Having expended countless electrons in the course of damning the political elements of the book, I'll close by lamely saying that the rest of the plot is pretty good. The success of the revolution is a little too dependent on everyone in power on Earth acting like a complete idiot, but the bits with the actual action are well done, if scarce. Heinlein clearly thought about the possibilities of the computer system he used (daft though parts of it seem today), and while the bombing of Earth contained more information about ballistics than really necessary (he says, at the end of a term spent teaching Newtonian mechanics), it's a nifty idea. I just wish more time had been spent on those bits, and less on frictionless politics.

Maybe I just need to drop back farther into Heinlein's career to find more enjoyable and less political books, but I suspect that he just doesn't do it for me any more. Hopefully, typing this whole rant in will serve as reminder enough of why I don't like these books that I won't be tempted to re-read more.

(Originally posted to The Library of Babel.)