Tunnel in the Sky - Robert A. Heinlein Book Review

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Review Summary

Very "Lord of the Flies", a little young, but still good. My favorite Heinlein book.
Sarah Jones, Resident Scholar

This was a story with a GREAT premise: a high school class which ended not with an exam but with a survival course. Students were teleported to an alien planet and had to survive there for a few weeks. The students didn't know where the planet was, or what conditions they would face, or how to cope in advance. The point is that they'd have to adapt on the spot to survive. It was interesting watching the main character, Rod Walker, pick his equipment and plan his strategies.
His first few days in that environment, hiding in trees, in fear of wild, possibly maneating animals, was exciting to read. And then things went wrong when the survival course didn't end on time (for technical reasons, Earth lost contact with the planet). As the students realized they were stuck there, possibly for good, they had to band together against the elements and form a community just to do such basic things as provide food and shelter. Rod had to cope with natural disasters, dissention in the ranks, and other problems to keep the students together. While Rod's character, like most in the early Heinlein period, is pretty stiff and two dimensional, his struggle for survival is definitely an interesting read.

Steve, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of Tunnel in the Sky

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30%

FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Coming of age Yes
Youngster becomes - an adult (general)
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story Yes
Plotlets: - colonizing/homesteading another planet
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - student
Age: - a teen
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - student
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor

Setting
Terrain - Forests
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - empty, or nearly empty world
Planet outside solar system? Yes

Style
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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