Citizen Of The Galaxy
Ratings13
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings13
Average rating3.6
From helpless slave to beloved son to aspiring merchant to prodigal heir, Citizen of the Galaxy shows the inner and outer growth of a young man in a far-flung Galactic culture. From the moment he is bought and freed by the beggar Baslim (who is far more than he seems), young Toby learns the values of family, self-reliance, discipline, and self-knowledge. Galactic in its scope and personal in its depth, Citizen of the Galaxy is a well-crafted coming of age story set against a galaxy of contrasts.
In a distant galaxy, the atrocity of slavery was alive and well, and young Thorby was just another orphaned boy sold at auction. But his new owner, Baslim, is not the disabled beggar he appears to be: adopting Thorby as his son, he fights relentlessly as an abolitionist spy. When the authorities close in on Baslim, Thorby must ride with the Free Traders -- a league of merchant princes -- throughout the many worlds of a hostile galaxy, finding the courage to live by his wits and fight his way from society's lowest rung. But Thorby's destiny will be forever changed when he discovers the truth about his own identity. - Back cover.
Reviews with the most likes.
Part of me wants to give this one less star for its unsatisfying ending – and also the fact that the more interesting parts of the story are hardly explored.
Heinlein is high on my list of favorite authors, but this is not high on my list of favorite books. Way too much time is spent explaining complicated family and social structures, complex corporate finance and a little interstellar politics. So go read The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress or Stranger In A Strange Land
I have read Citizen of the Galaxy several times over the decades. IMHO it is RAH's best work.
This time I decided to go with audio. Grover Gardner's narration is very good indeed.
The story of young Thorby's struggle to find his place in the galaxy has held up well. Heinlein packed a lot of story into this book. It has three distinct parts. I think of them as ‘Thorby the slave', ‘Thorby the spaceman', and ‘Thorby's homecoming'. (I reckon some more recent writers would get three 500 page books out of this story.)
Anyway, still a good story, well told. An SF classic.
