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Robert A. Heinlein Books In Order

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Publication Order of Future History/Heinlein Timeline Books

Misfit (1939)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Methuselah's Children (1941)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Man Who Sold the Moon (1950)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Green Hills of Earth (1951)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Revolt in 2100 (1953)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Methuselah's Children (With: ) (1958)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Orphans of the Sky (1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Past Through Tomorrow (1967)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of World As Myth Books

Time Enough for Love (1973)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Number of the Beast (1980)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls (1985)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
To Sail Beyond the Sunset (1987)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Heinlein's Juveniles Books

Rocket Ship Galileo (1947)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Space Cadet (1948)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Red Planet (1949)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Farmer in the Sky / Satellite Scout (1950)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Between Planets / Planets in Combat (1951)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Rolling Stones / Tramp Space Ship / Space Family Stone (1952)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Starman Jones (1953)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Star Beast / Star Lummox (1954)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Tunnel in the Sky (1955)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Time for the Stars (1956)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Citizen of the Galaxy (1957)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Have Space Suit—Will Travel (1958)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Sixth Column / The Day After Tomorrow (As: Anson MacDonald) (1941)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Beyond This Horizon (As: Anson MacDonald) (1948)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Puppet Masters (1951)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Double Star (1956)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Door into Summer (1957)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Starship Troopers / Starship Soldier (1959)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Podkayne of Mars (1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Glory Road (1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Farnham's Freehold (1964)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
I Will Fear No Evil (1970)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Friday (1982)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Job (1984)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
For Us, the Living (2003)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Variable Star (With: Spider Robinson) (2006)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Pursuit of the Pankera (2020)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Universe (1941)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Destination Moon (1950)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Year of the Jackpot (1952)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
'All You Zombies--' (1959)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Chapbooks

The Notebooks of Lazarus Long (1975)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Life Line (1939)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Ordeal in Space (1948)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Waldo & Magic, Inc. (1950)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Assignment in Eternity (1953)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag (1959)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Menace from Earth (1959)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Lost Legacy (1960)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Three by Heinlein / Heinlein Triad (1965)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein (1972)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Best of Robert Heinlein, 1947-1959 (1973)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein (1986)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Requiem: Collected Works and Tributes to the Grand Master (With: ) (1991)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Off the Main Sequence (2005)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Outward Bound (2006)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Project Moonbase and Others (2008)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Expanded Universe (1980)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Grumbles from the Grave (1989)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Tramp Royale (1992)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Take Back Your Government (1992)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Collections

The Virginia Edition (46 Volume Collectors Set) (2010)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Schmidt Analog Anthologies Books

with Frank Herbert, Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Silverberg, Hal Clement, , C.L. Moore
Analog's Golden Anniversary Anthology (By:Fredric Brown) (1980)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Analog's Lighter Side (By:) (1982)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Analog's Children Of The Future (By:) (1982)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Analog (By:) (1983)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
War and Peace (By:) (1983)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Aliens from Analog (By:Fredric Brown) (1983)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Analog Writers Choice (By:) (1984)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
From Mind to Mind (By:) (1984)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of The Future at War Books

Thor's Hammer (By:) (1979)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Spear of Mars (By:) (1980)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
ORIONS SWORD (By:) (1980)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Anthologies

Famous Science-Fiction Stories: Adventures in Time and Space(1946)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Tomorrow, the Stars(1952)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction - May 1954 - Vol. 6, No. 5(1954)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
6 Great Short Novels of Science Fiction(1954)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: Ninth Series(1958)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
50 Short Science Fiction Tales(1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Worlds to Come: New Science Fiction Adventures(1967)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Galaxy Science Fiction, October-November 1970(1970)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume II A(1973)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow...(1974)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Other Dimensions(1974)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Rod Serling's Other Worlds(1978)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Fantasy Voyages(1979)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Arbor House Treasury of Modern Science Fiction(1980)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Best of All Possible Worlds(1980)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
There Will Be War(1983)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Analog: Writers' Choice Volume II(1984)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Battlefields Beyond Tomorrow(1987)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
New Destinies Vol. 6: Winter 1988(1988)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
A Separate Star: A Tribute to Rudyard Kipling(1989)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Cats in Space... and Other Places(1992)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Bangs & Whimpers: Stories about The End of The World(1999)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The World Turned Upside Down(2005)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction(2010)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Science Fiction Super Pack #1(2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Red Sky(2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Space Pioneers(2018)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Infinite Stars(2019)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Popularly known as the “Dean of Science Fiction Writers”, science fiction would not have achieved its status as a genre that could stand on its own without Robert A. Heinlein. Along with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein helped usher in the “Golden Age of Science Fiction”, which is a period of time during the late 1930s leading up to the mid 1940s when science fiction gained a large audience and following, and numerous science fiction stories were published. And, rightfully so, it is because of his eclectic works and achievements in the field that he became its first Grand Master in 1974.

Robert Anson Heinlein was born in Butler, Missouri on July 7, 1907. He was the third son of Rex Ivar Heinlein and Bam Lyle Heinlein. Although Missouri was his birthplace, his family only stayed there for a few more months after his birth, before deciding to move to Kansas City where he would be spending most of his youth.

His destiny to become a great science fiction writer seemed apparent from the start, as young Heinlein was always seen in the Kansas City Public Library immersed in books of astronomy and science fiction. He was such a voracious reader of such stories that he declared that he had read all the science fiction stories he could get his hands on by the age of 16. He enjoyed reading books by famous sci-fi and fantasy writers like H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Jules Verne. But he showed particular favoritism towards Olaf Stapledon’s sci-fi romances. ‘

The time that he spent growing up in Kansas City would have a major impact on the type of fiction that he would write later in life. In fact, many of his famous works like “Time Enough For Love” are set in and heavily influenced by his hometown, and he often wrote about its stifling conservative practices in a lot of his novels and short stories.

