Glory Road

By: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

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 with 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, 17 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. And she sends him on the adventure of a lifetime.

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.

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.

©1963 Robert A. Heinlein; renewed 1991 by Virginia Heinlein; 2003 by the Robert A. & Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust; Afterword 1979, 1984 by Samuel R. Delany (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A triumph.”( Chicago Tribune)

“ Glory Road maintains a delicacy, a bravura, and a joy that not only are notable, but clearly consign it to his heptology of major SF novels.” (Samuel R. Delany, American author and literary critic)

Great story and performance!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Every time the hero stumbled over a custom or situation which was strange to him, I enjoyed "watching" him decide how to respond and what questions to ask to get enough information to really understand what was happening.

Any additional comments?

Although I've been reading Heinlein for years, I didn't actually remember this story. I truly enjoyed the experience.

brilliant reader

this book is extremely well read and is a very fun story. I recommend it

Classic Heinlein

This is simply one of his older classics. A lot of commentary on a lot of subjects, you may not agree with all of them but cant fault his reasoning fir bringing them up.

Good old school read

it took me back to when I first started to read would love to reread

Glory Revisited

What made the experience of listening to Glory Road the most enjoyable?

I cut my teeth on Heinlein and am revisiting his works. This time I was old enough to catch a number of aspects that I missed the first time around.

If you’ve listened to books by Robert A. Heinlein before, how does this one compare?

Although this book is a bit more toward the fantasy genre than most of his works, he is able to bring a logical, scientific slant to what would otherwise be pure "magic."

What about Bronson Pinchot’s performance did you like?

He had a great ability to shift personae. Loved his accents. He sounds a bit like Matthew McConaughey.

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

They all are..

Any additional comments?

Warning not a feminist read.