The Star Beast

For me, Heinlein’s novels tend to fall into two broad categories: annoying and not so annoying. The Star Beast is definitely one of the former. The title refers to Lummox, a shed-sized, and near-indestructible, alien of an unknown race who is the pet of John Thomas Stuart XI. (I really don’t understand this thing of giving sons the same names as their fathers - and especially not for ten generations! It’s the height of narcissism. I also wonder if Heinlein was aware John Thomas is a slang term for the penis.) Anyway, Lummox had also been the pet of John Thomas’s father and grandfather - in fact, it was the grandfather who brought Lummox back to Earth. One day, Lummox raids next-door’s yard to eat their roses, is shot at, runs show more scared straight into the centre of town and causes much havoc and destruction. The authorities want to destroy it, John Thomas and Lummox run away. Meanwhile, a ship of unknown but very powerful aliens has arrived in Earth orbit and the aliens are demanding the return of one of their lost young. The plot follows ploddingly on from there, with entirely expected setbacks and resolutions. John Thomas’s girlfriend, Betty, surprisingly has some agency, but she’s a bossy know-it-all, and John Thomas treats her like another species of alien pet. Lummox is supposedly several centuries old and highly intelligent, but behaves no more intelligently than a cat with a slightly longer than normal attention span. The hero of the story is Henry Kiku, Permanent Undersecretary at the Department of Spatial Affairs, whose folksy wisdom and fixity of opinion win the day, despite the interference of politicians and press and the public, or indeed any laws or regulations which might stand in the way. Everything ends happily. The Star Beast was originally serialised in F&SF magazine, and then published as a juvenile. It seems to have been well-regarded when it was published, but I found it silly, predictable and, well, annoying. show less

It's probably been 25 years or more since the previous time I read this book, but something compelled me to pick it up again the other day. I was naturally expecting that it wouldn't be as good as I remembered, but if anything it's better! A completely fun jaunt through Heinlein's future, most of it just background to the story, which is about a small-town lad and his pet, an alien critter that had been smuggled back to Earth a hundred years back by his great great grandfather. The other characters in the book are interesting and well drawn, and the mother is sufficiently annoying that it's obvious the target audience of the book was teens and young adults. This read confirms the book's place as my very favorite of Heinlein's juvenile show more titles. show less

Anyway, once again Heinlein changes tack with these juveniles, and this one is quite different from the others I have read. The plot takes place entirely on Earth (no space adventures this time). The teenage main character (John Thomas) doesn't achieve things through hard work and matures as he takes in his new experiences. He is different from other Heinlein boy protagonists. He doesn't show the same drive and independent spirit. Instead, he mostly reacts to the crazy things that happen to him. Actually, he plays the naive "straight man" in a comedy, because that's what The Star Beast is: it is without a doubt the funniest of the Heinlein juveniles I have read, although the humor is not based on gags or jokes, but on the situations the show more characters find themselves in. Since the story doesn't depend so much on technology, this one struck me as less dated than the other Heinlein juveniles I have read so far.

Lummox is the best character of the book. He is a "shy harmless animal", from John Thomas' point of view, while others see him as a ravaging, huge and dangerous beast. The situation there reminded me of Hagrid and his pets in the Harry Potter series (although John Thomas is less far from the truth here: it's just his naive inability to understand how people see "Lummie" that's funny). I really enjoyed it when Heinlein allowed us a glimpse of Lummox's thought process, which was both alien and childlike. Heinlein seems to like the idea of "cute", relatively intelligent alien pets, but here the idea is the basis of the novel.

Mr. Kiku was also an interesting character. (Heinlein was ahead of his time here, depicting a black man as the most senior and capable government official, and making his Kenian cultural roots important to him). However, his part in the novel, while necessary for the story, was probably not the most interesting for most readers, since diplomatic wrangling is not as exciting as action. Betty, Johnnie's girlfriend, is much more competent and ambitious than Johnie himself (who, let's face it, is not the brightest bulb in the box).

I found the story very enjoyable, but it is true that humor may work for some people and not work for others, depending on personality and mood at the time of reading, so this one may not be for everybody. It's a funny, "The Prince and the Pauper" type of tale. There's not much action or deep ideas (but then, deep ideas are not the point of these juveniles, it's just telling a good yarn set in the future, with space colonization, aliens and a youthful protagonist). show less

A classic Heinlein juvenile, one of the few with a strong female character. The full-cast audio version is extremely well done.

It's not a traditional YA novel. There's a diplomatic crisis and a courtroom drama in the novel. There's not really any action, but there's a lot of excellent character interaction, especially the YA leads, Betty and John Thomas with "The Star Beast" named Lummox.

Many of the characters aren't as fleshed out as they could be (e.g., John Thomas's mother), but I love the young leads and the overall story. The full-cast audio adds an extra dimension to a good story.

