REVOLT IN 2100

Rating:
Summary: One of Heinlein's best and I've read them all
Review: A collection of excellent novella! If you enjoy the thrills of secrecy, mixed with "What if..." scenarios, this book is for you. It gripped me with the strength of a lion

Rating:
Summary: Watch Out! Here comes Nehemiah Scudder in 2001!
Review: Imagine a Televangelist America. Graft in a bit of Hitler and the Spanish Inquisition. Now you have the setting for this story. America has become a theocracy controlled by Nehemiah Scudder, a corrupt & hypocritical "prophet." This book showcases Heinlein's commitment to individual liberties. Writing during the shame of the McCarthy era Communist hunts, Heinlein wrote a story that damned the political repression of his own era and continues to inspire freedom loving people even now.

It's a simple story line. Naive boy meets forbidden girl. Boy contracts near fatal case of puppy love. Boy & girl must escape intolerable situation. Boy & girl join the underground (literally) resistance. Each matures & moves on. A revolution ensues. During this physical journey into manhood, John Lyle (the hero) must also take a spiritual journey, one in which he disentangles himself from mental slavery and becomes a free and free-thinking man.

Five stars for ideology & political courage. Five stars for managing to avoid being preachy about this ideology. Five stars for a good-old Heinlein read. A great present for that 13 year-old you don't want to buy yet-another-video-game.

With a court selected "President" and his appointed Attorney General who stated "America has no King but Jesus," (and who annoints himself with Crisco) can Nehemiah Scudder be far off? I'll see you all in the F.U.S.A.

(If you'd like to respond to this review, click on the "about me" link, above, to get my email address. Thanks!)

Rating:
Summary: Volume Three of the Future History stories
Review: Revolt in 2100 is the third volume in Heinlein's Future History series (preceded by The Man Who Sold the Moon and The Green Hills of Earth). The bulk of the book consists of the famous novella "If This Goes On--" and is rounded out with the short stories "Coventry" and "Misfit." America is a much different place in the year 2100. What was a thriving, democratic country reaching for the planets and beyond at the end of the second volume of the series is now a theocracy typified by brutal repression and backward-thinking. Heinlein provides some information about the three unwritten tales that would describe the rise to power of evangelist Nehemiah Scudder, the First Prophet who tore asunder the Constitution and set up a regime as repressive and backwards-thinking as anything from the Middle Ages. In 2100, Scudder is gone, but a First Prophet reigns in his name. There are virgins to "serve" the First Prophet, and there are "Angels of the Lord" (such as protagonist John Lyle) charged to protect his safety. Pariahs are frequently attacked and repressed by the government to further its dictatorial control, and history has been essentially deleted and replaced by a new version of America's story drilled into the heads of all youngsters. For those who dare resist, a modern Inquisition exists to punish and torture them-there is no bigger fear than of being subjected to The Question. Still, there are revolutionaries, even among the palace guard, and John Lyle finds himself joining their ranks after having fallen for a deaconess serving under the Prophet. The account of Lyle's soul-searching conversion from loyal soldier to doubting pariah is well told, as is the story of his admission to the cabal and attempt to escape the service of the Prophet. Once outside of the palace grounds, the narrative takes on a science fiction feel built around the plans of the cabal to overthrow the corrupt theocracy. The transformation of Lyle is fascinating; as he discovers the unknown history of a free America and reads the words of men such as Thomas Paine for the first time, he has little choice but to accept the fact that the world of his youth was based on falsehood and corruption.

I didn't really care for the other two stories. "Coventry" seemed to have potential early on but never seemed to deliver. Coventry is the name of a region bordering America and serves as a destination for exiled citizens. The protagonist's expectations and hopes concerning life in the mysterious land are quickly proven wrong as the Jeffersonian society he hoped to find there does not exist. Finally, "Misfit" seems rather weak indeed. It concerns a mission to bring an asteroid into earth orbit to serve as a de facto space station. Protagonists and others like him find out that they can succeed and make a name for themselves in space, whereas at home on the ground they were misfits of no importance at all. I really learned nothing at all from this tale.

