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Heinlein Cover Art: Scribner’s YA/Juveniles

It is easy to think of Heinlein as the author of Stranger in a Strange Land, which opened the 1960s with a merciless critique of organized religion, monogamy and the nuclear family, and perhaps even apple pie, or as author of the ever-larger and more controversial novels that followed until his death.

The so-called juveniles, however—the dozen novels written for what we now would call the young-adult market, and published between 1947 and 1958—are of perhaps equal import to the genre of science fiction, and to our culture and history in general.  First, they all are quite decently written, and some are very fine indeed.  While dealing with teenagers coming into the adult world of responsibility and decision and uncertainty, these books are rarely simple, and they never talk down to their audience.  They encourage not only scientific competence but even cultural open-mindedness and self-reflection as well...and, most importantly, each tells an exciting and satisfying tale.

In addition, of course, apropos of this webpage, the juvies also have some particularly imaginative and exciting artwork...
Rocket Ship Galileo, 1947
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Cover art by Thomas W. Voter
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Interior art by Thomas W. Voter
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Interior art by Thomas W. Voter
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Interior art by Thomas W. Voter
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Interior art by Thomas W. Voter
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Cover art by Steele Savage
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet—a rousing and beautiful renditioning, and as always, faithful to the text.
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Tristan Elwell—good facial expression, though rifle appears, incorrectly, to be the M1 carbine; for nice rendering of the correct full-caliber M1 Garand, see the Sweet illustrations above.
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Space Cadet, 1948
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Cover art by Clifford N. Geary
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Under jacket art by Clifford N. Geary
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This edition has the same Clifford N. Geary interiors as the one pictured directly below.
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Cover unknown; interiors by Clifford N. Geary
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Under jacket by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Cover art by Steele Savage
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Frontispiece by Clifford N. Geary
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet. Against the strolling poses in rear, note foreground character’s posture, plus tension on the line, bringing action to the scene.
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Red Planet, 1949
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Inside cover art by Clifford Geary. Note occlusion of “First colonized in” by protractor.
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Inside back art by Clifford Geary. The copyright page says, “Grateful acknowledgement is made to the Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona, for permission to use the photograph of the Mars Globe by Dr. Percival Lowell which appears on the end papers of the book.”
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I’m no stranger to the occasional ex-library copy, but this is the first I’ve seen from a railroad company library...and from Australia, no less.
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Cover art by Steele Savage
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet—good character definition, but I am always struck by the colors and details of the canal plants as well.
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Barclay Shaw
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Cover art by John Picacio
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Farmer in the Sky, 1950
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Cover art by Clifford N. Geary
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Yes, indeed you will!
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Under jacket art by Clifford N. Geary. Note how the color has stood up better than on the exposed dust jacket.
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Title page art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Cover art by Lee Rosenblatt
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Cover art by Bob Eggleton
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A one-volume reissue of Heinlein’s first four Scribner’s juvies (see above); cover art by Bruce Jensen
Between Planets, 1951
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This one lacks a dust jacket but has the same Clifford N. Geary interiors as the softcover below.
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Cover art by Clifford N. Geary
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Title page art by Clifford N. Geary
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Back cover art by Clifford N. Geary. The listing of Have Space Suit—Will Travel shows this printing to be 1958 or later.
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Cover art by Steele Savage
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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For the version first serialized in the “slick” Blue Book in September and October 1951 as Planets in Combat, which includes many nice interior illustrations by Brendan Lynch, see “Serialized Novels.”
The Rolling Stones, 1952
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Cover art by Clifford N. Geary (Dust jacket is a reproduction—note mismatched sections—although the book itself is indeed a first edition.)
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Under jacket by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Cover art by Steele Savage
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Wraparound cover art by Gordon C. Davies
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Wraparound cover art by Gordon C. Davies
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Cover art by Steele Savage
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Wraparound cover art by Trevor Webb (One of the British releases whose cover has absolutely zero connection with the plot...)
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Starman Jones, 1953
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Cover art by Clifford N. Geary
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Frontispiece by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Interior art by Clifford N. Geary
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Cover art by John Berkey
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Cover art by Lee Rosenblatt
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Cover art by Lee Rosenblatt
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Cover art by Rick Sternback
