Revolt in 2100

By: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer

Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

After the fall of the American Ayatollahs (as foretold in Stranger in a Strange Land) there is a Second American Revolution; for the first time in human history there is a land with Liberty and Justice for All.

©1953 Robert Heinlein (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Heinlein's Future History

Robert A Heinlein had a long and extensive future history mapped out in his mind. Many of his short stories and some of his novels fit into this future history. There are three book-length collections of his future history short stories. The first is "The Man Who Sold the Moon." It is not yet available from Audible. "The Green Hills of Earth" is next and it is my favorite of the three. It is available from Audible. The third is this book, "Revolt in 2100." It contains a novella called "If This Goes On" and two short stories: "Coventry" and "Misfit." It is not necessary to read the stories in order to enjoy them.

The first story in this book, "If This Goes On" takes place in a future America which is under the rule of a theocracy headed by a corrupt prophet. Think of Medieval Europe as controlled by the corrupt Catholic church and then add in modern snooping and surveillance techniques and wait for your blood to curdle. Let's hear it for separation of church and state!

The second story, "Coventry," is about a different way of handling lawbreakers in the future. The third story deals with the building of a space station halfway between Earth and Mars.

These stories were written in 1939 and 1940, so in some ways they are dated. However, Heinlein's ideas and philosophy seem to me to be still quite relevant. I had not reread this book in a number of years, and as I was listening to it, I realized how much Heinlein's ideas (which I first encountered as a teenager) have shaped my entire life.

I recommend both this book and Heinlein's works in general to you.

Classic Heinlein

This book fills in some crucial parts of Heinleins overall timeline. He refers back to the events of this book in several others and it's interesting to fill in the gaps. Otherwise it's classic Heinlein with interesting characters and moral conundrums. Similar to Starship Troopers the main character gets sucked into a larger movement because of a woman and ends up transforming into something he never expected. Great book overall.

Too Much Piety is More Harmful Then Too Little

IF THIS GOES ON
The book starts with this 6 and a half hour novella. To me it is a great study in religion and what can happen if you don't have separation of Church and State. John Lyle is a lovable innocent character. At West Point he got top marks in piety and he was sinfully proud to be in the holiest regiment of the Prophet's host. As the story starts he is not without sin for he had looked with longing on a consecrated female. Until then the only female he had known was his mother.

OPERATION CHUCKLEHEAD

As, in most cases, a female starts the downfall in his religion. At first we are amazed in how innocent he is, and how strong he is in his faith, and then how quickly he falls when a woman is involved. Some may believe this to be too fast, but I can still remember as a youth, the affect my first love had on me.

I CAN NOT STAND CHEERFULNESS BEFORE BREAKFAST

The first eight chapters are real good, thought provoking and pure Heinlein. The next seven chapters are mostly shoot him up and the rebellion just going through the motions. I also thought the story lost some of it's continuity in these chapters.

COVENTRY
This hour long story, takes place years after the rebellion and we see the results. The individual that Jon Krakauer wrote about in "Into the Wild" should have read this, it might have saved his life.

Misfit
This hour long story is mostly the nuts and bolts of living in space and or on an asteroid. Those who like the mechanics of space travel will enjoy this.

All in all this was not bad, but I still like The Green Hills of Earth, Starship Troopers, Starman Jones, Double Star and Have Spacesuit Will Travel better.

Classic Heinlein

It's a bit dated of course but nonetheless a classic of "what if".... and "if this goes on" rings as true today as it did upon the original publication.

Terrible audio quality

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No. The audio volume seems to go up and down, making for a very frustrating listening experience, especially in an environment with some background noise, such as a car.

What did you like best about this story?

Heinlein's style

Would you be willing to try another one of Eric Michael Summerer’s performances?

Not unless I can sample it first. His narration was fine, but the quality of the audio file was not.

Could you see Revolt in 2100 being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Please no.

Any additional comments?

Can't believe this made it out into the wild like this

3 short stories

If this goes on
Coventry
Misfits
all pretty good
apart of the future history series
nominated for a Hugo

Small problem ....

Revolt in 2100 ended abruptly. Not sure is the total end.
What then followed was a short story untitled about Andrew Libby, another of Heinlrin’s characters in other books.
I’m confused. Could you explain to me please. Only bothering to write this as Audible is a huge favorite of mine. Please respond.

wild ride!

Heinlein at his best. The novel and the two short stories are all worth the read for the adventures and the people you get to know who are who living them.

Did I miss a few chapters?

I feel like I missed something. There were two large jumps or non sequiturs in the story. I enjoyed following the adventures of John Lyle and the cabal staging a revolt against the government of the prophet. Then the story jumped to A group of exiles in Coventry and I did not see the connection. In the last episode we are watching a group of space miners. Again I did not see the connection. It felt like I was listening to three different stories tacked together. I will have to go back and check that I didn't skip chapters.

Overthrowing theocratic authoritarian government

Robert A Heinlein's Revolt in 2100 is a collection consisting of a short novel followed by two short stories. The novel offers a theocratic authoritarian government and describes the transition of an initially loyal and reverent bodyguard of the prophet as he gradually becomes part of the resistance as the corrupt nature of the ruling class is revealed. The two short stories describe life following the successful revolution and offer two distinct views on the pitfalls of any form of government as well as the lack of government.

While released as a collection in 50's, Heinlein wrote these tales in the late 30's to early 40's and reflect the global sour mood in the run up to WWII. While the different styles and approaches to government seem distinct, they all share the common feature of caring little for the public and effect processes and rituals of convenience and maintenance of the ruling class. Heinlein seems to have concluded that humans can always be depended upon for self-interest.

The narration is reasonable with decent character distinction and quick pacing.

Nice story

I enjoyed this one. As well as being a nice story it was reasonably thought provoking too, by presenting various viewpoints on ways societies could run etc.

A good author

Read as a of 16 years then in Audible as a 55 years to me the best science fiction book written went on to be a author myself because of this book