Requiem: New Collected Works of Robert A. Heinlein

A collection of Heinlein's works--including two major novellas, Destination Moon and Tenderfoot in Space--features contributions by Arthur C. Clarke, Tom Clancy, and others that pay tribute to Heinlein.

The New Collected Works portion of this memorial to Heinlein ( Stranger in a Strange Land ) is a delight. Best of these stories, essays and speeches are "Shooting Destination Moon ," an essay on the movie that follows the story on which the film was based, and the prescient Guest of Honor speeches from the World Science Fiction Conventions of 1941 and 1961. Heinlein's contributions, while not necessarily representing his best work, are always thought-provoking and never boring. In contrast, the tributes by such luminaries as Tom Clancy, L. Sprague and Catherine Crook de Camp, Arthur C. Clarke and Spider Robinson offer tedious variations on adulation. The sole exception is Larry Niven's story "The Return of William Proxmire," in which the senator blocks the space program with a time machine. He keeps Heinlein in the Navy and forestalls the body of writing that would influence many to pursue careers in space. Kondo is director of the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite observatory at Goddard Space Flight Center.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Another of science fiction's weird hybrids, comprising fiction, poems, speeches, reminiscences, and appreciations by and about Robert A. Heinlein (1907-88), one of the most successful and influential science fiction writers of the modern era. Part I features the famous title story, six previously uncollected miscellaneous pieces, and four speeches that Heinlein delivered at sf conventions. Part II reprints the speeches given at the Heinlein retrospective at the National Air and Space Museum in October 1988. Part II consists of tributes to the Grandmaster from, among others, Poul Anderson, Greg Bear, Arthur C. Clarke, Joe Haldeman, Larry Niven, Spider Robinson, Robert Silverberg, and Jack Williamson. Among the more interesting entries are ``Destination Moon,'' the story that formed the basis for the innovative 1950 movie, co-scripted by Heinlein; and Heinlein's account of his involvement in making the movie--essential reading for sf-movie buffs. Elsewhere, Spider Robinson's egregious, ranting defense of Heinlein against mostly unspecified detractors will raise a few eyebrows; contrast Robert Silverberg's panegyric, a more reliable summary of Heinlein's substantial and lasting contribution to the field. Sentimental hagiography. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.