Status
Available
Call number
Publication
G.P. Putnam's Sons (New York, 1963). Book club edition. 288 pages.
Description
E. C. "Scar" Gordon was on the French Riviera recovering from a tour of combat in Southeast Asia , but he hadn't given up his habit of scanning the Personals in the newspaper. One ad in particular leapt out at him: "ARE YOU A COWARD? This is not for you. We badly need a brave man. He must be 23 to 25 years old, in perfect health, at least six feet tall, weigh about 190 pounds, fluent English, with some French, proficient in all weapons, some knowledge of engineering and mathematics essential, willing to travel, no family or emotional ties, indomitably courageous and handsome of face and figure. Permanent employment, very high pay, glorious adventure, great danger. You must apply in person, rue Dante, Nice, 2me étage, apt. D." How could you not answer an ad like that, especially when it seemed to describe you perfectly? Well, except maybe for the "handsome" part, but that was in the eye of the beholder anyway. So he went to that apartment and was greeted by the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. She seemed to have many names, but agreed he could call her "Star." A pretty appropriate name, as it turned out, for the empress of twenty universes. Robert A. Heinlein's one true fantasy novel, Glory Road is as much fun today as when he wrote it after Stranger in a Strange Land. Heinlein proves himself as adept with sword and sorcery as with rockets and slide rules and the result is exciting, satirical, fast-paced, funny and tremendously readable -- a favorite of all who have read it. Glory Road is a masterpiece of escapist entertainment with a typically Heinleinian sting in its tail. Tor is proud to return this all-time classic to hardcover to be discovered by a new generation of readers.… (more)
Media reviews
NBD/Biblion (via BOL.com)
Recensie(s)
Als een moderne Odysseus zwerft Omar Gordon door de "Twintig Universa" over het "Pad van roem". Hij doet dit naar aanleiding van een advertentie die hoog loon, roemrijk avontuur en groot gevaar biedt. Aan zijn zijde de mooiste vrouw die de aarde ooit gezien heeft, mysterieus als een
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middeleeuwse heks. Hij moet deze vrouw via vele gevaren naar haar bestemming brengen en ontvangt als loon een fabelachtige schat. Een zeer welkome herdruk van een goed geschreven s.f.-roman met kostelijke soms wat simpele humor.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha
Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) was certainly his most read and most influential novel. The one that followed next, Glory Road (1963), was perhaps his least. In terms of basic literary substance and quality, it represented no slackening on his part, but it fell afoul of a
If it were to be given a Cabell-style subtitle, Glory Road might well have been called "A Comedy of Vocation." Heinlein's not-thoroughly-sympathetic protagonist "Easy" Gordon is a young US army veteran of the "police action" in Southeast Asia. As he is trying to sort out his future, it seems as if he might have a winning sweepstakes ticket that will put him through college. It turns out that he himself is a winning ticket (a.k.a. "hero") for a sorceress from another dimension who needs his help to reclaim an invaluable artifact from a hostile world. So roughly the first two thirds of the book is the gradual disclosure and accomplishment of this quest for the "Egg of the Phoenix."
But the final third of the book is far too much for a "happily ever after," and even exceeds what might be classed as a denouement. In this structural respect, as in several others, the book reminded me of Fleming's Casino Royale from about a decade earlier. (Substitute fencing for baccarat in this case.) Gordon discovers that being a "retired hero" does not suit him, and that having achieved greater rewards and higher luxury than he could have possibly imagined, he is dissatisfied without work to suit his character. The resolution of this dilemma, complicated through personal relationships and extradimensional migration, is the concern of the final arc of the story.
Like Stranger, Glory Road is sure to offend some 21st-century shallow readers who want to collapse the sexual prejudices of its protagonist onto its author--despite the protagonist overcoming some of those prejudices, and despite the story upending a variety of gender preconceptions within both the 'fairy tale' and 'fantasy adventure' paradigms. A few of Heinlein's personal fetishes (sexual or otherwise) are likely on display, but these are gestures I wouldn't begrudge any author. An epigram from George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra is the first instance of a leitmotif regarding cultural difference and moral relativism that is sounded throughout the book, not just in the later sections that portray the social commerce of a multiverse.
But "cultural pluralism" (as it is called in the Samuel Delany essay about the book appended to my 2004 Tor edition) is not the central conundrum of the book. As noted before, it is about the necessity of finding and cleaving to a calling, despite convention, cowardice, and any sort of distracting appetite. Gordon discovers what is needful in order to do that one thing which is the true purpose of his sojourn, and that makes him a hero.
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genre-oriented readership that expected Science Fiction from a writer who had done as much as anyone to define the form in the mid-20th century. Instead, Glory Road most nearly approximates heroic fantasy, albeit in a subversive manner consistent with the Cabellesque, satirical inclinations already on display in Stranger in a Strange Land. If it were to be given a Cabell-style subtitle, Glory Road might well have been called "A Comedy of Vocation." Heinlein's not-thoroughly-sympathetic protagonist "Easy" Gordon is a young US army veteran of the "police action" in Southeast Asia. As he is trying to sort out his future, it seems as if he might have a winning sweepstakes ticket that will put him through college. It turns out that he himself is a winning ticket (a.k.a. "hero") for a sorceress from another dimension who needs his help to reclaim an invaluable artifact from a hostile world. So roughly the first two thirds of the book is the gradual disclosure and accomplishment of this quest for the "Egg of the Phoenix."
