I'll admit I didn't read Robert Heinlein's Citizen of the Galaxy or any other of his books. This one seemed interesting enough on Netgalley as I was trying to venture more into the graphic novel world.

 

Point is I found the story about the young slave boy growing up to become more than some young slave man boring despite the fact the novel is only 104 pages long. Some pages in the graphic novel had so much text on them they almost lost the 'graphic' part completely. I think it's even more important in graphic novels to 'show, don't tell'.

 

At no point the story surprised me and I didn't really care for the art. I was disappointed in this one.

 

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

People often divide Heinlein's novels between his juveniles and his so-called adult books such as Stranger in a Strange Land. The truth is, not being much a fan of such themes as polyamory, "free love," nudism and the even more bizarre, I often find myself much preferring his juveniles--even if none of them come quite close to those adult novels I do love such as The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Of all those juveniles though, over a dozen of them, this is by far my favorite. Maybe it's the sweep of the Kim-like plot of a slave boy, Thorby, brought up by a seeming beggar and rising... well that would give away too much. But Thorby is much more interesting to me than the usual American boy scout next door of the other juveniles. It's a great read, and while it might not be the best Heinlein book, or my favorite, it just might very well be the best introduction to one of the masters of science fiction.

Heinlein here has moved outward from Earth, to a full intergalactic dispersal of Earth's inhabitants among multiple political groupings - from an Earth 'hegemony' to a slave trading Empire. The story follows Thorby, captured by slavers at a very young age, mistreated continually until bought by a beggar with complex secrets, who raises him to be a pillar of honesty and intellectual endeavour.The strongest section of the book is the beginning, where we are thrown deeply into Thorby's situation. There is some loss of traction in the middle section of the story, when Thorby joins a space-trading 'clan', and the resolution of the tale is pretty much dogged endurance of legal battles and right-feeling caution while sticking to one's guns, ultimately leading to the importance of living up to the responsibility of one's lot in life. It's not a bad story, but doesn't live up to the power of its opening.Character voice is also rather odd. This slave boy raised in the far future, experiencing multiple cultures, speaks with the Oh Shucks, Gee Whiz of a stereotypical Iowa farmboy.The treatment of women has improved in that we now have more of a range presented, from a 'wise old anthropologist' to girls who can do mathematics, to a level-headed socialite. There's still a handful of dismissive statements about the incapability of girls, but they are shown being competent repeatedly. They're also shown as primarily adjuncts to men, their purpose in life revolving around 'catching' and then supporting a suitable husband.

Citizen of the Galaxy is a throw back to the days when a complete story could be told in 250 pages or less. A nice 3 Star diversion to a simpler time in SciFi, when "atomics" were all the rage and everyone had them, strictly for defense you know. Heinlein tells a tale of a young lad, sold as a slave to an old beggar--who is not what he seems. The boy grows and has adventures as he goes on a mission for the old beggar that will journey through several different cultures. Heinlein paints 3 different cultures in full enough detail in just a few pages. Very enjoyable. Well worth a couple of hours -- that is all it will take.

Citizen of the Galaxy - Robert A. Heinle... I've read this any number of times, but since I began competitive reading at Goodreads, I haven't done much re-reading. I like Heinlein's later juvenile novels very much--the ones like this and Starman Jones, not the way-juveniles like The Star Beast. Yes, they all have the same tone, except Podkayne of Mars where Heinlein first develops the annoying faux-female narrator voice so jarring in Farnham's Freehold. Yes, you could pick up most of the secondary characters and plunk them into a different Heinlein novel without breaking stride. Still, I like the character of Thorby very much. He's one of Heinlein's most sympathetic young men and I believe in his growing maturity and conviction. Similarly, Baslim may be the best realization of the stern yet protective older military man with near-superhuman powers of recall or comprehension (this is Heinlein's pre-"bald old coot" Mary Sue). I like the four distinct phases of Thorby's life, and the way the fifth section brings them together. I like that there are so many heroes in this novel whose heroic acts consist mainly of thinking or doing their unglamorous jobs well. I've always disliked Heinlein's portrayal of women, but on this re-reading I noticed how much of the action hinges on the actions of the women, from the women who hide Thorby when Baslim disappears to the Sisu's Chief to Leda's covert and overt assistance. This is ever so much more cheering than the "Now it's time for you, our father, who is immortal, but we're actually twins who are your clones, to impregnate us" of later Heinlein.