Beyond This Horizon

Rating:
Summary: ???
Review: I found the first two-thirds of this novel to be an engaging, if quaintly outdated, read, but Heinlein really lost me with the last hundred pages, in which he goes off into a bizarre philosophical discourse which has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the story. Very peculiar...

Rating:
Summary: Heinlein was the best SF writer in his heyday.
Review: I have read some lukewarm reviews of this book, but I regard this work as excellent. This book is perhaps inferior to Waldo, but about on par with Magic Inc, and superior to anything Heinlein wrote after 1958.

Rating:
Summary: Sub-par for Heinlein......
Review: I'm a HUGE fan of Heinlein's, but the quality of this book is far below his other works in my opinion. It seems like the story couldn't decide what it wanted to be about, first genetic engineering, then an armed society, then telepathy! Just when I'd start getting interested in one character, the focus of the book would shift to another, loose ends were rarely tied up. It's just a jumble of ideas that should have been re-written more coherently. If you're a die-hard Heinlein fan, and I am, I'd still reccomend reading it, but if you're not, don't judge the rest of Heinlein's work based solely on this book.

Rating:
Summary: Rubbed me the wrong way
Review: I'm not really sure what it was about this book, but most of it rubbed me the wrong way. Granted, the prose is okay (not Heinlein's best however), but the story is too moralising (and often taking the opposite side I would choose - "an armed society is a polite society"? ), parts of the plot are bizarre, and as another reviewer pointed out, the last third of the book drags on with philosophising that doesn't seem to go anywhere (at least, not anywhere interesting). Certainly sub-par for Heinlein, both in the science and in the plot-line.

Rating:
Summary: Heinlein's usual brilliance
Review: If there's anything negative to say about BTH it's due to forced comparisons with its historic successors. Indeed, readers who start out with Stranger In A Strange Land may find a lot of the territory covered again here. Yet that shouldn't deter them from another fantastic Heinlein original.

BTH contains many of the hallmarks of a Heinlein novel: females both feminine and strong, individuals that become Heinlein's moral mouthpiece when the situation suits them, fish-out-of-water characters that have to adjust to humanity somehow, and so forth. What makes BTH stand out is the treatment of its main character, Hamilton Felix. He starts the book an amused cynic, caring about the human race for little more than its entertainment value to him. This is despite the fact that he is the latest in a long line of genetically aimed individuals, and that he holds in his DNA the possibility of a supergenius... if only he could be convinced to care about whether or not the human race lives beyond him.

Claude Mordan is the man trying to convince Felix to take his place, but will not use any force to do so: Felix must freely choose. Eventually a deal is made, with Felix promising to cooperate if only Mordan can do the nigh-impossible: give Felix a reason to do so.

Both the individual characters and the novel itself involve themselves in the search for that reason. Along the way are a number of side stories and plot twists, impressively covered given the book's small size. And yet the whole is not sacrificed for the parts. BTH successfully explores issues both diverse and real, and creates a world that is remarkably accessibly given that it takes place several centuries ahead of even our time. Its ideas are not dated, and if they at least seem redundant, it is only because they are standing in the shadow of giants that Heinlein would later create. Another excellent work all around.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond this Horizon blows away Brave New World, hands down.
Review: In this short Heinlein work, the possibilities of, and consequences in, a society that evolves around genetic engineering are explored in a much more interesting, and I believe more realistic, manner than Huxley's Brave New World. The book is especially vital in today's atmosphere of cloning and rigorous work with the human genome. It is all the more amazing considering that the book was written in 1942. If and when this book becomes available, I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Some is better than none...but not by much!!!
Review: Let's face it....some Heinlein, even bad Heinlein is better than no Heinlein, but in this case it barely squeaks under the bar.

This story is set in a society of genetic supermen where honor is settle via duels. Brace yourself for long preachy chapters on genetics (which in fairness are pretty advanced when you consider this book was written in the forties).

One of the odd things you will find is the characters don't seem to relate to each other at all as if they are merely there to "pitch" for the boss (the writer).

Then there is the fact that the two main characters brultalize the women they wind up with in the end. One of them tries to laser zap her and latter when they get together he says "I tried to burn you." to which she replies something to the effect of "I know you did not mean it." Grrrrrrr! Slap them around and they will come back to you? Even in 1948 this might have been a bit much to ask anyone to accept.

There are some interesting nuggets here and there but they seem to have been thrown together with no master plan and in the end it is a most uneven ride that draws to the a conclusion that makes you scratch your head and go "Huh?". You don't have to be a Heinlein Ubber Man (or woman) to realize this novel could have used a serious rewrite.

Rating:
Summary: An early, noble effort that tries to do too much
Review: Published in 1942, Beyond This Horizon gives clear evidence of the genius and writing power that Heinlein possessed, but this early novel is definitely less than perfect. In the process of churning it out for publication in Astounding Stories (published under the pseudonym of Anson MacDonald), he privately confessed to editor John W. Campbell, Jr., that "it stinks." The ideas behind the story fascinated him, yet he struggled to distill a good story out of them. It is my opinion that Heinlein set his sights too high for this short novel, as it basically revolves around the very reason for man's existence. The premise is quite promising: genetic engineering has produced a "perfect" world, one free of disease, war, poverty, hunger, etc. "All of them should have been happy," as Heinlein begins the narrative, yet they are not. The protagonist in particular is not happy and has no desire to bring children into a seemingly pointless existence. This is a cause for concern for the local sociopolitical moderator because Hamilton Felix hails from a true star line of men. His genetic code represents one of the more impressive accomplishments of social and genetic engineers working over the course of three centuries, and his line will be essentially perfected in the course of two successive generations-if he can be induced to father a child. Of course, one of a very select group of females must be selected, and the chromosomes of the match must be carefully manipulated, but society needs him to reproduce. In fact, the powers that be agree to begin a scientific search for the meaning of life in order to talk him into becoming a father. Thrown into the mix of all this is an attempt to overthrow the government by a group of men intent on creating their own genetic ideals and a man from 1926 unfrozen and forced to adapt to a strange new world, a world in which, to his dismay, football no longer existed.

I found the story confusing at times. For some reason, I could never keep the three most prominent characters straight. The basis of society was never completely explained, although Heinlein used it to give voice to some rather unusual ideas. For example, there was a convoluted, ritualized honor code between men who wore guns and those who did not; the concomitant notion that an armed man is a polite one is rather odd. I enjoyed the passages in which Heinlein paused to offer limited explanations for such social realities, but I would like to have seen them further fleshed out. I think it is worth nothing that the traditional means of procreation are never mentioned here, largely due to the editorial restrictions Heinlein was working under in the early days of his career. Marriage itself is a peculiar institution in this world, especially in cases where genetically engineered individuals choose to marry inferior "naturals." The conclusion of the novel is rather weak yet satisfactory, rather inexplicably incorporating the concept of telepathy to serve as a deus ex machina. Heinlein just tried to do too much with too many lofty ideas here, but these shortcomings are understandable given the fact that Heinlein was just then developing his writings skills and science fictional vision.

Rating:
Summary: An early, noble effort that tries to do too much
Review: Published in 1942, Beyond This Horizon gives clear evidence of the genius and writing power that Heinlein possessed, but this early novel is definitely less than perfect. In the process of churning it out for publication in Astounding Stories (published under the pseudonym of Anson MacDonald), he privately confessed to editor John W. Campbell, Jr., that "it stinks." The ideas behind the story fascinated him, yet he struggled to distill a good story out of them. It is my opinion that Heinlein set his sights too high for this short novel, as it basically revolves around the very reason for man's existence. The premise is quite promising: genetic engineering has produced a "perfect" world, one free of disease, war, poverty, hunger, etc. "All of them should have been happy," as Heinlein begins the narrative, yet they are not. The protagonist in particular is not happy and has no desire to bring children into a seemingly pointless existence. This is a cause for concern for the local sociopolitical moderator because Hamilton Felix hails from a true star line of men. His genetic code represents one of the more impressive accomplishments of social and genetic engineers working over the course of three centuries, and his line will be essentially perfected in the course of two successive generations-if he can be induced to father a child. Of course, one of a very select group of females must be selected, and the chromosomes of the match must be carefully manipulated, but society needs him to reproduce. In fact, the powers that be agree to begin a scientific search for the meaning of life in order to talk him into becoming a father. Thrown into the mix of all this is an attempt to overthrow the government by a group of men intent on creating their own genetic ideals and a man from 1926 unfrozen and forced to adapt to a strange new world, a world in which, to his dismay, football no longer existed.

I found the story confusing at times. For some reason, I could never keep the three most prominent characters straight. The basis of society was never completely explained, although Heinlein used it to give voice to some rather unusual ideas. For example, there was a convoluted, ritualized honor code between men who wore guns and those who did not; the concomitant notion that an armed man is a polite one is rather odd. I enjoyed the passages in which Heinlein paused to offer limited explanations for such social realities, but I would like to have seen them further fleshed out. I think it is worth nothing that the traditional means of procreation are never mentioned here, largely due to the editorial restrictions Heinlein was working under in the early days of his career. Marriage itself is a peculiar institution in this world, especially in cases where genetically engineered individuals choose to marry inferior "naturals." The conclusion of the novel is rather weak yet satisfactory, rather inexplicably incorporating the concept of telepathy to serve as a deus ex machina. Heinlein just tried to do too much with too many lofty ideas here, but these shortcomings are understandable given the fact that Heinlein was just then developing his writings skills and science fictional vision.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful commentary
Review: Regardless of whether or not you agree with the point of view presented here on both genetic engneering and gun control, it is a well writen and intriguing book. A must read for all heinline fans, and, in my openion, anyone who votes.