But the final third of the book is far too much for a "happily ever after," and even exceeds what might be classed as a denouement. In this structural respect, as in several others, the book reminded me of Fleming's Casino Royale from about a decade earlier. (Substitute fencing for baccarat in this case.) Gordon discovers that being a "retired hero" does not suit him, and that having achieved greater rewards and higher luxury than he could have possibly imagined, he is dissatisfied without work to suit his character. The resolution of this dilemma, complicated through personal relationships and extradimensional migration, is the concern of the final arc of the story.
Like Stranger, Glory Road is sure to offend some 21st-century shallow readers who want to collapse the sexual prejudices of its protagonist onto its author--despite the protagonist overcoming some of those prejudices, and despite the story upending a variety of gender preconceptions within both the 'fairy tale' and 'fantasy adventure' paradigms. A few of Heinlein's personal fetishes (sexual or otherwise) are likely on display, but these are gestures I wouldn't begrudge any author. An epigram from George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra is the first instance of a leitmotif regarding cultural difference and moral relativism that is sounded throughout the book, not just in the later sections that portray the social commerce of a multiverse.
But "cultural pluralism" (as it is called in the Samuel Delany essay about the book appended to my 2004 Tor edition) is not the central conundrum of the book. As noted before, it is about the necessity of finding and cleaving to a calling, despite convention, cowardice, and any sort of distracting appetite. Gordon discovers what is needful in order to do that one thing which is the true purpose of his sojourn, and that makes him a hero.
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LibraryThing member bigorangemichael
When I picked up my copy of "Glory Road," I was met with a cover depicting a buxom woman in tights, a dwarf and a guy dressed like Robin Hood battling what appears to be a fire-breathing dinosaur and a blurb proclaiming this one of the "best SF novels of all-time." And I thought to myself--this is
Then I read the book and the scene on the cover actually happens within the pages of "Glory Road."
Whoops....
I guess that whole "don't judge a book by its cover thing" thing really does apply here.
And here we come to my yearly reading of Heinlein. I participate in a science-fiction and fantasy discussion group and each year our January selection is by Robert Heinlein. Having read "Starship Troopers" last year and missed a discussion on "Stranger in a Strange Land," that leaves a lot of the other "lesser" Heinlein novels on the table for reading and discussion. I tried suggesting a collection of short stories but after hearing this one advertised as young man answers classified ad for hero and has adventures, I have to admit I was kind of intrigued by it. Looking at when it was written by Heinlein, I was hopeful it might be from the period before he became old, pervy and pretty much insane.
Alas, "Glory Road" is a preview of the old, pervy and insane Heinlein to come.
E.C. "Scar" Gordon is your typical, later period Heinlein hero. By that, I mean he's this fantasized version of himself that Heinlein puts into just about all of his later books. Gordon is a man's man, virile, red-blooded, full of opinions and completely attractive to every woman he encounters. Women can't resist him becuase...umm....well, if you figure that one out you let me know. Gordon is the veteran of an unnamed war in Asia (clearly the Vietnam war, though at the time Heinlein wrote, that name hadn't stuck yet) who decides to finish his education on the G.I. Bill. That is until he finds out that Congress hasn't approved the funding, leaving him stuck in Europe. He decides to spend some time in France in a town where going around in the buff is common and fully accepted by everyone. On the beach one day, he sees a stunningly beautiful woman who he falls instantly in love with though he fails to do something silly like catch her name or introduce himself. The next day he is torn between trying to find this beautiful woman or taking advantage of his ticket in the Irish Sweepstakes.
Upon finding his ticket is a fake, he returns to town and tries to find the girl. But to no luck. He sees an ad various papers he reads, looking for a hero and since it applies to him--all except the part about being handsome, he says--he decides to follow up on it before returning to the United States.
And lo and behold, the naked girl from the beach is the one who placed the ad. To find him. I'm not joking on that one. Gordon calls her Star and she says she needs a hero to accompany her and a dwarf on a dangerous journey, full of peril to retrieve some object becuase...well, she doesn't actually tell him at this point.
It's at this point (and this is only the first third at best of the novel) that the book begins to quickly derail. As I said before, Oscar is clearly a Heinlein stand-in and it's only moments before Star is desparately in love with him. Why I'm not sure, since the guy is a manipulative, controlling man who threatens to keep her in line by spanking her if the need arises. Star, who apparently hasn't been around any men lately, finds this incredibly sexy and falls deeper and deeper in love. Eventually, the two get married but not before Star offers to let Oscar sample her first sexually. In fact, upon his proposal, Star offers to jump his bones right there on the Glory Road.
Meanwhile, the trio are on some kind of quest, journeying up the road. At several points, Oscar asks Star what the nature of their quest is, only to have her deflect the question. This gets frustrating because it's clearly Heinlein trying to keep the coming twist a secret as long as possible. But given that Gordon is such a man's man and in complete control over Star, it's hard to believe that he'll just accept the secret and not pursue it further. It's a contradiction in character that is alarmingly apparent and really ruins the middle third of this novel.
