxious to him. Apparently being very obnoxious is a survival skill. Noted for the "party" at which everyone from Jubal Harshaw to Her Wisdom to Podkayne Fries (well, I guess the Heinlein of 1980 couldn't bear to kill off ANYONE) shows up. Despite the fine ideas of dimensional travel, Heinlein was a disappointment in this book. Perhaps one reason, leaving aside the utterly unsympathetic characters, is that the Heinlein who taught that death is a part of life, and necessary so that the next generation can reach its fulfillment (exemplified in many of his juvenile novels, and most notably in I Will Fear No Evil) is no more. From here on in, Heinlein will be digging up (almost literally) favorite characters from his earlier works, and grafting them on to Lazarus Long's family as immortals. This is unworthy of Heinlein. There are so many good ideas in this book that it is worth reading, and worth mourning for the Heinlein of the 50s and 60s who would have worked wonders with them.
Rating: 
Summary: A fun peice of RAH fluff
Review: IF you only love his earlier, hardcore, sci-fi, you will , as so many others have absolutly HATE this book. But if your looking for a light, easy reading, fun book, with references to most of the greats of sci-fi and children's literature you'll enjoy this book. Have you read Asimov, Baum, Swift, Burroughs? Have you read Time Enough for Love, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, The Cat Who Wlaks through Walls? If yes, than give this book a try. If not, don't bother, you'll probably hate it too.
Rating:
Summary: It's Heinlein, but you'll wish it wasn't
Review: you know how you have a little cache of authors whose work you trust implicitly? they are a guaranteed great read. if you can only hold back and not read every book they've ever written immediately, you'll have a treasure trove of unread books you know you'll like when you have that terrible day at work. well, heinlein was like that for me. until this book. it's boring, especially if you consider it a parody. the characters aren't interesting, likable or even attractive -- despite the number of times heinlein persists in telling us about how little clothing they are wearing or how much sex they are having (not that we get to read any sex scenes, just references to them) -- apparently indisciminantly. putting aside everything else, this is one of heinlein's worst indulgences in a rather revolting display of misogyny (but it can't be mysogyny, look how smart they are! yeah right.). this is a pretentious and annoying book. and if you don't like math, you're going to really hate it.
Rating:
Summary: grab your library and let's get reading
Review: before you even pick this up, you do need to do some reading
in particular...other heinlein stuff such as: time enough for love, stranger in a strange land, the unpleasant profession of jonathan hoag, the rolling stones.
and possibly others, but those were the ones i noticed at least the book is divided into three sections, the first, can mostly stand on its own, and not require much knowledge of any other literature...
the first part details the setting for the other two sections, and is basically about how the space-time twister comes into being... having a basic grasp of mathematics through here will not hurt you much either section two is the foray into other dimensions and such, and here, is where you will begin to require a little knowledge of other literature, as heinlein begins to incorporate other fiction here, so a little knowledge is an assest, but not essential third section, this is where heinlein gets incredibly self-referential, although it begins in the second section, but is expounded upon in the third. not the heinlein book to start with, but if you have read some of the aforementioned materials, you will derive great pleasure (or should) from this book
however, another handy thing to have, would be the oxford english dictionary, as it seems to be one of the few places you can track down the word floccinaucinihilipilificatrix, which is among the words you may (like myself) find yourself looking up. it is quite refreshing to feel your mind involved in reading.
Rating:
Summary: This is one of the worst books I've ever read
Review: I have read and enjoyed a number of other Heinlen books. However, there was something about this book that struck me wrong. The charachters are poorly drawn; all are classic ubermensh. The plot drags on and goes nowhere. The whole story seems to revolve around the charachters value system and their constant bickering over their minute differences with one another. Much of it comes across as Heinlen preaching once again about the benefits of nudism and open relationships. If you are looking for a not too subtle conflict of the sexes veiled in flowerchild philosophy, this may be the book for you. However, if your looking for more thought provoking entertainment that actually has a plot, look elsewhere. I could barely get through this book. I was extremely disapointed with an otherwise noteworthy author.
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