Double Star
Author: Robert Heinlein
Year: 1956
Abstract:
A struggling actor is approached for a job secretive enough that the employer is unwilling to disclose the details. Finally forced to
choose between continuing to struggle and the chance to earn a steady income for a while he signs on. Only too late does he find
out he'll be impersonating one of the most well-known and well-loved men to ever grace human society.
| Advanced Mind | |
| Exploration/Quest | |
| Military/Fighting | |
| Horror | |
| Magic | |
| Advanced Technology |  |
| Time Travel/Alternate History | |
| Science | |
| Aliens/Beasties | |
| Contemporality |
Other books in this series:
None
tyranist's Review
In spite of my long history with science fiction, I've read relatively little Heinlein. When this book recently came into my collection
I thought that perhaps I should give it a read as a way of expanding my expertise. It did win the 1956 Hugo for best novel after
all.
It is a short book and I found it a delight to read. There are certain things that date the fiction a little, but really in the end the core
story is good enough to overcome many of the deficiencies. I found it novel to read about an actor in the future as that isn't dealt
with too often in sci-fi. Add to that a really well-woven plot and the story becomes all the more memorable. This was a period
of high fiction and really, it surpasses a lot of the efforts possible today simply because it can afford to be eternally optimistic. I
long for the days when we didn't know that there weren't Martians or Venusians. It is a shame that we've lost the ability to tell
these stories simply because science has disproved them already. Perhaps there will be a new fantasy movement to specifically tell
stories of people living on the worlds close to ours.
Really a fine novel and deserving of the Hugo it won. While some of the prose was stilted and there are enough moments dated by
today's standards to knock it down a notch or two, the novel still carries itself well.