Customer Rating: 
Summary: Once again after so many years... Starman Jones
Comment: I happened upon this book quite by accident, and it brought back to life a memory from over 40 years ago of experiencing the distant future first-hand by reading Heinlein's "Tunnel in the Sky." As a thirteen year-old, I lost myself in the futuristic yet believable world he created in that book. The same is true of "Starman." Heinlein is at the top of his craft when he can weave snapshots of incredible technological developments into a personalized storyline that could occur to anyone in any age. Almost as incredible is the offhand way he causes the reader to contemplate a 'reality' that could be just beyond our current understanding of physics - like "Starman's" routine use of discontinuities in space-time to enable travel to distant parts of the galaxy with cruise-ship efficiency. I now view Heinlein's work through the filter of age and way too much education, but I can truly say that getting lost in one of his fictional worlds still holds a certain fascination that lingers long after you finish the book. His work leaves a feeling that the world of tomorrow will be exciting, new and challenging, but ultimately it can be understood and even conquered by ordinary people. This book still seems fresh and plausible, even after all these years. I highly recommend "Starman Jones."
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Comment: It is to be regretted that some of the other reviewers on Amazon.com gave away spoilers. It is also unfortunate that Heinlein has received a lot of press for some of the worst things he wrote for an adult audience, such as _Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land_. His genius was in his "juvenile novels" -- the stories he wrote for serialization in boy scout magazines, later published as books.Max Jones dropped out of high school to support his lazy irresponsible stepmother by working on their farm, which has few amenities that would not have been commonplace in 1850. But he dreams of becoming an astrogator aboard a starship like his late Uncle Chet who instructed him in that profession. When his stepmother marries a man who is uneducated and cannot appreciate his ambition, Max leaves. The world being badly mismanaged, he must hitchhike to the city of Earthport to find out whether he has been appointed his uncle's professional heir.
What happens over the ensuing chapters I will not divulge. Heinlein was a graduate of the Naval Academy, where he learned some of the laws in force aboard ships. While Max is serving aboard a ship that has become lost and set down on an unknown planet, with no realistic hope of finding its way home, the First Officer explains to the passengers and crew certain legal rights and obligations that apply in such an emergency. A passenger objects: "There are no laws HERE." The First Officer corrects him, saying the law goes where the ship goes. That sets the context for a climax several chapters later, involving legal, moral, political, and psychological aspects of leadership in an emergency.
The book dramatizes the role of intelligent purposefulness in human life. A scene occupying about the first four pages of the second chapter is a beautiful example: Max is alone facing difficulties and using his head.
The book has various readily identifiable flaws, which it would be easy for me to list. Those don't matter at all.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A fun book about growing up
Comment: Young Jones is a farmer, who hates being a farmer and can think of nothing better than to head out into space. His uncle was an astrogator, and left his books to Jones when he died. After an upheval of his home life(which he wasn't really attached to anyway) he decides it's time to head out on his own, hopefully to become an astrogator.Being young and nieve, he makes some bad calls in charachters of someone he meets on the way, and finds out the hard way that you can't trust everyone who seems nice. I'd write more, but don't want to give away the storyline. Being one of heinlein's early 'juvies' this book isn't as involved as his later and better known works, and at times I felt it was too predictable. But, Heinlein was a master of portraying people, thier dreams and desires and fears.
This is a fun young adult book about growing up.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not his best, but still great
Comment: Many people still maintain - even today - that the legendary Robert A. Heinlein's best works remain his "juvies" - the books he wrote for teenagers during the 1950's. And they definitely do have a point. The books may have been written with that demographic in mind, but they can be enjoyed by anybody. They're universal. Although there is nothing ground-breaking in this novel - and it is even, for Heinlein, arguably formulatic - it is still a fun read. Heinlein's writing style is such that anything - and I mean ANYTHING - he writes is worth reading, and furthermore, will be entertaining. His dialogue is always top-notch - some of the cleverest writing since the heyday of Oscar Wilde - and it makes all of his books breezy and fun to read through. This is no exception. Although I would not say that this is one of his best juvies, it is still quite a good one. I think it IS a good book for a young science fiction fan to start out on, too, especially; it portrays a normal, everyday kid - indeed, a hillbilly - who fulfills his dream of going out into space. It has a good moral, and there's a heart - a solid foundation - to the book. Coupled with Heinlein's always engaging dialogue and sheer narrative drive, this book is a wonderful read for all ages.
Customer Rating:
Summary: What's not to like?
Comment: I wish I could start off with something suitably self important sounding like "Heinlein is yet to be fully appreciated" or somesuch nonsense that tries to encapsulate someone's career in a few pitiful words. But, alas, Heinlein has mostly received his due over the years and as more and more people discover SF, they realize what the grand majority of us already knew: this Heinlein guy knew what he was doing. Even a novel like this, which Heinlein probably could have churned out in his sleep, stands head and shoulders over just about everything that went on in those days. Even today it remains a solidly entertaining read, with enough elements to keep adults interested while managing to capture the attention of the young adult set. Here we have Max in the "wide eyed naive boy" mode, starting from nothing with only his dream to go into space and become a astrogator. There's nothing utterly ground breaking about this novel but Heinlein keeps everything moving smoothly, mixing his mostly one note characters well, the dialogue breezes along and everyone gets some good lines in. He depicts ship life in a way that Star Trek would be hard pressed to copy fifteen years later and throws in enough other wacky stuff to keep the plot spinning nicely, even the left field stuff doesn't feel as jarring as it can sometimes get. The entire package as a whole is very satisifying and while this is Heinlein treading water a bit and working his formula, it was a formula that worked and if you've run out of truly essential Heinlein books to work through, you can't do worse than this. In fact I would take this any day over I Will Fear No Evil or Friday . . . and I mean that. Don't believe me? Read these and then read this and try to tell me otherwise. A fine example of the master in his prime.
