Conbini reviewed Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein
Review of 'Glory Road' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
When I finished "Glory Road" I put the book down with mixed feelings.
Short plot description: after returning from an unnamed war our Hero meets a Beautiful Woman who needs Help to recover a Stolen Item. Thus begins a Quest which spans several worlds and universes...
My thoughts:
The world-building was good, the characters were typical Heinlein, the fantasy-setting-with scientific-explanations is good, the nowadays cliche quest story does the job.
Of course we also get Heinlein's view of the world and how things should be and that's the part where my mixed feelings come in.
I think the mix between action, talking and philosophy is wrong, there is too much talking between the several stages of the quest and sometimes it feels as if Heinlein beats me on the head with a very heavy "clue-bat" regarding moral right and wrong. Not very subtle, it feels forced and not as a …
When I finished "Glory Road" I put the book down with mixed feelings.
Short plot description: after returning from an unnamed war our Hero meets a Beautiful Woman who needs Help to recover a Stolen Item. Thus begins a Quest which spans several worlds and universes...
My thoughts:
The world-building was good, the characters were typical Heinlein, the fantasy-setting-with scientific-explanations is good, the nowadays cliche quest story does the job.
Of course we also get Heinlein's view of the world and how things should be and that's the part where my mixed feelings come in.
I think the mix between action, talking and philosophy is wrong, there is too much talking between the several stages of the quest and sometimes it feels as if Heinlein beats me on the head with a very heavy "clue-bat" regarding moral right and wrong. Not very subtle, it feels forced and not as a natural part of the story.
The last 40 pages (after the quest is over) are a long philosiphical musing without anything happening (in terms of action) at all.
That said, the action sequences are quite good, especially the last quest part with the final fight (a fencing duel) is outstanding and are worth the read.
My advice: if you are new to Heinlein start with his more known books like "Starship Troopers", "The Puppet Masters", "The Moon is a harsh Mistress" or "Stranger in a Strange Land" and keep this one for later.
