jeriendhal: (Default)
[personal profile] jeriendhal
Just wondering if anyone has ever attempted to put together a "Future History" of RAH's young adult books, in the manner that his adult short stories comprised a very loose timeline? I realize for the most part that the books operate as self-contained worlds, but several of them might be able to be connected without breaking them too badly.

Hmm, after attempting to remember as many of them as I can...

Time Period: Early Space Exploration

Events of Rocketship Galileo occur (alternatively, use the events of Destination Moon instead.
-First landing and survey of the Lunar surface.

-First orbital space stations built.

-First colonies on the Moon established.

Events of Have Spacesuit, Will Travel occur.
-Mankind makes their First Contact with extra-Solar races (the Five Galaxies), and barely escapes destruction. Events are quickly hushed up by the government.

-First landings on Mars. Adult Martians are contacted.

-First Landings on Venus. One of the Venusian races (from Between Planets) are contacted.

Time Period: The Colonization of the Solar System

Events of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress occur (this is a stretch, but Hazel Stone was in both this novel and TRS. OTOH I'd rather not drag in the whole ungodly mess that began with The Number of the Beast and The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.)

-Moon is used as a dumping ground for Earth's prison populations. After approximitely forty years, a popular revolution creates a Libertarian government on the moon, based strongly on pre-Continental Congress United States law.

-The Main Computer of Luna develops sentience, but is damaged and rendered non-senient again during the events of the Revolution.

Events of Farmer in the Sky occur.

-Ganymede is colonized. First artifacts of dead Ganymedian race are found.

-Political upheaval of the Lunar Revolution results in the establishment of the United Nations Space Patrol (UNSP). Among it's more contraversial functions is to maintain a series of orbital nuclear platforms, ready to rain nuclear death on any nation who violates another's national borders.

-Triplantary Lines established, originally concentrating on traffic between Earth-Mars-Venus, but quickly expanding to cover the entire Solar system.

Events of Red Planet occur.

-A brief attempt to create a corporate state on Mars is foiled. During the conflict, the adolescent form of the Martians is discovered to be a cute and fuzzy animal previously thought non-sentient.

Events of The Rolling Stones occur.

-Telepathy among identical twins begins to gain serious attention in the scientific establishment.

Events of Space Cadet occur.

-Discovery of artifacts from a tenth Solar planet, which had occupied the space between Mars and Jupiter where the asteroid belt now exists.

-Discovery of a second race on Venus.


Time Period: The Breakout

-Most Solar colonies are now self-sufficient. There is regular trade between them and Mother Earth, though tensions begin to rise. The Space Patrol is increasingly seen as an enforcement arm of Earth's will, rather than a protector of all the Solar system's worlds.

-High efficiency anti-matter "Torchships" are developed.

-Many instances of the "Twin Telepathy" phenomenon are recorded.

Beginning events of Time For the Stars occur.

-Several torchships are launched towards the stars, seeking habitable worlds for colonization and exploration. Many ships are lost, but the results are considered worth it. Sporadic communication with Earth is maintained through the Twin Telepathy phenomenon.

Events of Between Planets occur.

-There is a brief war between Earth and Venus, which ends when the Venusian colony demonstrates it's new weapon: A means of creating and controlling artificial gravity waves.

-Spinoff discoveries of from artificial gravity research result in the first practical FTL drives. One of the first priorities in the new wave of FTL exploration is the search and recovery of the original Torchships.

-Several extra-Solar colonies are established. Last of the Torchships is found and brought home. Peaceful relations with a variety of extra-terristrials is established.

Time Period: The Terran Federation

Events of Citizen of the Galaxy occur
-Rightful heir to the Triplantary Lines family chairmanship is kidnapped and presumed dead, only to be discovered living as a slave on a politically backward world, and then surviving for some time as a crewman on a independant trading ship.

-The Spacers Guild, originally a protective union of space workers, become increasingly hidebound and insular.

Events of Starman's Son occur.

-Open contact with the Five Galaxies occurs?

Date: 2005-04-28 09:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hornedhopper.livejournal.com
Interesting. I never thought about it as a Heinlein Universe.

_Have Spacesuit, Will Travel_ was and still is one of my alltime favorite SF books. I want today just as much as when I was 10 to meet the Mother Thing.

And I'd love to have my own Willis. In fact, I named a white finch I had in college Willis.

Date: 2005-04-29 12:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jeriendhal.livejournal.com
Thanks. I'm going to have to work on this a bit though. IT's been pointed out to me that the FTL drives in Starman Jones, Time for the Stars, and Citizen of the Galxy are completely different. I think I'm going to have to bone up on the books again and re-write this.

Parole

Date: 2005-04-29 03:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] p-o-u-n-c-e-r.livejournal.com
Mother Thing accepted the additional job (first being "cop on our beat") of Earth's parole officer as a condition of letting Humanity continue to exist. She should be watching. I find it as difficult to believe she or her successors would allow Earthers and Humans to endanger our siblings on Mars and Venus as it is to imagine a good mother allowing one offspring to endanger another sibling.

Re: Parole

Date: 2005-04-29 05:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jeriendhal.livejournal.com
Point. I'll probably play it safe and leave Have Spacesuit Will Travel and Between Planets out of the second draft. They can appear in the Heinlein-2 and -3 Quantums.

September 2025

S M T W T F S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930    

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jan. 24th, 2026 01:48 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios