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“Used this to get a young teen reading. Boys especially will love it. Entertaining and fun.”
Brenda H wrote this review Sunday, October 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Great story for anyone who is a gadgeteer”
Joelle wrote this review Wednesday, October 14 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“ With some of more recognizable titles in any genre, it's hard to approach the work with an open mind. "Have Space Suit Will Travel" is one of those books that has such a great reputation and is one of the more respect works by Robert A. Heinlein that it makes me almost feel weird when I only give it a rating of three stars and find that, like a lot of other Heinlein work I've read, it's not quite as great as advertised.
Michael H wrote this review Monday, September 21 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Part of that could be that I'm reading it two decades ...more With some of more recognizable titles in any genre, it's hard to approach the work with an open mind. "Have Space Suit Will Travel" is one of those books that has such a great reputation and is one of the more respect works by Robert A. Heinlein that it makes me almost feel weird when I only give it a rating of three stars and find that, like a lot of other Heinlein work I've read, it's not quite as great as advertised.
Part of that could be that I'm reading it two decades after I was the target audience for it. Had I found the novel when I was in my teens, I might have been thrilled by it and enjoy it a lot more. Or it could be that I'm not a huge Heinlein fan and while the story is a good one, there are too many examples of the things I don't like in Heinlein's novel on display here for me to truly enjoy "Have Space, Will Travel." Or to enjoy it as much as I wanted to.
The story starts off well with a young boy's desire to go to the moon. He enters a contest by saving soap wrappers and coming up with a slogan for the soap. And while he doesn't win, he is a runner up and gets a space suit sent to him--one that he quickly brings up working condition.
On the night before he decides to send it back, he takes one last walk in it and makes contact with an alien ship. Before he knows what's happening, he's a prisoner of some strange alien group intent on invading the Earth. Joined by Peewee and a strange alien figure, the Mother Thing, it's up to our hero to thwart the baddies and return he and Peewee home.
I think my big issue with this book--and a lot of Heinlein's novels for that matter--is that we have a germ of an idea that might work better as a short story. Even at just over 200 pages, the novel feels too long and padded out. This may not be helped by times the plot comes to a screeching halt for some philosophical debating. That seems to be the case in every Heinlein novel and while it's not quite as eyebrow raising as it can be in later novels, it still sticks out like a sore thumb”“great book for the whole family.”
System-of-a-Dad wrote this review Wednesday, August 26 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“The book is often overlooked, as it is one of Heinlein's juveniles. However, even though it was meant for children, there is a serious story in there and likable characters.
Marianne E wrote this review Monday, August 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Kip is a boy who has always dreamed of space travel. He would rather be on the moon than anywhere on the world. When he hears there will be a contest and the grand prize is a trip to the moon, Kip entered right away. He called on all his family and friends to help him think of slogans to win the contest. He had thousands of ideas, and one of them must win . . . but the prize goes to someone else. He is left with the second place prize - a space suit. But his adventures are far more interesting than any he could have had if he had won the grand prize.
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“Excelent book. A pinch of humor, a pound of science and the rest is imagination. It's great! ”
symbol wrote this review Thursday, July 2 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“My very firs scifi novel...turned me into a lifelong fan!!!”
Gary G wrote this review Thursday, May 28 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“The first Heinlein novel I've ever read. This book hooked me with its clever first sentence, and though it's a little dated, the story was still really fun. And the juxtaposition between 1950's slang and space opera has a charm of its own.”
Etola wrote this review Monday, February 23 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Fun, if improbable juvenile coming of age tale. Our hero is thrown into the middle of lunar intrigue and gets to virtually save humanity from extinction. I second Heinlein's call for more generalists who can see beyond the sillinesses of the specialists.”
muque and shylock tomes wrote this review Friday, September 26 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
