Starman Jones - by Robert A Heinlein (Paperback)

About the Book

When his stepmother's remarriage drives him from home, Max and a hobo fake their way into the Space Stewards, Cooks, and Purser's Clerks brotherhood to get an opportunity for space travel in an age when only the wealthy are privileged.

Book Synopsis

From the First Golden Age of SF master Robert A. Heinlein, this is the so-called juvenile (written, Heinlein always claims, just as much for adults) that started them all and made Heinlein a legend for multiple generations of readers--with a new introduction and afterword by popular military science fiction author Michael Z. Williamson. A poor young man seeks his fortune in space and comes of age a ship's officer and hero.

The stars were closed to Max Jones. To get into space you either needed connections, a membership in the arcane Guild, or a whole lot more money than Max, the son of a widowed, poor mother, was every going to have. What Max does have going for him are his uncle's prized astrogation manuals--book on star navigation that Max literally commits to memory word for word, equation for equation. When Max's mother decides to remarry a bullying oaf, Max takes to the road, only to discover that his uncle Chet's manuals, and Max's near complete memorization of them, is a ticket to the stars. But serving on a spaceship is no easy task. Duty is everything, and a mistake can mean you and all aboard are lost forever. Max loves every minute of his new life, and he steadily grows in the trust of his superior officers, and seems to be on course for a command track position. But then disaster strikes, and it's going to take every trick Max ever learned from his tough life and his uncle's manuals to save himself and the ship from a doom beyond extinction itself.

From the First Golden Age of Heinlein, this is the so-called juvenile (written, Heinlein always claims, just as much for adults) that started them all and made Heinlein a legend for multiple generations of readers.

About Robert A. Heinlein:
"Not only America's premier writer of speculative fiction, but the great writer of such fiction in the world."--Stephen King.

"One of the grand masters of science fiction."--Wall Street Journal

Comprehensive Teacher's Guide available.

About the Author

Robert A Heinlein is considered one of the "Big Three" of classic science fiction (along with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke). Heinlein is a seven-time Hugo Award recipient and was given the first Grand Master Nebula Award for lifetime achievement. Heinlein's juveniles alone have influenced generations of scientists, engineers and creators the world over (for instance, it was once estimated that everyone in the Apollo 11 mission control room had read and loved at least one Heinlein novel). His worldwide bestsellers include Have Space Suit--Will Travel, Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers, Time Enough for Love, and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.