Assignment in Eternity

By: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

Robert A. Heinlein is widely and justly regarded as the greatest practitioner of the art of science fiction who has ever lived. Here are two of his greatest short novels:

Gulf, in which the greatest super-spy of them all is revealed as the leader of a league of supermen and women who can’t quite decide what to do with the rest of us. And Lost Legacy, in which it is proved that we are all members of that league - or would be, if we but had eyes to see.

This collection also contains two great stories, a pair of the master’s finest: one on the nature of being, the other on what it means to be a man.

©1981 Robert A. Heinlein (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

“The word that comes to mind for him is essential. As a writer - eloquent, impassioned, technically innovative - he reshaped science fiction in a way that defined it for every writer who followed him.... He was the most significant science fiction writer since H. G. Wells.” (Robert Silverberg)

“He made footsteps big enough for a whole country to follow.... We proceed down a path marked by his ideas. He showed us where the future is.” (Tom Clancy)

You'll like it because you can think...

This is classic Heinlein, spinning one of his classic story-lines...

Heinlein believed that people who read Sci-Fi are a bit more intelligent than the average member of society. He was not a fan of "Readability Formulas" that suggested authors write at a grade level no higher than 7.81 so that the average person could keep up with the information being presented; Rather his opinion seemed to be that if a person is presented with information written at a higher level, they would naturally learn to comprehend at a higher level if that information was presented in such a way as to make the reader WANT to understand it.

Heinlein motivated people to become smarter by writing enjoyable Science Fiction that was not only fun to read, but was also designed to help the reader become more imaginative and well rounded in a variety of subjects. Heinlein didn't just write to provide the reader with a little escapism, he wrote to "teach". He frequently motivated readers by making them feel as if they were a part of a secret club, open only to the more intelligent... "Someone that could think, and therefore learn to think even better". He tried to make the reader feel just a little "special".

The above is also pretty much the basis for his book "Assignment in Eternity". The book starts out as light Sci-Fi, but gradually becomes more in-depth so that the smarter the reader is, the more enjoyment they get from nuances and lessons buried in the story.

"Intelligence" aside, it's a fun read, even if a bit dated (although being a little dated doesn't detract from the story-line)... It's well worth the credit... Besides, who doesn't like being in a secret club? ;)

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

USING LANGUAGE UNUSUAL TO HER AGE AND SEX

WHATS XXXXX XYOUR GAMEX XXXXX
The first time I tried listening to this I did not realize it was four short stories. The first story Gulf, is pretty long and pretty silly. I listened for two hours and deleted it from my player. Later, I found out it was four stories, so I started over. I tried again for over two hours on the first story and ended up skipping to the next story.

ELSEWHEN
This story is better, but not by much. This involves time travel to alternate earths and the different concepts on different societies is interesting. The moral of the story seems to be that you have to believe.

LOST LEGACY
I liked this story, and it seemed to be quite deep. It also seemed a bit liberal for Heinlein, a lot different from the man who wrote Starship Troopers. This group of people try to change the world to make it more peaceful. They use telepathy, immortal god like people and the Boys Scouts. I thought it would make a great comic book.

Jerry Was A Man
This story was excellent. It was a sort of satire on Intelligence, slavery and what it means to be human. It may have been one of the best things I have ever read from RAH.

I am not crazy about the narrator, nothing I can but my finger on, and not bad enough to keep me from enjoying the book, he just ain't my favorite.

14 of 18 people found this review helpful

Love Heinlein, and now Pinchot

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

This book has 3 fun and thought provoking stories that move quickly. Bronson Pinchot does a great job (I also love his Bronson Pinchot Project) bringing the characters to life.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

Yes to Heinlein Fans! Maybe for Others . . . 😱

5 is excellent.
4 is good.
3 is OK.
Heinlein fans will enjoy this, especially considering it was published in 1953 and the short story contents were previously written from 1941 and later.
Thematically the short stories consider intelligence and humanity and occasionally the plot action suffers from overlong rumination.
I am a Heinlein fan and have been since the late 1950's -- however I would consider only a couple of these shorts amount his better caliber of works. 😱

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Classic Science Fiction

This collection of short stories still plays well 60 years after it first hit the shelves. While delivering a look into some of the attitudes and morality from the 1950s, we can see that people have not changed all that much through the passage of time. This one made the miles go by quickly.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Must have for any Heinlein Fan.

If you could sum up Assignment in Eternity in three words, what would they be?

Heinlein Early Years

What did you like best about this story?

The roots to many later novels by the grandmaster. You can see the development of the concepts that run through many of his later works.

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

Awesome Characterization!! I had already feel in love with his narration of Glory Road!! I loved the life he gave to many old favorite characters.

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

I doubt that Hollywood will touch any of these stories as is. Look what they did to Starship Troops and Puppet Masters.

Any additional comments?

I keep hoping that Expanded Universe would be converted to Audio. This was a good additional to the audio library of Heinlein work.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

For Heinlein Fans Only

These are four short tales by Science Fiction Grand Master Robert Heinlein. They all date to early on in his career and do not represent his best work. Jerry Was a Man is perhaps the best story in this collection and, unfortunately, the shorted. It's a satire having to do with genetically altered animals which are exploited as expendable laborers or -- as is the case with an intelligent miniature elephant -- custom-made pets for rich people. The narration is OK, but doesn't add any excitement to the tales. If you have never read any Heinlein, I would recommend The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Double Star or Starship Troopers. Those are much better books and represent the Grand Master at his finest.

8 of 13 people found this review helpful

A series of short stories to make you think

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

I loved tho book, but then I love all Heinlein's work. He has a great style and the issues he addressed in the past still remain.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Its hard to come up with a favourite character as there are so many.

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

NO, but this book is a series of short stories and I didn't want to get up to leave until each story was completed.

Any additional comments?

Its surprising that a book written so long ago has so many themes that are relevant in current society.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Disappointing

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Flesh out stories more. Not so much preaching

Would you recommend Assignment in Eternity to your friends? Why or why not?

No. Not a good read/listen

Which character – as performed by Bronson Pinchot – was your favorite?

none

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

Won't happen!

Any additional comments?

Have been reading Heinlein all my adult life (over 40 years) and this is about the worst story that I have read by him.

I was really excited when I saw a Heinlein story that I had never heard of or read. The experience was very disappointing.

While this was written in the early years it just did not measure up to other stories from that time frame.

4 of 9 people found this review helpful

The Work of a Grand Master

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

I would definitely recommend this audio book to a friend. The story values have held up for more than 6 decades.

What other book might you compare Assignment in Eternity to and why?

Heinlien is a Grand Master because his work stands alone. It can only be "compared" to itself.

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

I have not listened to any other of Bronson Pinchot's performances. I am looking forward to more of them.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful