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Tunnel in the Sky Audio CD – CD, March 10, 2015

by Robert A. Heinlein (Author), David Baker (Reader), The Full Cast Family (Reader)

4.5 1,576 ratings

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When Rod Walker decides to take the final test for “Deacon” Matson's interplanetary survival course, he knows he will be facing life-or-death situations on an unsettled planet. What he doesn't expect is that something will go wrong with the “Tunnel in the Sky” and he and his fellow students will not be able to return to Terra.

Stranded on a hostile planet, Rod and his friends are faced with the challenge of carving a civilization out of the wilderness. They must deal with hunger, deprivation, and strangely savage beasts. But the bigger question is, can they survive each other?

This science fiction classic pits a savage world against the most untameable beast of all: the human animal. Chock full of high adventure, futuristic speculation, witty repartee, and profound philosophy, Tunnel in the Sky represents the greatest SF writer of all time at his peak.

About the Author

Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) is widely recognized as one of the greatest science fiction authors of all time, a status confirmed in 1974 when the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America gave him their first Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement. A four-time Hugo Award winner, Heinlein is best known for works including Starship Troopers, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and the sensational bestseller Stranger in a Strange Land.

Reading age

8 - 12 years
Language

English
Grade level

Kindergarten and up
Dimensions

5.5 x 5.5 x 0.25 inches
Publisher

Brilliance Audio
Publication date

March 10, 2015
ISBN-10

1501237756
ISBN-13

978-1501237751
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Brilliance Audio; Unabridged edition (March 10, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1501237756
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1501237751
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 - 12 years
Grade level ‏ : ‎ Kindergarten and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 5.5 x 0.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,297,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #16,107 in Teen & Young Adult Science Fiction
- #32,509 in Books on CD
- #105,254 in Teen & Young Adult Literature & Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.5 1,576 ratings

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Robert Heinlein

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Robert Heinlein was an American novelist and the grand master of science fiction in the twentieth century. Often called 'the dean of science fiction writers', he is one of the most popular, influential and controversial authors of 'hard science fiction'.

Over the course of his long career he won numerous awards and wrote 32 novels, 59 short stories and 16 collections, many of which have cemented their place in history as science fiction classics, including STARSHIP TROOPERS, THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS and the beloved STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.

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4.5 out of 5

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R. Williams

Fast paced, thought provoking

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2023

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This is one of Heinlein’s classics from the Juvenile series, first published in 1955, and marketed to young adult readers. The tunnel in the sky refers to a portal. The “Ramsbotham Jump” has made interstellar travel as simple as stepping through a door. You are on Earth, step through, and you are on another planet in another star system.
College and high school students taking survival classes are sent to a distant un-colonized planet to survive. What high school student Rod Walker and his classmates don’t know is that a stellar nova short-circuited the gate they had just passed through and left them stranded.
This is more of a survival tale than a scientific fiction space story, and Heinlein uses his characters to show that sex, race, and ethnicity are irrelevant to the job of surviving on this dangerous planet. Jack (Jacqueline) and Caroline are examples of two strong female characters, one of which Heinlein describes as ”…around genius, and always good-natured and willing – but strong and fast and incredibly violent when you need it… sudden death in all directions.”
While some of the story involves the details of improvising basic survival tools and techniques, a major portion of it is social and political commentary. Heinlein uses this micro-society to explore the concept of government itself.
The story moves along briskly with the tension created by the need just to survive. Tunnel in the Sky is an optimistic book about the strength, resilience and basic decency of human nature. I recommend it as a great fast paced thought provoking book to read.

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2013

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This is one of Robert Heinlein's science fiction books for young people, although it can be enjoyed by adults as well. Unlike many of the author's older books, the future portrayed in this one has not "aged" quite so much. The society and technology still create a believable background for the story to play out.

The Story: Rod Walker is preparing to take the final examination in his survival course. He and his classmates will be dropped, one-by-one, onto a hostile planet where they must survive for several days using their wits and whatever small cache of supplies each has decided to bring. Whether they cooperate, compete, or just avoid the others is up to each individual. After some discussion with his sister and "wise old man" teacher, Rod assembles his supplies and sets out.

What follows is almost a retelling of [lord of the flies]. At the end of the testing period, the survivors are not picked up. They must continue surviving and face the possibility that they will *never* be picked up. As they work out how to do this, there is much discussion about group dynamics, the proper role of government, and strategies for long-term survival. Rod has frequent flashback to lessons from his teacher.

Heinlein makes his oft-repeated points about self-reliance, responsibility, and good citizenship. He does a good job getting all of this across as part of an engaging and suspenseful adventure story. Readers who enjoy this style should also read the author's Starship Troopers . (Read the book; don't see the very stupid movie based on it.)