And believe me, there's a lot working against the middle third of this book. A journey up the Glory Road should be, well, exciting. Or at least interesting. Instead, it's just...well, there. There is the battle with fire-breathing dinosaurs and the way that Oscar deals with a couple of threats requires such a huge suspension of disbelief that it completely took me out of the story. And that doesn't even begin to cover the long sections of characters sitting around discussing Heinlein's views on women and sexual relationships. If you think the whole Star offering herself right there to Oscar is a bit out there, wait until you get to the part of where the ruler offers his three daughters to Oscar. In many ways, it's a preview of the later Heinlein obsession with the idea that monogomy goes against the basic urges and insticts of mankind. And that men, if the right kind of man mind you, should be able to have sex with whoever and whenever possible in order to sow the wild oats and produce more men like him.
Thankfully, the novel finally ends this third and we find out the twist. Star is the Queen of the Multiverses. And Gordon is her husband/consort. The final third of the novel has some more interesting moments, though Heinlein's political idea that the best way to deal with any issue is to leave it alone seems a bit naive at best. It may stem from feelings at the time of writing about the conflict in Vietnam.
The final third tries to look at how Oscar reacts to his new life and what really gives life meaning and purpose. When it gets there, it is interesting and almost enough to redeem the novel. But not quite.
I've read several places that many consider this one of Heinlein's top novels. I can't say I agree. I will admit I've read only a limited amount of Heinlein, but "Glory Road" is precisely one of those novels that exemplifies why I just can't get excited about reading more of his works.
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precisely why some people don't take science-fiction as a literary genre seriously. Covers like this that depict such absurd scenes really can put off the serious intellectuals who look down their nose at sci-fi and can't see the forest for the trees.Then I read the book and the scene on the cover actually happens within the pages of "Glory Road."
Whoops....
I guess that whole "don't judge a book by its cover thing" thing really does apply here.
And here we come to my yearly reading of Heinlein. I participate in a science-fiction and fantasy discussion group and each year our January selection is by Robert Heinlein. Having read "Starship Troopers" last year and missed a discussion on "Stranger in a Strange Land," that leaves a lot of the other "lesser" Heinlein novels on the table for reading and discussion. I tried suggesting a collection of short stories but after hearing this one advertised as young man answers classified ad for hero and has adventures, I have to admit I was kind of intrigued by it. Looking at when it was written by Heinlein, I was hopeful it might be from the period before he became old, pervy and pretty much insane.
Alas, "Glory Road" is a preview of the old, pervy and insane Heinlein to come.
E.C. "Scar" Gordon is your typical, later period Heinlein hero. By that, I mean he's this fantasized version of himself that Heinlein puts into just about all of his later books. Gordon is a man's man, virile, red-blooded, full of opinions and completely attractive to every woman he encounters. Women can't resist him becuase...umm....well, if you figure that one out you let me know. Gordon is the veteran of an unnamed war in Asia (clearly the Vietnam war, though at the time Heinlein wrote, that name hadn't stuck yet) who decides to finish his education on the G.I. Bill. That is until he finds out that Congress hasn't approved the funding, leaving him stuck in Europe. He decides to spend some time in France in a town where going around in the buff is common and fully accepted by everyone. On the beach one day, he sees a stunningly beautiful woman who he falls instantly in love with though he fails to do something silly like catch her name or introduce himself. The next day he is torn between trying to find this beautiful woman or taking advantage of his ticket in the Irish Sweepstakes.
Upon finding his ticket is a fake, he returns to town and tries to find the girl. But to no luck. He sees an ad various papers he reads, looking for a hero and since it applies to him--all except the part about being handsome, he says--he decides to follow up on it before returning to the United States.
And lo and behold, the naked girl from the beach is the one who placed the ad. To find him. I'm not joking on that one. Gordon calls her Star and she says she needs a hero to accompany her and a dwarf on a dangerous journey, full of peril to retrieve some object becuase...well, she doesn't actually tell him at this point.
It's at this point (and this is only the first third at best of the novel) that the book begins to quickly derail. As I said before, Oscar is clearly a Heinlein stand-in and it's only moments before Star is desparately in love with him. Why I'm not sure, since the guy is a manipulative, controlling man who threatens to keep her in line by spanking her if the need arises. Star, who apparently hasn't been around any men lately, finds this incredibly sexy and falls deeper and deeper in love. Eventually, the two get married but not before Star offers to let Oscar sample her first sexually. In fact, upon his proposal, Star offers to jump his bones right there on the Glory Road.
Meanwhile, the trio are on some kind of quest, journeying up the road. At several points, Oscar asks Star what the nature of their quest is, only to have her deflect the question. This gets frustrating because it's clearly Heinlein trying to keep the coming twist a secret as long as possible. But given that Gordon is such a man's man and in complete control over Star, it's hard to believe that he'll just accept the secret and not pursue it further. It's a contradiction in character that is alarmingly apparent and really ruins the middle third of this novel.
And believe me, there's a lot working against the middle third of this book. A journey up the Glory Road should be, well, exciting. Or at least interesting. Instead, it's just...well, there. There is the battle with fire-breathing dinosaurs and the way that Oscar deals with a couple of threats requires such a huge suspension of disbelief that it completely took me out of the story. And that doesn't even begin to cover the long sections of characters sitting around discussing Heinlein's views on women and sexual relationships. If you think the whole Star offering herself right there to Oscar is a bit out there, wait until you get to the part of where the ruler offers his three daughters to Oscar. In many ways, it's a preview of the later Heinlein obsession with the idea that monogomy goes against the basic urges and insticts of mankind. And that men, if the right kind of man mind you, should be able to have sex with whoever and whenever possible in order to sow the wild oats and produce more men like him.
