The Rolling Stones

by Robert A. Heinlein

One of Heinlein’s Best-Loved Works. By “One of the most influential writers in American literature.” — The New York Times Book Review .The rollicking adventures of the Stone Family on a tour of the Solar System. It all statred when the twins, Castor and Pollux Stone, decided that life on the Lunar colony was too dull and decided to buy their own spaceship and go into business for themselves. Their father thought that was a fine, idea, except that he and Grandma Hazel bought the spaceship and the whole Stone Family were on their way out into the far reaches of the Solar System, with stops on Mars(where the twins got a lesson in the interplanetary economics of bicycles and the adorable little critters called flatcats who, it turned out, bred like rabbits; or perhaps, Tribbles....), out to the asteroids, where Mrs. Stone, an M.D., was needed to treat a dangerous outbreak of disease, even further out, to Titan and beyond.Unforgettable Heinlein characters on an unforgettable adventure. "Not only America's premier writer of speculative fiction, but the greatest writer of such fiction in the world". - Stephen KingComprehensive Teacher's Guide available.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure, Space

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking. His plots often posed provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores. His work continues to have an influence on the science-fiction genre, and on modern culture more generally.
Heinlein became one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science-fiction novelists for many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered the "Big Three" of English-language science fiction authors. Notable Heinlein works include Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers (which helped mold the space marine and mecha archetypes) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. His work sometimes had controversial aspects, such as plural marriage in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, militarism in Starship Troopers and technologically competent women characters who were formidable, yet often stereotypically feminine—such as Friday.
Heinlein used his science fiction as a way to explore provocative social and political ideas and to speculate how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion, and sex. Within the framework of his science-fiction stories, Heinlein repeatedly addressed certain social themes: the importance of individual liberty and self-reliance, the nature of sexual relationships, the obligation individuals owe to their societies, the influence of organized religion on culture and government, and the tendency of society to repress nonconformist thought. He also speculated on the influence of space travel on human cultural practices.
Heinlein was named the first Science Fiction Writers Grand Master in 1974. Four of his novels won Hugo Awards. In addition, fifty years after publication, seven of his works were awarded "Retro Hugos"—awards given retrospectively for works that were published before the Hugo Awards came into existence. In his fiction, Heinlein coined terms that have become part of the English language, including grok, waldo and speculative fiction, as well as popularizing existing terms like "TANSTAAFL", "pay it forward", and "space marine". He also anticipated mechanical computer-aided design with "Drafting Dan" and described a modern version of a waterbed in his novel Beyond This Horizon.
Also wrote under Pen names: Anson McDonald, Lyle Monroe, Caleb Saunders, John Riverside and Simon York.

Reviews

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** 2023 reread -

Heinlein doling out some kitschy retro SF like a boss.

Because he was the Boss. The notorious RAH.

While Castor and Pollux are the central picaresque protagonists, Hazel Stone - again - steals the show. Wikipedia says that she was in at least four of his books and I need to reread them all. She was the little red headed scamp in Moon is a Harsh Mistress and was the grandma in this one. Hazel was a peach.

The Stone family from Luna packs up the family rocket and sets sail for adventure out past Mars. Good fun.

*** 2019 Re-read

I first read this pre-GR and my memory of it was such that I never wrote a proper review.

Now that I have refreshed my memory, I've bumped it up to four stars and count this as one of his best.

First of all, it’s one of the juvenile books first published by Scribner’s ( this one in 1952 and so the sixth in the series) and so is good classic SF. Enough science to count and more than enough RAH storytelling to make this extra worthwhile.

This features a show stealing Hazel Stone, one of Heinlein’s most enduring and intriguing characters. Hazel was the red headed imp in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and this describes her decades later as a free spirited matriarch of the Stone family. Hazel makes reference to Stranger in a Strange Land in context of Mars, nine years before that publication.

Also noteworthy are the red headed twins Castor and Pollux. Genius troublemakers, erstwhile trickster gods, I wonder if they were an inspiration for the Weasley twins, Fred and George? Both sets are mischievous, mercantile and capable.

Finally, this is simply classic Heinlein. A ubiquitous theme in his canon is the loud, boisterous, adventurous family and the Stones setting out from Luna to explore Mars and the asteroid belt is too good to miss.

[Bionic Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Robert A. Heinlein is a much revered name in Science Fiction. He won many awards, including several Hugo awards, and in 1974 was named the first “Science Fiction Writers Grand Master”. Sometimes he is referred to as the “dean of science fiction writers”, for his numerous novels and short stories. Although always emphasising scientific accuracy, he wrote very accessibly, and was one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines. So how does this early novel, originally aimed at boy scouts, hold up? The answer, for me, is not as well as I had hoped.

Space Family Stone by Robert A Heinlein, started life as a serial over four months, in the magazine “Boys’ Life”. This condensed version was published under the title “Tramp Space Ship”, and by the end of the same year, 1952 it was published in book form in the USA, as “The Rolling Stones”. Space Family Stone is its title in the UK.

The novel was well received by critics and public alike. By now Robert A. Heinlein had established a good reputation for writing juvenile novels, in addition to his other writing, and these were in demand. George Pal’s cult film “Destination Moon” (a personal favourite of mine) from 1950, was also doing very well, and breaking new ground. It was the first major U.S. science fiction film to deal with the dangers of space travel and the consequent problems of America’s first lunar mission, involving the astronaut’s safe return. It is as well to remember that this event in real life was not to take place for another 19 years. Robert A. Heinlein was the film’s technical adviser, and the screenplay was based partly on his first juvenile novel “Rocket Ship Galileo” from 1947. He also published a tie-in novella, “Destination Moon”, based on the film, whose storyline also uses parts of his novel “The Man Who Sold the Moon”, from 1949, which was not published until 1951.

Perhaps working in Hollywood on a Technicolour space exploration science fiction film drama had influenced his writing. At any rate, this is the first book of his to employ a jokey tone, and to be honest, the continual wisecracks wore a little thin for me, (though I am quite prepared to concede that this may be because I am English, and sense of humour can be tricky to cross cultures). I do feel that if I were now to watch the episodes of “Lost in Space” that I so loved as a child in the 1960s, I would wince in embarrassment, and find them sadly lacking.

Space Family Stone has a lot in common with that TV series. Although it is about space exploration, it is a space opera, with all the action firmly revolving around a family. Robert A. Heinlein’s new wife Virginia had suggested he write about a pair of red-headed twins, and so “Castor and Pollux”, the 15 year old Space twins, came to be born. Frankly, I find these the two most irritating characters in the book, although perhaps they exemplify the American dream. They are fledgeling entrepreneurs, who, despite being high achievers, turn everything into a business opportunity.

Other characters in Space Family Stone are the family matriarch, Hazel Meade Stone, a gun-toting grandma, one of the Founders of the colony on Luna. She seems to rule the roost without question, is “crazy as a skew orbit”, behaves like something out of the Wild West – and although the use of firearms is forbidden, she even wears a gun holster – although it is filled with cough candy.

The twins’ rather ineffectual father, Roger, although possibly the least accomplished member of the family, skippers the spacecraft. And boy do we know it, as he increasingly resorts to variants on the theme of “I’m the captain of this ship and don’t you forget it”, whenever any of the Stone family appears to have an original idea, or become annoyingly enthusiastic. Their mother, Edith, a brilliant scientist and doctor, is a superwoman, who gets her own way by forever repeating “Yes dear”. Presumably this is intended to be droll. (It isn’t. Oh and by the way, she does all the cooking, although the other female members of the crew chip in when she is absent.)

