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dlbvenice's review
4.0
I've been a big fan of Heinlein since I was about 10 years old and picked up a copy of the The Door Into Summer at a used book sale at my elementary school. His unmistakable voice and fascinating admixture of philosophies along with the ability to tell a great story meant that I was able to while away many hours, utterly transported.
I'd never read The Rolling Stones but I ran into a blog that talked about Heinlein's "World As Myth" concept and the connections between Lazarus Long and his relatives that thread through many Heinlein stories. I'm a sucker for long story arcs with deep, but less-than-obvious connections. And it so happens that this book about a family of brilliant nonconformists with a propensity for getting into interesting situations and managing to (usually) extricate themselves from difficulty was the first one in the suggested reading order.
In reading about the Stone family, I'm struck by the elements that appear in later novels. There are mysterious Martians that the young, psi-capable baby of the family simply must see (but whom we never meet). The redheaded twins, Castor and Pollux are bright, creative, and perpetually push boundaries - of science, of custom, and, of course, the law. The matriarch of the family is still vital and active at an age when her contemporaries have mostly passed on. There is a father willing and able to simply pull up stakes (from the Luna Colony) to take his family jaunting across the solar system (and possibly beyond). The mother is clearly both a domestic goddess and a full-fledged uber-capable professional (in this case, a medical doctor). And I'm pretty sure she wears pearls and her hair is always just so. And of course, there is a healthy dose of Heinlein attitudes about taxes, government, and convention (of any sort).
The story is not particularly remarkable, except perhaps that it very obviously is where Tribbles (made famous in Star Trek) originated from - credit to the writer who called them "tribbles" instead of "flat cats", but everything else was Heinlein's. But if you want to remember the excitement inherent in the idea of space exploration as the logical next step for the pioneering spirit that trundled Conestoga wagons along the Oregon Trail then this makes for a great afternoon's diversion.
As for myself, I'm reading the rest of the "World As Myth" (or in most cases, re-reading). Next up: Stranger in a Strange Land.
seano's review
3.0
Lunar city family decide to buy a spaceship and fly to Mars.
It’s super kid friendly, except for a single use of the “r-word” that is mostly taboo today. Besides that, it’s fun stuff for boys and girls.
reubend1ca9's review
2.0
nightxade's review
4.0
I've come to adore Heinlein's dry sense of humour, which often appears in one or two characters in his books, but here, we have a whole family of smartasses. From Captain to Doctor, to grandmother, to daughter, to entrepreneurial twins, and a determined little boy with typical little boy stubborness. Oh and flat cats, which are best described as, well, tribbles, but flatter.
The description of this book focuses on the twins, but Castor and Pollux are nothing without the support of their family--and what a supportive family it is. Even when their father is threatening to shove them out of an airlock, or their mother is quietly rolling her eyes at their antics, this is clearly not the dysfunctional family they seem to pretend to be. They are a tight knit group where loyalty and love is evident, even through the sarcasm and idle threats. The Stones are what every family should aspire to be like, and this book was what every family trip wishes it could be (though maybe without the deadly diseases and other critical threats of interplanetary travel.)
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drgert's review
4.0