bmcjmp (02/08/83)
The title of Heinlein's LATEST book is "FRIDAY", the title being the name of the main character, who is a woman. I have not read it, but a friend says it is better than some of the books he published just prior to it, and most notably was better than "NUMBER OF THE BEAST". This is her opinion -- not having read either book, I can't back it up, but thought I'd pass the opinion along. Barb Puder burdvax!bmcjmp
jss (02/09/83)
everyone is being so polite. i thought 'number of the beast' stunk out loud. i read a lot of heinlein when i was a very young teenager. when i look back at some of it, i feel that he was writing better then, but i shudder at some of the ideas that i was internalizing. most specifically, there is REALLY a line in 'moon is a harsh mistress' to the effect "She was terrific. She was as good as a man." really. Mike Lynch seems to be right about the changes that came when the old-timers 'discovered' sex. however, i don't think we can include Farmer, whom i sort of remember as INVENTING sex-in-science-fiction (and wasn't there a GREAT DEAL of flaming about "lovers" and "mother" at the time?) judith !decvax!brunix!jss