Thankfully, the novel finally ends this third and we find out the twist. Star is the Queen of the Multiverses. And Gordon is her husband/consort. The final third of the novel has some more interesting moments, though Heinlein's political idea that the best way to deal with any issue is to leave it alone seems a bit naive at best. It may stem from feelings at the time of writing about the conflict in Vietnam.
The final third tries to look at how Oscar reacts to his new life and what really gives life meaning and purpose. When it gets there, it is interesting and almost enough to redeem the novel. But not quite.
I've read several places that many consider this one of Heinlein's top novels. I can't say I agree. I will admit I've read only a limited amount of Heinlein, but "Glory Road" is precisely one of those novels that exemplifies why I just can't get excited about reading more of his works.
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LibraryThing member wildbill
As a teenager I read all of Robert Heinlein that I could find. I still have a few favorites that I enjoy rereading as escapist fiction. They are not great literature but they are entertaining stories. This book is a very good action adventure with less than the usual dose of philosophy that
The hero of the book is a Vietnam vet vintage 1965 by the name of E. C. Gordon who is living on the cheap in the south of France when he locks his eyes on the most beautiful women he has ever seen. He was on a nude beach at the time and she looked him over just as carefully as he looked at her. He was so dumb struck he didn't even ask her name before she dives into the Mediterranean and swims out of his life.
One week later there is an ad in the International Herald Tribune personals that begins "Are You a coward?" When he gets his mail there is an envelope containing the same ad. After the beginning line the ad goes on to say cowards need not apply they are seeking a hero. He doesn't consider himself a hero but out of curiosity he goes to the office listed in the ad. He is met by an older man with pinkish skin and frizzy white hair named Rufo. He is shown into a medical office where he meets a tall beauty in a medical smock who is the beauty he thought he would never see again.
It turns out that she is seeking a hero to recover the Egg of the Phoenix and has picked Gordon whom she names Oscar to go with the scar on his face he acquired in the jungle. He gives her the name Star and they begin their quest by travelling to the world of Nevia using an interstellar gate standing in a pentagram drawn by Star. On Nevia Oscar destroys the Igli, a biologically manufactured creature who is invulnerable, by feeding him to himself until he disappears. He and Star then jump over his sword repeating a romantic couplet and are married.
They travel to various worlds dealing with monsters worthy of Edgar Rice Burroughs, they even fight real dragons. Finally they reach the place where the Egg of the Phoenix is being held. Oscar has a lengthy sword fight with the Eater of the Souls who has the appearance of a seventeenth century swordsman with a talent for verse. Oscar is very busy trying to stay alive until next he knows he is being shaken awake by Star and has the Egg cradled in his arms. At this point Rufo tells him that Star is the Empress of the Twenty Universes and Rufo's grandmother.
They travel to Star's home where she settles in to her Empress work which includes being imprinted by the memories of her predecessors contained in the Egg. Oscar makes a very poor house pet and finally at Star's advice says au revoir and goes back to Earth. He spends enough time there to realize you can't go home again and contacts Rufo to go back on the Glory Road again.
It was an action packed adventure and Oscar was an exciting action hero just below the level of John Carter. Heinlein does get a little pedantic at times but what bothered me was his streak of misogyny. At one point in the story Star calls Oscar down for doing something very stupid and he has a fit and says you will never talk like that to me again. For a good part of the book after that she constantly refers to him is milord. I got through the book but that detracted from my enjoyment to say the least. Next time I will read a John Carter on Mars and deal with Burroughs foibles.
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Heinlein usually throws in.The hero of the book is a Vietnam vet vintage 1965 by the name of E. C. Gordon who is living on the cheap in the south of France when he locks his eyes on the most beautiful women he has ever seen. He was on a nude beach at the time and she looked him over just as carefully as he looked at her. He was so dumb struck he didn't even ask her name before she dives into the Mediterranean and swims out of his life.
One week later there is an ad in the International Herald Tribune personals that begins "Are You a coward?" When he gets his mail there is an envelope containing the same ad. After the beginning line the ad goes on to say cowards need not apply they are seeking a hero. He doesn't consider himself a hero but out of curiosity he goes to the office listed in the ad. He is met by an older man with pinkish skin and frizzy white hair named Rufo. He is shown into a medical office where he meets a tall beauty in a medical smock who is the beauty he thought he would never see again.
It turns out that she is seeking a hero to recover the Egg of the Phoenix and has picked Gordon whom she names Oscar to go with the scar on his face he acquired in the jungle. He gives her the name Star and they begin their quest by travelling to the world of Nevia using an interstellar gate standing in a pentagram drawn by Star. On Nevia Oscar destroys the Igli, a biologically manufactured creature who is invulnerable, by feeding him to himself until he disappears. He and Star then jump over his sword repeating a romantic couplet and are married.
They travel to various worlds dealing with monsters worthy of Edgar Rice Burroughs, they even fight real dragons. Finally they reach the place where the Egg of the Phoenix is being held. Oscar has a lengthy sword fight with the Eater of the Souls who has the appearance of a seventeenth century swordsman with a talent for verse. Oscar is very busy trying to stay alive until next he knows he is being shaken awake by Star and has the Egg cradled in his arms. At this point Rufo tells him that Star is the Empress of the Twenty Universes and Rufo's grandmother.
They travel to Star's home where she settles in to her Empress work which includes being imprinted by the memories of her predecessors contained in the Egg. Oscar makes a very poor house pet and finally at Star's advice says au revoir and goes back to Earth. He spends enough time there to realize you can't go home again and contacts Rufo to go back on the Glory Road again.
