One of Heinlein's juvenile series, this is a set of short stories which one might describe more as fantasy than his usual sci-fi. Like the stories in "Waldo & Magic inc.", the headline story features beings from "the other side" and their mysterious influence over Mr. Hoag. "The Man who Travelled in Elephants" is a the story of a travelling salesman's love for his wife, with a very sentimental ending. "-All you Zombies-" messes with your head in a time-travelling story which has similarities with Lister's origins in Red Dwarf. "They" is set in an asylum, in which a paranoid patient gets moments of clarity and true self-awareness. "Our Fair City", is about the influence of the media, and about small-minded people with power. Finally, "He Built a Crooked House" is about an architect that unlocks the secrets of the fourth dimension and builds a tesseract house that bends space. I bought this book because I collect Heinlein; he writes finely crafted science fiction that is truly believable, based on his extrapolations of life in post-war America. I especially like that he is (mostly) logical -he must have had a timeline thoroughly thought out. Things he invents appear consistently throughout his books and his 'aliens' are also coherent. This book however, is from the more far-fetched and fantastical end of the Heinlein spectrum, but no less well-written. Mr. Hoag's story is especially high quality; the characterisation is strong, and the story compelling. Being one of his "juvenile" books, don't expect anything very deep, but it's still thought provoking in parts and well worth a (particularly escapist) read.Read full review
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