Methuselah's Children

By: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

After the fall of the American Ayatollahs as foretold in Stranger in a Strange Land and chronicled in Revolt in 2100, the United States of America at last fulfills the promise inherent in its first Revolution: for the first time in human history there is a nation with Liberty and Justice for All. No one may seize or harm the person or property of another, or invade his privacy, or force him to do his bidding. Americans are fiercely proud of their re-won liberties and the blood it cost them; nothing could make them forswear those truths they hold self-evident. Nothing except the promise of immortality…

©1958 Robert A. Heinlein (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Classic Heinlein

This Heinlein Classic is some of his best work, in my opinion. It spends a healthy dose of time on his greatest strengths (and a theme in many classic hard sci fi works) of exploring "what if" questions about the universe, both from a social perspective, and from a scientific perspective.

Methuselah's Children

I read this growing up, and found it interesting to revisit. Impressions:

1. This is absolutely not a criticism of Heinlein, for obvious reasons, but these days the reason that the Howard families need to leave Earth comes across as what Roget Ebert used a call an idiot plot, that is, a plot that only works if someone acts like an idiot. Genetics has come a long way since 1940.

2. Some clever writing and clever ideas. No surprises there.

3. One of the things I liked best in early Heinlein was his attempts to transcend his culture, and culture in general. He'd seen a huge amount of technological and social change since he was a boy, and it opened his eyes, just as change, and contact with other cultures, led to the Enlightenment discovery that you could talk about religion and culture in the abstract.

You can see Heinlein constantly stretching himself. For example, he alludes to the Crusades in passing as a bunch of ignorant savages (Europeans) bringing down a much more sophisticated culture. Here, and particularly in later books, the results are uneven; he tries to get past the idea of race, for example, but doesn't really understand a lot of things. The women in this book are much more first-class citizens than they tended to be in 1940, but when it comes down to it Heinlein tends to talk about humankind in terms of men.

Regardless, Heinlein deserves full points for what he's trying to do, and, personally, I'm very grateful for having this particular influence growing up.

4. This extends to the aliens the Howard families come across. Psychologically and culturally they're fundamentally different from us apes. With a few exceptions, human beings are constitutionally unable to live as they do, and ultimately find it dangerous to be around them. But these aliens are also shown as welcoming and as having advanced, viable cultures, and there's no sense that they're hostile or at fault, or wrong, for that matter.

5. A lot of sentence start with words like "Huh?" Makes sense to me. If you record people actually talking, that's the way it tends to go. You can't actually write the way people speak, as Sinclair Lewis found, but this is a nice snappy way of giving a little of the flavor of it.

6. Heinlein isn't particularly convincing about some of the science here, but it's just there to move the story along anyway. He does seem to have had at least some contact with general relativity, and is much less naive about some issues, like simultaneity, than most science fiction writers are to this day.


As for the narration, it gets you from Point A to Point B without too much trouble. Lazarus is given a somewhat stagy country accent, but it sort of works. The Australian accents are silly, but there isn't much of that anyway. Mostly the narration is a little flat, but the book doesn't call for much more than that.

Excellent & Entertaining

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

Yes, I had find it be great listening too.

Which character – as performed by MacLeod Andrews – was your favorite?

Lazarus Long

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

Well, none really. All of it was good. Couldn't put it down.

still a great listen after all these years -

This authors insight into human interactions and behaviors are only surpassed by his ability to spin a story tou can't put down

Lazarus Long Origin Story

Here is the foundation story for Lazarus Long, main character and secondary lead in several later novels. If you want the whole story of Lazarus Long this is the novel you need to start with. Followed by Time Enough for Love, The Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, To Sail Beyond the Sunset, and bit mentions of participation in several other novels pop up in random locations.
The audible version of the book is solid, the narrator is pleasant and the quality is very good.

Great start to a great series.

I love all the books that feature Lazarus Long. This book, is a great intro to the anti-hero that is the Senior of the Howard Families. Solid SciFi with all the cleaver wit Heinlein is known for. It's a must read if you like any of his works.

Timeless space travel

I enjoyed the story about turmoil within a specific​ group of individuals, the Howard families, and the larger society after the second American Revolution.

The best

One of the masters best, touch on so many subjects of the human psychology. Show that we are animals but we don’t give in to anything!

Another great yarn by RAH!

Loved it. A great bridge to explain events only alluded to in Time Enough for Love and To Sail Beyond the Sunset.

The master never dissapoints

This is one of those stories you can read over and over, and always find some new tidbit that makes you think. Heinlein was a master at making his characters human and believeable. Crusty old Lazarus is my favorite science fiction character, and i say that the day Spock actually did pass away. Spock is my other favorite, as I grew up with him and captain Kirk. This book, along with time enough for love are some of the best writing Heinlein ever did. i actually listened to this entire book during the course of a single day. Once started, you cannot tear yourself away. The narrator was also excellent on this one. Time well spent.