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olityr's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is one of the better executions of the drifting generation-ship troupe that I've read.
cauchemarlena's review against another edition
4.0
Lühike, kuid mõnus lugemine. Minu jaoks oli tegemist esimese loetud raamatuga, mille on kirjutanud Heinlein. Lugu räägib põlvkonnalaevast, mille elanikud on unustanud, et tegu on laevaga. Teadusest ja minevikust on saanud midagi religioonitaolist. Raamatu peategelaseks on noor Hugh, kes langeb muutide vangi. Seal avastab ta, et muutid polegi nii kohutavad kui algul arvas, ja ta hakkab nägema maailmamuutvat tõde: laev liigub, sellel on eesmärk ja ühel päeval võib keegi Rännaku lõpule viia. See keegi võib olla tema. Paraku ei lähe kõik plaanide järgi ja õnnelik lõpp ei olegi nii muinasjutuline, kui ta esmapilgul tundub.
jazzhands35's review against another edition
3.0
Decent. Felt a little like it was written for young adults. I like the generation ship losing its understanding of the technology trope. Some of the book was bit weird. Just missed the mark for me.
abagoflobsters's review against another edition
2.0
Orphans of the Sky - 2.5/5
Some really interesting early modern scifi ideas, especially for the 40’s but marred down by a gross worldview.
The premise of this novel is that a massive spaceship carrying passengers to another galaxy has devolved into a tribalistic and antagonistic relationship between two main groups, humans and mutants. Humans have developed a society based in religious zealotry and lack any of their ancestor’s prior understanding of science or the universe in favor of devotion to a God’s plan. Logic and reason is bent to accommodate the plan only, and literal interpretations of scientific fact are rejected in favor of their symbolic meanings. The so-called Muties are former humans who live in abandoned areas of the ship, transformed by space radiation into various anomalies such as a two headed man, and a bloodthirsty knife wielding dwarf named “Bobo.” Their society is based around gangs who battle for power and control of the upper levels of the ship. They also seem to mainly eat humans and other Muties as food. Obviously this is not very realistic.
Women are nowhere to be seen in most of this novel. When they are, the reader is reminded what a “woman’s place” should be. At one point, the sympathetic main character chooses a couple of women to be his concubines, and regularly beats one when she resists his commands. Heinlein’s language seems to indicate that the constant reinforcement of patriarchy is not a world-building decision, but a more personal endorsement. Its pretty appalling when it comes up.
Characters are pretty flat in general. The plot is pretty predictable and straightforward but the premise is interesting. I appreciate the post-apocalyptic battlestar galactica-esque nature of the novella, but it definitely shows its age. There are some neat ideas on how a spaceship society might work or devolve, and some interesting predictions such as a “mechanical brain” akin to a computer.
Some really interesting early modern scifi ideas, especially for the 40’s but marred down by a gross worldview.
The premise of this novel is that a massive spaceship carrying passengers to another galaxy has devolved into a tribalistic and antagonistic relationship between two main groups, humans and mutants. Humans have developed a society based in religious zealotry and lack any of their ancestor’s prior understanding of science or the universe in favor of devotion to a God’s plan. Logic and reason is bent to accommodate the plan only, and literal interpretations of scientific fact are rejected in favor of their symbolic meanings. The so-called Muties are former humans who live in abandoned areas of the ship, transformed by space radiation into various anomalies such as a two headed man, and a bloodthirsty knife wielding dwarf named “Bobo.” Their society is based around gangs who battle for power and control of the upper levels of the ship. They also seem to mainly eat humans and other Muties as food. Obviously this is not very realistic.
Women are nowhere to be seen in most of this novel. When they are, the reader is reminded what a “woman’s place” should be. At one point, the sympathetic main character chooses a couple of women to be his concubines, and regularly beats one when she resists his commands. Heinlein’s language seems to indicate that the constant reinforcement of patriarchy is not a world-building decision, but a more personal endorsement. Its pretty appalling when it comes up.
Characters are pretty flat in general. The plot is pretty predictable and straightforward but the premise is interesting. I appreciate the post-apocalyptic battlestar galactica-esque nature of the novella, but it definitely shows its age. There are some neat ideas on how a spaceship society might work or devolve, and some interesting predictions such as a “mechanical brain” akin to a computer.
allegra_j's review against another edition
1.0
I'm honestly not sure how I got duped into reading another Robert A Heinlein book. I sometimes like science fiction, I suppose, and I like space stories, so I believe Audible recommended it to me. It did not ring a bell that this was the author of "Stranger in a Strange Land" at the time. If it had, I would not have picked this up because I didn't like either.
