Rating: 
Summary: A major letdown from one of SF's Grandmasters
Review: After reading Stranger In A Strange Land, which was the greatest SF novel I have ever read, Heinlein had me enthralled. I checked up on every book I could find by him, and stumbled upon Beyond This Horizon. I can see how he attempted to craft it into a witty, philosophical SF novel, but it instead came out as a disjointed work of odd spurts of dialogue, events which just interfere with the story. However, the main problem with this book was that it wasn't remarkable. I really feel that even I could have written something as good, if not better, than Beyond This Horizon. Furthermore, the idea constantly debated over throughout the story was an idea I had come up with on my own awhile ago, and I've been pondering it for some time. It's a well-known proposal, and Heinlein just didn't know how to make a decent novel out of it. I think Heinlein slacked off on BTH, and it's a shame, coming from such a renowned writer who utterly deserved every gracious title bestowed upon him. If you want to read good Heinlein, I highly suggest you begin with Stranger In A Strange Land, and The Puppet Masters.
Rating: 
Summary: Thought provoking
Review: Although Beyond This Horizon isn't as good as some of Heineiln's other pieces, it's still a good read. It reminded me of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley in that there was a perfect society in which people still managed to be unhappy. The plot moved rather slowly, but it still kept you interested enough to read the whole book
Rating:
Summary: Can't belive I'm rating a Heinlein book two stars
Review: As a Heinlien fan, I try to read everything that comes across my path by him. I'm rarely dissapointed. This is one of those rare times. The story is interresting enough, the science and society and ecconomics well explained, but there were just too many flaws.Heinlein has often been accused of writing very two-dementional women, in a very sexist way. Generally, I can see that point in some of his other works, but it's not that bad, geenrally just a viewpoint of someone living in his time. In this, the females are nearly brainless....while given praise by the male charachters for thier feminine qualities, it comes across as if women are just silly-headed and weak, existing only for man's pleasure and entertainment. Any attempt by a woman to be "strong" is frowned upon, and she's quickly put into her place,given a playfull spanking by a guy who disaproves of her unfeminine actions. The main male charachters are rather dull, so much so that I actually kept mixing them up as to who was who. Rather confusing, and soemthing I typically don't have a problem with in other books. The plot had some good potential, but suffered in excess from Heinleins tendancies to lecture through his charachters conversations to each other. This is present in other books of his, but is generally much better done that it was here. Alas, in the end I couldn't finish the book I was so bored with it. I'll make an attempt once more in the future to pick it up again and try harder, but this is the first time I've had to put forth an effort to finish one of Heinlein's works once I've started it. If you haven't read the works of R.A. Heinlein don't let this be your first one. Appriciate some of his better works like "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", or a good juvie of his "Tunnel in the Sky", or "Starship Troopers" before delving deeper into Heinlein.
Rating:
Summary: Can't belive I'm rating a Heinlein book two stars
Review: As a Heinlien fan, I try to read everything that comes across my path by him. I'm rarely dissapointed. This is one of those rare times. The story is interresting enough, the science and society and ecconomics well explained, but there were just too many flaws. Heinlein has often been accused of writing very two-dementional women, in a very sexist way. Generally, I can see that point in some of his other works, but it's not that bad, geenrally just a viewpoint of someone living in his time. In this, the females are nearly brainless....while given praise by the male charachters for thier feminine qualities, it comes across as if women are just silly-headed and weak, existing only for man's pleasure and entertainment. Any attempt by a woman to be "strong" is frowned upon, and she's quickly put into her place,given a playfull spanking by a guy who disaproves of her unfeminine actions. The main male charachters are rather dull, so much so that I actually kept mixing them up as to who was who. Rather confusing, and soemthing I typically don't have a problem with in other books. The plot had some good potential, but suffered in excess from Heinleins tendancies to lecture through his charachters conversations to each other. This is present in other books of his, but is generally much better done that it was here. Alas, in the end I couldn't finish the book I was so bored with it. I'll make an attempt once more in the future to pick it up again and try harder, but this is the first time I've had to put forth an effort to finish one of Heinlein's works once I've started it. If you haven't read the works of R.A. Heinlein don't let this be your first one. Appriciate some of his better works like "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", or a good juvie of his "Tunnel in the Sky", or "Starship Troopers" before delving deeper into Heinlein.
