Book Review: Stranger in a Strange Land

Looking for a science fiction novel to take me away for awhile, I listened to the audio book of the classic Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein.  I thought the book to be interesting, insightful, but a little slow at times.

from Amazon.com

The premise of the story is of a human, Michael, born on Mars and left to be raised by aliens. He then returns to earth 25 years later and has to learn what it means to be human.

Heinlein did an excellent job delving into that question. He discusses government, religion, and the free love of the 60's.

Michael's perspectives, insights, and questions into all these human interactions and institutions is fascinating. While I found the writing very engaging, there were times either Michael's or one of the other main character's thoughts about a current situation or what being human meant dragged on.

I always find it interesting to read science fiction books written over 50 years ago to see how readers and writers of that time saw the future. For example, 50 years ago stories could still be written about alien civilizations roaming across Mars and still be believable. Today, authors have to use wormholes, alternate galaxies, and far off undiscovered planets to populate their novels with "believable" aliens.

Perhaps even more interesting to me, is how people envision earth's governments and society changing or not changing in the future. Spoiler: women in Heinlein's future are treated the same as women in the 60's when the book was published.

Overall I enjoyed the book, especially the good narration by Christopher Hurt on the audio book that helped me get through the slow parts.