Orphans of the Sky Audiobook By Robert A. Heinlein cover art

Orphans of the Sky

The Future History Series

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Orphans of the Sky

By: Robert A. Heinlein
Narrated by: Graham Halstead
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Lost in space.

Hugh had been taught that, according to the ancient sacred writings, the Ship was on a voyage to faraway Centaurus. But he also understood this was just allegory for a voyage to spiritual perfection. Indeed, how could the Ship move, since its miles and miles of metal corridors were all there was of creation? Science knew that the Ship was all the universe, and as long as the sacred Converter was fed, the lights would continue to glow, the air would flow, and the Creator's Plan would be fulfilled.

Of course, there were the muties, grotesquely deformed parodies of humans, who lurked in the upper reaches of the Ship, where gravity was weaker. Were they evil incarnate, or merely a divine check on the population, keeping humanity from expanding past the capacity of the Ship to support?

Then Hugh was captured by the muties and met their leader (or leaders) - Joe-Jim, with two heads on one body - and learned the true nature of the Ship and its mission between the stars. But could he make his people believe him before it was too late? Could he make them believe that he must be allowed to fly the Ship?

©1951 Robert A. Heinlein (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera
Fascinating Premise • Engaging Plot • Clear Narration • Thought-provoking Concepts • Imaginative Worldbuilding
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A good enough story, but not one of Hienlien's masterpieces written during, and after the mid fifties.

One of the early stories, and good enough.

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Written in 1941, this story is still a great piece of futuristic science fiction. I first read this in 1975, and it was a treat to revisit.

80 years old and still great

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Something of sci-fi thriller, a story of a spaceship where the inhabitants don't realize the nature of their existence. Orphans has an interesting but familiar premise: what happens to society when it loses (or ignores) knowledge and basic subsistence is the immediate goal. I would have liked the story to have been fleshed out a bit more, perhaps more on the ship's past and the ending feels abrupt, as if Heinlein decided to simply write "The End" to conclude his novel

Orphans is brilliant in another way, however. Heinlein's exploration of human nature is troubling, emphasizing what people will sink to when their point of view is constrained by their environment. He's prescient in describing the current phenomenon of people rejecting facts, even those "in their face," when the facts don't agree with their preconceived notions and what they want to believe (flat earth society, "stolen" elections, etc.). Despite being one of the older Heinlein works that I've read, it feels the least dated

The narrator is good, voicing actions and different characters in appropriate ways. His job is made easier by the story lacking virtually any spoken female lines.

Recommended

Scary in it's prescience

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The story has the scientific background of a Flash Gordon serial, but the social aspects of a generation ship are interesting, if guided by the 1930's.
The book was very well presented by Graham Halstead.

A self-aware relic of the older space adventures

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It's interesting to hear what the writers thought things were possibly going to be like in the future. Making up the science as they went along. I love hearing their novice ideas, and how incredibly close they guess sometimes.

Nice easy science fiction from before space flight

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An idea groundbreaker in its time, a believable society, good science and understandable motivations.
And uh, ahem.. far from feminist at the very end.

Definitive but dated

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Orphans of the Sky is a novella by Robert A Heinlein. The tale opens with a generation ship that has experienced a past traumatic event. The current situation is a bifurcated population of the original crew and 'muties' who are physically deformed existing in different parts of the ship. The original 'crew' has degenerated into peasant stock the feeds the crew, officers who run things, and 'scientists' who have contrived a theological basis of their universe. They have lost the concept of the ship as a transport medium and regard the ship as just their world and nothing else. A young curious apprentice tries to progress their perspective of the universe and unite the two factions.

Heinlein creates a realistic devolutionary scenario where an apparent accident with the nuclear reactors has led to the current state of affairs. Science texts are reinterpreted in terms of religious metaphors and the human reluctance to evolve perspectives in light of new information abounds. Although a few intrepid explorers make it off the ship to complete their journey, the bulk persist in their beliefs in the finite nature of their world.

The narration is reasonable with acceptable character distinction and brisk pacing.

Deprecated generation ship

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The story was well written and performed; but the way it portrayed the women was really odd and frankly very off putting. Otherwise, very good story.

Great story; Weirdly Misogynistic

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Another great book from the master , a must have for a fan. makes you think and dream.

As always a master storyteller.

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Originally written in 1941 (per narrator), Heinlein had little to inform his story of humans lost in space. published before either NASA or Star Trek, some of the concepts, attitude and language are unsurprisingly dated. Disclaimer aside, it's a unique journey through space that stands on it's own, even in 2021.

On one enormous ship, Heinlein masterfully creates 2 types of cultures that evolved over countless generations: workers and "muties." This encapsulated space colony was built to last in perpetuity and could continue seemingly indefinitely with little maintenance. It also contained farmland and animals. The people's lives were deeply impacted by the entropy of fading knowledge and skills.

Some readers might judge this book for it's treatment of women and narrow world views. And yet, after so many generations of seclusion, it seems likely that some very different ways of living would develop.
Any number of odd perspectives could arise in isolation. Heinlein seemed to pick just a few colorful and historical oddities to drop on the reader to catch one off-guard.

This reader would have enjoyed a few more details at the end, but it isn't so book. It was a fun read, and the last section answered many of my 21st century questions. Highly recommended for sci-fi and Heinlein fans!
Hope you find this review helpful!

holds up well over time

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