Rah RAH

Many years ago, I discovered that I had lost my taste for most science fiction. A huge collection amounting to thousands of books was sitting largely unread--and in fact, it was becoming a burden just to keep up with them. So I ended up selling off or giving away that collection in the early 1990s.

But as with any purging of a collection, there are always a few items that you realize you'd like to have back. So it was with the works of Robert A. Heinlein.

Few authors have influenced my worldview more than Heinlein. At his best, he surpassed all other SF writers. At his worst, he surpassed most other SF writers. He was a brilliant storyteller, a fascinating political theorist, and provocative social commentator, and an influential thinker.

For years, I let that desire to re-collect the Heinlein books fester... I'd forget about it for a while, then I'd get the urge to read Glory Road or Puppet Masters or some other work of classic Heinlein, and I'd remember that I no longer had them.

So when I heard that the Heinlein Society was assembling a limited edition leatherbound set of the complete works or Robert A. Heinlein, I was intrigued. For several months, I went back and forth. The price was a bit steep as a lump sum... but it really wasn't bad at all on a per-book basis, and it would enable me to get the complete works in a form endorsed and supported by his estate.

I finally gave in a couple of months ago and sent in my payment; I got the first set of 23 books a few weeks ago, and the remainder of the series should be published within the next year.

If, like me, you consider Heinlein one of the field's finest, you might want to check out the collection here. Tell 'em I sent you!