There is a daughter, whose part in the plot is so insignificant that I forget her name. She gets emotional at the drop of a hat, dreams about the hunky young men whom she might meet at various space stations, and sits knitting. Then there is the baby, Lowell, nicknamed “Buster”, who is an extraordinary child: a chess genius with telepathic skills. All three females look after the baby exclusively. Clearly he is intended to seem cute. I am not entirely sure when to say that certain aspects of the humour are extremely dated, that this family is annoying to the point of crassness, and that they seem to be stuck in their own little time warp.

Of course in 1952, the dynamics of this family may not have seemed much out of the ordinary. The general view of “normality” has changed significantly, to the point that many of us question the very idea, and find a family setup like this one, distinctly trying. We also have to remember that this book is a satire, and as such, all the characters are exaggerated, and larger than life. (Oh yes, Meade is the name of the mimsy teenage daughter, the most old-fashioned of the lot.)

Space Family Stone is the sixth of Robert A. Heinlein’s twelve juvenile novels, written primarily for younger people. The Stones are a family of “Loonies”, or residents of the Moon, which is known as “Luna” in the book. Largely due to the entrepreneurial twin teenage boys, Castor and Pollux, the family purchase and rebuild a used spaceship and go sightseeing around the Solar System. The action takes place on the moon, Mars, the Asteroid Belt, and around Saturn.

There are engaging incidents, such as Castor and Pollux buying used bicycles on Luna to sell on Mars, their first stop. However, their inexperience means that they run foul of local regulations. They are freed by their canny grandmother Hazel Stone. . The twins’ story is central, and is firmly focussed on business activities, rather than any sense of self-development; any concerns with wider knowledge, or imaginative exploration. The equivalent of a gold rush is in progress with people prospecting for “core material” and radioactive ores. The twins obtain supplies and luxury goods on Mars to sell at their destination, on the principle that it is shopkeepers, not miners, who get rich during gold rushes.

Exciting diversions include a secondary story involving Edith Stone. Her skills as a talented doctor are needed elsewhere, when an epidemic arises on a space station on the frontier. As a doctor, she is in constant demand, so for a good deal of the plot the Stone family are split up between different locations, allowing Hazel to take full rein. Also there is a very near call for this oldest member of the family, when Castor and Pollux inadvertently put Hazel Stone’s life at risk, by not recording up to date information about a long distance transport vehicle they had been tinkering with .

By far the most entertaining story thread though, is the ongoing story about the “flat cats”. While on Mars, the twins buy their baby brother Buster a native Martian creature, who “had no discernable features, being merely a pie-shaped mass of sleek red fur a little darker than Castor’s own hair”. This was a flat cat, a creature who produced a comfortable soothing vibration, affecting anyone who held it. They called it “Fuzzy Britches”, and it was an instant success. “The child left carrying the flat cat and cooing a lullaby to it. Fuzzy Britches might lack legs but it knew how to win friends; anyone who picked it up hated to put it down. There was something intensely satisfying about petting the furry thing. Hazel tried to analyze it but could not.” Fuzzy Britches was a perfect pet … except that it had a feature similar to the Gremlins in the comedy horror film, which was that it bred exponentially, and rapidly the population threatened to take over the spaceship. .

The idea of this may seem vaguely familiar to you. Perhaps you remember an early episode of “Star Trek”, called “The Trouble with Tribbles”. Apparently the show’s producers noticed similarities in the two stories and asked Robert A. Heinlein for permission to use the idea. He asked for an autographed copy of the script, but otherwise did not object, since he himself had credited a 1905 Butler short story “Pigs Is Pigs”, by Ellis Parker, as the inspiration behind the flat cats. Anyone familiar with the story about the Tribbles, may have an idea about a possible ending, but in fact the conclusion of the flat cats incident is less radical, and owes much more to the twins’ canny business acumen. When the flat cat and its offspring threaten to overpopulate the ship, the family places them in hibernation in a freezer, and later the twins sell them to the miners.

It comes as no surprise to me that one edition of Space Family Stone features a proto-Tribble-like creature embossed on the front cover, albeit with two eyes rather than the three it should have. They are far more endearing than the standard space-suited family, who feature on the cover of this edition (originally from 1969, reprinted in 1978). Oddly, at the time, flat cats were considered controversial, because of the asexual nature of their breeding. Apparently the flat cats caused a major disagreement between Robert A. Heinlein and his editor, who felt that they would cause librarians to become upset! Since librarians were a major influence on book sales at this time, this would never do.

The novel ends on an optimistic note, after much drama, with the family setting out to see the rings of Saturn. It does seem a little weak, reminding us of the non-ending of a television episode, “to be continued”. Perhaps this is yet another indication of how much Robert A. Heinlein’s recent experiences influenced this novel.

Whereas Robert A. Heinlein’s previous juvenile novels had focused around one key character, this time the plot is predominantly about a family. I feel it is this aspect which makes it seem so irksome, and heralds its downfall. By now Robert A. Heinlein had become a confident and accomplished writer, and we can recognise “the Heinlein voice”. Perhaps because of his recent experiences on film and television, much of Space Family Stone is dialogue based. This dialogue is lively and energetic, and in his characters we can see the beginnings of the bright and intelligent, Heinlein archetype. He does attempt to give each character a distinct and separate voice, but the tiresome snappy dialogue seems never-ending. It is frankly unbelievable that a family should continually talk to each other using such too-knowing, smart wisecracks. Perhaps this is a jaded, cynical, world-weary 21st century view, but I have to say that these characters, which are the centre of the novel, are so bright and overenthusiastic that they come across as just annoying.

It is possible that out of all Robert A. Heinlein’s juvenile books, this is the one that has (so far) dated worst. This may partly be that the book is regarded as Heinlein’s first foray into a lighter, more humorous book. Apart from the fact that, as said before, humour is notoriously difficult to pitch correctly, what one person may find hilarious will not work for another, or in another culture, or at another time. Perhaps this seemed devastating witty to the American youth of the 1950s, but now it seems self-consciously stagey and clichéd.

One worthy aspect, which seems particularly targeted to his youthful audience, is that Robert A. Heinlein tries to demonstrate how complicated and dangerous future space travel might be. There is a lot about mathematics in Space Family Stone, all to show us how complicated it would be to achieve any essential communication, including warning of potential dangers such as the transmission of disease. The point is drummed home. We might have reached beyond Earth, and out into the Solar System, but it is not an easy ride.

Parallels are made with the gold rush and the Wild West. With no doubt deliberate irony, Hazel Meade sometimes spends her time using a Western-type drawl, and carrying what she actually refers to as “a sidearm”. Much of the book echoes the expansion of the American West, and Robert A. Heinlein’s view of the Solar System as something to be colonised, sits uneasily with me, and I suspect other contemporary readers. The Asteroid Belt is presented as a kind of frontier, and Mars is described in business terms, as over-commercialised and rather expensive. Is this really how we view a possible expansion out towards the stars?

Another aspect of the novel that I found rather clunky, was the dumping of big chunks of technical information, all at once. Modern Science Fiction novels are frequently not free from this either, and many reviewers will say that they “skipped” the boring or highly technical parts of a novel such as Andy Weir’s “The Martian”. For myself though, I would not choose to read a novel where I needed to skim parts to enjoy it. Something must be mismatched to need such an approach, and in this case, I believe it is partly in the writing, and also with the benefit of hindsight.

Information is always easier to read in the context of the story, and ideally should come about as a consequence of the plot, reading seamlessly, so the reader is unaware of any change, and certainly is not bored. Clearly Robert (and possibly Virginia) Heinlein had spent a lot of time working on this aspect, trying to get the technical parts right according to what was known in the 1950s. Readers were intended to get a realistic impression as to what the future pioneers would have to do, in order to travel into and cruise around space. However, from the perspective of the 21st century, all the mathematical details were dull, boring, and frankly now irrelevant, since the advent of computers. Technical info-dumps are always a bone of contention between enthusiasts of hard Science Fiction, and those who enjoy soft Science Fiction. When the information has become largely out of date, only a true classic can carry its audience along with it. This is, sadly, not such a book.

