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daed's review against another edition
4.0
Mi primer contacto con Heinlein fue con Tropas del espacio (libro que no me gustó y que dejé como al 20%), así que dudé en darle una segunda oportunidad. Sin embargo lo hice y me he llevado una grata sorpresa.
La principal virtud de Puerta al verano es que ha envejecido muy bien. Pese a haber sido escrito hace más de 60 años, no se siente como un libro anticuado y lleno de artilugios ridículos que son supuestamente futuristas (cosa que si ocurre a veces con Asimov).
La historia es muy entretenida y la cantidad de guiños y referencias que Heinlein pone son muy buenos. Lo único malo es que el final es muy simple ya que todo se resuelve muy tranquila y banalmente.
Pero en general es un muy buen clásico de ciencia ficción.
La principal virtud de Puerta al verano es que ha envejecido muy bien. Pese a haber sido escrito hace más de 60 años, no se siente como un libro anticuado y lleno de artilugios ridículos que son supuestamente futuristas (cosa que si ocurre a veces con Asimov).
La historia es muy entretenida y la cantidad de guiños y referencias que Heinlein pone son muy buenos. Lo único malo es que el final es muy simple ya que todo se resuelve muy tranquila y banalmente.
Pero en general es un muy buen clásico de ciencia ficción.
peach_plum_pear_dear's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism
coneyboro's review against another edition
4.0
An enjoyable read, with cryogenics, advanced gadgets, time travel, swindles and a great cat called Pete. Written in 1957, the years 1970 and 2000 are rather different from how they actually were, but some things remained the same - bureaucracy for example. The relationship between Dan and the 12 year old Ricky is perhaps a little jarring to modern eyes but is resolved satisfactorily.
h3dakota's review against another edition
4.0
Even though I've got like 30 books by Heinlein in my library, this is the first one I've finally gotten around to reading. LOVED this story! Why haven't I read any of his books until now?! LOL
sofijakryz's review against another edition
3.0
I quite like reading old good science fiction stories trying to predict what life was going to be like in our times. Usually they get it wrong. Which I absolutely love because it’s quite fun. Sometimes, caught by some unseen power of clairvoyance, they record some pretty accurate predictions. Now, imagine the story written in the late 1950s, extrapolating the future both for the 1970s and the new millennium.
Heinlein’s 1970s are on the dire side. This world has experienced a few short nuclear wars. Surprisingly, it’s still there and life is going on. Danny B Davies has lost all of his dear ones but his cat Pete (Petronius the Arbiter) and an old pal of his, Miles, with whom he starts a successful business, engineering AI-powered appliances/robots (Hired Girl) aiming to revolutionise housework once and for all.
This world has already discovered Long Sleep – means to preserve one’s body and consciousness for years until the Sleeper is ready to wake up in future world. Danny has been flirting with the idea of Long Sleep for a while; however, due to unexpected changes in circumstances he finds himself exploring that for sure and rather sooner that he would have liked only to discover the world in 2000 has definitely been influenced by work that had once been his or so much like his. Dan sets out on a quest of finding the old pals of his hoping they can tell what happened to his work while he was asleep.
The story involves time travel and hypotheses on how our world might have evolved over the last 60 years or so. Perhaps because of the boom in time manipulation stories in science fiction since “The Door Into Summer” had been written, I discovered nothing shocking when reading this book. Time travel here is mostly explored as a plot device, resulting in a nice crime fiction-like twist. “The Door Into Summer” raises some good points, like how much time can be manipulated or whether whatever which happens exists in some predetermined boundaries that time travelling cannot modify. However, the book does not delve in those. It’s up to the reader to decide whether the latter is the case or whether Dan simply does not want to or does not see a point in attempting to cross these boundaries, simply because the outcomes he knows are on the plate are too convenient to meddle with.
Nice touch with Leonard Vincent, though :) Shame it was never exploited more – I wonder where that could have taken the reader…
In general, “The Door Into Summer” does not bother much with exploiting some lines, like that of Petronius the Arbiter, for instance. I absolutely loved this cat being way more intelligent than usual - or so we hear from Dan who seems to worship Pete and sees him as some sort of role model. Perhaps that’s one of those few links with his past. Or maybe there is actually something special about a cat that drinks ginger ale and seems almost able to speak. All is left to the speculation of the reader.
