The Number of the Beast

By: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne, Emily Durante, Malcolm Hillgartner, Sean Runnette, Richard Powers, Tom Weiner

Length: 21 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

The wickedest, most wonderful science-fiction story ever created in our - or any - time. Anything can begin at a party in California - and everything does in this bold masterwork by a grand master of science fiction.

When four supremely sensual and unspeakably cerebral humans - two male, two female - find themselves under attack from aliens who want their awesome quantum breakthrough, they take to the skies - and zoom into the cosmos on a rocket roller-coaster ride of adventure, danger, ecstasy, and peril.

Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) was the dominant science-fiction writer of the modern era, a writer whose influence on the field was immense. He won science fiction's Hugo Award for best novel four times.

©1980 Robert A. Heinlein (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“One of the grand masters of science fiction.” (Wall Street Journal)

“The most influential science fiction writer of all time!” (Locus)

“[A story] about two men and two women in a time-machine safari through this and other universes. But describing The Number of the Beast thus is like saying Moby-Dick is about a one-legged guy trying to catch a fish.” (National Review)

Great story!

What made the experience of listening to The Number of the Beast the most enjoyable?

Remembering the story and how it connects to the bigger story of Laz and his family

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hilda Corners-Burroughs.
She kicked Lazarus' ass

Which scene was your favorite?

The meeting with Dora and her crew

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The devil is in the details

Audio version of an old favorite not disappointing

This has always been one of my favorite Heinlein books. The philosophy and mathematics discussed in it are very interesting and many issues are discussed about human nature and human motivation. I love the different timelines he outlines in the book and often get a chuckle out of the "what if" factor in the differences between the timelines.

The different characters having different readers gave the book a personal feel that just reading the book does not. Each character is filled out by their narrator and the interaction between the characters really comes alive.

Definitely recommend this book to other Heinlein fans.

I hated 4 performers reading ...

So, there are 4 performers and I didn't like the performance at all in this format. I would choose a single performer any day. That said, I loved listening to a favored book from my childhood after so many years. A simpler time with simpler messages. No modern politics, outdated references, old fashioned protagonists and idiom. I love it so much all over again with the new perspective of modern me 45 years later. Dated and timeless at the same time. Odd how I missed the story holes and chunkiness of the plot so long ago. The nostalgia makes up for the shortcomings.

Time travel, alternate universes, and more!

What made the experience of listening to The Number of the Beast the most enjoyable?

As is typical of a Heinlein yarn, this one has free-thinking, lusty characters who engage in far-ranging philosophical discussions, occasional battles, and ties to much of his earlier work. I remember reading it when it was new, and while some parts are holdovers from the early 1970s, it aged well and any disparity was swept away by the end.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I am not generally a fan of books with multiple narrators, and while the narration was certainly well done and in character with the way the book was written, I believe I would have enjoyed the experience more with a single gifted narrator such as Dick Hill.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This was not a book that could be absorbed in one sitting. There were parts that simply induce sleep.

Any additional comments?

Heinlein managed to pay homage to many of his contemporaries and inspirations in this book. By that point, I was tired of listening to it, and simply wanted it to end.

Glad it’s over

I love Heinlein but this is his worst and it’s so long. I finished it because I paid for it but it was pure torture. The performance was good too bad the story was horrible.

One of my most favorite of Robert's books!

Heinlein is my absolute favorite author and a true Grand Master of the Science Fiction genre.

Super writing

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Don't have many friends and of them I am the only Sci Fi buff. They are more interested in fantasy like shape shifters and Vamps.

What other book might you compare The Number of the Beast to and why?

Stranger in a Strange Land comes to mind. Great character developement. Could have stretched the ending out a bit more. Heinlein brought together many of his heroes from other stories that could have gone on longer to develop relationships between characters.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Narrator didn't skip over words like I am prone to.

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

I didn't laugh or cry, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and will again.

This book is all over the place. Intentionally.

This book suffers from too many narrators. Instead of getting a specific narrator to voice each main character, this audio recording gives me six different narrators switching off chapters doing all the voices. I would have enjoyed the book more if it was done with only one narrator.
Heinlein certainly packs a lot of every sci-fi plot and thought imaginable into this book. It's long and very entertaining.

Great Book, good cast of narration too.

This is definitely one of my favorite Heinlein novels. The deeper you take your reading with this one, the more you get out of it. But then again, that’s life right?

Long falls apart at the end

The voice actors were terrible. It was hard to follow the characters. Story was good but fell apart at the end, To long, drug out. The last section made very little sense with the story line.