However there are good parts, and in conclusion I will quote a description of the current age of the car, which I found particularly droll. The First Age of Technology, Robert A. Heinlein explains, consisted of transportation such as the ox cart, and the row boat. The novel is set in the Third Age of Technology, which was the Age of the Space rocket. The Second Age is where we are at present:

“the automobiles of the middle twentieth century just before the opening of interplanetary travel. These unbelievable museum pieces were for their time fast, sleek and powerful – but inside their skins were assembled a preposterous collection of mechanical buffoonery. The prime mover for such a juggernaut might have rested in one’s lap; the rest of the mad assembly consisted of afterthoughts intended to correct the uncorrectable, to repair the original basic mistake in design – for automobiles and even the early aeroplanes were “powered” (if one may call it that) by “reciprocating engines”.

A reciprocating engine was a collection of miniature heat engines using (in a basically inefficient cycle) a small percentage of an exothermic chemical reaction, a reaction which was started and stopped every split second. Much of the heat was intentionally thrown away into a “water jacket” or “cooling system”, then wasted away into the atmosphere through a heat exchanger.

What little was left caused blocks of metal to thump foolishly back-and-forth (hence the name “reciprocating”) and thence through a linkage to cause a shaft and flywheel to spin around. The flywheel (believe it if you can) had no gyroscopic function; it was used to store kinetic energy in a futile attempt to cover up the sins of reciprocation. The shaft at long last caused wheels to turn and thereby propelled this pile of junk over the countryside.

The prime mover was used only to accelerate and to overcome “friction” – a concept then in much wider engineering use. To decelerate, stop, or turn the heroic human operator used his own muscle power, multiplied precariously through a set of levers.

Despite the name “automobile” these vehicles had no autocontrol circuit; control, such as it was, was exercised second by second for hours on end by a human being peering out through a small pane of dirty silica glass, and judging unassisted and often disastrously his own motion and those of other objects. In almost all cases the operator had no notion of the kinetic energy stored in his missile and could not have written the basics equation. Newton’s Laws of Motion were to him mysteries as profound as the meaning of the universe.

Nevertheless millions of these mechanical jokes swarmed over our home planet, dodging each other by inches or failing to dodge. None of them ever worked right; by their nature they could not work right; and they were constantly getting out of order. Their operators were usually mightily pleased when they worked at all. When they did not, which was every few hundred miles, (hundred, not hundred thousand), they hired a member of a social class of arcane specialists to make inadequate and always expensive technical repairs.

Despite these mad shortcomings, these “automobiles” were the most characteristic forms of wealth and the most cherished possession of their time. Three whole generations were slaves to them.”

Now that description, so accurate, and cheekily on point, did make me laugh!

[L.S. Popovich · Rating 3 out of 5]

I prefer Heinlein to Asimov and the other hard S-F G. A. GMs. This is not one of his classics, but it is an entertaining and harmless read. Recommended for audiobook, which is read by a full, talented cast, and is accompanied by cheesy sound effects and old time radio era aesthetic charm.

A fun-for-the-whole-family space opera adventure where there is sure to be a heartwarming ending and every sign of tragedy along the way is merely good for a gasp before the inevitable sigh of relief provided by the convenient resolution right around the corner. How many of these pulp serials did Heinlein churn out? I'll sift through a dozen of them eventually, I'm sure.

The Rolling Stones are a large family of geniuses. The precocious twins Castor and Pollux get up to hijinks wherever their ship lands - which is a lot of locales, like Luna, Mars and various asteroids. Heinlein instructs us on family values and sprinkles in plenty of eighth grade science. I'm not ashamed to say I learned a thing or two. It's often humorous, fun, lighthearted and merry. Refreshing in the sense that the author is not trying to knock your socks off with literary pronouncements and huge set pieces. He's telling a bedtime story. It has fuzzy cat creatures and progresses by virtue of the prospector acumen of our undersized go-getter main characters. The father figure in the book is also writing a serial about a galactic hero. I found that side-plot to be an extra layer of cute.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not my first juvenile short story by Robert Heinlein but definitely my favorite so far!

We are on the Moon with twins Castor and Pollux as well as their quirky family which consists of their dad (the former mayor of their community), mom (a doctor), grandma (a mechanic and engineer), younger sister and baby brother. The family certainly is chaotic but also absolutely endearing and certainly very capable/smart.

The boys plan on buying a space ship and starting an interstellar enterprise. However, since they are so young, they need their dad's permission to access their allowance - which he doesn't give. What he does do is buy a ship himself (naming it the Rolling Stones since the family's surname is Stone) and soon the whole family is restoring and outfitting it and, eventually, taking it on a grande tour to Mars. Naturally, as on all good road trips, they run into some trouble and have to be quite audacious and quick-thinking to get themselves out of it again.

What a great adventure! It reminded me of Lost in Space - until I realized that THAT probably took more than one page out of THIS book.

I seriously adored everyone in this family for their love for and faithfulness to one another, but also for the ingenuity and can-do spirit. In this regard, it's a very hopeful book from the Golden Age of scifi where we didn't get doom and gloom on every page (which does get tedious after a while so this was a breath of fresh air).

Now, I have to address the criticism I often hear about Heinlein: he is said to have been sexist, maybe even a misogynist, at the very least always only writing one sort of woman (a representation of his wife). To me, this accusation is a total mystery. Even IF he had modeled all or most females in his stories after his wife, isn't that a compliment? Because what I see are women with minds of their own, quite some spunk, and always very capable. Also, having three female MCs in here, I can also say that they were quite different from one another.

Anyway, if you like road trips, adventure, and do-it-yourself tech in stories mixed with loving people, this is for you.

P.S.: The audio version was quite nice as well, not least because we get a male and female narrator. :)

[César Bustíos · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The dull ones stay home—and the bright ones stir around and try to see what trouble they can dig up."
⠀
Fun, fun, fun. A family road trip through the solar system from Luna to Mars, the asteroid belt and beyond. I almost felt like I was part of the family. ⠀
⠀
So far one of the best juveniles I have read, cheek by jowl with Farmer in the Sky. According to Mr. Internet, Hazel Stone, the grandma, is the same Hazel who appears as a child in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, she is referenced as being part of the group of founders of the Lunar colony. Other members of the family also reappear in later novels. And of course there's the flat cat. I'm not a cat dude but the book made me wanna pet one for a while, just a little while, then I would force the poor fluffy thing to hibernate for some months. Their rapid breeding problem reminded me of the moties in Pournelle/Niven's The Mote in God's Eye.⠀

You wouldn't want to skip this one.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heinlein's juveniles have always been among my favorite SF - I liked a lot of them more than some of his later novels written for adults. I read The Rolling Stones so long ago I barely remembered it, but some of it came back to me as I listened to it again as an audiobook.

Alas, the years have diminished my fondness for this light-hearted space romp somewhat. While it was a fun adventure about a wisecracking, hyper-competent family of adventurers seeking their fortune (and something adventurous) out in the solar system, there isn't much to impress the modern SF reader about flying a rocket ship to Mars, Venus, and beyond.

The Stones consist of Castor and Pollux, trouble-making teenage twins always scheming to get rich and prove they're the smartest people in any room, who drive most of the adventure with their original idea to buy an old mining ship. Somehow their parents are talked into this harebrained scheme, with a little manipulation by Grandma Hazel, who is a crusty old survivor of the Lunar rebellion in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and can continue to hold her own with anyone a fraction of her age. The Stone family is rounded out by teenage daughter Meade and their little brother.