Equally influential to his writing is his 5-year service in the U.S. Navy after graduating in 1929 with a degree in naval engineering from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It is also around this time that he married Elinor Curry – a union that would prove to be short-lived. Much of his early years of service was spent on board the USS Lexington, where he worked as a radio communications officer. By 1932, he would enter in a second marriage with Leslyn MacDonald, which lasted comparatively longer than his first one. In 1933, he was assigned to the USS Roper, where he became seasick most of the time. It is alleged that this factor is what primarily caused him to contract pulmonary tuberculosis later on. Because of his weakened condition, he was discharged from the Navy in 1934, even though he recovered fully from the disease.

He attended graduate classes for a brief time in UCLA before making his ill-fated decision to try out a career in politics. In 1938, he ran for the California State Assembly but failed utterly in the attempt. With his financial situation dire, he decided to give writing a hand. And this, as his later achievements attest, would prove to be the best decision he ever made.

It didn’t take long for his career to take flight, as in 1939, he was able to have his first story, “Life-Line”, published in the magazine, Astounding Science-Fiction. This would start a flow regular publications in the said magazine then ran by the late-great John W. Campbell, one of the men responsible for the development of science fiction into a serious genre. After a brief “retirement” in 1941, he would continue to be prolific until 1942, after which he immersed himself in naval aviation engineering development because of the war, and wouldn’t start writing again until 1947.

It is from this period on that he would write what would undoubtedly be the sci-fi stories that he is best remembered for. He received his first Hugo Award in 1956 for his story, “Double Star”. After working on an almost decade-long manuscript, “The Heretic”, he shelved it to begin writing “Starship Troopers”, which would inarguably become his most well-known work. Even though the novel was attacked by critics due to its controversial themes, at the time, Starship Troopers would go on to win a Hugo Award in 1960.

He would continue writing even up to the last years of his life. His last work, “To Sail Beyond the Sunset”, was published in 1987 on his birthday. And approximately nine months later, Robert A. Heinlein passed away on May 8, 1988, while taking his regular nap every morning.

Methuselah’s Children

This is the first novel which features Lazarus Long, a character that Heinlein would frequently use in his other novels. These novels are what would later make up the Lazarus Long series. “Metheselah’s Children” initially follows the story of Ira Howard and his ardent quest to prolong the lifespan of humans by supporting grandparents who have exhibited robust longevity and encouraging them to procreate. It is in this process of selective breeding that the “Howard” Families were conceived, with members assuming different identities and faking their demise to keep their lineage clandestine.

Trouble arrives when the new governing faction, The Covenant, becomes suspicious of their evidently long life. It does not take long for it to demand the Families to reveal the secret behind their longevity. Constantly harassed and vilified, Lazarus Long, the oldest member of the Families, suggests they leave Earth. Hijacking a starship, the Families begin their interstellar journey, exploring planet after planet, which contain inhabitants that share equally peculiar characteristics.

The novel won in the category “Best Libertarian Sci-fi Novel Award” at the Prometheus Hall of Fame Awards in 1997.

Time Enough For Love

This is the second novel that follows Lazarus Long, who at the start of the novel is now already considered as the oldest human begin alive. The book is divided into separate novellas which could stand on their own but are interconnected as well by its singular themes of selective breeding and incest. Many of the stories are either recollections of actual experiences that Lazarus had or his deeper meditations on life. The Notebooks of Lazarus Long provide aphorisms, which do not contribute to the narrative but is relavant to the themes of the book if taken as a whole. The book only assumes a linear narrative in the later stories, when Lazarus gains a deeper insight about the value of living.

The book mainly tackles the morality of incest and, as some critics have pointed out, attempts to justify their occurrence. “Time Enough For Love” was nominated for the “Best Novel” category at the 1973 Nebula Awards and was subsequently nominated in the 1974 Locus and Hugo Awards.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Robert A. Heinlein

4 Responses to “Robert A. Heinlein”

  1. Susan Jo Lewis: 1 year ago

    The Covenant is the “constitution” of the new government after the religious-based government of the Prophet, written about in “If This Goes On…” It has nothing to do with the government trying to find the Howards.
    The Howards thought that as under the Covenant everyone is urbane and kind and polite–the greeting and goodbye is “May I do you a service?” –they would be safe in revealing themselves. Turns out they were wrong. Those kind, urbane people go a bit crazy to learn that there are people living to 200 years and older, and they are sure there is a secret the Howards are keeping to themselves.

    Reply
  2. Scott Elsdon: 3 years ago

    To sail beyond the sunset is part of the future history series, after Notebooks. It deals with TIFL from Maureen’s perspective and continues the storey onwards

    Reply
  3. Alex Predoehl: 3 years ago

    I just wanted to look up a book in comparison with his other works. I am re-reading Beyond This Horizon, which I think isn’t one of his best. However, I am more interested in the copyright.

    My copy says: 1942 Street Publications, inc.
    1948 Robert Heinlein

    It is a Signet Publication- but this suggests that the Story was published in 1942 long before the 1948 Book. Is there any interest in charting the original timeline of his stories?

    Reply
    • Susan Jo Lewis: 1 year ago

      I know I am answering a question posed two years ago. There is a timeline of the future history stories in, I believe, The Past Through Tomorrow.

      Reply

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