HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

Orphans of the Sky (1963)

by Robert A. Heinlein

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Future History (Fixup 10, 12)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,447396,151 (3.47)47
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:

Lost in Space

Hugh had been taught that, according to the ancient sacred writings, the Ship was on a voyage to faraway Centaurus. But he also understood this was just allegory for a voyage to spiritual perfection. Indeed, how could the Ship move, since its miles and miles of metal corridors were all there was of creation? Science knew that the Ship was all the universe, and as long as the sacred Converter was fed, the lights would continue to glow, the air would flow, and the Creator's Plan would be fulfilled.

Of course, there were the muties, grotesquely deformed parodies of humans, who lurked in the upper reaches of the Ship, where gravity was weaker. Were they evil incarnate, or merely a divine check on the population, keeping humanity from expanding past the capacity of the Ship to support?

Then Hugh was captured by the muties and met their leader (or leaders)â??Joe-Jim, with two heads on one bodyâ??and learned the true nature of the Ship and its mission between the stars. But could he make his people believe him before it was too late? Could he make them believe that he must be allowed to fly the Ship… (more)

  1. 00
    Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss (jigarpatel)
    jigarpatel: "Non-Stop" (1958) is a well-developed successor to Heinlein's fix-up "Orphans of the Sky" (whose components were first published 1941). I recommend "Non-Stop" for plot and characterization, "Orphans of the Sky" for those interested in the history of science fiction. Both are excellent.… (more)
  2. 01
    The Modern Scholar: From Here to Infinity ~An Exploration of Science Fiction Literature~ (14 Lectures on 7 Audiocassettes) by Michael D. C. Drout (themulhern)
    themulhern: This awful work by Heinlein pretty much refutes everything positive that Drout has to say about Heinlein in his discussion of his work in this quite interesting lecture series.
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 47 mentions

English (35)  Danish (1)  Italian (1)  Russian (1)  All languages (38)
Showing 1-5 of 35 (next | show all)
An early Heinlein, written in 1955, this is a lost-colony spaceship with a short-cut ending; it looses impact because of brevity, but is cute nonetheless. ( )
  majackson | Apr 2, 2024 |
The book started off as a decent SF adventure with scientists and mutants fighting on a generation starship; strongly reminded me of Metamorphosis Alpha. But the ending didn't leave much of an impression on me, and the regressive way that the women were written put me off. ( )
  yaj70 | Jan 22, 2024 |
Would have been a better book without the misogynist bits. ( )
  JBarringer | Dec 15, 2023 |
Science fiction novel that really impressed me at the time. Giant starship with later generations in separate areas finally get together as a planet is approached. I was just starting to get into Sci-Fi. back then. ( )
  kslade | Dec 8, 2022 |
Orig. publ. as a two-part serial in Astounding Science Fiction under the titles Universe and Common Sense ( )
  ME_Dictionary | Mar 19, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 35 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors (40 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Heinlein, Robert A.primary authorall editionsconfirmed
Griffiths, JohnCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Halstead, GrahamNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jones, PeterCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kaplangı, CemalTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Martijn, JaimeTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Sannes, SanneCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Summerer, Eric MichaelNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
"The Proxima Centauri Expedition, sponsored by the Jordan Foundation in 2119, was the first recorded attempt to reach the nearer stars fo this galaxy. Whatever its unhappy fate we can only conjecture...' - Quoted from The Romance of Modern Astrography, by Franklin Buck, published by Lux Transcriptions, Ltd., 3.50 cr.
Dedication
First words
"There's a mutie! Look out!"
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Note that the Italian translation is titled 'Universo' (isfdb), so these entries should not be separated out and combined with the novella 'Universe'.
This novel was first published in Astounding Science Fiction in May and October of 1941 as two separate novelettes: "Universe" and its sequel "Common Sense". "Universe" was reprinted by itself in book form in 1951. The two were combined to form this work in 1963.
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:

Lost in Space

Hugh had been taught that, according to the ancient sacred writings, the Ship was on a voyage to faraway Centaurus. But he also understood this was just allegory for a voyage to spiritual perfection. Indeed, how could the Ship move, since its miles and miles of metal corridors were all there was of creation? Science knew that the Ship was all the universe, and as long as the sacred Converter was fed, the lights would continue to glow, the air would flow, and the Creator's Plan would be fulfilled.

Of course, there were the muties, grotesquely deformed parodies of humans, who lurked in the upper reaches of the Ship, where gravity was weaker. Were they evil incarnate, or merely a divine check on the population, keeping humanity from expanding past the capacity of the Ship to support?

Then Hugh was captured by the muties and met their leader (or leaders)â??Joe-Jim, with two heads on one bodyâ??and learned the true nature of the Ship and its mission between the stars. But could he make his people believe him before it was too late? Could he make them believe that he must be allowed to fly the Ship

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.47)
0.5 1
1 5
1.5 4
2 43
2.5 10
3 143
3.5 22
4 143
4.5 6
5 54

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 204,457,471 books! | Top bar: Always visible