The 210 page book was a breeze to read, but I fear it was not one of my favorites. I can imagine the influence it may have over someone younger; as one of the main themes impresses that there is always something bigger out there. In this case, the ‘out there’ is the all encompassing universe outside of a massive ship. The entire population of the craft is lead to believe that the ship is all there is. It is effectively, their whole world. ’Jordan’ is their new God and their ’scriptures’ speak of throwing anyone different into their only power supply; the converter.
Have a big head? Guess what? You’re going into the fires head first. I think the overall distressing part of the book is that despite the technology to travel to other worlds, something happens upon this ship that sends humanity back into the days of Sparta. Back in the times of phalanx fighting and crimson capes, if your infant was not strong enough or presented any physical defect, they were thrown off a cliff to their deaths. While this may propagate the more viable DNA in the long run, that horrid act goes against the moral fibers of our core existence; known more commonly as compassion for our fellow men and women. Some of those “muties” as Heinlein calls them in the book, do escape and form their own disjointed and ostracised community in the ships lower gravitational levels. Yet he writes them as cannibals who steal children, the occasional grazing cow and even butcher themselves to stay alive.
I was also concerned that Heinlein chose to kill off some of the more important muties at the end of the book, and while their deaths could be considered valiant, he never impressed upon the readers that these were a people capable of civilization. They were exactly what the ‘normals’ had described; a grotesque menagerie incapable of organization or civility.
In previous stories, Heinlein has drawn rich women characters as well, and I’m sorry to say that in “Orphans of the Sky”, along with the backward thinking of his “civilized” society, women are deemed less important and even knocked around when they step out of line. It illustrates a point that as complex as humans are; Heinlein’s future vision in the face of adversity is backwards and scary.
All in all, it’s not a bad book, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I did others such as “Starship Troopers” or “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.”
Oh, and whomever drew the cover for the Baen book, needs to be thrown into the converter as well. He obviously didn’t read the book when he was coloring between the lines.
