Starman Jones ~Robert A. Heinlein
–originally published 1953, Scribners
–252 pages
–4.75/5 stars
Max Jones is a dirt poor farm boy on a far future earth who dreams of sailing among the stars, following in the footsteps of his uncle, Arthur “Chet” Jones, who was an upstanding member of the Astrogator’s Guild. A kick in the pants from Fate, in the form of a sleazy new step father, sends Max Jones out into the dark night on the road to adventure. Through a series of mishaps and misadventures, and a healthy dose of deceit, Max Jones is given the chance to test the old adage “be careful what you wish for”.
Starman Jones is the seventh in a group of twelve novels written by Heinlein and published by Scribner’s over the years from 1947 to 1958. These books were aimed at teenage boys and are collectively known as “Heinlein’s juveniles”. Though they are not a “series” of books they do share a general target audience and to this date are considered some of science fiction master Robert A. Heinlein’s greatest works, with good reason. Heinlein believed that children should be challenged which, according to Virginia Heinlein, led to “annual quarrels over what was suitable for juvenile reading”. It is readily apparent when reading a book like Starman Jones that despite being targeted to a teen audience, Heinlein did not ‘talk down’ to that audience. Because of this fact, the Heinlein juveniles were, and still are, popular with an adult audience.
As a protagonist, Max Jones is the embodiment of the fantasy life of any boy or girl, man or woman, who has looked up at the stars and longed to travel among them. Max is a genuinely likable, noble character who is unused to the world of half-truths and politics that he finds himself in upon leaving the farming life. Early in his journey he meets up with a good-natured scoundrel, Sam Anderson, whose unspoken secrets and worldly wisdom is the catalyst for much that happens, both good and ill, to Max Jones throughout the rest of the story. Max is also blessed with an eidetic (photographic) memory which plays a large role in the direction his life takes.
Starman Jones is filled characters that you cannot help rooting for and, in some cases, rooting against. There is a young female character, Ellie, who Max befriends on board ship and she is a delight. In my limited experience reading Heinlein’s work, one thing that has struck me is how well he writes both male and female adolescent characters. While his work retains some of the social norms prevalent during the time in which he was writing, his female characters are not all yearning to be housewives, nor his male characters scheming to get a woman into the kitchen “where she belongs”. Many of the characters inhabiting Starman Jones have a tangible authenticity to them that is surprising given the space limitations inherent in these shorter works.
I have seen criticism leveled at this type of ‘adventure in space’ novel that solutions to problems are far too conveniently found and that there is an over-reliance on dues ex machina to save the day. While some of this does occur in Starman Jones, I found two things to be true: number one, this wasn’t always the case–in Heinlein’s novels bad things can, and do, happen. Number two: I didn’t care. When a novel is as engaging as Starman Jones and you have some knowledge of its target audience and the time period in which it was written, it is easy to overlook perceived flaws. I say “perceived” because even though the intellectual part of my mind could pick apart dated passages or too-convenient solutions to problems, the creative part of my mind was too lost in a good story to have those register with any degree of depth or clarity. Plus, as I alluded to earlier, these books have an adult appeal. Robert Heinlein was a naval officer and was very intelligent. When Starman Jones deals with astrogation (the planning of a route through space and the actual navigation of spacecraft, either in interplanetary travel or in interstellar travel), it is obvious that he knows his stuff and is in turn challenging you. The same can be said for the way that he handles the etiquette and hierarchy of life aboard ship.
Starman Jones would be an excellent starting off point for those unfamiliar with Heinlein’s work. The protagonist is an agreeable everyman that most can easily identify with, the plot moves forward at just the right pace to keep you turning the pages, and it hits the right emotional notes to leave you feeling that you engaged in a worthwhile reading experience. I can happily report that I closed the final page with my sense of awe and wonder in good working order.
I am forever in awe when reading ‘the classics’ that authors like Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov could accomplish so much within a novel whose page count barely registers in compared to the tomes that grace bookstore shelves today. Starman Jones does come close to feeling rushed at the end. There is a great deal of very important stuff that goes on at the end of the book and you notice as you read that you are rapidly running out of pages and yet there is still story to be told, things you, as a reader, want to have resolved. The beauty of Heinlein’s juveniles is that even though there is enough structure present to build an even bigger (longer) story, it simply isn’t needed. The story is great as it is, and Starman Jones has an ending that satisfies.
I only wish now that I could go on more adventures with Max Jones.
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Previously reviewed works by Heinlein (click title for review):
Podkayne of Mars
The Puppet Masters
The Green Hills of Earth
Starship Troopers
Good review Carl. This is a case where I wished the book was one of those big doorstop volumes. The trouble is, when Heinlein started writing longer books he started padding them with opinionated conversations. Starman Jones is actually full of great characterization and great science fictional ideas. If you made a list of all the ideas Heinlein had to think up to write this book it would be quite long. The whole symbiotic slavery planet was very cool, and it was only used for a few chapters. Or what about the maglev truckers? Or the hereditary guilds? Or the sky trains?