4 people found this helpful

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Arthur W Jordin

Stranded Elsewhere in the Galaxy

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2009

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Tunnel in the Sky (1955) is the ninth SF novel in the Juvenile series, following Star Beast . It is set in the middle future, at a time when rocket ships were superseded by teleportation gates. Interstellar planets were only a step away.

In this novel, Roderick L. Walker is a senior at Patrick Henry High School. He is taking course 410 -- Advanced Survival -- and the school has posted notice of the final examination in this course. Rod has less than a day to prepare himself for the test.

James Throxton is Rod's best friend. He is dithering about whether to take the exam. Deciding to drop the course, Jimmy declines Rod's offer of partnership during the test.

Caroline Mshiyeni is another student in the class. Rod considers whether to ask her to be his partner when Jimmy turns him down, but decides against it. While Caroline is big and proficient, Rod thinks that partnering with a girl is asking for trouble.

In this story, Rod gets some good advice from his teacher and his older sister Helen, an Amazon Captain. Then he finds Jimmy at the gate when he arrives. They hurriedly agree to be partners just before Jimmy is called to the gate.

When Rod is called, he first finds himself on Luna and then on a full gravity planet with a tropical climate. It looks like an African jungle and he begins to suspect that the exam is not taking place on an unknown planet elsewhere in the galaxy. Rod soon finds the corpse of one classmate in the jungle.

At twilight, he selects a tree and starts toward it. When something attacks him, Rod jumps higher up the trunk than he has ever jumped before. He climbs even higher and then hangs his hammock far above the ground.

Rod's first night on the planet is extremely frightening, with loud sobbing cries resounding through the jungle. He almost falls out of his hammock more than once. Finally he falls asleep, but is awakened sometime later by something fairly large staring at him. Then three things drop down the trunk.

Rod is relieved to find himself still alive upon awakening the next morning. Of course, he almost falls out of the hammock again while getting out of it. Then he heads toward the exit gate.

On the way, he is knocked unconscious and loses all his equipment, except his sister's knife. Lady Macbeth has been wrapped in a bandage on his leg and is overlooked by his attacker.

Then Rod meets Jack and they become partners. Rod learns that they are definitely not on Earth and that the recall siren has never sounded. They are stranded on the planet.

This tale puts Rod and his friends into a true test of survival. Four classes -- three highschool and one college -- have been dropped onto the planet. Rod and Jack start to bring the lost students into their camp. He becomes the Captain of the group, but more people arrive and soon politics becomes a factor.

This story is not one of the most popular works in this series, but it is still one of the most powerful. In many respects, it is a predecessor to Farnham's Freehold . Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Heinlein fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of personal survival, unknown planets, and youthful determination. For those who have not previously read this series, the initial volume is The Rocketship Galileo .

-Arthur W. Jordin

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Tony

reread after 60 years

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2023

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As good as first time. Now I understood the politics. Great read. Thank you Robert. Will now read others from my youth

パラメー太

電子版

Reviewed in Japan on April 1, 2020

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ハインラインの名作が電子版で読めるなんて最高です。20年くらい前にペーパーバックで買って読んだけど、やっぱり電子版の方が読みやすい！

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Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on October 11, 2014

Verified Purchase

better than the bible, or any other book

Retired

It was as good as I remember

Reviewed in Australia on July 21, 2015

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This was one of two books I read as a teenager that I could not find in print now. In order to reread them, I bought a kindle. This concerns a group of young people stuck in a science fiction version of Robinson Crusoe/Swiss Family Robinson. It was as good as I remember, and is heartily recommended.

Dr. med. Christian Renner

Superb Heinlein "of the first kind"

Reviewed in Germany on February 22, 2004

Verified Purchase

This is one of the Heinlein novels I really like.
Though a thin book and read within a long-enough train ride (took me from Deggendorf to Mainz, about 5 hours, to read) and probably aimed at a younger audience it features characteristic ideas of RAH: that die trying is better than being a live louse, that leadership IS important in groups of any kind (sometimes being the reason for an accusation as a "fascist", vide Starship Troopers), that man can prevail in any environment, that man should be able to carry with him all the basic achievements of the race and not specialize like an insect, and other basic Heinlein themes.
I am still puzzled, though, that in my view there seem to be two diferent Heinleins: the one that wrote wonderful SciFi like Starship Troopers, Red Planet, Double Star, Star Beast, Time for the Stars, Between Planets, Tunnel in the Sky and the like, and the other (older?) that wrote novels like Friday, all the Lazarus Long things, Job an so on - novels that most people seem to like, but I don`t, that to me seem to carry quite a different, not so serious tone. I still wonder where the literary transition from Heinlein A to Heinlein B is. But maybe I
simply do not know enough about RAH.
Anyway Tunnel in te Sky is a fine read, in my view.

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