What the book bothers with quite a bit is business, shares, ownership. On one hand, that is important to the plot, while on the other it can be a bit tedious if the reader – like me – knows nothing of shares nor ownership.
There are some nice descriptions of Hired Girl technology in this interpretation of what the world could have been like. I quite liked the idea Dan exploiting military technologies to make his first versions of artificially intelligent robots. I have no idea what AI is based on these days but would be interesting to learn more and compare.
What was a bit strange in this book, was the use of some characters, especially, Ricky. That one made me a little bit uncomfortable. Who knows, maybe I’m rotten down to the bone misread some aspects accordingly. But “The Door Into Summer” does contain some time-specific attitudes on expectations on females, which may not necessarily be attractive to the modern reader.
So what can I say, after I’m done reading it? “The Door Into Summer” is a nice classical sci-fi story written in those days when you had to fit into a few hundreds of pages. It efficiently uses that space for adventure, technology and plot; however, if you’re spoilt by current fashion of thousands of pages long series, you may want more ideas, technology or worldbuilding.
Heinlein’s 1970s are on the dire side. This world has experienced a few short nuclear wars. Surprisingly, it’s still there and life is going on. Danny B Davies has lost all of his dear ones but his cat Pete (Petronius the Arbiter) and an old pal of his, Miles, with whom he starts a successful business, engineering AI-powered appliances/robots (Hired Girl) aiming to revolutionise housework once and for all.
This world has already discovered Long Sleep – means to preserve one’s body and consciousness for years until the Sleeper is ready to wake up in future world. Danny has been flirting with the idea of Long Sleep for a while; however, due to unexpected changes in circumstances he finds himself exploring that for sure and rather sooner that he would have liked only to discover the world in 2000 has definitely been influenced by work that had once been his or so much like his. Dan sets out on a quest of finding the old pals of his hoping they can tell what happened to his work while he was asleep.
The story involves time travel and hypotheses on how our world might have evolved over the last 60 years or so. Perhaps because of the boom in time manipulation stories in science fiction since “The Door Into Summer” had been written, I discovered nothing shocking when reading this book. Time travel here is mostly explored as a plot device, resulting in a nice crime fiction-like twist. “The Door Into Summer” raises some good points, like how much time can be manipulated or whether whatever which happens exists in some predetermined boundaries that time travelling cannot modify. However, the book does not delve in those. It’s up to the reader to decide whether the latter is the case or whether Dan simply does not want to or does not see a point in attempting to cross these boundaries, simply because the outcomes he knows are on the plate are too convenient to meddle with.
Nice touch with Leonard Vincent, though :) Shame it was never exploited more – I wonder where that could have taken the reader…
In general, “The Door Into Summer” does not bother much with exploiting some lines, like that of Petronius the Arbiter, for instance. I absolutely loved this cat being way more intelligent than usual - or so we hear from Dan who seems to worship Pete and sees him as some sort of role model. Perhaps that’s one of those few links with his past. Or maybe there is actually something special about a cat that drinks ginger ale and seems almost able to speak. All is left to the speculation of the reader.
What the book bothers with quite a bit is business, shares, ownership. On one hand, that is important to the plot, while on the other it can be a bit tedious if the reader – like me – knows nothing of shares nor ownership.
There are some nice descriptions of Hired Girl technology in this interpretation of what the world could have been like. I quite liked the idea Dan exploiting military technologies to make his first versions of artificially intelligent robots. I have no idea what AI is based on these days but would be interesting to learn more and compare.
What was a bit strange in this book, was the use of some characters, especially, Ricky. That one made me a little bit uncomfortable. Who knows, maybe I’m rotten down to the bone misread some aspects accordingly. But “The Door Into Summer” does contain some time-specific attitudes on expectations on females, which may not necessarily be attractive to the modern reader.
So what can I say, after I’m done reading it? “The Door Into Summer” is a nice classical sci-fi story written in those days when you had to fit into a few hundreds of pages. It efficiently uses that space for adventure, technology and plot; however, if you’re spoilt by current fashion of thousands of pages long series, you may want more ideas, technology or worldbuilding.
curtisb's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bboduffy's review against another edition
4.0
A great, fast read. Found the end a little Humbert Humbert-y, but otherwise really enjoyed the book.
ogreart's review against another edition
5.0
Reread July 1980.
Reread February 1980.
Reread May 1979.
Read January 1977.
Reread February 1980.
Reread May 1979.
Read January 1977.
sjankis630's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0