Rating:
Summary: not 1st rate Heinlein
Review: Beond this Horizon has some witty moments and amusing dialogue, but the storytelling wasn't what I expect from a Heinlein book. for a first time reader of Heinlein this would be a disasterous choice. Beyond this Horizon is for die hard Heinlein fans who want to read everything he ever wrote. "Free Luna"
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful commentary
Review: Beyond This Horizon is a "post-utopian" novel. After the problem of world hunger, and all other issues of wealth distribution, have been solved, what problems will remain? If everybody is rich and healthy, what more could a rational person desire? In this novel, Hamilton Felix visits his friend, Monroe-Alpha Clifford, to show off his new pistol, a .45 caliber automatic, and then invites him out for dinner. As they dine on the balcony, Monroe-Alpha fumbles a crab leg, which slips from his fingers and lands in a drink on a table below, splashing purple liquid onto a woman's lap. Monroe-Alpha is called to task for the accident and apologizes, admitting his fault. However, another man chides him for his clumsiness and Hamilton does the honors, but only wounds the man in the shoulder. Unknown to Felix and his friend, the wounded man is an assassin for a group that believes that utopia lacks only one thing: a ruling class. The story goes on to detail the uncovering of this irrational plot and the eventual actions taken, including a shootout in the Genetics Clinic. The author draws upon the old saying, "man cannot live by bread alone", to point out that a material utopia will not settle all human issues. Such problems include not only the ambitions and aggressions passed on through our genes, but our higher aspirations for ourselves, for our families, and for the whole human race. This story is the author's first adult novel published in book form. He had been writing shorter works for the magazines for some time and two previous juvenile novels, but this was his masterwork, his proof that he could sell in the adult book market. There is very little that is dated in this story (one editorial review commented on the dialogue as dated, but maybe retro was in again). In fact, his depiction of the eugenics program has the look and feel of modern genetic engineering; of course, the author doesn't dwell on the details, but the ways and means seem very contemporary. This novel has never been acclaimed as much as others, such as Stranger In a Strange Land, that attracted the attention of a wider, but less knowledgeable, audience. Maybe it came before its time, for the topics discussed herein are more apropos today than 60 years ago. One of the possibilities of the post-ColdWar era is the development of a worldwide material utopia. Would that solve all our current problems? Are you certain? This reprint has a 2001: A Space Odyssey starchild on the cover. Some people don't know a Heinlein from a Clarke! And probably not even a hawk from a handsaw! Highly recommended to Heinlein fans and anyone who enjoys the serious contemplation of the unthinkable in a SF setting.
Rating:
Summary: The Post-Utopian Blues
Review: Beyond This Horizon is a "post-utopian" novel. After the problem of world hunger, and all other issues of wealth distribution, have been solved, what problems will remain? If everybody is rich and healthy, what more could a rational person desire? In this novel, Hamilton Felix visits his friend, Monroe-Alpha Clifford, to show off his new pistol, a .45 caliber automatic, and then invites him out for dinner. As they dine on the balcony, Monroe-Alpha fumbles a crab leg, which slips from his fingers and lands in a drink on a table below, splashing purple liquid onto a woman's lap. Monroe-Alpha is called to task for the accident and apologizes, admitting his fault. However, another man chides him for his clumsiness and Hamilton does the honors, but only wounds the man in the shoulder. Unknown to Felix and his friend, the wounded man is an assassin for a group that believes that utopia lacks only one thing: a ruling class. The story goes on to detail the uncovering of this irrational plot and the eventual actions taken, including a shootout in the Genetics Clinic. The author draws upon the old saying, "man cannot live by bread alone", to point out that a material utopia will not settle all human issues. Such problems include not only the ambitions and aggressions passed on through our genes, but our higher aspirations for ourselves, for our families, and for the whole human race. This story is the author's first adult novel published in book form. He had been writing shorter works for the magazines for some time and two previous juvenile novels, but this was his masterwork, his proof that he could sell in the adult book market. There is very little that is dated in this story (one editorial review commented on the dialogue as dated, but maybe retro was in again). In fact, his depiction of the eugenics program has the look and feel of modern genetic engineering; of course, the author doesn't dwell on the details, but the ways and means seem very contemporary. This novel has never been acclaimed as much as others, such as Stranger In a Strange Land, that attracted the attention of a wider, but less knowledgeable, audience. Maybe it came before its time, for the topics discussed herein are more apropos today than 60 years ago. One of the possibilities of the post-ColdWar era is the development of a worldwide material utopia. Would that solve all our current problems? Are you certain? This reprint has a 2001: A Space Odyssey starchild on the cover. Some people don't know a Heinlein from a Clarke! And probably not even a hawk from a handsaw! Highly recommended to Heinlein fans and anyone who enjoys the serious contemplation of the unthinkable in a SF setting.
