The Dean of Science Fiction’s First Golden Age—Collected in one Mighty E-volume!

Rightly called the Dean of Science Fiction, Robert A. Heinlein blazed a path to the stars like no other. Here are the original shell-burst masterpieces of the Dean collected together in a mighty fireworks display of amazing ideas, non-stop action, and high-stakes sagas where not only life, but the meaning of life beyond a mere Earthly existence, is always in the balance. These are the very definition of science fiction high adventure—stories that chart humanity’s way on our dangerous, wondrous journey to the far reaches of forever!

Get your sense of wonder on! This best of the best collection includes two novels considered the absolute apogee of the Heinlein young adult masterpieces—plus the origin story for long-running Heinlein favorite character, Lazarus Long.

In addition, you’ll get Heinlein’s beautifully observed account of his year spent traveling around the world by train, taxi and tramp steamer. This incredible prescient and relevant logbook of adventure is travel writing at its best, and told with the Dean’s customary perfect ear for dialog and drama.

Finally, we’ve included the amazing letters of Heinlein, collected in all their glory by his wife and philosophical soul-mate, Virginia. Heinlein was as witty and insightful in private as in his published work, and these letters serve as a primer on the writing life and a guidebook to the entire RAH body of greatness!

For a limited time, this bundle of the best of Heinlein’s First Golden Age will be available together in a one tremendous volume until February 2011 for an awe-inducing $30. After that, the discounted bundle will dissolve, and individual books will remain available for an excellent $6.

The bundled volume includes:

Citizen of the Galaxy

Torn from a life he barely remembers, young Thorby is thrown to the slave markets, pitiful but still defiant. But the galaxy has other plans for Thorby, as a seeming-beggar sees the tiger within the child and buys Thorby for a pittance. Thorby is raised a fighter and given the tools to succeed, for it turns out his benefactor is no beggar—he’s an agent working undercover against the galactic slave trade. But as political thugs close in on his adopted father, Thorby must escape to the stars on a desperate quest to find his origins and to discover and what he might become. It’s adventure undreamed of—but adventure for which his gritty upbringing have prepared Thorby well. And lying beyond the road to the stars? A destiny that may change the course of galactic civilization forever!

Have Space Suit—Will Travel

This is the book considered by many the Crown Jewel of Heinlein’s legendary juveniles (juveniles they are called, but, as Heinlein maintained, he never wrote down to a kid and he considered these novels that anyone could enjoy). Kip is an ordinary kid graduating from ordinary Centerville High School in ordinary America. He happens to have an extraordinary dream, however—to travel into space and to walk on the moon. After serious effort, Kip acquires a decrepit space suit in a bogus contest. With cleverness, care, and a never-say-die attitude, Kip wills the space suit back into working order—and creates his own destiny in the process. It seems a guy with a space suit can be a highly desirable commodity when we happen to need a hero to fight alien domination and subjugation of the planet. And from there, a space suit might prove handy if someone must travel vast distances and take the case for human courage to far edges of the galaxy and beyond!

Methuselah’s Children

The extended family of the Longs has achieved through judicious marriage (though never coerced pairings) a longevity beyond that of the rest of humanity. So are they feted, rewarded, celebrated for their achievement? Yeah, right. Instead, family patriarch Lazarus Long and his host of sometimes-contentious relatives are hounded off the planet by a jealous populace bent on pogrom and familial genocide. But when a family as resourceful as the Longs takes to the stars, you can be sure they have no intention of quietly fading into the endless night. Watch out galaxy: the best of humanity is on its way! You can trust the Longs will claw their way to survival. And, in the end, they may very well challenge the very assumptions of existence itself!

Revolt in 2100

Life is not much fun when totalitarian religious fundamentalist nutjobs rule the roost, whatever their stripe of belief may be. Now in a rigidly controlled future America, one young soldier has had enough of the hypocrisy of his so-called leaders including their tawdry terrorizing of his friends and the woman he loves. But with a regime of killjoy Taliban-wannabes in total command, escape is not an option. No, the time has come to take this country back. Now is the time for one young warrior to rediscover the past, earn his command spot in the present, and fight the glorious insurrection that will bring about a future of freedom!

Tramp Royale

This is the book in which the Dean of Science Fiction himself, Robert A. Heinlein, and his amazing wife Virginia finally are the main characters. A marvelous travelogue of a year spent traveling around the world by train, foot, taxi and tramp steamer, all filled with Heinlein’s keen observations, political and social wisdom, and, as you would expect, his amazing ear for dialog together with a quick, dry wit. A journey into the past? Hardly. The account provides wave after wave of recognition that proves amazingly relevant for the world of today. Would we expect anything less of the Dean? Yep, it seems the life under the thumb of undemocratic regimes is as insane as ever, and that the ludicrous anti-Americanism spoon-fed a captive populace by tinpot oligarchs is just as pathetic. Heinlein tramped the world with an open mind—but with the spirit of democracy and freedom as his guide. This is travel writing at its best, and is years ahead of its time in judgment and outlook.

Grumbles from the Grave

If you were ever searching for the lost book Heinlein ought to have produced on the art of writing, this is it! Wonderful discussions of writing methods, overcoming blocks, and writing on spec and to order can be found throughout, as well as expert (and still pertinent) commentary on the business of writing. These are the greatest letters of Robert Heinlein, as edited by his wife and philosophical soul-mate, Virginia. And when you’re done gleaning tips on creation from the master, these letters make for a most excellent “director’s commentary” to the Heinlein science fiction masterpieces we’ve come to love so well!