I must know! What books are from this period, and why must they not be read?
And what do you think makes a decent female character?
I grew up (arguably!) reading some Heinlein, among lots of other sci-fi, and have usually found him interesting. Even when I am guessing that I don’t find all of his views agreeable. From early childhood, I have always contended that gender and even biological sex are both fluid, and was probably too happy to read in Heinlein, for the first time, anybody else expressing such concepts. But when I last read some was 25 years ago, and I might well interpret it differently from my current frame of reference.
If only I knew. I actually heard the phrase years ago applied to the books from the 80s. I would include Job in that, too. A terrible book, which is too bad because I like the topic, but not the execution. Yet my least favorite Heinlein book is actually The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag, which is from 1942, so, who knows…
As to female characters, Friday seemed more of the object of Heinlein’s wish fulfillment than a character in her own right. I liked Peewee in Have Space Suit Will Travel, and was surprised by how big a role she had in the book, but for the most part there just seems something off, not real about his female characters.