As in most Heinlein stories, everyone is super-competent: the twins have what nowadays would be considered a graduate-level understanding of mathematics, which their father, the moral center and patriarch of the family despite, by his own admission, having the lowest IQ, demonstrates isn't nearly good enough. Mrs. Stone is a doctor, Grandma Hazel is... well, Grandma Hazel, and even Meade, who does little more than fill in the "girl" box in the story, is smart and accomplished in a few domains.

The Stone family is a quintessential upper-middle-class white family circa 1952, when this story was written, flying out into space under the wise and benevolent leadership of Father Knows Best. And while Heinlein works out starship physics and planetary travel in great detail (gotta love those slide rules that always make an appearance!), making this story the sort of crunchy, "believable" hard SF that would have thrilled young would-be space pioneers back in the 50s, obviously to us in the 21st century, the idea that people will ever be jaunting about the solar system in private spaceships the way pioneers used to go west with little more than a mule and a pack of supplies certainly seems naive.

As an introduction to Heinlein's juveniles, with very little that is challenging or novel, but much to excite a young reader who's into space and adventure, I do think this book holds a worthy place in the canon of Golden Age science fiction.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read.

1952. Heinlein YA, full of charming, curmudgeonly, lightly naughty SF adventure.

Nothing says wholesome quite this way -- uprooting the family, buying a spaceship, making a few risky trades throughout the Solar System, and most importantly: having a good time.

Here's the thing about early Heinlein. It's wholesome, snarky, charming, and more than a little devoted to good figures and good science. SF space adventure that isn't so dark, disruptive. No Body horror, no death or destruction.

There are hoodwinks and clever negotiations, exciting challenges in flight, and the general annoyance of people. In other words, it's clever, funny fiction from another time.


Believe it or not, THIS is true escapism.

[Tammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It doesn’t seem likely for twins to have the same middle name. Even so, it’s clear that Castor and Pollux Stone both have “Trouble” written in that spot on their birth certificates. Of course, anyone who’s met their grandmother Hazel would know they came by it honestly.

Join the Stone twins as they connive, cajole, and bamboozle their way across the solar system in the company of the most high-spirited and hilarious family in all of science fiction.

3.5 stars. The Rolling Stones was our fantasy book club pick for October and I thought it was a fun, light sci-fi read. The twins Castor and Pollux reminded me a little bit of Fred and George Weasley from Harry Potter. They, and their grandma Hazel were the best things about this book.

One thing I was slightly disappointed in was that the daughter kind of faded into the background, and her father didn't seem to have enough faith in her abilities. But then there is the very positive portrayal of the mother, who is a doctor and the grandmother, who is an engineer and very independent and I liked that.

A couple of things to note are that the "Trouble with Tribbles" episode of the original Star Trek series was a complete rip-off of the flat cats in this book, and there are numerous ideas from this book that seem to have influenced other sci-fi stories and books over the years. The Expanse series came to mind with its Belters and Martian colonies.

While there were some enjoyably funny moments, I did feel like the book was a bit dull at times. I did like that it was short and easy to get through, even through the parts that dragged. This was written way back in the 50s, so some of it feels a bit dated. Clearly Heinlein did not predict digital technology, but I'm not sure anyone would have at that point. If you want to try some classic sci-fi, then I say give this a try.

Every time I think about this book I think about a space ship with bicycles stuck all over the outside of it and I smile. 😂

Review also posted at Writings of a Reader

[David Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Heinlein read. Fundamentally the story line is close to the Lost in Space television series of many years ago. The book is easy to read, and I highly recommend young readers take a look at how future space travel was viewed some 57 years ago. The book has valuable insights into family values, and dealing with nearly absolute isolation for long periods of time. And they did not have Game Boys!

[Martin Doychinov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Семейство Стоун не е като останалите, дори и за жители на Луната. (Почти) всеки негов член е доста интересен, а когато се отправят на пътешествие, нещата стават наистина забавни по един доста неангаиращ начин. Харесаха ми приключенията и добрият опит на Хайнлайн да обясни по елементарен начин колко важна е гравитацията, силата, че и отсъствието ѝ. Също така, да разкаже на децата за Слънчевата система и колко е трудно да се излети и кацне скосмически кораб. И далеч не на последно място - защо не е добра идея да си взимаш марсианска плоска котка за домашен любимец!
Изненадващо за мен, се оказа, че това произведение има доста връзки с някои от най-важните произведения на Хайнлайн, които по това време дори не са написани. Кратко и вероятно неизчерпателно списъче на това:
1. Бабата Хейзъл Стоун - корава жена, опитен корабен механик и наистина пълнокръвен персонаж споменава на марсианския съдия по времето на процес, в който защитава внуците си - близнаците Кастор и Полукс, че тук е "странник в странна страна". Това освен перефраза на израз от библията е и заглавието на един от любимите ми романи на Хайнлайн, който ще бъде написан 8-9 години по-късно. Тя споменава и, че е един от основателите на правителството на Луната, което 14 години по-късно е описано в "Земята е наставница сурова" и тя има малка, но важна роля в романа. Тя участва и в "Числото на звяра", както и в „Котката, която минава през стени“, където има съществена роля.
2. В „Котката, която минава през стени“ се споменава и доктор Лоуел Стоун, който е малчуган в този роман, но след това става Главен хирург на Церес.
3. Двамата родители - Роджър и Едит се местят в колонията "Fiddler's Green", когато децата им порастват, както е споменато от Хейзъл отново в "Котката...". Тази колония я има и в романа "Фрайди", който излиза чак през 1982-а.
Доста доволен, а вече знам какво да чета, когато ми се прииска неангажираща научна фантастика - юношеските романи на Хайнлайн са цели 13 и са излизали между 47-а и 59-а.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The easiest way to describe this book is that it's an amusing family road trip... in space.

I've come to adore Heinlein's dry sense of humour, which often appears in one or two characters in his books, but here, we have a whole family of smartasses. From Captain to Doctor, to grandmother, to daughter, to entrepreneurial twins, and a determined little boy with typical little boy stubborness. Oh and flat cats, which are best described as, well, tribbles, but flatter.

The description of this book focuses on the twins, but Castor and Pollux are nothing without the support of their family--and what a supportive family it is. Even when their father is threatening to shove them out of an airlock, or their mother is quietly rolling her eyes at their antics, this is clearly not the dysfunctional family they seem to pretend to be. They are a tight knit group where loyalty and love is evident, even through the sarcasm and idle threats. The Stones are what every family should aspire to be like, and this book was what every family trip wishes it could be (though maybe without the deadly diseases and other critical threats of interplanetary travel.)

www.bibliosanctum.com

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of people seem to target Heinlein as juvenile and they colour their reviews based on a recent re-reading of these books. Even for the uninitiated new readers they will seem a bit clunky.

But look at when these were written, this story was published before sputnik, before computers were really available beyond a few building filling giants, even IBM didn't exist ;)

Read them for what they are, visions of a future far more remote than space seems now, read them as classics.

I loved these books when I was growing up in the late 60's and early 70's and they were already old, and yes rereading them now isn't quite the thrill, but the story telling is still there.

