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Summary: A civics lesson...
Review: A long time ago, when Space Cadet and it's companion, Tunnel in the Sky, were first published, chapters from both were read aloud to me (and my fellow classmates) in the sixth grade by a remarkable public school teacher. He understood that the underlying lessons in civic responsibility would remain with us...we just thought at the time these were ripping good stories. Over the years I've re-read both until my copies fell apart. He was right, the political lessons are as relevant today as they were when they were written. Not just for kids....
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Summary: My first Heinlein, and still my favourite!
Review: After seeing 'Star Wars' at age ten, and being introduced to an entirely new way of thinking, I wound up checking this book out at my school's library. Wow. I'm so glad a Heinlein book was my first foray into written SF - no telling what might've happened if I'd tried something bad! This book is still my favourite of Heinlein's works, and not entirely because of nostalgia, either.
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Summary: Another quality Heinlein juvie
Review: Although Heinlein is now more well known, and will probably be remembered, for his later, more ambitious adult novels (Starship Troopers, Stranger In A Strange Land), his more important contribution to the field of science fiction may well have been his earlier novels intended for teens. These juvenile books - or "juvies", as they were then called - although notably less heavy on the dialogue and philosophy that would come to color later works (as well as being somewhat inevitably dated due to the fact that they were written half a century ago), are more than just your average run-of-the-mill youth fiction, and they have stood the test of time - and were, in fact, major contributions to the field of science fiction. You may well wonder why. The simple fact is that many scientists, engineers, and astronauts working today (just take a poll at NASA) were inspired to enter the field by these works of Robert A. Heinlein. It's no small wondert that NASA gave Heinlein a posthumous Distinguished Public Service Medal - their highest civilian honor. (They also helped pull the field of science fiction out of a mere genre niche into the mainstream: Heinlein, with these works, rose above the "pulp" market which most SF was relegated to, and cracked the "slicks" - the more respectable and well-known papers - the first science fiction writer to do so.) Although his later works may be more respectable as literature, these, indeed, serve to inspire. And they're still doing it today. If you want to get a younger person interested in science fiction, these are the perfect books - just as they always have been. They open the door to Heinlein's later works and the entire field of science fiction. The good thing about them, though, is that, though the books had teens as their target audience, they are just as good of a read for adults. This is because Heinlein knew the way to get teens to like books for teens: to write to them as if they weren't teens. Consequently, these books can be read and enjoyed by people of all ages. (It also works the other way: I read Stranger In A Strange Land at age 15, and my wife read it at 12.) They come very highly reccommended for younger readers, as they all teach many solemn virtues important for anyone - personal responsibility, loyalty, maturity, honesty - that may well make a permanent impression on younger readers. However, the books are also very enjoyable for adults because of the way Heinlein wrote. I decree, this man could make anything, literally anything, entertaining. His writing was always breezy and sardonically funny, and his dialogue among the best and cleverest ever written - as has been well said, "as witty as Oscar Wilde's."This particular book, Space Cadet, though not the best of them, is another solid, action-packed romp. As with the best of his work of this type (Red Planet, Tunnel In The Sky) the book is exciting and action-packed, and there is never a dull moment. It is also very entertaining and a fun, fast read: the dialogue is great, and it's fun to read and moves along at a brisk, exciting pace. It also has several good moral points and instills some strong values in the reader. The plot of the book concerns a group of young men who are out the join the "Space Cadets", the peace keepers of the "Solar Federation" (sound familar? one begins to see just how influential Heinlein was.) The early part of the book has the characters going through the exams and trials required to join, and the latter half shows them in action. This book, such as it is, says a lot about how such military systems work (both practically and on a more personal, pragmatic level), and as such is kind of a watered-down version of Starship Troopers (although, of course, that book was written later.) I reccommend it very highly for younger readers, or for anyone who liked the basic idea of that book but was turned off by its heavy-handed approach. Another fine Heinlein juvie.
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Summary: Matt and Tex meet on their way to the Patrol Academy
Review: and the book just gets more exciting from there. Matt Dodson and Tex Jarman are candidates for the position of
cadet in the Interplanetary Patrol. What is the Interplanetary
Patrol? It's not a military organization. What?! I said it's not a
military organization. It's repository for weapons too dangerous to be entrusted to the military. Heinlein explains
it better than I can. He says: "Sure you're trained to use weapons but the Patrol isn't a military organization...." He then gets technical with Lieutenant Wong's explanation of the gravity well. The first two chapters are just orientation and the beginnings of the tests. The rest of the book is space-based with the exception of the trip to Venus. The description of Venus is a bit dated but it's still a good read.
It would make a good movie.
