Cover of Citizen, first edition (1957).Īnd yet on rereading I can’t help that my overriding emotion was that, on the whole, I’d been here before. There are brief but telling mentions throughout of class systems, alien races, unusual languages and strange customs, reflecting that in RAH’s universe diversity is to be admired and appreciated. This made me feel that the novel is not entirely new, though it is perhaps the most effectively crafted of the books so far, albeit with a weak ending.Īs usual by now Heinlein mentions a diverse range of races and cultures throughout, something RAH traditionally revels in. The book is good, but there are parts where I feel I’ve read them or been there before. This may be why I remember it less fondly than some of RAH’s other juvenile novels read so far. The final part of the book has Thorby knowing his original identity but, like in The Star Beast, is back in court using lawyers to help fight for a cause. In the second section, the plot, like in Space Cadet, shows that once Thorby can accept his new-found ideas of freedom, he can integrate into a bigger group, either in the military or with his space ‘family’. We have the first section, which shows Thorby developing his ideas of freedom and managing against the odds. It is a book where each part plays to Heinlein’s strengths. My first thought at the end of this one is that it is much better than I remembered. His identity is revealed and Thorby takes on the mighty legal departments of Earth. The final section of the story is when Thorby, now a young adult, makes good on his promises to his mentor. Much of this is adapting to new cultures and lifestyles as well as being trained as a fire controlman, until Baslim’s debt is repaid and Thorby is handed over to the military.

Whilst with the Free Traders in space Thorby is given a broader education.

This is, at first glance, typical old-school Heinlein. This leads to the second part of the plot, where Thorby is smuggled onto a spaceship as a favour to Baslim and is accepted as part of the Free Traders. Despite Baslim’s disabilities, Thorby is given an education in life that enables him to make progress. In the first, a boy we later know as Thorby is bought and brought up by a crippled beggar, Baslim. The plot of the book is in three main parts. Citizen is a tale that begins with a relatively uneducated young man and shows that with a suitable education, administered through an appropriate mentor, good can make a difference. With the latest juvenile in the series (after Time for the Stars) we’re back to that now-common Heinlein bildungsroman. Here’s the latest reread of Heinlein’s works, as Mark continues his intermittent re-read of Robert Heinlein’s novels through the Virginia Edition series. It begins with a slave auction… and ends up as a revolution.

Heinlein citizen of the galaxy