Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (1907-1988), was born in Butler, Missouri, to a German-American family with generations of military service in it. He became one of the most celebrated and influential science fiction writers of the 20th Century. A US Naval Academy graduate with engineering training, he brought to the wild-west-type field of science fiction of the pulp era a rigorous scientific mind and a temperment to question all assumptions of the genre, of society, and of human history and of the human future.
Upon medical discharge from the Navy in 1934, he turned to several pursuits, finally ending up writing with a first short story publication in 1939. Initially, he was one of the stable of writers of the legendary editor of Astounding, John W. Campbell, Jr., but Heinlein was too independent a spirit to follow an editor — he would always rather blaze new trails. Professional and financial security came with an epic series of so-called “juveniles” written for about 10 years from the late Forties to the late Fifties. These transformed themselves into sophisticated cultural critiques from Starship Troopers (1959) and Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) onwards.
He brought the verbal gymnastics of George Bernard Shaw and the adventurous pace of Rudyard Kipling to a pulp genre struggling for self-confidence and literary legitimacy. Whatever his provocations (and there are many for his readers from all backgrounds), he raised the standard of great speculative fiction. A tip on beginning Heinlein: begin with the early novels, even the excellent juveniles, plunge into those written in the Sixties, and then tackle the big ambitious novels of his late period. Enjoy the ride!
Waldo & Magic, Inc.
Waldo & Magic, Inc.
NEW INTRODUCTION BY TIM POWERS! Compelling SF and fantasy adventure from legendary science fiction master and multiple New York Times best selling author Robert A. Heinlein. Contains Waldo and Magic, Inc.
Waldo
North Power-Air is in trouble. Their aircraft are crashing at an alarming rate, and no one can figure out the cause. Desperate for an answer, they turn to Waldo, a crippled genius who lives in a zero-g home in orbit around Earth. But Waldo has little reason to want to help the rest of humanity—until he learns that the solution to Earth’s problems also hold the key to his own.
Magic, Inc.
Under the guise of an agency for magicians, Magic, Inc. systematically squeezed out the small independent magicians. But one man stands firm. And with the help of an Oxford-educated African shaman and a little old lady adept at black magic, he is willing to take on the demons of Hell to resolve the problem—once and for all!
New introduction by Tim Powers!
About Robert A. Heinlein:
“Not only America's premier writer of speculative fiction, but the greatest writer of such fiction in the world.”—Stephen King.
“One of the grand masters of science fiction.”—Wall Street Journal