These books were true originals, along with A.C Clarke, Asimov, E.E.Doc Smith, and others.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

“ Los Stones” si tuviera que resumirla en una frase, sería: la space opera de alcance para todo tipo de público de Heinlein. Pero, y al tratarse del maestro, en ello no queda la cosa.
Esta divertida, mordaz y ágil obra juvenil, parte argumentalmente con Castor y Pollux (mecánicos natos), que desean hacer sus pinitos autónomos dentro del comercio Inter espacial. En su empeño, el resto de la familia de ingenieros decide embarcarse en una aventura que los sacará de su comodidad en Luna city (de la cual el patriarca, Roger, es ex alcalde), para aventurarse a la deriva, pasando de Luna a Marte, e incluso, nuevos horizontes; el anillo de Ceres. The Rolling Stones, es efectivamente, acertadísimo, pues éstos, igual que los Robinsones, se tornan nómadas (o más bien, despierta del letargo vital, algunos, naciendo a su gusto por el descubrimiento y vivencias, y otros, retomándolo).
Aquí nos encontramos con un elenco coral peliagudo y de relevancia, más allá de los impetuosos gemelos de la familia. Esta particular, ácida y avispada familia, encabezada por la implacable e intrépida abuela Hazel, el aventurero, pero cauto Roger, y, la tenaz, humanitaria y practica mujer de éste: Edith, se verán envueltos en más de un apuro (presunto peligro pirata, burocracia, tratados y denuncias, adaptación a las nuevas tierras, averías, acondicionamiento en distintas gravedades, supervivencia y mantenimiento en reclusión espacial, timos, auxilio galáctico, cuarenta y problemas de reproducción indiscriminada y sobrepoblación en su hábitat, entre otros). Los pequeños. Lowell y Meade, también harán de las suyas; pero son un aderezo para el lío y las trifulcas, básicamente.
Su ritmo es sumamente ágil, con unos diálogos llenos de chispa, y episodios aventureros que se suceden unos tras otros, hasta llegar a su ‘culminación’; que bien podría haber sido la ‘gran‘serie de Heinlein, si él hubiera querido. (cuando eso de las sagas aún no se llevaba ...). Ya veis, el decano, siempre innovador y creando precedentes.
En su apartado crítico, por mencionar unos cuantos, hay cabida para la discriminación de sexo en los trabajos, la xenofobia, la burocracia y las leyes excesivas de aranceles, la influencia de los medios de comunicación y de la caja tonta, que reduce el intelecto de las personas (Roger y Hazel escriben guiones para una telenovela galáctica, cada cual más hilarante, que, asimismo, es una burla directa las grapas pulp).
En el didáctico, Heinlein fomenta una vez más la personalidad, la enseñanza, con especial hincapié en el autodidacta, la lectura, aunque también una cierta metodología, lógica y disciplina (sin dejar la libertad de por medio), para la resolución y salida adelante personal. Cabe resaltar, aquí, el sentido de solidaridad humana y la ética, a través de la figura de Edith, que ayuda a infectados, incluso poniéndose en peligro ella. Y más de una vez, aparando a cualquier herido o enfermo en su paso por la galaxia.
En el técnico, el maestro hace gala de su claridad y precisión directa y sin engorros innecesarios, al exponer algunos fundamentos sobre mecánica industrial, así como física y matemáticas aplicables, así como economía práctica,
A tenor de lo aportado, y no por ello, se descuida el marco de trasfondo: con una luna city independiente, un Marte soberano, con sus leyes en pro de su planeta (productos esenciales libres de impuestos productos de lujo con altas tasas y los locales, protegidos de competencias externas), un universo en expansión de colonias y comunicación, así como con tratados bien hilvanados (todo lo cual, encaja con ‘historia del futuro’). Además, de la importancia otorgada a la construcción y abastecimiento ecológico y la auto producción personal planetaria, entre otros.
En suma, bien se podría decir que ésta es una pequeña joya dentro de los juveniles Heinlenianos, pues condensa todos los fundamentos teóricos y prácticos del autor ( jurisprudencia, ciencia social de fundamentos y crítica, y física, de leyes espaciales, matemáticas, ingeniería mecánica llevada a la práctica dentro del desarrollo, así como su ABC sobre el ser humano…y los gatos: Gatolisos, en la presente) sin que lleguen al punto de tratado / os, es igual de disfrutable y ágil que cualquiera de sus obras, pero posiblemente la más fluida y natural (y esto, viniendo de Heinlein, ya son palabras mayores) en desarrollo; ideal para los principiantes de la ciencia ficción clásica y del decano. Empero, ésta no deja de lado ese mensaje tan apreciable y distintivo, marca de la casa, del valor, determinación, tenacidad, sentido de la aventura y de la maravilla; que como bien sabía Heinlein debe estar presente en nuestro camino vital:
-“¿cual es tu verdadera razón? ¿por qué quieres irte?
-¿por qué? ¿por qué alguien quiere ir a un sitio? ¡pues para ver lo que quiere ver!. Nunca he visto los anillos. Esa es razón suficiente como para ir a cualquier lado. Nuestra espacie lo ha estado haciendo desde el principio. Los embotados se quedan en casa, y los brillantes se mueven por todos lados en busca de problemas que resolver. Es el espíritu humano. No necesita una razón, lo mismo que un Gatoliso no necesita una razón para ronronear ¿por qué cuestionarlo todo?”

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here’s my latest re-read of Heinlein’s works.

By 1952 we’re well into the so-called Heinlein juveniles – books published that were written by Heinlein predominantly for teenage Boy Scouts. After Between Planets, Heinlein was clearly on a roll, and in demand. The Introduction to this edition, written by Heinlein biographer William H Patterson, talks of his books selling well, and his movie Destination Moon doing quite well, though his work for TV series Tom Corbett Space Cadet had left him rather unimpressed with the business. Using the Hollywood machine for inspiration, and a suggestion by his new wife Virginia Heinlein to write about a pair of red-headed twins, The Rolling Stones was written.

Reading Heinlein’s books in (mainly) chronological order for the first time, I am now picking up more of Heinlein’s evolution as a writer. At this point he has become more confident and has begun to develop and reinforce what many would consider ‘the Heinlein voice’. His dialogue has become lively and energetic. His characters have now started to settle into what would become a Heinlein archetype – bright and intelligent, which at times shows that ‘hectoring and lecturing’ that would be apparent in his later work.

The Rolling Stones is a story like Between Planets that takes place on a wider canvas – this time, it’s Luna, Mars, the Asteroid Belt, around Saturn – but whereas previous tales have focused around one key character, this time the plot is predominantly about a family.

And that’s something I found a tad annoying. It’s strange how my view on this one has changed. I quite happily read this in the 1980’s, without any question of the family dynamic. Now, thirty-odd years later, I find the family setup distinctly trying. We have matriarchal Hazel Stone, grandmother of the family, who seems to rule the roost without question; father Roger, who appears to dampen the annoying overenthusiasm of the younger members of the family by regularly resorting to the ‘I’m the captain of this ship and don’t you forget it’ card, mother Edith, super-mother and doctor, poor put-upon Meade who seems to spend a lot of her time looking after supposedly cute youngster Lowell aka ‘Buster’. (Really!) Lastly we have super-twins Castor and Pollux, two quite irritating but clearly intelligent teenagers who seem to be a prototype for Donald Trump. I found the point that, according to Patterson’s introduction, these two characters were created based on an idea from Heinlein’s new wife, Virginia, rather an issue, and makes me a little concerned with what was to follow in Heinlein’s future work.

So this one didn’t start too well for me. Initial impressions are that the characters, which are the centre of the novel, are bright, overenthusiastic and, most of all, just plain annoying. This does improve a little as the novel continues, although it was a major issue for me. These are the first characters in my reread I’ve not quickly got to like.

Heinlein is trying to develop his writing repertoire here, using his scriptwriting chops from his experiences on film and television. Much of the book, more than previous, it seems – is dialogue based. There has always been speech in a Heinlein novel, but here the difference is that where before the voice was often focused around one character, here Heinlein tries to give all the different elements a distinct and separate voice. This creates what we now regard with successive usage as the rather typical Heinlein ‘snappy dialogue’, but can at times become just too much.