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Cover art by Rick Sternback
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Cover art by Bob Eggleston
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The Star Beast, 1954
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Cover art by Clifford N. Geary
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Frontispiece art by Clifford N. Geary
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Cover art by Steele Savage
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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For the version first serialized in F&SF in May, June, and July 1954 as The Star Lummox, see “Serialized Novels.”
Tunnel in the Sky, 1955
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Cover art by P.A. Hutchison (Dust jacket is a reproduction—a very nice one, however—although the book itself is indeed a first edition.)
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Under jacket by P.A. Hutchison
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Frontispiece by P.A. Hutchison
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Cover art by Steele Savage
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Jean Yves-Kervevan
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Cover photos by Paul Cooklin and Ryan McVay
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Time for the Stars, 1956
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Cover art by Clifford N. Geary
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Under jacket by Clifford N. Geary
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Frontispiece by Clifford N. Geary
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Cover art by Steele Savage
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The original Steele Savage painting, which I was fortunate enough to find at auction.  Note the rich blue rather than the purple of the cover of the 1971 Ace printing, along with the big open space at top for title, etc.  The piece is about 11.25 x 17 inches.
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Ondre Pettingill
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Citizen of the Galaxy, 1957
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Cover art by Leonard Everett Fisher
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Title page art by Leonard Everett Fisher
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Title page art by Leonard Everett Fisher
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Cover art by Davis Meltzer
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Cover art by Davis Meltzer
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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See my “Serialized Novels” page for Freas covers and Van Dongen interiors for Citizen of the Galaxy when it was published in Astounding Science Fiction between September and December 1957.
Have Space Suit--Will Travel, 1958
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Cover art by Ed Emshwiller—the only artist who can match, even surpass, Darrell K. Sweet for scrupulous attention to the text.
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According to the receipt, I bought this in July 1997. I believe the shop was in Marinette, Wisconsin.
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Under jacket art by Ed Emshwiller
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Frontispiece by Ed Emshwiller
If you like this one, remember also to check out the gorgeous Emsh covers for Have Space Suit—Will Travel on my “Serialized Novels” page.  It is particularly recommended for fans of Plutonian volcanoes and smash-’em-ups in alien spaceships.
​
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Cover art by Steele Savage
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Interior art by Ed Emshwiller
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet—as always, meticulous attention to details of the text, even down to the number of headlights and antennas on each spacesuit.
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Darrell K. Sweet
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Cover art by Kelly Freas
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Cover photo by Roger Ressmeyer
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Cover photo by John Lamb
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Starship Troopers, 1959
Starship Troopers of course was written to be part of the Scribner’s “juvenile” series begun with Rocket Ship Galileo back in 1947.  Like his earlier juvies, after all, it deals with a young male protagonist entering the adult world of conflict, decisions, and responsibilities.  Aside from the dangers of aliens and dimensional wormholes and the deadly flora and fauna of other worlds, previous works such as Rocket Ship Galileo, Red Planet, Between Planets, and Citizen of the Galaxy also already portrayed war or other armed conflict between humans, and Have Space Suit--Will Travel even contains a very pointed aside on the desirability of, essentially, a preemptive death penalty for rapists and murderers.

Heinlein’s editors considered this one too “adult,” however, and turned the piece down, so he published it with Putnam’s instead...  Following the original intent, though, we list it in this section.
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Cover art by Paul Lehr (?)
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Cover art by Paul Lehr (?)
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Cover art by Paul Lehr (?)
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French-language edition
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Cover art by Gordon C. Davies
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Cover art by Carl Lundgren
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Cover art by James Warhola
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Cover art by James Warhola
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Back cover by Steve Stone
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Cover art by Steve Stone
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Cover art by Will Staehle
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Remember to check out the lovely Emshwiller covers for Starship Troopers on my “Serializations” page, too; when first serialized in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in October and November 1959, it was called Starship Soldier.
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A reissue of Heinlein’s last three juvies—two Scribner’s, plus Podkayne of Mars; cover art by Bruce Jensen
Variable Star, 2006
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(with Spider Robinson) Cover art by Stephan Martiniere
​Variable Star is quite an organizational puzzle for the webmaster.  On the one hand, it could be termed a “later work” because...well, Spider Robinson did write and publish the novel eighteen years after Heinlein’s death, after all.  Still, Robinson based his work on the existing seven pages of an eight-page outline that Heinlein wrote when planning the novel as another of Scribner’s juvenile series, so...here it is.

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