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Summary: At the beginning of this book, Matt Dodson meets Tex Jarman
Review: At the beginning of this book, Matt Dodson meets Tex Jarman. Both are candidates for the position of cadet in the Interplanetary Patrol, an organi- zation that's a cross between a U.N. peace-keeping force and the local police. Its main purpose is to prevent war. We see Matt, Tex, Oscar, Pierre, and Girard Burke from their entry to their assign- ment to their various ships. Blair Colquhoun @cybertours.com
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Summary: A great introduction to sci-fi for younger readers.
Review: Hard to rate this book. Do I judge it as an adult ( ok book but nothing earth shaking..) or as the young boy I was when first I read it? The boy who read it was enchanted by characters that he identified with and a story that zoomed with adventure. As an adult it is still a tresured part of my collection. A great place for the younger set to be introduced to the wonderful world of science fiction. Plus... unlike some of Heinlein's books, which are geared most decidedly towards a more mature audience, this is a book that I could give to my 8 year old cousin without worrying about what he'll find inside. As a kids book this rates from a 6.5-8 out of 10
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Summary: Provides valuable lessons -- especially for adults!
Review: I am a faculty member at a law school. When we considered revamping our curriculum, I gave the committee members passages from this book to read, where the Academy's approach is made clear. Universally, the response was: "Yeah, that's how we should do things. But we have to pursue a feel-good approach now." Heinlein understands that character matters, and that institutions should encourage responsibility, not undermine it. That, I suppose, is why he was never an administrator.... Nonetheless, this is not only a terrific story, but one -- like all of Heinlein's juniors -- with a point.
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Summary: Choice Juvie Sci-Fi by A Master of the Genre
Review: I am in my early twenties and didn't know about Heinlen until I turned 12. He was not on my recommended reading list as my parents knew my tendency, which began around my 8th year, to read everything by an author if I liked one of their titles. I think they were nervous about the compatibility of Stranger In a Strange Land for an 8 - 10 year old. I did not discover Heinlein's juvies until I was in my early twenties, which I still haven't left. I had read much of Heinlen's more mature material in my `teens, some of it before I was ready for it. Therefore, when I read SPACE CADET, I approached it with a mind toward how it would have affected me if I had read it earlier in life. So doing, I was highly impressed with his work.
There seems to be some contention concerning the relation of this book to his better-known STARSHIP TROOPERS. Regardless of other subject matter, I think that there is a legitimate connection between the principles that he was promoting in both. The main difference in the two books is the age group and the times he was writing for, since the adventures that entertained children and older youths in the nineteen-forties or fifties would probably not have held the attention or provided equal entertainment for those more advanced in years and less innocent in outlook.
Heinlen rarely wrote anything without a point, and in SPACE CADET he promoted concepts of personal responsibility to society, spoke against racism (VERY progressive for 1948), warned of the practical disadvantages of drinking, congratulated honoring one's parents in the face of parental ignorance, advocated a strong military defense capability even as he pronounced the lofty goal of a lasting peace, and celebrated study and productive activity over immature destructive behaviors. He did all of this with very little moral grandstanding or preaching, and even the few speeches he included contained enough serious drama and ironic humor to keep almost anyone buried in the story.
What Heinlen achieved, in short, is a remarkable work of juvenile fiction; active, adventurous, fanciful only in its dated depiction of a possible Venus, never slowing down, just utopian enough for those who retain some innocence, just worldly practical enough to encourage thinking and the abandonment of naiveté, as full of turmoil and new things and "what-do-I-want-to-do-with-my-life" questionings as will cause mental weight lifting and big dreams in most brains from 8 to 80. Maybe the story is somewhat old-fashioned, maybe a lot of people would rather watch something mindless than read something that is at all dated. However, I can honestly state my absolute opinion that if anyone picks up this book and, with an open mind, pays attention to it, it will demonstrate to them practical lessons that a lot of people, these days, seem to be in need of learning.
Also, it's just a titanic chunk of fun for anyone who loves, or is being introduced to the love of hard sci-fi.
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Summary: GREAT BOOK!
Review: I first read it in 6th grade and every year since i have read it, some years even twice. This book introduced me to Heinlein and I have been caught on him since.
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Summary: Book that turned me on to science fiction
Review: I first read this book in 1970, a time that seems so long ago now it's hard to remember just what it was like. I happened upon it on my school library shelves, among the "H" books, among five other Heinleins. I read all of them, but this one was still the one that impressed me the most. Even though it's been nearly fifty years after its first publication, even though things didn't work out like Heinlein proposed, I can still recommend this as a good book to jump-start someone's interest in science fiction.
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