It might surprise some of you, but science fiction writing, historically, hasn’t paid very well. For the majority of the 20th century, science fiction writers, even the true geniuses, had to be prolific to put food on the table. And thank God for that.
One example of why I’m happy for the hardships inherent in SF writing comes in the form of OFF THE MAIN SEQUENCE: THE OTHER STORIES OF ROBERT A. HEINLEIN. Edited by Andrew Wheeler, this is a collection put out by the Science Fiction Book Club that pulls together the short stories that weren’t part of Heinlein’s “future history” timeline, of which STARSHIP TROOPERS is a piece.
That’s not to say that these stories are bad. In fact, this 700-page behemoth of a book is a masterpiece of variety and wonder, pulling together tales of apocalyptic futures and Boy Scouts on the moon with such pizzaz and joy that it’s really hard to put this book down after just a story or two. Not only do stories written in 1942 read as well as something put on the shelves yesterday, but Heinlein writes so assuredly about the future that you’d swear he’d seen it. He knew nothing about the reality of nuclear warfare and the Cold War, but that doesn’t stop him from envisioning a future that is eerily similar to later actual events.
Many of the tales in OFF THE MAIN SEQUENCE are of the old-style “science adventure” genre repopularized of late by comics writers like Alan Moore and Warren Ellis. Heinlein’s sense of wonder and irony is evident even in stories that were probably written just for a paycheck: The aforementioned scouting story for Boy’s Life, for example, is as well-written and imagined as his more adult work, pulling no punches despite the intended audience. Of course, no SF writer worth his salt can have a successful career without a good time paradox yarn, and “All You Zombies” is one of the best ever.
Heinlein completists should take note that OFF THE MAIN SEQUENCE contains three stories that have never been previously collected. In short: Get it. Heinlein’s one of the best. –Ryun Patterson
Buy it at SFBC.
Discuss it in our forums.
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