In this case, novels published in 1942 are eligible. It's time to prepare for the 1943 retro Hugo awards that will be presented in 2018! (Why? Why not? Some books deserve love even if they're before the Hugos even began!) The plot is also disjointed and incomplete, but all in all this is a good entry in the RAH pantheon and a fan will enjoy.

This is one of his earlier works and the reader can also see glimpses of his strong libertarian principles taking shape in the narrative.īeing one of his earlier works, though, RAH had yet to come into his own in terms of characterization, flat here, but will blossom into masterpieces The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land about twenty years later. Heinlein would come back to this theme several times, most notably in Methuselah's Children and Time Enough for Love. Cannot help wonder if Woody Allen thought of this book while producing Sleeper as at least a couple of scenes reminded me of the 1970s film, though the film was apparently loosely based upon Wells’ The Sleeper Awakes. Heinlein was written ten years after Huxley’s Brave New World and the influence from this genetic and sociological masterpiece is evident.Īlso noteworthy is that the book was published during WWII and this may comprise Heinlein’s response to Hitler’s Nietzschian policies, especially ideas about elitist racism and possible supermen.

Big mistake! The revolutionaries are about to find out that recruiting a superman was definitely not a good idea.īeyond this Horizon by Robert A. Knowing of Hamilton's disenchantment with the modern world, they have recruited him to join their Glorious Revolution. A secret cabal of revolutionaries who find utopia not just boring, but desperately in need of leaders who know just What Needs to be Done, are planning to revolt and put themselves in charge. However, Hamilton's life is about to become less boring. And this ultimate man can see no reason why the human race should survive, and has no intention of continuing the pointless comedy. Hamilton is, as far as genetics can produce one, the ultimate man. And he is the culmination of a star line each of his last thirty ancestors chosen for superior genes. And applied genetics has given men and women the bodies of athletes and a lifespan of over a century.īut Hamilton Felix is bored. For centuries, disease, hunger, poverty and war have been things found only in the history tapes.

Robert heinlein beyond this horizon