Rating: 
Summary: Two good stories trying to upstage eachother
Review: Beyond this Horizon is a fun read that leaves you thinking, with half your thoughts trying to figure out what the connection is between the first and second halves. Halfway through the book Heinlein takes the reader on an unexpected plot U-turn, while slamming the accelerator on the floor. Heinlein could have split the book in two and written two amazing books instead of one mediocre one, but I found it easy enough to enjoy what he did do.
Rating:
Summary: Heinlein's talent obvious in first novel
Review: Elsewhere I had heard this rated as one of science-fiction's classics of the forties, and so, upon seeing it in the store, I figured "what the heck" and decided to go for it. As usual, Heinlein never fails to disappoint, and this book is crammed with so many ideas that you lose count after a while.
Heinlein made a neat twist by making the world perfect and everybody happy, and still managing to get a passable plot out of all that. Beyond This Horizon is a nice middle ground between those who find his "kiddie" books like Have Spacesuit, Will Travel too simple and his more adult books like Stranger in A Strange Land and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress a little too radical.
One thing I find interesting, as a little aside, is that when publishers right copy for the summary's on the back of his novels, they often neglect the best parts of the book. On Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, it makes great mention of the pirates, but nothing at all of the trial of Earth that came later and took up a good portion of the book. It's the same case here, with all the focus on the revolt of the Survivor's Club, which is resolved about the middle of the book, and nothing on the issues that are discussed later. The point is here, when looking at a Heinlein book, or any book, don't always go by what the back cover says.
Just another public service announcement. But, seriously, this was a great book. Read it
Rating:
Summary: Defining a 'Better' Human
Review: Heinlein started his publishing career with quite a bang, with three novels, a couple of novellas, and numerous short stories all published in a short two-and-a-half-year time span. Due to this copious output, he frequently had more than one story in a single issue of Astounding magazine, necessitating his use of several pen names. This story, as it did not fall into his 'Future History' chart, was first published as by Anson MacDonald, though its style and subject material, being so different from most of what was being published at that time, pretty clearly marked who the author really was. This is a book of many and various ideas, both social and scientific, some of which may seem a little ludicrous, others of which are very valid and of great import to today's society. One of the most confounding ideas presented here is the idea that government should not be taxing people, but rather should be distributing money to all citizens so as to provide as much new money in circulation as there has been in new production of products. Next up is an idea that an openly armed citizen will command respect and demand polite behavior, while those who choose to go unarmed are to some degree second class citizens - an idea that probably was not very well thought out for all of its implications, unusual for Heinlein. But most prevalent is the idea of managing the human genome to produce a 'better' human, better in this case being defined as 'entity most able to survive under changing conditions'. The converse of this is also shown, of what happens when genetics are manipulated to produce particular types of supermen (or monsters, depending on your point of view). This, written at the height of Hitlerian rhetoric, is remarkable for is perspicacity and its ultimate relevance to today's debate about the ethics of all forms of genetic engineering from cloning to stem-cell research. Not satisfied with just these ideas, the latter half of the novel tackles the age-old questions of life-after-death, reincarnation, and when a fetus becomes a human. So this book is loaded with interesting ideas, but it is also very definitely an early effort, with numerous indicators that Heinlein had not fully learned the craft of writing. As it is, there is some evidence that at least parts of this novel were a re-write of his first never-published (and since destroyed) novel, For Us The Living, apparently written somewhere around 1937. That date may be significant, for as we start this book, we find a utopia where there is no hunger, no poverty, no need to work to earn a living, though many do. It is also around the time frame of 1937-1938 that Heinlein was heavily involved with the social program EPIC (End Poverty in California) that was championed by Upton Sinclair, and it is apparent that at least some of the ideals from that program provided some of the impetus for the society Heinlein presents in this book. As is typical for first novels, though, there is a tendency to include sub-plots and incidents that don't further the ultimate aim of the novel. The entire first half, with its emphasis on the actions of a misguided revolutionary group, has almost zero relevance to the second half of the novel - it's almost as if there were really two separate books here that have been forcibly mated, to the detriment of both halves. Coincidence plays far more of a role than it should. Characterization is very spotty, with Felix, the protagonist, reasonably well portrayed, but most of the other characters, and especially the women, are very two-dimensional. Dialogue is dated with forties slang, and there is too much telling, rather than showing, of much of the more scientific detail. But even with all these flaws, this is still a fascinating book, with its multiple ideas and opinions to keep your head engaged, with the action fast enough to hide most of the problems. Not the best, nor even the second best of his works, but still very recognizably a Heinlein novel. --- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
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