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2.0 out of 5 stars
Golden-Age Dross, 27 Dec 2005
This boys' adventure, republished by Tor in a hardbound edition, was published in 1948 and was one of Robert Heinlein's first books. Set several hundred years into the future, the solar system has been colonized on one of Jupiter's moons and on Venus, where beneath the clouds the air is breathable and intelligent life was discovered. Keeping the peace is the Solar Patrol, whose atomic bombs circle the earth while its members continue exploring the planets, moons and asteroids. "Space Cadet" follows the journey of Matthew Brooks of Des Moines, Iowa, and his friends Tex, Oscar and Pierre (from Texas, Venus and Jupiter's moon), through their education at the Space Academy, finishing up with an adventure when their ship runs into trouble during a mission to Venus. Heinlein spends the first hundred pages moving them through this world — the patrol bears significant resemblance to the U.S. Navy — then puts them onboard a ship for about the next 50 pages before bringing in a story. There are a couple sections that shows themes Heinlein will explore in future novels. There's the wide gulf between the civilian and military worlds, that Matt discovers when he tries to explain how the atomic bombs circling the earth — ready to be dropped down the gravity well on any city that gets uppity — are maintained. This leads to some bizarre lines such as "Now, Catherine, you can't imagine Matt bombing Des Moines, now can you? And that is what it amounts to. Tell her, Matt." So far adult readers, "Space Cadet" brings with it the charm of "Golden Age" science-fiction: the finned rockets, the elite space organization and a few aliens thrown into the mix. Heinlein nails portable phones, but computers are room-sized and rockets land on their tail. In his perfectly run Solar Patrol, he includes officers from all races (even a black officer is mentioned, but not seen), and yet the patrol is firmly phallocentric. As for children, "Space Cadet" is pretty bland stuff. To children brought up on Harry Potter, video games and anime, "Space Cadet" is more likely to induce eye-rolling than a sense of wonder.
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