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A review by perilous1
Ordeal in Space by Robert A. Heinlein
3.0
3.5 Stars
An internal journey through acute acrophobia, as a space-worker endures a horrific ordeal that leaves him physically unharmed but mentally scarred. His space career seemingly over, he finds new and mundane employment safely on-planet. But readers aren't privileged with the details of what happened to him until there is an incident involving a kitten on a high ledge that induces a flashback...
I begin to think that Heinlein wasn't too keen on physical descriptions. Either that, or this is another case of what has to be cut in order to keep a short story appropriately short. (About the only description I can recall is a repeated use of the word "old".)
I wasn't sure most of the way through if I should brace for a sinister twist in events. While I won't give the resolution away, I can at least say it had a satisfying ending.
An internal journey through acute acrophobia, as a space-worker endures a horrific ordeal that leaves him physically unharmed but mentally scarred. His space career seemingly over, he finds new and mundane employment safely on-planet. But readers aren't privileged with the details of what happened to him until there is an incident involving a kitten on a high ledge that induces a flashback...
I begin to think that Heinlein wasn't too keen on physical descriptions. Either that, or this is another case of what has to be cut in order to keep a short story appropriately short. (About the only description I can recall is a repeated use of the word "old".)
I wasn't sure most of the way through if I should brace for a sinister twist in events. While I won't give the resolution away, I can at least say it had a satisfying ending.