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Why SF Authors, Why?
So, I was reading The Number of the Beast by Heinlein. It's...not very good. It started out with decent setup, once you get past the fact that yes, all four of the main characters are geniuses and perfectly share Heinlein's fictional version of libertarianism, have no nudity taboos, and are constantly reminding the reader "we're so much more enlightened about sex and nudity than you are". And if you can swallow the handwaved malarkey about shifting universes by pushing on a gyroscope in three directions. Which uses no power and lets you teleport anywhere instantly. But y'know, that'd be okay if it were the main plot thing and then it was all exploring different universes while running from somebody else who can do the exact same thing and is trying to kill them, but that doesn't happen. Not all that much happens, except a lot of re-hashed arguments about the authority of the captain of the ship and other such things that were covered well in Starship Troopers.
Where things really started to fall apart was when they ended up in Oz. And then from there it turned into basically Heinlein writing fanfiction for his favorite authors and himself, and it ends up at a giant interdimensional science fiction convention, with cameos and in-jokes galore, the original plot being long forgot, until it shows back up on the last two pages and I guess is resolved, in a way that makes no real sense.
And oh man, don't even get me started on the women. Now, I've never been a woman, but the women don't ring true at all through most of the book. Like seriously out of whack. And the whole pregnancy fetish thing, man. Sheesh.
Not Heinlein's best work, no. And I'm not sure I buy any of the arguments I've found via wikipedia about it being written to help lead people to good writing or things, it really just reminds me of fanfic, written for the appreciation of his friends. And published because he was Robert Heinlein.
Also, many SF authors seem to turn into dirty old men. Or dirty middle aged men. Some more gracefully than others. (Compare, say, Asimov's book of dirty limericks to any recent Piers Anthony.)
Where things really started to fall apart was when they ended up in Oz. And then from there it turned into basically Heinlein writing fanfiction for his favorite authors and himself, and it ends up at a giant interdimensional science fiction convention, with cameos and in-jokes galore, the original plot being long forgot, until it shows back up on the last two pages and I guess is resolved, in a way that makes no real sense.
And oh man, don't even get me started on the women. Now, I've never been a woman, but the women don't ring true at all through most of the book. Like seriously out of whack. And the whole pregnancy fetish thing, man. Sheesh.
Not Heinlein's best work, no. And I'm not sure I buy any of the arguments I've found via wikipedia about it being written to help lead people to good writing or things, it really just reminds me of fanfic, written for the appreciation of his friends. And published because he was Robert Heinlein.
Also, many SF authors seem to turn into dirty old men. Or dirty middle aged men. Some more gracefully than others. (Compare, say, Asimov's book of dirty limericks to any recent Piers Anthony.)
no subject
Heinlein started having problems, in my opinion, around the time where he was writing things like I Shall Fear No Evil. At that time, he'd had a mini-stroke, and his brain wasn't getting the oxygen it needed. At the same time, his wife started collaborating with his editor to publish stuff, and as a result there was some real crap shoved out on the market. (I'm putting it down to a biological cause, because otherwise I have to believe the equally plausible story about the bet with L. Ron Hubbard).
Heinlein's female characters started turning weird back in Time Enough for Love, or even Stranger In A Strange Land. By the time of the later novels, I just accepted that this bloke had no bloody idea. The pregnancy thing is even easier to explain: Virginia Heinlein (his wife) was never pregnant. RAH was writing from a position of complete ignorance, which always helps in these matters.
One final comment: It's not just *recent* Piers Anthony which shows the "dirty old man" tendencies. Heck, that started off way back with the Battle Circle trilogy. Piers Anthony has *always* been something of a creep.
no subject
Well, the seeds for Heinlein's later womanly weirdness can be seen far back, in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress for example, except in that the women are still actual full characters, and the group marriage thing was an element, but the story didn't devolve into "And now everyone gets married to everyone else!"
It could be the stroke thing. I don't know. I just know the book was not very good.
no subject
When it was being written, 1) the science-fiction fandom phenomenon was in its growing phase. RAH attended a number of conventions and symposiums at this time and it might had to be influential. He had to give up fiction writing for two years to prepare for a couple important conventions where he was Guest of Honor. So the finale was both meant to celebrate science-fiction's body of work and lampoon the convention and its realities.
2) after Stranger In a Strange Land, his readers were demanding more and more sexual content in his books. Granted, he's always had a bawdy streak (check out "Year of the Jackpot" in The Menace From Earth), but Number was part of this trend.
3) I also have a suspicion that Virginia was partly ghostwriting for Robert. I've never read Stranger, but it wouldn't surprise me that after "All You Zombies", Virginia took a more active role in Robert's career. She was the one answering his fan mail. She knew what his readers wanted. The concepts of the novels were his...but there are little clues throughout the later books that it wasn't just Robert doing the work.