Thanks J.D. - always liked the idea of Mike. For such a good book in my opinion, how could he come up with Orphans of the Sky? I remember another one of Heinleins about a Space Cadet that was even worse ( still read them though )
Well, for one thing,
Orphans of the Sky is made up of two early novellas: "Universe", from
Astounding Science Fiction, May 1941; and "Common Sense", from
Astounding Science Fiction, October 1941. They were printed as a unit in 1963. So it's early Heinlein (and I think "Universe" is definitely the better of the two, for its quirky and wry sense of humor).
Space Cadet, on the other hand, was the second of the juvenile novels he wrote (the first being
Rocket Ship Galileo in 1947), so he hadn't quite worked out the bugs with writing the juveniles -- though it was a definite advance on the first, and parts of the novel are quite good. (He began to really hit his stride with this series with the third in the set, Red Planet. This one, as well as the other juveniles, continued to develop certain themes, each one exploring them more thoroughly, until
Starship Troopers (which the publisher refused to publish as part of the set because it was "too adult", I understand);
Podkayne of Mars is sometimes included in that set, but Heinlein himself saw it as quite a separate thing, though having many of the aspects of his other juveniles, especially in the authorial voice chosen. (Which was not much different, really, from that of "The Menace from Earth".)
Also, just as a note,
Orphans of the Sky is part of what is called his "Future History" series, though it was not included in the omnibus volume of "future history" stories,
The Past Through Tomorrow (which Heinlein did not edit, I believe) -- but then, neither was "Let There Be Light--", which also belongs to the series, and is so included in the table of the series in the original volumes of the set (
The Man Who Sold the Moon,
The Green Hills of Earth,
Revolt in 2100,
The Menace from Earth, and
Methuselah's Children);
Time Enough for Love was the original capstone to the series, which then branched out further with
The Number of the Beast,
The Cat Who Walks through Walls, and
To Sail Beyond the Sunset.
And, if you're wondering, here's the list of his juvenile series:
Rocket Ship Galileo (1947)
Space Cadet (1948)
Red Planet (1949)
Farmer in the Sky (aka
Satellite Scout) (1950)
Between Planets (aka
Planets in Combat) (1951)
The Rolling Stones (aka
Tramp Space Ship) (1952)
Starman Jones (1953)
The Star Beast (aka
Star Lummox) (1954)
Tunnel in the Sky (1955)
Time for the Stars (1956)
Citizen of the Galaxy (1957)
Have Spacesuit -- Will Travel (1958)
Starship Troopers (1959)
As I mentioned earlier, at the end of his career, he tied several threads together, one of them being connections between
The Rolling Stones,
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and the much later
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls and
To Sail Beyond the Sunset. This is something he did a lot, though, sometimes rather subtly, as with the connection between his very early novel
Beyond This Horizon and
Stranger in a Strange Land (and, later, making another connection between these and
The Number of the Beast).
(Now see what you did! You went and got me talking!
)