There’s also a lot of technical info-dump here. The Heinleins – Robert and Virginia – spent a lot of time working on this element, trying to get the technical parts right so that readers would get a realistic impression as to what future pioneers would have to do to travel in space in the 1950’s. From the perspective of the 21st century, my view was that such mathematical details were dull and bored the reader. These days, the computer would do it: end of story.

For all my gripes, we have here characters that Heinlein will keep returning to in the future. He has used similar archetypes in the past, too – the family of Jim Marlow on Red Planet isn’t that different – but here, the templates are given full rein.

These templates also apply to the aliens in Heinlein’s universe too. Whereas before we had the lovable Willis (Red Planet), and the charming Sir Isaac Newton (Between Planets), this time around we have the flat cats – proto-Tribble-like creatures who are bought as a pet but rapidly take over the spaceship. It is perhaps no surprise that it is a flat cat embossed on the front cover of this edition, admittedly with two eyes rather than the three it should have. They are, I’m pleased to say, one of the parts of the book that is still quite endearing, although at the time they were a little controversial. According to Patterson’s Introduction, the asexual nature of the rapidly breeding flat cats caused major disagreements between Heinlein and his editor, Miss Dalgliesh. It was felt that they would cause librarians (a major influence on book sales at this time) some upset.

Heinlein’s view of the Solar System as something to be colonised is still prevalent here. Much of the book echoes the expansion of the American West, deliberately so. The frontier-like Asteroid Belt as well as the over-commercialised and rather expensive Mars (I wonder what Jim Marlow and Willis of Red Planet might think?) show us an expansion out towards the stars. It is rather ironic (though no doubt deliberate) that at one point Hazel spends her time in a Western-type drawl, and carrying what she actually refers to as ‘a sidearm’.

The other side of the tale is that Heinlein tries to show the reader how complicated – not to say downright dangerous – future space travel could be. Space Family Stone spends a lot of time talking mathematics, showing us how communication could be achieved, and warning of potential dangers such as the transmission of disease. We have reached beyond Earth out into the Solar System, but it is not an easy passage. As a doctor, Edith Stone is in constant demand out on the frontier, which rather keeps her out of the way for much of the plot and allows Hazel to take full rein.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Clearly what I found entertaining as a teenager is much less so in my middle age. Out of all the books I’ve read to date in this series, this is the one that has (so far) dated worst.

Part of this may be that the book is regarded as Heinlein’s first foray into a lighter, more humorous book. Humour, as often said before, is notoriously tricky to get right and intensely personal, so that what one person will find hilarious will leave another cold. I did find it amusing when younger, but now find it staged and clichéd. C’est la vie. The ending is surprisingly weak, reminiscent of the ending of a television episode, ‘to be continued’ – though there are brief glimpses in later books. Hazel Stone, for example, is referred to as one of the key members in the revolution of Luna in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and is in To Sail Beyond the Sunset. Lowell/Buster Stone appears in The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. Castor and Pollux are in The Number of the Beast (but then, most of Heinlein’s characters are there at some point.) It is obvious that Heinlein himself thinks a lot of these people.

Admittedly, I may be a little out of step with this one. At its time of publication Space Family Stone was well received. According to Wikipedia, Groff Conklin described the novel as “a thoroughly delightful job”. Boucher and McComas praised it as “easily the most plausible, carefully detailed picture of an interplanetary future we will encounter in any year”. P. Schuyler Miller cited the novel’s “freshness and simplicity,” characterizing it as “a life-size portrait-gallery of real people living in a real world of the future, every detail of which fits into place with top-tolerance precision”.

For me, there are parts that are good here, and parts that I think have dated badly, and after the complexity and intensity of Between Planets, The Rolling Stones is a bit of a disappointment. There are parts I enjoyed, but in the end it was a bit of a mixed bag. Whilst I have to applaud Heinlein for trying to push himself with this one, it left me with an enduring impression of ‘tried hard, can do better’.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of Heinlein's "juveniles", which means it doesn't have any adult situations and nothing too dire happens to anyone. It's also written in a lighthearted, whimsical fashion, with a lot of witty dialogue and rapid quips that reminded me of the old screwball comedy films (I laughed a lot). Yet it is chock full of real, hard science regarding astrophysics, space travel, and the physics of other worlds. What a great way to introduce science to young people! Recommended for ages 9-99.

[Kat Hooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.

Castor and Pollux Stone are 15-year-old red-headed twin boys who live in Luna City (a moon colony). They are young entrepreneurs and are making plans to buy a spaceship so they can start a trading business. When their father Roger Stone, a retired engineer and former mayor of Luna City whose current job is to write cheesy sci-fi stories for a television show, finds out about their plans, he decides to buy a space yacht and take the whole family on a trip. That includes their baby brother, their mother Edith Stone (a doctor), and their Grandmother Hazel Stone (an engineer). You may recognize some of their names from later Heinlein novels in which they are mentioned or make cameo appearances.

The family names their yacht The Rolling Stones and Mr. Stone appoints himself ship captain while his wife is, of course, the ship doctor and his mother is, of course, ship engineer. The twins help with the navigation by calculating flight plans by hand with their slide rules. To do this, they must take into account the shapes of orbits, reactive mass, changes in velocity and acceleration, gravity wells, relative motion, and kinetic energy. They are also concerned with making money, so they must plan for, and acquire, appropriate cargo.

The Stone family banters its way around the Solar System and has a variety of adventures including selling bicycles on Mars, visiting mining operations on asteroids, meeting a plague ship, and inadvertently breeding Flat Cats. (The Flat Cat plot inspired the Star Trek episode which was my favorite when I was a kid: The Trouble With Tribbles.) While the Stone twins are having adventures and making money, they also make some big mistakes and have to get out of a couple of scrapes. All the while, though, their family love and loyalty stays strong.

The Rolling Stones isn’t one of Heinlein’s best Juveniles, and it often feels dated (slide rules!), but it’s a fun and sweet little science fiction adventure that many kids and teenagers will enjoy. Heinlein fans will recognize many of the author’s favorite themes and character types. Taxes and regulations, of course, are complained about. Guns are carried. The members of the Stone family, like so most of Heinlein’s protagonists, are super super clever and are always challenging each other in ways that allow them to display their various sorts of genius. Their dialogue is full of supposedly witty banter (“Pull me in, you red-headed moron!” “Don’t call me red-headed!”), they do an awful lot of math (“we cut our teeth on differential equations … we can do a triple integration in our heads faster than Hazel can.”), and they discuss scientific principles as if they all have degrees in several academic fields. Father Stone is obsessed with running a tight ship, to the point of militancy. While I thought the family’s interactions were sweet, I found them to be more annoying than “hilarious” as the publisher’s blurb promises. Honestly, I was glad I wasn’t on that ship with the Stones. Their banter would have driven me nuts after about two hours. This gets better once we get off the ship in Mars and the boys are able to get away from their parents and grandmother.

I know I say this all the time when I review Heinlein, but one thing I love about his Juveniles is that his female characters are just as smart as the males. The Rolling Stones, which was first published in 1952, features a mom who’s an excellent and compassionate medical doctor, a grandmother who’s a brilliant engineer (and can’t cook) and a husband/son who admires and respects them both. That’s pretty awesome! Now, why didn’t Heinlein put those types of women in his books for adults???

A condensed version of The Rolling Stones originally appeared in the magazine Boys’ Life in 1952 before the novel was published. I listened to Blackstone Audio’s version of The Rolling Stones. It’s 7 hours long and was narrated by Tom Weiner who always does such a great job with these classic science fiction stories. I recommend this version if you want to read The Rolling Stones.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahh, so THIS book is where Hazel Stone is from. I really should not have read The Cat Who Walks Through Walls before working my way through Heinlein's bibliography.

