Glory Road

Ah, Heinlein, nobody spins an adventure tale like Heinlein. Glory Road is a departure from Heinlein’s hard-SF roots, into a distinctly twisted take on the monomyth, as a young, down-at-the-heels veteran is recruited by a dimension-hopping princess for a dangerous Quest. Dragons are slain, perils braved, and our hero goes toe-to-toe with the Eater of Souls. But this book is really about a lot more than heroism, with long meditations on sex, marriage, government, and all the rest. As a novel, it’s neither one thing nor the other, not quite swashbuckling enough for a pure adventure, and not quite thoughtful enough for a philosophical exploration. But it does happen to be surprisingly psychologically realistic, and quite a lot of fun. As a little excursion for an author at the height of his powers (Glory Road was published after Stranger in a Strange Land and before The Moon is a Harsh Mistress), it makes for a welcome bridge between early Heinlein and later “brain worm” Heinlein. The afterword by Samuel Delany is worth the price of admission alone. Only really necessary for the Heinlein completionist, it’s still a good read for the general SF fan.