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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
eawtcu2015's review against another edition
3.0
It’s Heinlein so you know what you’re getting heading in: big, hard sci-fi ideas and some not great dialogue for modern readers to read. It’s an interesting idea when it’s not jogging in place (something it does VERY frequently) and things just kind of work out for our protagonist.
Still, cool idea and interesting look at the future. Plus there’s a cat, we stan Pete.
Still, cool idea and interesting look at the future. Plus there’s a cat, we stan Pete.
hagbard_celine's review against another edition
2.0
In which Heinlein anticipates the Roomba, $10 meals, lab-grown meat, and... more nudist colonies? Jesus Bob, keep your skivvies on for one book.
rocketiza's review against another edition
3.0
Really enjoyed the setup, but when the twist ended up shifting away from being a tale of revenge I was a little disappointed.
benburns's review against another edition
2.0
The story is clever enough, I guess, and it’s somewhat fun to see what someone in 1956 got right and wrong about 1970 and 2000. But I just couldn’t get past the misogyny. Casual chauvinism, every couple of pages, dozens of examples. Yes, it’s a product of its time, which is instructive, but it’s just too much. Yuck.