Tolkien is the pimple on the ass of Robert Heinlein. Where Tolkien is sophomoric and droll, Heinlein is true to his nature. He writes about the coming of age of boys to men. War stories set in space that so poignently describe the feelings of young men during wwII and Korea that they might as well have been about those wars. He was a truly amazing writer in his ability to connect the reader with a future they could truly imagine, because it held some of today in the characters. Heinlen was the one and only father and creator of the coming of age genre of books both for fantasy and Science Fiction. Any series that shows some boy becoming a man to be reckoned with owes its roots to Heinlein. He was the first and likely the best, because he could convey the experience without the need of four five hundred page books to do it in. Cheers, Robert.

A great storyteller. Even though many of his works fall into his time line, they stand fairly well on their own.

Apart from a world view slightly more right-wing than Heinrich Himmler's and a hamfisted use of language that make instructions on assembling furniture look scintillating, he's just fine. Above average plots are totally drowned by the rest of the package.

The Grand Master. Even with a brain tumor this guy can write rings around most others.

R.A.H is the most thought provoking author of SF that i have ever read. Time Enough For Love is an incredible read but Friday is my personal favorite. all of his books have so much emotion poured into them i can't help but be influenced by his stories.

Very prolific SF author. "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" is his best work, the door into summer is pretty good too. The plots may not be so plausible but I amazed at the prescient of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - semi-predicts ecological-economics, distributed networking. Good explaination of Libertarian politics as well.

There are many reasons why R.A.H is the grand master of science fiction. He was granted that honor by both his peers and his readers. Few authors come close to the standards he has set for the speculative fiction genre. I think I began reading RAH in the third or fourth grade Red Planet, Rocket Ship Gallileo, and Have Space Suit- Will Travel. The latter I have read countless times, and will again (don't ask me why- I just like it that much...) I think one of the things that makes RAH a great read is that he wrote with his heart on his proverbial sleeve- you got what he thought the future would be like, and what he thought of it! Some reviewers may carp about his politics, but that is what he believes. If you like Heinlein, you will probably like Spider Robinson- is becoming a great writer, Anne McCafferey- excellent wordsmith, Elizabeth Moon- one whom I think is top notch, Julian May- anyone who can mix celtia, Tolkein, Sophocles, Scripture, myths & legends, and hard core Sci-fi in a 9 volume epic gets my vote for best of show on technical merit. RAH however is still the best of the best when it comes to a good story.

Classic use of SF to discuss and promote difficult social issues, especially in his teen targeted books i.e.: "Starship Troopers" and "Have Spacesuit will Travel". The latter is the oldest promotion for veganism I've encountered (1958).

Without a doubt, Heinlein is my very favourite author. I enjoy all of his work, from his classic "juveniles" to his later, more idea driven novels. It's unfortunate that they made Starship Troopers into such a silly movie--the book is excellent. Don't forget to check out his short story collections.

I have seen pornography less sex drenched than "Stranger in a Strange Land." The sad thing is it began so well, as a story of the "Martian" and how Earth reacts to him. Too bad it slipped into a melodramatic soap opera at the end.

Heinlien started out as a pulp writer, learning to grab the attention of the low-intelligence readers with sex and violence a-la Shakespeare. I find that that this has contributed to his being such a popular writer, and the lessons he learned cutting his teeth in the 50s helped him to skyrocket into the legitimate writers' echelon. Heinlien's political views may just be too libertarian for some people to apprectiate, but if your mind is still open, inundate it with this fantastic and whimsical author.

An overhyped hack.

great stuff (as long as you stay away from anything written later than 1975).

classic Science Fiction

STarship troopers and stragner in astrange land make him worhty of a five

I read a lot, and I feel quite confident in saying that Robert A. Heinlein is the single worst author I've ever had the extreme displeasure of reading. Since he is inexplicably considered one of the giants in SF literature, I gave him a chance and read quite a few of his books, including Friday, Starship Troopers, Farnham's Freehold, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and his "classic" novel, Stranger in a Strange Land. Without fail, every one of them is an insipid, juvenille mish-mash of lifeless characters and ridiculously bad prose. I've read Watchtowers containing more reasonable writings. Life is to short to waste by subjecting yourself to talentless hacks like Heinlein. Pick ANY other SF writer and you'll get a better read.

I only rate Heinlein a 5 because there's nothing higher.

He was great and after he died they made one of his wondeful subtle books - Starship Troopers - into a crappy movie.

He was a first Master of Science Fiction. He was a visionaire for many things we have today, like Internet, personal computers, and space exploration... His books are great, there's a lot of things for everyone to discover - Love, Religion, Family, Society, and much more. He's my favorite author, I highly recommend his books for everyone!

it took some work to get through but in hindsight to understand it all, the only thing to do is read it again. (Stranger in a Strange Land)