Citizen of the Galaxy
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| Citizen of the Galaxy | |
 First Edition cover for Citizen of the Galaxy |
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| Author | Robert A. Heinlein |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | L.E. Fisher |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Scribner's |
| Publication date | 1957 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | Time for the Stars |
| Followed by | Have Space Suit—Will Travel |
Citizen of the Galaxy is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in Astounding Science Fiction (September, October, November, December 1957) and published in hardcover in 1957 as one of the Heinlein juveniles by Scribner's. Influenced by Rudyard Kipling's Kim, the novel, like many of Heinlein's, is also influenced by the author's background in and nostalgia for the U.S. Navy.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Thorby is a young, defiant slave boy recently arrived on a strange planet. He is purchased by an old beggar, Baslim the Cripple, for a trivial amount of money (much to the amusement of a wealthy nobleman, who aids the purchase) and taken to the beggar's surprisingly well furnished underground hideout.
Baslim raises the boy as his foster son, teaching him not only the honorable trade of begging, but also drilling Thorby in mathematics, history and several languages. He sends Thorby on errands all over the city, carefully passing information to starship captains and keeping track of the comings and goings of ships involved in the slave trade. Thorby doesn't realize that his beloved "Pop" is more than a simple beggar; he is actively engaged in gathering intelligence on the slave trade. Baslim makes Thorby memorize a contingency plan and a message for delivery to one of five men in the event of Baslim's capture or death.
One day, coming back from an errand gone awry, Thorby finds out that the old man has been captured in a police raid. However, Baslim has foiled his captors by taking poison before he can be tortured for what he knows. His head, impaled on a pike, still bears a defiant grin.
Once he recovers from the shock, Thorby realizes he has become a fugitive and seeks the help of Mother Shaum, a local "taproom" owner whom Baslim trusted. He rightly suspects all of his "friends" would gladly turn him in for the reward offered. At his insistence, the woman arranges a meeting with a starship captain. The Free Trader listens to Thorby's carefully memorized message, which is in Suomi (Finnish), a language Thorby does not understand. The Free Traders owe a great debt to Baslim and the captain without hesitation redeems it, even though it puts his ship and crew in great danger. The captain and Mother Shaum manage to smuggle Thorby aboard the Free Trader ship Sisu.
Thorby is adopted by the Captain (thereby gaining considerable shipboard social status) and adjusts to the insular, clannish, matriarchal culture of the traders. The advanced education provided by Baslim and the fast reflexes of youth make him an ideal fire controlman, and he discovers an aptitude for the ship's defensive weapon systems. He manages to destroy an attacking pirate raider with one of his ship's nuclear missiles. His immediate superior, a young woman named Mata, begins to eye him as a suitable husband. But Thorby is soon uprooted once more.
Defying the wishes of his wife, the executive officer and effective clan head, the captain obeys Baslim's last wish. He turns the boy over to a Hegemonic Guard cruiser and asks its captain to assist Thorby in finding his real identity and family as a final favor to the man the Guard knows as Colonel Richard Baslim. In order to implement a background search without undue expense, Thorby is summarily enlisted in the military service of the Terran Hegemony, the dominant military power in the galaxy.
Thorby is ultimately identified as Thor Bradley Rudbek, the long-lost heir of a powerful family and a substantial shareholder in Rudbek and Associates, a large, sprawling interstellar business empire. This includes one of the largest starship manufacturing companies in existence, the entire city of Rudbek (formerly Jackson Hole, Wyoming), Pitcairn Island and numerous other businesses and properties. In his absence, the business has been run by a relative by marriage, "Uncle" John Weemsby. Weemsby encourages his stepdaughter Leda to help Thorby get his bearings and enjoy his newfound wealth, while Weemsby quietly blocks Thorby's growing interest and interference in the company.
Thorby digs into the mystery of his parents' disappearance and his capture and sale by slavers two decades earlier. He discovers that their space yacht was lost while his father was inspecting his far-flung business empire. It is implied that his parents were eliminated to prevent the discovery that some portions of Rudbek and Associates were knowingly profiting from the slave trade.
When Weemsby quashes his attempts to find out more, Thorby secretly seeks legal help and launches a proxy fight, losing until Leda unexpectedly votes her shares in his favor. He fires Weemsby and takes full control of Rudbek and Associates. When he realizes that it will take a lifetime to clean up the mess, he reluctantly abandons his dream of following Baslim's example and enlisting in the elite anti-slaver "X" Corps of the Hegemonic Guard. He does so with the knowledge that "a person can't run out on his responsibilities", and resolves to fight the slave trade as the head of Rudbek and Associates, Ltd.
[edit] Themes
Though this novel was published as part of Heinlein's juvenile series, it deals with adult material. Its condemnation of slavery is more complex than the argument that slavery is racist oppression. Interestingly, it appears to eschew the easy argument against slavery by race, and moves directly into a far more difficult argument against slavery as a gross and wanton violation of personal rights by both by governmental and economic entities.
Other authors reviewing the book argue that the argument against slavery is actually a powerful statement about the need for continuing education. As in many of Heinlein's books, the principal character is portrayed over time, beginning in relative ignorance, learning from experience, receiving the benefits of education and using that education to resolve subsequent problems in his/her own life and that of those around them.[1]
Finally, Citizen of the Galaxy makes a compelling statement about the cost of honor, and loyalty.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Citizen of the Galaxy publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Citizen of the Galaxy publication history at The Internet Book Database of Fiction
- [2] at the Heinlein Society
