Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Past Through Tomorrow (Future History)

The Past Through Tomorrow (Future History)
reviewed on + 40 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


Robert Heinlein is best known for his novels like Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land, Friday, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, etc. I list of his great novels being too long to list here.

But he started out writing short stories in Astounding Science fiction (later to be renamed Analog) for John W. Campbell, Jr. This book contains what is called Heinleins Future History stories. Many of his novels fit into this future history as well. But it all began with the short story \"Life-line\", which was first published in 1939. Is it a great story? By itself, we probably wouldn\'t call it a great story. But it was the first by RAH.

Follow-up short stories like \"The Roads Must Roll\", \"Blowups Happen\", \"Requium\", \"The Great Hills of Earth\", \"The menace from Earth\" and \"Methuselahs Children\" are all also included here. All great short stories set in the Future History.

This book does have a little overlap with Heinlien\'s later Expanded Universe collection, but it isn\'t a lot. Both are worth reading, and re-reading.