Time for the Stars

"I don't like to be around twins, they make me think I'm seeing double."

Time for the Stars is one of the twelve 'Heinlein Juveniles' series of books the author wrote between 1947 and 1958. Wikipedia states that "their intended readership was teenage boys". They would probably fall under the YA category today. After a bit of research on the web, it would seem that these YA books by Heinlein are still rated and respected by a number of readers. But it should be remembered that these were written over sixty years ago and will obviously show some signs of their age.

Brief Summary

• This is an adventure story about telepathic twins Tom and Pat Bartlett.
• They take part in an experiment concerning telepathy and communication between spaceships.
• There are some imaginative scenes of space and planetary exploration.
• The book touches on the twin paradox regarding travel at the speed of light and aging.
• It also addresses family relationships and sibling rivalry.
• The ending is a bit of a "Wait! Did that just happen?...." moment.

I read this straight after Starship Troopers, and it felt like a breath of fresh air. This book is much lighter and funnier than Heinlein's most (in)famous work, but the didacticism is still extant. It contains some laugh-out-loud lines along with the author's token dismissive treatment of any female characters.

"She was awfully pretty, I decided, even though she was too old for it to matter... at least thirty, maybe older."

"They were red-headed sisters, younger than we were but not too young -- sixteen, maybe -- and cute as Persian kittens."

Yes it does read like a YA story but it also reads like Heinlein enjoyed writing it. Despite the "juvenile" target audience there is a fair amount of science in the SF, specifically regarding the nature of time in relation to interstellar travel. I also enjoyed the way the author acknowledged the problems of long-distance communication between Earth and deep space.

Without being particularly special, this book has made me want to try a couple more of his works. I have been warned off some of Heinlein's later stories, but I'm open to suggestions for what anyone thinks is worth a read. I'm curious to see if I can discover why he is still so lauded over 60 years later.