Heinlein in Dimension: A Critical Analysis

By: Alexei Panshin

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Synopsis: For over a quarter of a century, Robert A. Heinlein has been the acknowledged master of modern science fiction. His first few stories turned the field upside down, and set new standards of narrative and scientific excellence that few other authors have matched and none has surpassed. It is no credit to the critical fraternity that no extended attention has hitherto been paid to Heinlein. Alexei Panshin now offers the first full-length study of Heinlein's work and his place in contemporary science fiction. Like Damon Knight, Mr. Panshin works on the assumption that the ordinary standards of literature apply with full force to science fiction; a vaulting imagination does not excuse bad writing or foolish plotting. In addition there are criteria of narrative technique and scientific Plausibility that are peculiar to science fiction. Rigorously applying these standards, Mr. Panshin discusses Heinlein's fiction and analyzes its strengths and weaknesses; he traces the constants and the variables in Heinlein's interests and viewpoints; and he offers a suggestion as to the ultimate significance of Heinlein both in science fiction and in literature as a whole. Mr. Panshin has produced a study in depth that is neither adulatory nor carping, and is both comprehensive and readable. No doubt there will be other books written about Robert A. Heinlein, but we suspect that the present volume will be accepted as the definitive work for a long time to come.