One could call The Star Beast a run of the mill story about a boy and his pet. Think Lassie and you have the classic relationship I'm referring to. If you don't delve into the details John Thomas Stuart XI is an average teen with a typical attachment to the family pet. However, give the story a science fiction spin and all bets are off. Instead of an obedient and almost too intelligent collie this pet defies logic. Lummox or Lummy, as John calls him, is a 100 year old extraterrestrial (was once his grandfather's pet), has eight legs, a sentry eye that stays awake when the beast sleeps, has a high pitched girly voice and he triples in size when he eats metal. And he's always hungry. The trouble starts when Lummy goes wandering in the show more night and ends up eating some roses and destroying public property. John and Lummy are put on trial and Lummy is sentenced to death...only the authorities aren't exactly sure how to kill him. Throw in a wannabe lawyer girlfriend and another planet that is convinced Lummy belongs to them and you have a story that appeals to kids and adults alike. show less

A young man inherits an alien 'pet' from his father and grandfather before him, but this pet is big and near indestructible. Lots of trouble ensues. This was written in 1954 and the technology gap between now and then is huge. No PC's, no cell phones (there's just 1 reference to a 'body phone'), no internet - but on the other hand, everyone flies around on personal helicopters/flying suits!

Note: Even though this is Book 8 in the series, it works perfectly fine as a stand alone novel.

John Thomas Stuart has a very large pet, Lummox. He’s a gentle beast with eight legs, a very thick hide, and a taste for roses and steel. Lummox has been in the Stuart family for generations but has recently outgrown their small town. No pen can hold Lummox and while John can reason with him to some extent, there is no physical means by which to make Lummox obey. Town authorities are ready to go to extremes, but no one is ready for the extremes that both John and Lummox will go to in order to remain together.

This was a fun coming of age book. Some parts of it might be considered quaint nowadays while others are still somewhat progressive for show more mainstream SF literature. I was sucked into the story once Lummox was described – the multiple legs and a sentry eyestalk for while he slept. Plus, Lummox talks! Yep. He sounds much like a little 5 year old girl and he’s not just parroting human speech back at you. Lummox can answer questions and make promises and tell you what he needs or wants. On the other hand, things have definitely changed a bit since the 1950s when this was first published. I was a little surprised at how often someone threatened to beat Lummox. Some of the threats were quite specific and graphic. So don’t look to this book as a good example of how to discipline a family pet. Or livestock.

Early on, John and Lummox end up in court because of the damage to city and personal property Lummox did. John’s friend Betty Sorenson acts as his attorney in a bit of courtroom drama. While I found this bit a little boring, being a bit overdone, I did find it very interesting that Betty was able to act so independently even though she was a minor. Later in the book, the theme of teens divorcing their parents came up. Considering the over all 1950s wholesome nature of this book, I applauded breaking of the mold in this matter as it made things more interesting.

Besides Betty, John’s mom, a female secretary, and perhaps Lummox (whose species really has 6 genders so I should probably ask Lummox what gender pronoun he prefers), there were no other female characters in a decent sized cast of male characters. Still, for a 1950s SF novel, Betty had a pretty important role in the book and she wasn’t your stereotypical teen female love interest. Indeed, John seems to be maturing a little slower and often calls her companionable names like ‘Slugger’ and ‘Smarty’. John’s mom also helps shape the plot, though I would say her role is more stereotypical – she’s a bit overbearing and loud about it.

Lummox is the real star of this story. He, who later in the story is referred to as a she, comes from an advanced race called the Hroshii. They are long lived and consider humans to be barely in their infancy as a species. However, they want their long-lost baby back as there is an arranged marriage among their kind to see to. The Hroshii could easily withstand any weapon the planet Earth could throw at them and just as easily wipe out the entire planet. So in steps our other hero, Mr. Kiku.

Mr. Kiku has a pretty high status in the Earth’s government, but not so high that he has to bow to popular whims. Indeed, he handles things very smoothly, always 3 or 4 moves ahead in his thinking than most of those around him. Also, he’s black. Now SF literature in general has come a ways, but sadly most heroes in SF are still white. So, another round of applause for Heinlein for shaking things up again.

This book started off rather humdrum, cookie cutter SF adventure story and turned into a surprise-riddled coming of age tale that had me chuckling, gasping, chewing on a knuckle, and nodding my head in agreement. The story had a happy ending that took all of Mr. Kiku’s wits to negotiate. I’m very glad that I gave this book a chance and I expect I will be reading more Heinlein in the future.

I received a copy of this audiobook at no cost from the publisher (via Audiobook Jukebox) in exchange for an honest review.

The Narration: Paul Michael Garcia did a really good job with this book. He had the perfect voice for young John, who is on the cusp of manhood. I also loved his little girl voice for Lummox. Once I learned Lummox’s true intelligence, it gave me a giggle. I also loved his steady Mr. Kiku, the raging Mrs. Stuart, and the ambitious Betty. All around, a great performance. show less