Let's start with this: For science fiction, there was very little science involved. Again, I would have known this had I recalled what else the author wrote.
The premise sounds interesting and is an interesting concept. You would think surely some people adrift in space with no concept of how they got there or what even space is, calamities would ensue. I could think of a few but was interested to read to see what I hadn't thought of and the answer is.... nothing.
Ok, that's not fair. I had not thought of two-headed mob bosses and curiously strong but stupid dwarves (the latter seems like it came out of a book of stereotypes - strong? Dwarf? Then must be stupid!) These... plot twists didn't do anything to serve the story itself and weren't explained scientifically very well. It seemed like maybe someone had hopes that this would be a movie and these characters would be the quirky comic relief wookie-type things.
I finished only out of morbid curiosity of how much worse it could get. Also, it was very short so this was achievable. Oh, Robert Heinlein... never again. Never. Ever. EVER. Again.
Let's start with this: For science fiction, there was very little science involved. Again, I would have known this had I recalled what else the author wrote.
The premise sounds interesting and is an interesting concept. You would think surely some people adrift in space with no concept of how they got there or what even space is, calamities would ensue. I could think of a few but was interested to read to see what I hadn't thought of and the answer is.... nothing.
Ok, that's not fair. I had not thought of two-headed mob bosses and curiously strong but stupid dwarves (the latter seems like it came out of a book of stereotypes - strong? Dwarf? Then must be stupid!) These... plot twists didn't do anything to serve the story itself and weren't explained scientifically very well. It seemed like maybe someone had hopes that this would be a movie and these characters would be the quirky comic relief wookie-type things.
I finished only out of morbid curiosity of how much worse it could get. Also, it was very short so this was achievable. Oh, Robert Heinlein... never again. Never. Ever. EVER. Again.
justiceofkalr's review against another edition
2.0
The concept that this book works with is pretty interesting. People have been traveling on a ship for generations and, with the help of a mutiny in the past, have basically forgotten everything outside of the ship. They take the science books that were provided for the expedition to run the ship and turn them into religious texts. Anything they don't understand gets interpreted as allegory. For example gravity is just a way to describe the attraction of love and the journey that the ship is on is a metaphor for the journey of life.
Anyways, the concept is interesting, but that's about it. The characters are terrible, the plot is terrible, and the concept kind of fades into the background of all the terrible after a while. It's like Heinlein had this awesome idea and no clue what to actually do with it. And then I got to the last bit of the book and the misogyny suddenly became overwhelming. If not for the fact that I was nearly done, I probably would have put the book down right there. Up to that point I had just assumed that any females on the ship were simply not mentioned, just hanging out in the background or whatever. But then suddenly the main character is picking two wives out of a line-up. And he lets the one wife keep her name (how generous!) but never bothers to name the other one. Then when the main character and his gang make their escape he beats the nameless one so she'll come, hauls both his wives and the others wives all on to their little escape ship, and then bitches about how they're in the way. Also they just tremble in awe and stupid confusion when they reach the planet. I just. No.
Anyways, the concept is interesting, but that's about it. The characters are terrible, the plot is terrible, and the concept kind of fades into the background of all the terrible after a while. It's like Heinlein had this awesome idea and no clue what to actually do with it. And then I got to the last bit of the book and the misogyny suddenly became overwhelming. If not for the fact that I was nearly done, I probably would have put the book down right there. Up to that point I had just assumed that any females on the ship were simply not mentioned, just hanging out in the background or whatever. But then suddenly the main character is picking two wives out of a line-up. And he lets the one wife keep her name (how generous!) but never bothers to name the other one. Then when the main character and his gang make their escape he beats the nameless one so she'll come, hauls both his wives and the others wives all on to their little escape ship, and then bitches about how they're in the way. Also they just tremble in awe and stupid confusion when they reach the planet. I just. No.
fedor_ulysses's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The plot is attractive and the writing keeps you sticking to the book, but the misogyny of the author is simply unbearable and given for free without any connection to the plot.
soulpopped's review against another edition
3.0
throughout much of this book, i was wondering, "what's going to happen?" heinlein sets up a world that's very interesting (as he is wont to do), but the narrative seemed to lack a definitive end-point for much of the first half. by the time i figured out what was happening, though, i realized (in clichest of cliche ways) that the journey is more important than the destination. (though, to hugh hoyland and co., the destination is certainly important as well.)
aschepis's review against another edition
2.0
It only occurred to me when I finished the book that there are no major (or even minor, save for one) female characters. The women in the book are basically selected by the men and are controlled by them. Was very disappointed when I finally realized that because otherwise it was a good, light read. It rushed to the end a little bit and the betrayal that occurs is easy to see coming