"If This Goes On--" is one of Heinlein's most significant works, certainly among the Future History stories, and should not be missed by science fiction fans. Its surreal setting seems fantastic to anyone whose spoken or unspoken belief is that "it can't happen here," yet it provides an ever-timely warning against the dangers of extreme religious fanaticism gaining control over government. It is ironic, though, that the story that truly dominates the subject matter of this book is a story that was not actually written-the rise to power of Nehemiah Scudder. Heinlein's postscript about "stories never written" is actually more interesting than the shorter two stories included here.

Rating:
Summary: Volume Three of the Future History stories
Review: Revolt in 2100 is the third volume in Heinlein's Future History series (preceded by The Man Who Sold the Moon and The Green Hills of Earth). The bulk of the book consists of the famous novella "If This Goes On--" and is rounded out with the short stories "Coventry" and "Misfit." America is a much different place in the year 2100. What was a thriving, democratic country reaching for the planets and beyond at the end of the second volume of the series is now a theocracy typified by brutal repression and backward-thinking. Heinlein provides some information about the three unwritten tales that would describe the rise to power of evangelist Nehemiah Scudder, the First Prophet who tore asunder the Constitution and set up a regime as repressive and backwards-thinking as anything from the Middle Ages. In 2100, Scudder is gone, but a First Prophet reigns in his name. There are virgins to "serve" the First Prophet, and there are "Angels of the Lord" (such as protagonist John Lyle) charged to protect his safety. Pariahs are frequently attacked and repressed by the government to further its dictatorial control, and history has been essentially deleted and replaced by a new version of America's story drilled into the heads of all youngsters. For those who dare resist, a modern Inquisition exists to punish and torture them-there is no bigger fear than of being subjected to The Question. Still, there are revolutionaries, even among the palace guard, and John Lyle finds himself joining their ranks after having fallen for a deaconess serving under the Prophet. The account of Lyle's soul-searching conversion from loyal soldier to doubting pariah is well told, as is the story of his admission to the cabal and attempt to escape the service of the Prophet. Once outside of the palace grounds, the narrative takes on a science fiction feel built around the plans of the cabal to overthrow the corrupt theocracy. The transformation of Lyle is fascinating; as he discovers the unknown history of a free America and reads the words of men such as Thomas Paine for the first time, he has little choice but to accept the fact that the world of his youth was based on falsehood and corruption.

I didn't really care for the other two stories. "Coventry" seemed to have potential early on but never seemed to deliver. Coventry is the name of a region bordering America and serves as a destination for exiled citizens. The protagonist's expectations and hopes concerning life in the mysterious land are quickly proven wrong as the Jeffersonian society he hoped to find there does not exist. Finally, "Misfit" seems rather weak indeed. It concerns a mission to bring an asteroid into earth orbit to serve as a de facto space station. Protagonists and others like him find out that they can succeed and make a name for themselves in space, whereas at home on the ground they were misfits of no importance at all. I really learned nothing at all from this tale.

"If This Goes On--" is one of Heinlein's most significant works, certainly among the Future History stories, and should not be missed by science fiction fans. Its surreal setting seems fantastic to anyone whose spoken or unspoken belief is that "it can't happen here," yet it provides an ever-timely warning against the dangers of extreme religious fanaticism gaining control over government. It is ironic, though, that the story that truly dominates the subject matter of this book is a story that was not actually written-the rise to power of Nehemiah Scudder. Heinlein's postscript about "stories never written" is actually more interesting than the shorter two stories included here.

Rating:
Summary: Heinleins BEST Novel, A Must Read For Any Teenager!
Review: The second American Revolution, showing how the individual is empowered to change things for the better. A complete demonstration of the affects and effects of Religon and Politics on each other Society in general and People in particular. This gripping novel will keep you on the edge of your seat to its ironic ending.

Rating:
Summary: Still Stands Up
Review: This was Robert Heinlein's very first published novel (actually a novella... but hey) and it still stands up well in the wake of all that he has published since. It has a somewhat cliched beginning, but it quickly gets past that and into a well-written story. Like a lot of early RAH, it is told in first-person, and it serves this story well. It's a pretty gripping book, and it'll keep you reading. Reccommended.