Review of "The Star Beast," by Robert A. Heinlein

 Review of

The Star Beast, by Robert A. Heinlein

Five out of five stars

Vintage Heinlein story about alien life

 John Thomas Stuart the ninth is for lack of a better term the current “owner” of Lummox, an alien life form smuggled to Earth by galactic explorer John Thomas Stuart the first. The size of a puppy when brought to Earth, Lummox is now the size an elephant. Furthermore, Lummox has a large appetite and seems capable of eating everything from steel to poison with no adverse effects.

 Despite its imposing size, Lummox is a very gentle creature with a soft disposition and is very fond of John Thomas Stuart. However, Lummox is very much a mischievous pet and there are movements that want Lummox killed. This is not easy, as bullets are like marshmallows to Lummox’s tough exterior.

 A major interstellar incident is created over Lummox and it is up to the more practical humans as well as a knowledgeable ambassador to somehow manage the situation where the Earth is threatened with destruction if Lummox is not returned. However, this is complicated by the fact that Lummox will not leave Earth without his friend John.

 Human ignorance forms a fundamental component of the story and Heinlein is at his best at lampooning politicians and other narrow-minded humans. He also demonstrates his mastery of sarcastic, yet productive dialogue between people tasked with finding a way to save Earth from the power of a superior species.

 The story is one that is amusing because even though it is fiction, the mechanisms regarding human narrow-mindedness ring very true. First contact with space aliens will be a momentous event and no one could predict how it will go. While this scenario is unlikely, it is plausible in that something will be brought to Earth that is nowhere near what the people bringing it think it is.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review of "The Autumn Dead," by Ed Gorman

  Review of The Autumn Dead , by Ed Gorman, ISBN 0345356322 Four out of five stars An aging ex-cop is handed a case to retrieve a case   Jack Dwyer is an ex-cop that now works for a private security agency. Most of what he does is bust shoplifters and other petty criminals. He is a bit overweight and has few prospects to improve his situation. However, he has an interesting past that is focused on his high school years.   A woman that was a flame of his in high school and has retained her beauty suddenly pops back into his life. She offers Jack a significant amount of money to retrieve a suitcase from the house of a man she had been living with. Since she has a key and claims that the suitcase is really her property and she still has a significant sway over Jack, he agrees to take the job.   When he gets there he finds the owner unconscious from a blow on the back of the head. This is the first hint that the case is much more complex than Jack thought. Hi...
Read more

Review of "The Forty-Minute War," by Janet and Chris Morris

  Review of The Forty-Minute War , by Janet and Chris Morris, ISBN 0671559869 Three out of five stars Absurd initial premise and bad ending   This book begins with an absurd premise, not the event, but the context. A group of committed terrorists manage to acquire a nuclear weapon and a plane. The manage to fly it from Saudi Arabia to Washington D. C. where they detonate it. Distraught over the knowledge that his wife and family have been killed, the American President orders a nuclear strike against the Soviet Union. They retaliate and it is all over in 40 minutes. After ordering the strike, the American President takes a gun and kills himself.   There are two reasons why this premise is absurd, one major and the other minor. The major one is that the intelligence services of the United States were aware of the nuclear weapon and had an elite anti-terrorist team on the ground ready to take out the terrorists. However, the team was given a stand-down order. Whil...
Read more

Review of "Heat," by Mike Lupica

  Review of Heat , by Mike Lupica, ISBN 9780142407578 Five out of five stars More about life than sports   Satchel Paige is arguably the all-time best baseball pitcher. One of his teammates once said, “The good lord didn’t give Satchel an arm, he gave him a whip.” Michael Arroyo was also born with what his father said was, “the arm.” Even though he is still young enough to play Little League baseball, Michael can throw an 80-mph fastball and he has excellent control. His goal is to help his team move on to the Little League World Series.   While baseball is his joy, his life is complicated. His father brought Michael and his seventeen-year-old bother Carlos with him in an escape from Cuba and they now live in New York City. Their father died suddenly of a heart attack and the boys are terrified that social services will learn of their plight and either separate them into foster care or send them back to Cuba.   With the help of some kindly neighbors, the ...
Read more