This was the third and final book contained in the Infinite Possibilities omnibus. I guess the publishers chose that title for the novels from 1955 to 1957 because they expanded the scope of human civilization beyond the solar system and did this considerably more than the eight previous juveniles. I believe I grasp the theme. But wow, this one was a departure from the others. Most of the juveniles start on Earth. One never even leaves! And although some stories involve travel beyond our own solar system through super-futuristic technology like space-folding, there's a general theme of protagonists assuming some role in civilization as it expands, explores, and moves outward from Earth. The previous book, Time for the Stars, did this in a very literal sense, with a protagonist living aboard a ship traveling at relativistic speed away from home. Then this book starts and dumps the protagonist in a city on some planet we know nothing about, being sold as a four-year-old child slave on an auction block. Time for the Stars made the universe feel bigger through use of relativity and scale. Citizen of the Galaxy does it by presenting a kind of mature star-spanning civilization. It feels almost like a prototype for stories that other authors would later tell in the 60's, 70's, and beyond.
I didn't know what to make of Citizen of the Galaxy during most of my time reading it. The previous juveniles had things in common that this one steered away from. His young protagonists were usually relatable American kids. Even the one who was born on Mars seemed like an American country boy. Then he goes and pulls a bait-and-switch on us. The protagonist is a professional beggar living in a city named "Jubbulpore" on a planet that has no relationship with Earth. Freed from slavery but hunted by a tyrannical government that has targeted him for spying (he was an unwitting spy), Thorby escapes the planet and joins a clan of, well, they could be space gypsies.
The transitions in Thorby's life effectively divide the book into four phases. Heinlein does a masterful job of balancing them, so each one resonates and it feels like there's a meaningful sense of progression.
I do not know that anyone else has pointed it out, but I suspect that the anthropologist Thorby meets on the Sisu, Dr. Margaret Mader, is named as a little homage to Margaret Mead.
I wasn't enthralled by this one, but I did come to appreciate it by the end. Let's see some Critical Reception.
Galaxy reviewer Floyd C. Gale praised the novel, saying "Heinlein is invariably logical. And invariably entertaining."
I'll endorse that blurb.
In The New York Times, Villiers Gerson received the novel favorably, declaring it "better than 99 per cent of the science-fiction adventures produced every year" despite structural problems and a weak ending."
A weak ending, huh? Well, the end is kind of terse. And its impact is really only felt if one really buys into the themes of freedom, duty, and justice that run throughout the story. It's a kind of intricate tapestry, and for that I'll give this one the nod over Starman Jones, but still rank it below my beloved Space Cadet.
