Robert Heinlein’s Hugo Award-winning all-time masterpiece, the brilliant novel that grew from a cult favorite to a bestseller to a science fiction classic.Raised by Martians on Mars, Valentine Michael Smith is a human who has never seen another member of his species. Sent to Earth, he is a stranger who must learn what it is to be a man. But his own beliefs and his powers far exceed the limits of … exceed the limits of humankind, and as he teaches them about grokking and water-sharing, he also inspires a transformation that will alter Earth’s inhabitants forever…
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This book is amazing! Completely awesome!
Great read for those who are curious about life after death. Wonderful imagination.
Heinlein can’t be improved on !!
an all time sci-fi classic!
Classical Robert Heinlein. Recommended reading.
One of Heinlein’s best.
I’ll read anything by Heinlein anytime anywhere.
When we meet the title character he has been rescued from Mars where he was raised by Martians. He learned well from them and attempts to teach other Earthlings. This story is the basis of one of the original Star Trek episodes. It is a must read for all Science Fiction readers. You will recognize ideas borrowed from this book in other modern tales.
One of the books that made me a life long reader.
Not my favorite of his, but it’s brilliant writing, both from the point of view of story and as social commentary.
Classic that never gets old
A science fiction classic, a must read.
I had heard of this book, but I didn’t really know what this book was about. It is less about science fiction and more about Heinlein’s observation of 20th-century civilization.
In my opinion Heinlein’s second best. Starship Troopers tops them all. Read each four or five times.
Everyone should read this book
A classic which any fan of science fiction should read.
Once upon a time, I would have told you this was my favourite book of all time. That was several decades ago, so it was interesting to revisit the story. Published in 1961, it’s a classic of sci-fi. Some of it *really* doesn’t hold up (like the flippant, rampant sexism, the free love, one horrible, off-hand comment about rape, the communal ethos, and the long passages of pontificating), but much of this story about a human raised on Mars and returns to Earth with extraordinary powers still works. If you’ve ever heard someone say, “I grok that” and wondered where “grok” came from, here’s your answer. It’s a book that’s very much of its time, and I think it was very important to a lot of people, so it is interesting to come back to after so long and give it another go. Read it with the grain of salt it deserves.
This story is told in an interesting point of view. A bit hard to follow. Good read though.
If you can’t grok this classic, you are not a ‘real’ reader of speculative fiction. While many of the elements may seem dated, it flows well and is a real pleasure to read.
Loved it! Great view of organizations from a new viewpoint.