Most of all, I loved Starman Jones because it’s about going into space, living on a spaceship, and discovering a new world. When I was 12 and read this book, I wanted to grow up like Max and leave Earth for the stars. Bummer, the future didn’t work out that way.
Jim:
Having read your posts and conversed with you about the reality of this future we are in vs. the one science fiction books and films promised us, it does not surprise me at all that this was a book that made a big impression on you in your youth and that you still have such strong affection for it now. Had I read it back then I would have felt the same way, in fact I sort of do anyway because it speaks so clearly to the kind of young man I was.
You might like reading this article about the book on Tor’s website:
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2009/06/starman-jones-or-how-robert-a-heinlein-did-plot-on-a-good-day
It is an interesting, though not very detailed, idea/opinion about how Heinlein wrote.
I agree with everything you say, Jim. The book could have been much longer and explored all kinds of these things in more detail. It is a credit to him that he can drop these tidbits in and even if they are not fully explored they integrate so well into the story. The more I read his work, the more impressed I am. And, as you know, I came to Heinlein by way of a couple of his later works (Friday and Time Enough For Love) and I was super impressed by him from those books despite their somewhat embarrassing over-sexed nature.
It is no secret that I am a big fan of John Scalzi, and also no secret that his Old Man’s War series is, among other things, a homage to the work of Robert Heinlein (and others). As I read Starman Jones I couldn’t help but wonder if ideas from this book worked their way into The Last Colony and Zoe’s Tale:
!!!SPOILER WARNING!!!!
The ship jumping off course and ending up “lost” and finding a habitable planet with native creatures who are none too friendly. I know those are not ideas specific to Heinlein or this book, but I personally got a nice buzz, if that is a way to describe it, about the possible connections between these books.
I haven’t read some old skool Heinlein in years. Love that stuff!! 2011 is so gonna be about reading what I’ve got. . . . including the 20-some Heinlien titles on the shelf.
Redhead: I’m going to try to do more of that myself, and I too have some Heinlein titles yet to get to. And a few that I want to re-read. Looking forward to 2011 reading!!! 🙂
I’ve been aching to post a thoughtful comment to this, but there is simply no time. Every day is a rush to Get Things Done, mostly for Oregon requirements (registrations, drivers license, voter registration, banking, etc. or something to do with the sale of the house in CA. Soon, though. Really.
Richard: Cool! I look forward to it. I’m sure you are swamped with everything going on. Looking forward to your book post on Monday.
I read Farmer in the Sky and liked it well enough. I may have to look into more of the juveniles.
Farmer in the Sky was a good one. I enjoyed this one more, but of course this is all a matter of taste. Although I have only read a few, I would heartily recommend you checking out more of the juveniles especially since you had a positive experience with Farmer.
Okay, so much for thoughtful comments. Instead I’ll just shoot this one out: Of Heinlein’s juveniles, this is one of the minor ones, in my opinion. I haven’t read it since I was in, what? 7th grade or so, maybe even before that, and it’s not in my accumulation of books (I’ll not call it a “collection” that seems too fancy a word). Now that I’m using the Multnomah County library system, I may be able to find it there, when I return the mystery short story collection I picked up on my initial visit.
I like most of Heinlein’s works, at least everything up to Stranger, and that one is okay too, but it’s the earlier adult SF that I believe is the best, Starship Troopers, Revolt in 2100, and such. At least I think they are the most re-readable books, along with some of the juveniles.
I’ve seen your pictures, Richard. I would call it a “collection”. 🙂
I have yet to be disappointed by a Heinlein reading experience, though I suspect at some point I will be. With this reading I’ve now read about an equal amount of juveniles, early adult work, and later work and I’ve enjoyed it all. I prefer the early adult work and the juvenile work to Friday and Time Enough For Love though I did enjoy them both. I can do without all the “juvenile”, for lack of a better word, sexual fantasies of these later works, but it did not stop me at all from enjoying the story that these escapades were built upon.
I’m not sure I could name a favorite at this point. I am very partial to Podkayne of Mars, but I think The Puppet Masters might be at the very top of my list thus far. Looking forward to more Heinlein in the coming year.
SF Signal had a “best of” post up that I saw today that praised the full audio cast version of Red Planet and I immediately ordered that from inter library loan. The same article also mentioned a production of Escape From New York that I am going to have to check out.
I’m not sure if I have a copy of Starman Jones. I’m going to have to check my collection. I think I’m getting enough Heinlein now that I need to make a list of what I have and in what format/edition because I just can’t remember which books I have of his now. 🙂 I think over time I went to collect all of his early and middle years books for sure. I’m not so sure on the later stuff but maybe once I’ve read all the early and middle stuff the completest in me will take over and want to track down all the later works as well.
I think your review of Starman Jones is one I know I really would enjoy as well.
Jeff S.: I actually got a second copy of it the other day that you are welcome to if you want it. And I agree, I really think you would enjoy this one.