It was an action packed adventure and Oscar was an exciting action hero just below the level of John Carter. Heinlein does get a little pedantic at times but what bothered me was his streak of misogyny. At one point in the story Star calls Oscar down for doing something very stupid and he has a fit and says you will never talk like that to me again. For a good part of the book after that she constantly refers to him is milord. I got through the book but that detracted from my enjoyment to say the least. Next time I will read a John Carter on Mars and deal with Burroughs foibles.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
Glory Road is about the closest Heinlein ever came to writing fantasy--but Heinlein being Heinlein, it's more a bland of sword and sorcery and straight science fiction--alternate universe travel to a reality where American ex-soldier Gordon gets to play knight to a fair princess. It's mostly fun, a
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fast-paced adventure, with plenty of leavening humor. And hey, there's a quest! And a dragon! And a dwarf squire! What's not to love? Other than the dopey hero-narrator whose dopier princess thinks being threatened with a spanking is swoon-worthy? Show Less
LibraryThing member Karlstar
This is a combination of science fiction and fantasy, though technically it is science fiction. Either way, it is an excellent adventure story. Its not complicated, pretentious or involved, but it will keep your interest the whole way.
LibraryThing member thomasJamo
This book is a lot different than most Heinlein books. It's more fantasy than it is Sci-Fi, but he does a great job with it. It's a short read, but I really enjoyed it. It's a fast-paced adventure. There is something for everybody in this book. It's a lot of fun and it's worth checking out.
LibraryThing member joeteo1
The multiuniverse travel that Heinlein explores more extensively in later novels including "The Number of the Beast" is introduced in this book on a more superficial level. Witchcraft and science are entangled in the plot of this story with interesting effects. The action is fast paced but it does
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end about two thirds into the book and fizzles out in a rather anti climatic ending. Show Less
LibraryThing member EmScape
Glory Road is Heinlein’s homage to Edgar Rice Burroughs: a tale of an American solider seduced by a fair princess into taking on all manner of alien and fantastical foes. Included, of course, are many dissertations on what’s wrong with America, and Earth in general, not the least of which
I’m pretty sure I liked this book better the first time I read it. The best part is what comes after the adventure is won. What happens to an unemployed hero? What does he do to occupy his time? I know what I’d do, but then, I’m no hero.
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is-are taxes. Heinlein’s hero, like all Heinlein heroes is a fair decent guy who is brave, willing to learn, a staunch self-preservationist, and always threatening to beat his woman. The heroine this time is a lady who is strong, wise and independent in every way except that she becomes meak in the face of her hero’s preening, self-assured, ill-informed, confrontational attitude. The squire Rufo is the best, a bastion of common-sense, full of engaging anecdotes, and a generally pleasant take-it-as-it-comes demeanor. I’m pretty sure I liked this book better the first time I read it. The best part is what comes after the adventure is won. What happens to an unemployed hero? What does he do to occupy his time? I know what I’d do, but then, I’m no hero.
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LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
Heinlein's second best Book. "Starship Troopers" is his best. (and not just for the Shower scene!) But it is a good critique of the Dunsany-Cabell-Burroughs school of Fantasy. Any good genre can take a through trashing satire, and this is it. if the publication date was 1963, why did I read it
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Sept. 28th, 1962? Show Less
LibraryThing member Jean_Sexton
It has been years since I last read this book and I worried that it wouldn't hold up to the warm fuzzy feeling I had after reading it back then.
This time I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but it is certainly a product of the mid 1960s.This science fantasy (fantasy with trappings of science fiction)
About two-thirds of the book is the adventure. The last part is what happens after the adventure ends and Oscar Gordon, Hero, has a life to lead. As an adult, I found this section quite interesting.
I think if you like fantasy, you'll like this book, if you keep in mind its history.
This time I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but it is certainly a product of the mid 1960s.This science fantasy (fantasy with trappings of science fiction)
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was obviously written for a male audience. However as is typical of Heinlein, the female lead, Star, is super competent and perfectly capable of doing what she needs to in order to accomplish her goals.About two-thirds of the book is the adventure. The last part is what happens after the adventure ends and Oscar Gordon, Hero, has a life to lead. As an adult, I found this section quite interesting.
I think if you like fantasy, you'll like this book, if you keep in mind its history.
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LibraryThing member bradgers
not his best, but very satisfying, and not too much of the politics.
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
Spunky and implausible Heinlein that mixes sci-fi and fantasy. Ignore Heinlein's take on the modern day and enjoy the first-person story - a story that is fun, if particularly PC.
LibraryThing member JudithProctor
This is one of the weakest of Heinlein's books. It's more fantasy than SF, in spite of trying to trying to claim that 'magic' is simply science in a universe with different physical rules.
I also found Star's willingness to submit to Oscar's wishes a little off-putting. Yes, she may be manipulating
It's partly a product of the time when it was written. Star may well count as a strong female character for fantasy novels back in 1963 (after all, she is an incredibly powerful political figure)
I also found Star's willingness to submit to Oscar's wishes a little off-putting. Yes, she may be manipulating
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him, but it still feels more like male fantasy.It's partly a product of the time when it was written. Star may well count as a strong female character for fantasy novels back in 1963 (after all, she is an incredibly powerful political figure)
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LibraryThing member NateGreen
One of my favorite Heinleins. Tongue-in-cheek adventure with excellent writing and story-telling. The ending, though, is slightly sub-par, but still an excellent book.
