The Door into Summer

By: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Dan Davis, an electronics engineer, had finally made the invention of a lifetime: a household robot that could do almost anything. Wild success was within reach, but then Dan's life was ruined. In a plot to steal his business, his greedy partner and greedier fiancée tricked him into taking the "long sleep": suspended animation for 30 years.

When he awoke in the far different world of A.D. 2000, he made an amazing discovery. And suddenly Dan had the means to travel back in time and get his revenge.

Once again, the author of Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers displays his genius. The Door into Summer proves why Robert Heinlein's books have sold more than 50 million copies while winning countless awards and earning him the title of Grand Master of Science Fiction.

Don't miss our other Robert Heinlein audiobooks.

©2003 the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust; 1956 Fantasy House; 1957, 1984 Robert A. Heinlein (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Heinlein is] one of the grandmasters of science fiction." ( Wall Street Journal)
"Heinlein...has the ability to see technologies just around the bend. That, combined with his outstanding skill as a writer and engineer-inventor, produces books that are often years ahead of their time." ( Philadelphia Inquirer)
"[Heinlein is] not only America's premier writer of speculative fiction but the greatest writer of such fiction in the world. He remains today as a sort of trademark for all that is finest in American imaginative fiction." (Stephen King)

A classic---early Heinlein is SUCH fun.

Where does The Door into Summer rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

We listen to an audiobook on our yearly drive to the beach -- the books have to hold the interest of two adults, a teenage boy and a pre-teen girl, and be appropriate content-wise for our youngest listener, who has a soft heart (When a character she loved died in the hunger games we had to pull over, she cried so hard!) ....this book fit the bill perfectly. Entertaining for all of us, adventurous enough for him, romantic enough for her....

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Door into Summer?

Pete's revenge!

Good story telling

If you could sum up The Door into Summer in three words, what would they be?

Our alternate paths

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character Danny

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

No. The reader of this story was not as dynamic as some of the others that I've listened to. It took some time to begin to enjoy his reading ways.

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

A path re-created

Any additional comments?

Give this the 100 page rule....it gets a little slow in the beginning but hang in there.

Too much about cats

If you want a book about a cat, this is it. there's a little bit of time travel, it's not bad, but I don't plan to cover it again.

Be patient as story developss

Good read. Story takes its time developing, so just have patience. Heinlein’s guesses about the future (1970 & 2001), are amusing and better than average for the 1950s.

A TRUE CLASSIC

Absolutely the only criticism I have is the few mispronunciations. Narrative, voices, and story are otherwise flawless

Very good Heinlein

You now need to take this as an alternate world story, except for a few of the earlier gadgets the main character invents (robot vacuum cleaner...) most of the "future" inventions etc haven't aged well (plus the future is 1970 and 2001).

But it's a very good story, with an interesting plot and likeable characters, and nasty enough villains. This has always been among my favorites, maybe partly because its smaller scale, it's only about one man trying to deal with a crime where he was the victim, and one of the obstacles is time.

And you just have to love Petronius Arbiter.

now I know where the roomba came from

This is the first time I've read this story, although I'm a fan of other Heinlein works. If you like this, I recommend The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Being an engineer, I can appreciate his coverage of "the art of the possible". Sure, the technology is dated and you have to deliberately ignore the sexist attitudes (if you can), but given that the story is from the 50's it hold up pretty well.

Heinlein the magical predictor. Now I got some of

I deeply I deeply enjoying re-reading this wonderful Heinlein book after 40 plus years. It provides a wonderful Adventure as well as a sense of hopefulness during Dark Times.

Heinlein at his best

this is one of my favorite stories and I'm very glad that it is immortalized in audio

A light romp

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

Fun if you want something light and entertaining for a long drive. A gratuitous nudist colony, but otherwise a fairly tight plot.

What about Patrick Lawlor???s performance did you like?

Perfect for the main character.