Rating: 
Summary: Very insightfull
Review: This is truely one of the most insightfull si/fi books I have ever read! Liberty is the theme of this book. After a nuclear holocost, Hugh Farnham and his familly set up a primitive but rewarding life in a wilderness area. This he contrasts with the high tech but unfree life they lead as they are kidnapped by a high tech civilization born thousands of years after the war they lived through. In this future world whites are slaves to blacks. This interesting device alows Heinlein to explore the evils of slavery with a unique perspective. Hugh Farnham and his familly, being from a dead cililization, who's language is extinct and technology is outdated are able to show us slavery from a point of view simmiler to that of an African kidnapped from Africa and brought to America. Without this device he could not have made many of the insights he did. It is an excelent book.
Rating:
Summary: one of R.A.H's best.......
Review: This is one of the best book's that R.A. ever wrote.. a good book to read before this would be "Starship Troopers".
Rating: 
Summary: Not for the weak
Review: The first time I read this book, I only looked on the surface of what was going on, and missed much of what RAH was trying to convey. On the surface, it is hard to like Hugh Farnam, but as one looks deeper into his character it becomes clear that he has what it takes to survive, and understands himself well enough to be able to do what is called for. He builds a shelter to protect himself and his family, for which most of his family belittle him. This shelter saves not only his family, but his daughter's friend, Barbara and his hired servant Joe. During the time that this shelter is serving as a life boat, Hugh must stop a rebellion by his only son, Duke. Some people would think that his treatment of Duke was harsh, but in those circumstances, Hugh acts as the situation dictates. If order is not maintained then the group will surely die. After arriving in the far future, Hugh leads his extended family unit to a point and then offers to turn leadership over to Duke who refuses. Duke instead becomes subversive and steals supplies from the group and stashes them away for his own use " In case things ever got really nasty." Hugh's wife, Grace adds to the troubles by refusing to do her share of the work, and continuing as an alcoholic, and drug addict. She treats Joe as if he is still a hired servant, and eventually withdraws from reality. The story takes a turn when Duke and Grace have decided to strike out on their own and live in a cave on a nearby mountain. before they can get all of the equipment that Hugh has agreed to let them take to the cave, they are discovered by the local " civilisation." In this society white men are slaves, while dark skinned races are the masters. RAH set up this roll reversal to show how foolish racism truely is. The "master" Ponse even espouses the old saw " I take better care of them than they can take care of themselves." and honestly seems to believe it. Hugh having been a free man wants nothing of slavery, and spends a gr! eat deal of time attempting to find a way to freedom. He eventually finds what he thinks is a way. By this time, his daughter has died during childbirth, His original wife Grace has become a "bedwarmer", his son a eunach<sp>, and Barbara, whom he now considers his wife, has delivered twin boys. Joe, whom Hugh always treated well, has become one of the priveledged, is plotting his own form of revenge on Duke and Grace, and this is a thing that seems to hit Hugh hard as he had though better of Joe. The end of the novel finds Hugh, Barbara, and the twins back in time to the night of the Nuclear War, due to a scientific expeiriment, and this is where RAH uses the idea of parallel universes to have Hugh and his new family live through the explosins a second time. This book hits the ideas of racism, slavery, and survival at all costs. I would not reccomend this book for people who only want a good story, or who can't understand that drastic times call for drastic measures. However, if you are the type of person that understands that survival of the human race is the only universal moral, then this is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Deal with it!!!
Review: I have read this book several times over the past 15 years and do not recall ever reading that hugh "grabs" barbara and proclaims that "I am going to bed this wench for the good of the human race". I searched for this passage numerous times and was never able to find it. For those whiners who label this book brutal and insulting, deal with it. War is brutal and insulting, so is racism and nuclear weapons, but they unfortunately do exist. My feelings are that this book shows that hard work and self responsibility are not just nice virtues to have around but are important for the survival of the human race. It also demonstrates that racism in ANY form is inherently wrong and could lead to the fall of western civilization.
Rating:
Summary: Another RAH look at an unpleasant reality.
Review: Reading other reviews of FF surprised me by showing RAH "fans" that didn't understand the concept of "lifeboat rules". In a lifeboat, there has to be one captain who imposes STRICT discipline for the group to maximize its chances for survival. There isn't time for democracy. AFTER the action slowed down, Hugh's "bullying" stopped. Hmmm. . . RAH looks at the REAL bottom line - survival. ALL political and economic ideologies, rights, etc. MUST take a back seat during times when the fertilizer hits the fan. I do not recall RAH saying Hugh bedding Barbara was for the good of the world. He DID say that, given the number of people involved, one more set of genetic material increased the group's chances of survival. IT DID! Even a cursory study of genetics will demonstrate this to be factual.
Rating:
Summary: Can you set aside your prejudices?
Review: Like many Heinlein works, this one challenges your concepts of right, wrong and normal. If you wish to get something out of this book, you must be willing to put aside your own concepts and prejudices, and look through the eyes of R.A. and his ideas of "survival of the fittest". If you are willing to exercise your brain, this book can help you examine the real requirements of survival, and the effects of prejudice, both surface and hidden. Although not especially enjoyable, this book has always been one of my favorite Heinlein books, because it makes me think about how I relate to other people.
Rating:
Summary: Gritty, Realistic, Compelling
Review: I must say that I was taken aback by the negative reactions to this book that I've read (both here and elsewhere). FF is a gritty read about when the crap hits the fan and how the take-charge type of leader thet is Farnham gets his family through the aftermath. You may find much of what is written to cause you to squirm. However, it is realistically portrayed with just enough gore and violence to get the point across. I felt that Heinlein kept things nicely in check where he could have fallen into the trap of sensationalism. Heinlein's worst? Far from it. His best? No way. But it's in his top five.
Rating: 
Summary: The worst of Heinlein's works
Review: I had already read almost every book Heinlein wrote before I got to this one and did not think I would ever find a book of his that I would hate, but this is it. I gave it a 2 for what I thought of as an inspired plot, but pan the rest due to really, really, really poorly conceived characters.
Rating:
Summary: Glad I didn't read this one first!
Review: This is the only RAH that I actively disliked. Some of his later novels were too weird for me, but reading them was still better than not. As such, I *can't* say I've read it recently. The protagonist bullies his family and associates so much that it brutalizes the reader. (Since his bomb shelter is the only place where they can survive, they don't have a real choice.) The group members that agree with him succeed in the end, the rest see fates worse than death. Fate#1: His weepy, son-smothering wife (OK, I didn't like her much either) ends up in a harem some where. I'm sure she's happier there. Fate#2: His non-heroic son (OK, sort of a wimp) ends up in the same place. No, not an _active_ member, but "physically adjusted" so he can stay there, serve the residents, and see that his mother is treated well. He'll probably be treated better than his father ever treated him. Gayness wasn't mentioned, but this is where *I* see Heinlein's homophobia at its worst. I believe FF was written during the cold war's air raid shelter craze. You can tell that Heinlein is for it, and is quite content for the unprepared to get fried, unless they have rich friends. (OK, given the situation, you *can't* fit any more people into the limited number of shelters, but it's still ugly.)
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't even start it.
Review: I like most of RH's work. This is one of his worst. I forget the page number, right after the war started, when the family and friends duck into the shelter. As soon as (married, with children) Farnham grabbed the daughter's girlfriend and announced that bedding her was "for the future of the human race", I gently closed the book and deposited it in the trash. Just another "Time Enough for Love". I did get to within 3 pages of the end of that one before I tossed it.
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