LibraryThing member moopet
I'm revising my rating of this. For some reason when I first added it I was using particularly rosy eyewear.
I like Heinlein. I do. I just think I like his ideas better than his writing - the only Heinlein I've enjoyed all the way through were his more young-adult books, like Podkayne or Have
Glory Road is a frustrating read. All his characters are perfect, or perfectly bad. You can guarantee that if someone walks onto the page and they're not perfect, then within five minutes you'll discover that they are, actually, perfect. It was just hidden by your prejudice about them being, say, a beautiful woman, who must be ditzy. But no! Turns out she's a superhuman genius too. This is fine given the time in which a lot of his books were written, but he doesn't half harp on about it. The same scenario plays out dozens of times. We get it. We don't need it.
The story is wish-fulfilment fantasy, barely disguised as SF, with wasted chapters on issues irrelevant to the plot which might have served as character development if the characters had anything to develop.
This book fits in well with things like Stranger in a Strange Land and Number of the Beast as being far too long, and far too boring. This time round, I didn't make it all the way through.
I like Heinlein. I do. I just think I like his ideas better than his writing - the only Heinlein I've enjoyed all the way through were his more young-adult books, like Podkayne or Have
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Spacesuit Will Travel.Glory Road is a frustrating read. All his characters are perfect, or perfectly bad. You can guarantee that if someone walks onto the page and they're not perfect, then within five minutes you'll discover that they are, actually, perfect. It was just hidden by your prejudice about them being, say, a beautiful woman, who must be ditzy. But no! Turns out she's a superhuman genius too. This is fine given the time in which a lot of his books were written, but he doesn't half harp on about it. The same scenario plays out dozens of times. We get it. We don't need it.
The story is wish-fulfilment fantasy, barely disguised as SF, with wasted chapters on issues irrelevant to the plot which might have served as character development if the characters had anything to develop.
This book fits in well with things like Stranger in a Strange Land and Number of the Beast as being far too long, and far too boring. This time round, I didn't make it all the way through.
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LibraryThing member danschu63
First Heinlein book I read (at age 13, around 1976.) Hooked me good.
LibraryThing member Patentnonsense
Great fun, especially for the Vietnam generation.
LibraryThing member Kat_Hooper
Robert A. Heinlein is best known for his science fiction, of course, but he did write some fantasy, too. Glory Road is a science fantasy story which was originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1963 and published as a novel later that year. Glory Road was nominated for,
Evelyn Cyril Gordon, known by his army buddies as ??Scar,� has finally been sent home from Southeast Asia after too many tours of duty. After wandering aimlessly for a while, hoping the G.I. bill will cover some educational expenses, and lamenting about taxes (a favorite theme of Heinlein�?s) he reads a personal advertisement in a newspaper:
ARE YOU A COWARD? This is not for you. We badly need a brave man. He must be 23 to 25 years old, in perfect health, at least six feet tall, weigh about 190 pounds, fluent English, with some French, proficient in all weapons, some knowledge of engineering and mathematics essential, willing to travel, no family or emotional ties, indomitably courageous and handsome of face and figure. Permanent employment, very high pay, glorious adventure, great danger.
Except for the coward part, it fits him perfectly and, therefore, makes him curious. When he answers the ad, he meets a beautiful woman who calls herself Star and decides to call him Oscar. Then he sets out on a grand adventure and becomes a hero.
Up until Oscar answered the ad, I was enjoying his story, but as soon as Glory Road turned into a fantasy novel, it spiraled downward fast. Oscar has been hired by Star, who turns out to be the empress of the universe, to help her recover the Egg of the Phoenix. There�?s a sidekick named Rufo, and together they fight monsters and complete the tasks needed to get the Egg. All the while, Star simpers and calls Oscar �?my hero� and all the other women he meets (including a mother and her two young daughters) try to get him into bed (at the same time). Meanwhile, there is much commentary about Star�?s perky breasts, how she needs to be spanked (even though she�?s the empress of the universe), and other titillating nonsense. Not only is this section of the novel silly and trite and an embarrassing exhibition of Heinlein�?s fetishes, but it�?s actually boring, too.
After the quest is over, Oscar and Star are in love. (Why? Because sheÂ??s beautiful and heÂ??s strong.) ItÂ??s not all happily ever after, though, because Oscar discovers that being a retired hero is not good for a manÂ??s morale. I actually really liked some of this part of the story in which Heinlein muses on the importance of meaningful work for a man. He also displays his love for classic literature, making mention of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, James Branch Cabell, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Talbot Mundy, and others. Unfortunately, he also decides to bring in some of his views on politics and sexual relationships, and the whole section goes on far too long.
I listened to Blackstone Audio�?s recent production of Glory Road which was narrated by actor Bronson Pinchot. I have greatly enjoyed Mr. Pinchot�?s performances in the past, but this was not one of my favorites. Most of the problem is the novel of course �? for example, Heinlein has Star simpering, so Pinchot simpers when he reads those lines. I couldn�?t stand it, but that was how it was written. I also didn�?t like the French accent he used for Rufo because it was sometimes hard to understand, and I was annoyed at the way he drew out the words �?She� and �?Her� into three-syllable words when Rufo spoke of Star. Notably, the parts of his performance that I didn�?t like were also the parts of the story that I didn�?t like. Pinchot�?s interpretation of Glory Road was probably accurate and my disappointment probably reflects my distaste for the novel.
