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Stranger in a Strange Land

By: Robert A. Heinlein
Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
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Publisher's summary

Stranger in a Strange Land is the epic saga of an earthling, Valentine Michael Smith, born and educated on Mars, who arrives on our planet with “psi” powers—telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, telekinesis, teleportation, pyrolysis, and the ability to take control of the minds of others—and complete innocence regarding the mores of man.

After his tutelage under a surrogate father figure, Valentine begins his transformation into a kind of messiah. His exceptional abilities lead him to become many things to many people: freak, scam artist, media commodity, searcher, free love pioneer, neon evangelist, and martyr.

Heinlein won his second Hugo Award for this novel, sometimes called his “divine comedy” and often called his masterpiece. This Blackstone audiobook is the “as published” version, read from an Ace paperback published in 1987. The full, uncut text was not made available until 1991.

©1961 by Robert A. Heinlein (P)1996 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

  • Hugo Award, 1962

Featured Article: The Most Stellar Sci-Fi Authors of All Time


Science fiction is a genre as diverse as you can imagine. There are stories that take place in deep space, often depicting teams exploring or running away from something; stories that focus on life at the most cellular level, such as a pandemic tale; and stories that take place in times that feel similar to our own. Depicting themes of existentialism, philosophy, hubris, and personal and historical trauma, sci-fi has a cadre of topics and moods.

What listeners say about Stranger in a Strange Land

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Oldies are goldies

Read this book as a teenager. Just an incredible impression on me. Then read it again in my 20s and 30s. With the advent of modern technologies and Ebooks, heard it for the first time in my 40s. And each time I heard the story, I had a completely different understanding. I remember the open love part from my more youthful days, then the struggle of a group of hippies with hope in my middle years, and now, I really got to know the characters and who Mike really was and the other characters around him.

I continue to believe this is my favorite story; because truth be told, I sometimes feel like a misunderstood alien who's about to change the world!

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One of the best books I have ever listened to

This may be the greatest book I have ever read/listened to. I will always feel a special fondness for Stranger in a Strange Land

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What a performance!!

If you could sum up Stranger in a Strange Land in three words, what would they be?

Thoughtful, intellectual, engaging

What did you like best about this story?

Great exploration of ideas and philosophy.. what it means to be human

Which character – as performed by Christopher Hurt – was your favorite?

Jubal Harshaw

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

Hands down the best performance of any audiobook ive listened to on audible. It made the book very enjoyable.

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May You Never Thirst

This is the most famous Science Fiction novel ever written for a reason. It is superb! Eminently satisfying it left me hungry for a sequel. At least we will see Jubal appear again in later stories featuring Lazarus Long. Mr Hurt delivered a talented performance with rich characterization of the players. I look foreard to hearing his next story.

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Clearly a classic

I've only read this book a dozen times, but it was even more fun to listen to it. The narrator did a marvelous job matching the voices with the person.

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Historic sci-fi novel

It is a bit dated when it comes to its ideas, but it’s still a joy to read/listen to. The narrator does a fantastic job here. Highly recommended.

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Second half reads like a fan fiction of the first

It starts out as an interesting discussion on nature vs nurture but it loses focus in the second half. Not to mention a lot of casual sexism throughout.
Also Heinlein's self insert character wore on me pretty quickly which is a shame because he has a ton of lines.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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A dated but powerful story

A great novel that follows Valentine Smith, a man born on mars. The book preaches free love, but states hard exceptions. And provides great critical insights on American culture.

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Great Read

I really liked the story but it did go off the rails at the end.

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One of my favorite SF aurhors & titles

Great story, good narration (although voice was a bit robotic).

here are five more words

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