The Rolling Stones is a fun space romp, about a family from Luna that decides to buy a spaceship and cruise around. It has requisite Heinlein characters: twin genius boys, a father who impresses upon them the glory, beauty, and absolute necessity of mathematics, a surgeon mother who still manages to play good housewife, a sharp witted grandmother, a boring, useless sister, and an adorable little brother. The book contains several distinct adventures, each with a fairly pat conclusion, some variation on "and then everything was all right again. Hooray!" Despite this shortcoming, the adventures are entertaining, Heinlein gives some, but not too much, education about astrophysics, and the banter is witty (and sexist, but Heinlein writes no other way).

If you're looking for one book to give you the distinct flavor of Heinlein's early works, this is the one to read.

[Helge Moulding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heinlein's earlier stories were written long before actual space travel became possible - when we started to actually put people in space his stories treated space travel with techno babble, handwavium, and unobtainium.

The Rolling Stones was written before 1960, and Heinlein speculates a bit about space travel. In retrospect (from 66 years in the future, now, but even at the time I first read this story in the late 1970s) his speculating is naive. But if you're OK with treating that part of the story the same as the roar of space ships on Star Wars, or the zap of phasers on Star Trek, then the rest of the tale holds up.

The Stones, a family of enterprising characters who find life on the Moon too restricting, buy a spaceship to explore the solar system and find a new place to settle. Did you know Heinlein invented tribbles? (I know, David Gerrold wrote the Star Trek story, a few years later.)

I enjoyed this story well enough to read it to my kids, years later. Heinlein holds up well.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The Rolling Stones represents a juvenile novel that straddles the old-fashion Tom Sawyer/Ivanhoe feel with modern day fiction. It is fun, occasionally funny, and full of exciting adventures. It got a little too trouble with tribbles for my taste near the end...



But then went unexpectedly deep and heart-wrenching for a little bit which brought it back in my estimation. I don't think I am going to rush out to read more Heinlein, but at the same time I enjoyed it.

[Dmadden · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's actually the book, not the audio cd but I like the cover art better.

Oh, yeah. Back in days when planning a family vacation meant choosing between a Hohmann ellipse and a hyperbolic cometary orbit. Great fun for all the family. Even smells like an old library paperback at Hugo's if you get the super old copy.

This contains the material that was stolen to make the Tribbles episode on the original Star Trek. Believe it or not.

[Kai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Previous encounters with Heinlein left me quite underwhelmed, and The Rolling Stones again greeted me with generic characters and an unexciting opening. However, the silly humor grew on me about 100 pages in and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it incorporated some heavy concepts of science-fiction. A space adventure from an older and simpler time.

Heinlein's early work is famous for being addressed to an audience of teenage boys and providing them with some pep talk that they can achieve greatly in life. So, here too we have teenage twin brothers with exceptional talent and vision as the main protagonists. Castor and Pollux Stone have ideas of how to get rich by interstellar trade.

Throughout the book, they follow various variations of this project. In the first part, they try to acquire a spaceship. They succeed, but end up as crew members of a family trip rather than the commanders of their own freighter. So, with them on board are their mom and dad, their grandmother, and their older sister and toddler brother. At first, their plan is to sell bicycles on Mars, then they travel to a dangerous asteroid belt with the idea of selling luxurious goods to the prospectors digging there for precious metals. As it turns out, trading is a much more complex business than they anticipated. And there are other obstacles and dangers that need to be overcome.

For a modern audience, the adventures feel very old-fashioned. Occasionally, the events take unexpected turns (for instance, the talk about telepathy is totally a red herring) and some developments show a decent amount of ingenuity. Similarly, the humor is really from another time, but it's somewhat amusing. Like when at the end of a lengthy and eventful episode of selling their bikes to the Martian citizens, with already much less profit than they anticipated, the twins get to know about the steep taxes that Mars charges for this sort of transaction - and the two end up with hardly anything but experience. Or when their grandmother defends them in court, but in such a subpar way that even the judge asks them if they wouldn't rather drop her from the case.

There is barely any character development, but I have to say that I started to take a liking in the heroes of the story. When reading Stranger in a Strange Land I was frankly appalled by its portrayal of women. This is not an issue here. In fact, I was quite surprised at how progressive this novel is for its time.

The grandmother is the superior engineer and it's often her who solves problems in a brilliant way. She is easily my favorite character. The mother is a very successful doctor and becomes the hero in her own subplot that revolves around an epidemic in space. Actually, I would have liked to follow the plot thread more closely. The father is successful, too, but he is clearly the least gifted member of the family. Actually, he has many qualities more traditionally associated with the loving mother stereotype. There is an exception, though. The sister is apparently too stupid to do other things than cooking and to look out for a husband to settle down with.

I liked how the story addresses the intricacies of space travel. Most importantly, at many points it emphasizes the importance of movement (including astronomical objects) and distance. Minimal deviations (the decimal places in your calculations) in initial conditions or in regard to your destination may eventually lead to enormous deviations. As is pointed out, this also makes it more difficult to model the events, as it's difficult for reality to closely instantiate the theoretical pathways. It even discusses more basic aspects, like the impacts that zero gravity may have on the human body (space sickness as opposed to sea sickness).

Certain events within the story are explained in more scientific terms. For instance, it is explained how thrust of less g is necessary to take off from the moon (as compared to the Earth), because of its weaker force field. It also considers how flights may be much cheaper at certain times and planetary constellations and even explores the social consequences that these circumstances imply (much more people staying on a planet to wait for these events, an immensely increased chance of collision at other times). It's pointed to how they create a frame of reference or how they use radar reflectors to later regain goods they throw in the direction of Mars.

Along the way, it introduces concepts such as escape velocity (necessary to overcome the gravitational field of a planet), burnout (the point when to turn off fuel burning), the Titius–Bode law (describing the spacing between planets in a solar system), or the slingshot or swing-by maneuver (by which planets are used to increase the speed of smaller bodies on their way to other planets). I was really impressed how such explanations feel very natural even within a story that is so lightweight in spirit.

Interesting side note: In court the mother excuses herself by saying that she is a "stranger in a strange land". So, this is a theme that was on Heinlein's mind many years before the release of the novel by that name. There is one thing that I still don't understand, though. Why is this book called "Two Times to Pluto and Back" (in German)? Is Pluto even mentioned in the story?

Rating: 3/5

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The intelligent, independent, and colorful Stone family, one of the founding families of the Luna Colony, sets off on a trip to Mars and encounters all manner of adventure along the way. This solid book of space travel is a great example of why Robert Heinlein is still a major name in Science Fiction.

According to Genreflecting, The Rolling Stones is primarily a Space Travel Science Fiction novel (223-4), as the story is centered on the Stone family’s trip through the solar system. Herald actually lists two other Heinlein novels in this category: Citizen of the Galaxy and Have Space Suit – Will Travel, so this one of several Sci-Fi subgenres Heinlein is comfortable with. This novel also fits with Hard Science (210) novels surprisingly well. Even though Heinlein wrote The Rolling Stones a decade before human beings actually experienced space travel, his descriptions of space flight are incredibly accurate. His descriptions of the effects of weightlessness stick out especially, but throughout the story Heinlein takes a timeout from the action to explain the physics behind a certain aspect of space travel. Anyone who has seen the movie Apollo 13, will recognize the ship’s flight plan to circle the Earth and use it’s gravity to fling the ship toward Mars more quickly as serving the same purpose as the wounded Apollo spacecraft’s trip around the moon to return it quickly and safely to Earth. Considering that the Apollo mission’s improvised flight plan wasn’t created for another 20 years and that the US was still 5 years away from launching any kind of orbiting object into space, Heinlein must have had his fingers on the pulse of scientific developments of his day.

