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Tunnel in the Sky [Paperback]

Robert A. Heinlein (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: Nov 2003
It was just a test . . .
But something had gone wrong. Terribly wrong. What was to have been a standard ten-day survival test had suddenly become an indefinite life-or-death nightmare.
Now they were stranded somewhere in the universe, beyond contact with Earth . . . at the other end of a tunnel in the sky. This small group of young men and women, divested of all civilized luxuries and laws, were being forced to forge a future of their own . . . a strange future in a strange land where sometimes not even the fittest could survive!
". . . fascinating . . . ingenious . . . this a book in the grand tradition of high literature!"
-- The New York Times


From the Paperback edition.

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Product details

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Del Rey Books (Nov 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345466233
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345466235
  • Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 1.7 x 19.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 235,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4.4 out of 5 stars
7 reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Outward Unbound 17 Mar 2004
By David
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Mankind is colonising the universe via instantaneous interstellar travel, accomplished through artificial wormhole- like "gates". Late teen hero Rod Walker is marooned with his classmates on an unknown planet when a "routine" ( but dangerous) high school survival training exercise goes dramatically wrong. The story follows their enforced transition to adulthood as they gradually band together to build a functioning society from the ground up, cut off from civilisation with no expectation of rescue.

I've read this book many times, as a child and adult, and have never failed to enjoy it for what it is: classic "juvenile" Heinlein. Whilst "Citizen of the Galaxy" it is not, it is on a par with "Time for the Stars","Farmer in The Sky", "Between Planets" et al in that it epitomises Heinlein's strengths and weaknesses.

On the plus side, originality of vision, a strong plotline, taut driving narrative, interesting minor characters realised with great economy and that overall indefinable feeling of authenticity that made Heinlein's future worlds uniquely real.

On the minus, a typical passive-reactive hero ( Heinlein's leading characters of this period all seem to have things happen to them, rather than initiating the action), the usual "aw shucks" (ie non existent) relationships with women, and the USA centred view of the world c 1959.

From the perspective of later years and his later work, you can see the stirrings of some familiar Heinlein themes, the relationship of the individual citizen to society ( "Starship Troopers" anyone? ), the superiority of self reliant individualism, the admirability of the military ethos. None of these however detract in any way from a cracking adventure story that should be an essential part of the reading list of any Heinlein fan.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Should be a Real School Course 13 Dec 2002
By Patrick Shepherd TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
Heinlein felt that anyone who could not do everything from plan an invasion, butcher a hog, write a sonnet, design a building, or program a computer was at least partially incapacitated. In addition, he felt that most schools did a very poor job of preparing young people for what life was all about. This book presented at least one partial solution to both problems: have a school course in survival, whose final test was to be dropped into some unknown area for a week and forced to actually survive. Around this basic concept Heinlein fashioned what is probably one of the best of so-called 'juvenile' novels.

Roderick Walker is the prime character, a young man with some doubts about whether he is really ready to take the final exam in this course. With some encouragement and advice from his older sister, he decides to proceed, going through the 'gate' to a new world where nothing is familiar, where everything must be viewed as potentially deadly. But after managing to survive for the prescribed time, there is no pick up signal, no return gate, and Rod slowly comes to the conclusion that, for whatever reason, he really must make a go of really living on this new world. Along with other class survivors, a small society is formed, initially with Rod as the nominal leader.

From this point, Heinlein manages to show the essentials of how and why a government is formed, what type of government make sense for a small group, how a society protects itself from 'bullies' (the only truly deadly animal is of the two-legged variety), the contribution made by both sexes to a properly functioning society, and just what makes a man a man, and the essential qualities of a leader....

Heinlein's typical unforced, simple American prose style is much in evidence here, making both dialog and descriptions seem perfectly natural. This makes for a very fast reading experience, with a lot of his philosophical points sliding in under the reader's conscious radar, only to wake you up at 3AM with an 'Oh, yeah! That's what he was saying.' And perhaps you will come away from this book, as I did, thinking that the idea of a school course in survival is something that should actually be implemented.

Everyone from teens to adults can enjoy this book. Written almost fifty years ago, it reads just as well, if not better than anything published today. There are very few works that can appeal to such a wide range of audience as this one does, but this is something that Heinlein made a habit of.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat) Read more ›

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Heinlein classic 3 May 2001
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This book follows Rod Walker as he takes part in his final examination of his school survival course. He, and the rest of his class are sent to an unknown planet to survive 10 days in the wilderness and with a warning to be beware of the stobor. However, a supernova causes the entire party, along with groups from other schools, to be stranded on the planet with no immediate hope of rescue. The story develops as all the surviving test subjects form a colony in an attempt to survive. A book well worth reading but, anything by Heinlein is worth reading.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A Walk in The Parc. 4 Feb 2008
By Jan Dierckx
Format:Paperback
The two Science-Fiction novels I hold close to my heart are 'The Martian Chronicles' by Ray Bradbury and the 'The Time Machine' by H.G. Wells ( NOT the movie!! ). They both have in common a certain poetry and melancholy that are appreciated mostly by adults.

Because of his pseudo-religious 'Stranger in a Strange Land', I know what Heinlein is capable of, and 'Tunnel In The Sky' doesn't really meet his own high standards. This novel will be appreciated mostly by the teenagers among us, though I quiet liked it myself I might add.

The story plays in the far future where almost any planet in the galaxy can be colonized. This colonization is apparently very important because in order to get a high-school diploma, you have to take part in a survival session on a 'Outlands' planet. If you succeed you are allowed to colonize a planet (at least a part of it of course).

The initial problem is overpopulation. The scientists found a way to literally walk to another planet in the galaxy. They manage that by using Space-Time Gates ( this will sound familiar to those who watched the 'Stargate-Atlantis' TV series ). These stargates are used by thousands of emigrants ( there are five gates ). The duration of the survival test on each planet is between 24 and 48 hours. For Rod Walker however, something went wrong. A week has passed and he didn't receive his recall-sign. What happened?

Characterization is always a little shallow in adventure novels like this, but all in all it's a good story by one of the great names in SF-literature.
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