I feel the need to mention that many of HeinleinÂ??s fans love Glory Road, and it was nominated for a Hugo Award. This is one of those cases where it probably comes down to personal taste. I liked the first and last third of Glory Road, but absolutely hated the middle section. I imagine that many readers will feel differently. If youÂ??re a Heinlein fan, and especially if you like his later work, you should give Glory Road a try.
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but did not win, a Hugo Award for Best Novel.Evelyn Cyril Gordon, known by his army buddies as ??Scar,� has finally been sent home from Southeast Asia after too many tours of duty. After wandering aimlessly for a while, hoping the G.I. bill will cover some educational expenses, and lamenting about taxes (a favorite theme of Heinlein�?s) he reads a personal advertisement in a newspaper:
ARE YOU A COWARD? This is not for you. We badly need a brave man. He must be 23 to 25 years old, in perfect health, at least six feet tall, weigh about 190 pounds, fluent English, with some French, proficient in all weapons, some knowledge of engineering and mathematics essential, willing to travel, no family or emotional ties, indomitably courageous and handsome of face and figure. Permanent employment, very high pay, glorious adventure, great danger.
Except for the coward part, it fits him perfectly and, therefore, makes him curious. When he answers the ad, he meets a beautiful woman who calls herself Star and decides to call him Oscar. Then he sets out on a grand adventure and becomes a hero.
Up until Oscar answered the ad, I was enjoying his story, but as soon as Glory Road turned into a fantasy novel, it spiraled downward fast. Oscar has been hired by Star, who turns out to be the empress of the universe, to help her recover the Egg of the Phoenix. There�?s a sidekick named Rufo, and together they fight monsters and complete the tasks needed to get the Egg. All the while, Star simpers and calls Oscar �?my hero� and all the other women he meets (including a mother and her two young daughters) try to get him into bed (at the same time). Meanwhile, there is much commentary about Star�?s perky breasts, how she needs to be spanked (even though she�?s the empress of the universe), and other titillating nonsense. Not only is this section of the novel silly and trite and an embarrassing exhibition of Heinlein�?s fetishes, but it�?s actually boring, too.
After the quest is over, Oscar and Star are in love. (Why? Because sheÂ??s beautiful and heÂ??s strong.) ItÂ??s not all happily ever after, though, because Oscar discovers that being a retired hero is not good for a manÂ??s morale. I actually really liked some of this part of the story in which Heinlein muses on the importance of meaningful work for a man. He also displays his love for classic literature, making mention of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, James Branch Cabell, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Talbot Mundy, and others. Unfortunately, he also decides to bring in some of his views on politics and sexual relationships, and the whole section goes on far too long.
I listened to Blackstone Audio�?s recent production of Glory Road which was narrated by actor Bronson Pinchot. I have greatly enjoyed Mr. Pinchot�?s performances in the past, but this was not one of my favorites. Most of the problem is the novel of course �? for example, Heinlein has Star simpering, so Pinchot simpers when he reads those lines. I couldn�?t stand it, but that was how it was written. I also didn�?t like the French accent he used for Rufo because it was sometimes hard to understand, and I was annoyed at the way he drew out the words �?She� and �?Her� into three-syllable words when Rufo spoke of Star. Notably, the parts of his performance that I didn�?t like were also the parts of the story that I didn�?t like. Pinchot�?s interpretation of Glory Road was probably accurate and my disappointment probably reflects my distaste for the novel.
I feel the need to mention that many of HeinleinÂ??s fans love Glory Road, and it was nominated for a Hugo Award. This is one of those cases where it probably comes down to personal taste. I liked the first and last third of Glory Road, but absolutely hated the middle section. I imagine that many readers will feel differently. If youÂ??re a Heinlein fan, and especially if you like his later work, you should give Glory Road a try.
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LibraryThing member szarka
Heinlein gets in touch with his inner pulp sword & sorcery adventure writer. but, really, who else would have his hero get in trouble for not sleeping with his host's daughter?
LibraryThing member moopet
I'm revising my rating of this. For some reason when I first added it I was using particularly rosy eyewear.
I like Heinlein. I do. I just think I like his ideas better than his writing - the only Heinlein I've enjoyed all the way through were his more young-adult books, like Podkayne or Have
Glory Road is a frustrating read. All his characters are perfect, or perfectly bad. You can guarantee that if someone walks onto the page and they're not perfect, then within five minutes you'll discover that they are, actually, perfect. It was just hidden by your prejudice about them being, say, a beautiful woman, who must be ditzy. But no! Turns out she's a superhuman genius too. This is fine given the time in which a lot of his books were written, but he doesn't half harp on about it. The same scenario plays out dozens of times. We get it. We don't need it.
The story is wish-fulfilment fantasy, barely disguised as SF, with wasted chapters on issues irrelevant to the plot which might have served as character development if the characters had anything to develop.
This book fits in well with things like Stranger in a Strange Land and Number of the Beast as being far too long, and far too boring. This time round, I didn't make it all the way through.
I like Heinlein. I do. I just think I like his ideas better than his writing - the only Heinlein I've enjoyed all the way through were his more young-adult books, like Podkayne or Have
Show More
Spacesuit Will Travel.Glory Road is a frustrating read. All his characters are perfect, or perfectly bad. You can guarantee that if someone walks onto the page and they're not perfect, then within five minutes you'll discover that they are, actually, perfect. It was just hidden by your prejudice about them being, say, a beautiful woman, who must be ditzy. But no! Turns out she's a superhuman genius too. This is fine given the time in which a lot of his books were written, but he doesn't half harp on about it. The same scenario plays out dozens of times. We get it. We don't need it.
The story is wish-fulfilment fantasy, barely disguised as SF, with wasted chapters on issues irrelevant to the plot which might have served as character development if the characters had anything to develop.
This book fits in well with things like Stranger in a Strange Land and Number of the Beast as being far too long, and far too boring. This time round, I didn't make it all the way through.
Show Less
LibraryThing member joeldinda
When this book was published I was in high school. I remember doing an oral book report on it, which was weird. I reported the book as a fun read, but "vulgar." I'm pretty sure I read an excerpt to the class. It must have been carefully selected.
That opinion still holds, more or less, though the
That opinion still holds, more or less, though the
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word I'd use now would be sexualized--there's no actual sex in the book. More important, though, is that I now find the book's philosophizing both shallow and annoying. It's a lot like RAH was trying to sell us something we really didn't/don't want to buy. Show Less
LibraryThing member jerry-book
This is my favorite Robert Heinlein book. It is great fun.
jerry-book
jerry-book
LibraryThing member wenestvedt
A fun tale by Heinlein, for once eschewing (mostly) spaceships for swords-and-sorcery. It eventually reveals his usual weird worldview and attitudes toward women, but it's an enjoyable read if you can set that aside. (Bought at the lamented Avenue Victor Hugo book store in Boston's Back Bay.)
LibraryThing member DebraParmley
I could not finish this book. Got to page 144 and said enough
LibraryThing member john.cooper
I continue the self-flagellating task of rereading the less notable works of Robert Heinlein, an author who was important to me in my teens, as he was to every serious fan of science fiction in the mid-20th century. This one's a sword-and-sorcery fantasy, dressed up at the end with sufficient
In an amusing review at Tor.com, Alan Brown points out that getting to the adventure part of the book seems interminable: In a book of less than 300 pages, it starts with "33 pages of Oscar [the hero] complaining about his life" and "31 pages of Oscar preparing for his quest" before wrapping up at the end with over 60 pages of what you might call post-adventurum depression. To that I might add that probably a quarter of the book, if you were to total it, consists of various characters, but mostly our under-25 hero, spouting off about taxes, liberty (narrowly defined), patriotism, sexual mores, and manners in the there-can-be-no-disagreement voice of the 56-year-old author.
Now, the adventure parts are very entertaining. And the characters are vivid, even though they conform, from start to end, to the very limited palette of stock characters that Heinlein kept in his toolbox. (And as with most of Heinlein's books, including his most famous, your ability to stomach his ideas about the differing natures of the two human species, homo vir and homo femina, probably depends on your age.) But like Alan Brown, as an older reader I find I lack the patience I had when I was younger. I'm less willing to put up with narrative slack, less willing to be lectured, and less willing to put myself uncomplainingly in the hands of an author whose great powers of imagination did not extend to include points of view greatly different from his own.
If you are a less easily irritated reader, there is a lot in this book you'll find fun. (For me, the best part was the surprise final guardian of the treasure: he goes unnamed in the book, but it's pretty clear who he is, and although his presence is never explained, it's so wild and unexpected that I was laughing aloud in delight.) But for the issues that I found annoying, I wouldn't recommend it. In fact, I increasingly wonder whether Heinlein's limitations are simply so great from a modern perspective that he can no longer effectively speak to today's readers. There is simply so much else out there.
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revelations to qualify it as SF, however dubiously.In an amusing review at Tor.com, Alan Brown points out that getting to the adventure part of the book seems interminable: In a book of less than 300 pages, it starts with "33 pages of Oscar [the hero] complaining about his life" and "31 pages of Oscar preparing for his quest" before wrapping up at the end with over 60 pages of what you might call post-adventurum depression. To that I might add that probably a quarter of the book, if you were to total it, consists of various characters, but mostly our under-25 hero, spouting off about taxes, liberty (narrowly defined), patriotism, sexual mores, and manners in the there-can-be-no-disagreement voice of the 56-year-old author.
Now, the adventure parts are very entertaining. And the characters are vivid, even though they conform, from start to end, to the very limited palette of stock characters that Heinlein kept in his toolbox. (And as with most of Heinlein's books, including his most famous, your ability to stomach his ideas about the differing natures of the two human species, homo vir and homo femina, probably depends on your age.) But like Alan Brown, as an older reader I find I lack the patience I had when I was younger. I'm less willing to put up with narrative slack, less willing to be lectured, and less willing to put myself uncomplainingly in the hands of an author whose great powers of imagination did not extend to include points of view greatly different from his own.
If you are a less easily irritated reader, there is a lot in this book you'll find fun. (For me, the best part was the surprise final guardian of the treasure: he goes unnamed in the book, but it's pretty clear who he is, and although his presence is never explained, it's so wild and unexpected that I was laughing aloud in delight.) But for the issues that I found annoying, I wouldn't recommend it. In fact, I increasingly wonder whether Heinlein's limitations are simply so great from a modern perspective that he can no longer effectively speak to today's readers. There is simply so much else out there.
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Subjects
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 1964)
Locus All-Time Best (Fantasy Novel — 24 — 1998)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1963
Physical description
288 p.; 8.2 inches
ISBN
1135720126 / 9781135720124