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Star Beast
  

Star Beast (Hardcover)

by Robert A. Heinlein (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

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Lummox had been the Stuart family pet for years. Though far from cuddly and rather large, it had always been obedient and docile. Except, that is, for the time it had eaten the secondhand Buick . . .
But now, all of a sudden and without explanation, Lummox had begun chomping down on a variety of things -- not least, a very mean dog and a cage of virtually indestructible steel. Incredible!
John Thomas and Lummox were soon in awfully hot water, and they didn't know how to get out. And neither one really understood just how bad things were -- or how bad the situation could get -- until some space voyagers appeared and turned a far-from-ordinary family problem into an extraordinary confrontation. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.


From the Publisher

Like many people, I go way, way back with Heinlein. My very favorite book (and one that stands out in my mind--and with much affection--to this day) is Tunnel in the Sky. I really, really wanted to go off to explore new worlds with a covered wagon and horses, like the hero does at the very end of the book. But one of the nice things about Robert Heinlein is that he's got something for everyone. One of my best friends has a different favorite: Podkayne of Mars. Go figure.
                        --Shelly Shapiro, Executive Editor --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

19 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most helpful customer reviews

 
4.0 out of 5 stars Heinlein does it again -- a "juvenile" for the adults too, Jan 17 2004
By Ryan Harvey "Wolf Shadow" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Star Beast (Mass Market Paperback)
Another juvenile adventure story from the first Grand Master of Science Fiction. As usual, it has a strong appeal for adult readers as well. Heinlein never wrote down to his younger readers or lightened his realistic approach to soceity and politics in his future settings. Sometimes this works against him, and in Star Beast he gets too deep lengthy discussions between bureaucrats sitting in offices talking about intergalactic politics and the workings of the justice system.

The central premise, however, thrills: a teen boy's 'pet,' a saurian alien named Lummox, becomes a focal point in negotiations with a powerful alien race, while misguided humans search for a legal loophole to allow them to kill the alien beast. The sequence involving John Thomas's escape with Lummox to avoid an order to destroy the alien is the novel's best.

If you are interested in reading more Heinlein juveniles, _Starman Jones_ and _Have Space Suit-Will Travel_ are even better, with plenty of more action and adventure.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully Humorous Science-Fiction, Jan 12 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Star Beast (Mass Market Paperback)
Imagine this: your great-grandfather was an astronaut who brought a collie-puppy-sized alien home from one of his missions as a family pet. Lummox, your pet, grows larger with everything he eats. By the time you are a teenager (and Lummox has started feasting on dilapidated cars), Lummox is the size of a small elephant. What do you do when the townspeople start rioting over your pet - and a delegation of Lummox's species comes to Earth to bring him home?

This is the premise of Heinlein's "The Star Beast," a humorous and comforting science fiction book. The cheerful resilience of John Thomas and his pet Lummox provide humor even in the book's darkest moments (which aren't very dark at all).

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4.0 out of 5 stars Another great Heinlein Juvie, Nov 12 2003
By Rachel Watkins "Rachel Watkins" (Joshua, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Star Beast (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a quick, funny read about a creature from the stars who raises John Thomas's...at least from his perspective it's fairly accurate as he has been passed down over several generations of John Thomas's as a pet named Lummox. All is well and placid, Lummox usually being content to amuse himself in the backyard and enjoy the company of the latest John Thomas...but alas, the time has come at which the current John Thomas is growing up, and so spending less and less time with Lummox to devote to matters which young men are wont to do. So, Lummox is bored and decides to take a walk outside the yard with disastrous results.

Events soon culminate to the point of nearly meeting interstelar war as those of Lummox's species show up wanting thier baby back. Of course, since it's Heinlein, you can still expect some comments tossed in with regards to the role of government, free will and civil rights, politicians and legislature. But, this is far less than many of his books and just tells a good, fun tale of a Lummox and his pet John Thomas.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A funny Heinlein
I don't remember Robert Heinlein ever being known for a sense of
humor, but he certainly shows one in this novel. At least in
the beginning. Read more
Published on Sep 10 2003 by R. Wallace

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine Heinlein juvenile
In a future Earth, in which Earth is part of an interstellar society with many alien cultures, John Thomas Stuart lives in a bit of a backwater in the Rockies. Read more
Published on Jul 30 2002 by Gary M. Greenbaum

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the better Heinlein juveniles
This is another Heinlein juvenile, though I've read this one before (probably repeatedly). Fond memories made me decide to tackle it last night, when I had a headache. Read more
Published on Feb 1 2002 by Kevin W. Parker

3.0 out of 5 stars Fords Make Tasty Meals
Lummox, The Star Beast, is the star of this book. A three-ton overgrown caterpillar who just loves to munch on the neighbor's prize rose bushes, add a few pieces of tasty metal... Read more
Published on Sep 4 2001 by Patrick Shepherd

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great, Quick Read
Don't be turned off by this book's "juvenile" tag or it's "cute" cover, this is a great, great read that you will highly enjoy no matter what your age. Read more
Published on May 25 2001 by VoodooLord7

5.0 out of 5 stars Will be a clasic some day
Heinlein, at his best, was probably the best pure storyteller of the twentieth century, and he is at his best here. Read more
Published on April 28 2001 by L. Coats

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid entertainment
It's more than a bit of a misnomer to call the series of novels Heinlein wrote specifically for teenagers from 1947-58 "juveniles"----they are actually just page-turning... Read more
Published on Mar 2 2001 by bruce horner

5.0 out of 5 stars Light entertainment
Definitely not a book if you're looking for some highbrow cutting statement on current affairs or the human race as a whole, this is mostly just a fun little novel for young... Read more
Published on Feb 16 2001 by Michael Battaglia

4.0 out of 5 stars A good starter in science fiction
This book is set quite far into the future - the stars have been explored, whole dynasties of space faring families exist, yet the characters are reassuringly familiar. Read more
Published on Sep 19 2000 by Micheal O Mealoid

5.0 out of 5 stars A Simple and Fun Book Everyone Will Enjoy
The is by far one of Robert Heinlein's more simpler novels. It is a fun story about a boy and his unusual troublesome starbeast who actually turns out to be more than anyone... Read more
Published on May 15 2000 by Michael Delaware

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