My last few Heinlein reviews have all contained caveats, not least that
the reviewed books have all been dated in various ways. This one I can
unequivocally recommend–not least because it’s what I call a “small”
story.

I class plots as “big stories” and “small stories”.
The Lord of the Rings is the canonical big story–the fate of
the entire world is at stake. I like epics as well as anyone else, but
they are problematic. When you’re writing a big story, the tale you’re
telling is by definition the most important thing going on in your world.
At best, that spoils your world as a setting for smaller stories; at
worst, it trivializes your story if the tale you’re telling isn’t good
enough to carry the weight. And then, of course, you get plot
inflation–somehow your big story has to be grander and more explosive
and have a more memorable ending than the next guy’s.

The big story is a natural temptation, of course–having invented an
entire world, one naturally wants to use all of it. And so I find
that in the F&SF genre, small stories, stories about events that are
important to those involved but which do not shake the world as a whole,
are not only more interesting, but also better written than the big
stories. The author of a small story has learned some restraint.

Such is the case here. Humanity is colonizing the galaxy, spreading from
planet to planet by means of teleportation gates. Pioneering on newly
discovered planets is extremely hazardous–no one knows all of the
dangers until much later. And so, in order to qualify as a colonist, one
must have completed a detailed course in survival. The course culminates
in a survival test: each individual is dropped onto a wild planet, they
know not where, and must somehow survive until retrieved some days later.
It’s not easy–if you survive, you pass the test. If you fail, you’re
dead.

This book is the story of one particular survival test, a test that goes
grossly awry. The only book I can compare it with is
Lord of the Flies–except to say that Heinlein is much more
optimistic about the human capability to adapt and survive and maintain
civility than William Golding. As a descendant of pioneers
myself, I think Heinlein’s more likely to be correct.

Anyway, it’s good stuff–not earthshaking, but a good solid novel. If you
like Heinlein’s style, go buy it.