This was a good adventure story I would recommend to any patron interested in that kind of story. Because it is a family story there are no galactic overlords or grand space battles. But with a scheming entrepreneurial set of teenage twin boys, who land themselves in Martian jail, a little brother who can read minds, a wily grandmother who was one of the lunar pioneers to provide entertainment for the other three “filler” members of the family, the story still moves quickly enough to keep most adventure lovers interested. Heinlein’s solid foundation in real science will also keep readers especially interested in science more than intrigued.

The only problem I had with The Rolling Stones was the lack of character development. Every member of the family is introduced with sharp characters traits, however they seem to be more caricatures as their responses are always extreme and never really show any emotional depth or development. Near the end of the book there is a scene where ever thinks the seemingly unstoppable grandmother has died, and real emotional development seems imminent. However, it’s just a false alarm and everyone continues with their light-hearted adventures. I know that I should know better and not depend on Sci-Fi for character development. That is why I wouldn’t recommend this book to romance readers or anybody looking for the kind of character development I hoped for. The fascination in this story is with the scientific wonders of the new places the Stones travel to, not with the people in them.

Sources

Heinlen, Robert A. The Rolling Stones. New York: Ace Books, 1952.

Herald, Diana Tixier. “Chapter 6: Science Fiction.” Genreflecting: A Guide to Reading Interests in Genre Fiction, 4th ed. Englewood, Col.: Libraries Unlimited, 1995. (207-57).

[Nancy O'Toole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Castor and Pollux Stone have big plans to make big money. But in order to complete these plans, they need a spaceship, and the chance to fly it. Only their father doesn't quite see it their way, and would prefer that the underage twins finish their educations on earth. They soon strike a compromise. The twins can go to space, but not alone. The whole family is joining them from Mars, to the asteroids.

The Rolling Stones is admittedly a strange choice for someone's second Heinlein book (my first was The Moon is a Harsh Mistress). When I saw that my library had the Full Cast Audio version, I knew I needed to give it a try. Admittedly, my experience was not initially positive. I found the bickering among the Stone family to be a little annoying. I also had some issues with the voice actor who played Buster. Fortunately, once everyone gets into space, I found myself liking the book more and more.

The Rolling Stones is a comedy/adventure story filled with a large cast of quirky characters (making it perfect for the audiobook format). It's hard not to fall in love with the dysfunctional Stone family. Like many readers, my favorite character was Hazel Stone, a tough minded, fast-talking grandmother with at times questionable morals. I was floored when I realized that Hazel Stone also appeared in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but as the much younger Hazel Mead. Fans of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress will appreciate getting to see how Luna has grown from it's early days.

There are a few other things about this book that really stuck out to me. One is the humor. Although it occasionally falls flat, there were plenty of times when I just had to laugh out loud (once you get to incident with the flat cats, you'll see where I'm coming from). Given that this book was written for children, I was a little surprised at the girth of hard science. Heinlein painstakingly describes the effort the ship has to go through to bring the characters from one place to another. This made me really think about the apparent ease at which ships are able to zip from one planet to another in sci-fi movies without any thought of their individual orbits or gravities. Although this book was written in the 1950s, there weren't too many instances where the story or situations felt dated. When it comes to gender roles, there are a few remarks that make you aware that the story was written in a much different time, but it appears that Heinlein's portrayal of female characters (at least in this novel) was probably quite progressive for the time.

The Rolling Stones may not be as groundbreaking or engrossing as The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but it's a lot of fun to read and likely to appeal to a wide variety of ages. Full Cast Audio's production is top notch as always. I'm quite happy I stuck with this and gave the book a chance.

[Jeff Yoak · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rolling Stones is one of Heinlein's finer juveniles. I'm looking forward in a year or two to introducing my youngest, currently 4 years old, to Heinlein through this book.

As always, Heinlein's flare for creating wonderful characters shines through. Typical of the early works, the plot is gripping and set against a backdrop of space travel. It is always a pleasure to encounter Hazel (Mead) Stone who is a recurring character in one of the universes that Heinlein creates, though startling (even after five reads) to find her an old woman. It is such a dramatic contrast to her being a little girl in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress but it unquestionably the same character.

2015: I finally got to share this one with the kids... and they loved it just as I expected.

[***Dave Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

While rightly classified as one of Heinlein's juveniles, this book has a lot more sophistication than his older "Boy Scouts in Space" style tales. It's got wit, intrigue, some entertaining family dynamics, and some decent (if a bit outdated) crunchy SF to go with it.

Unlike most of the juveniles, Heinlein spends plenty of time on all the members of the family, not just the young protagonists, and the relationship between all of them -- where they conflict, where they complement, and where they demonstrate their love for one another -- all gel very nicely, amidst a tramp abroad through the solar system. There are no know-it-all sages, no hyper-competent (but stunningly gorgeous) ladies, nobody who doesn't occasionally fall on their face except to ultimately, through internal pluck as well as help from the others, get back up again, triumphant.

If you can get past some of the obsolete science, this is an enjoyable book for juveniles and adults as well.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The family Stone goes Rolling across the solar system to see what they can see. Tough and wise Grandma Hazel, Captain and Doctor Stone, daughter Meade, irascible twins Castor and Pollux, and baby Lowell have all kinds of interesting adventures in space.
Despite the excess of mathematics and ballistics, this is a very readable and exciting tale. Taking place a few decades after the revolt of Luna in “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”, we are able to infer how the Free State has matured, and also become a place where pioneering souls are anxious to strike out from. Except for Meade, who doesn’t have much of a storyline, the family is full of interesting characters with strong personalities. Also, I really really want a Martian ‘Flat Cat.’
(I recommend you read “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” prior to this.)

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Heinlein science fiction adventure for young adult readers.

[Jane Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this book on a long car ride. What a fun book...a full cast of readers and music made this audio book especially fun! Even though this book was considered juvenile fiction and my husband had read it as a teen, we still enjoyed it! As we listened we were able to guess where many future story lines originated! "Flat cats" and tribbles??? Family traveling in space and Space Family Robinsons?? As usual, though this book was written about 57 years ago, Heinlein spoke of many concepts/ideas/characters that have since become reality! I swear that man had to have a time machine...he was definitely more evolved than most in his time. I especially liked his character "Hazel", Grandma of the clan and a woman's libber! This book was just plain fun and the reading cast was terrific! This would be a great audio book for both adults and young teens on a long car ride.

[Valerie]

I'm not clear what people mean by 'adventure', if they don't count this. I picked up quite a few things from this, like the design for a space scooter in the Asteroids, and the utility of bicycles on Mars.

Hazel Stone, mentioned in other reviews as included in The Cat Who Walks through Walls, is also found (as a very young girl) in The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.

This book was originally published under the title Space Family Stone.

David Gerrold, author of The Trouble with Tribbles, has admitted that he got the idea (unconsciously--he didn't realize it until later) for the Tribbles from the Martian flat cats in this book. Gerrold said he apologized to Heinlein, who waved it off with the basic argument that at least Gerrold knew who HE stole it from.

[Buck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good, old-fashioned, family space opera. Clearly intended for a younger audience -this is one of Heinlein's juvenile series- a fun read nevertheless. I heard the audio book by Full Cast Audio, the same company that did Have Space Suit, Will Travel. It may even have been the same cast. They did a pretty good job, (On par with the cast at your local dinner theater) except for the youngest boy in the Stone family, who sounded like a little kid in The Simpsons cartoon show.

Grandmother Hazel is a recurring character, playing a major role as a young woman in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, published 13 years later. She also appears in a couple of other Heinlein novels.