Editing Robert A. Heinlein (section)

==Written works==
{{Main|Robert A. Heinlein bibliography}}

Heinlein published 32 novels, 59 short stories, and 16 collections during his life. Nine films, two television series, several episodes of a radio series, and a board game have been derived more or less directly from his work. He wrote a screenplay for one of the films. Heinlein edited an anthology of other writers' SF short stories.

Three nonfiction books and two poems have been published posthumously. ''For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs'' was published posthumously in 2003;<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gussow |first1=Mel |title=Heinlein's Prophetic First Novel, Lost and Found |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/10/arts/heinlein-s-prophetic-first-novel-lost-and-found.html |website=The New York Times |date=March 10, 2004}}</ref> ''Variable Star'', written by Spider Robinson based on an extensive outline by Heinlein, was published in September 2006. Four collections have been published posthumously.<ref name="isfdb ..." />

===Early work, 1939–1958===
Heinlein began his career as a writer of stories for ''Astounding Science Fiction'' magazine, which was edited by John Campbell. The science fiction writer [[Frederik Pohl]] has described Heinlein as "that greatest of Campbell-era sf writers".<ref name="Working with">{{cite web|title=Working with Robert A. Heinlein|url=http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2010/05/working-with-robert-a-heinlein/|website=Thewaythefutureblogs.com|access-date=November 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816055831/http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/2010/05/working-with-robert-a-heinlein/|archive-date=August 16, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Isaac Asimov said that, from the time of his first story, the science fiction world accepted that Heinlein was the best science fiction writer in existence, adding that he would hold this title through his lifetime.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mATFyeVI7IUC|title=I, Asimov: A Memoir|last=Asimov|first=Isaac|date=December 23, 2009|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-57353-7|language=en|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101100932/https://books.google.com/books?id=mATFyeVI7IUC|url-status=live}}</ref>

Alexei and Cory Panshin noted that Heinlein's impact was immediately felt. In 1940, the year after selling 'Life-Line' to Campbell, he wrote three short novels, four novelettes, and seven short stories. They went on to say that "No one ever dominated the science fiction field as Bob did in the first few years of his career."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/Dream/dream1.html|title=The Death of Science Fiction: A Dream, Part 1|last=Panshin|first=Alexei and Cory|website=Panshin.com|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=July 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730234847/http://www.panshin.com/critics/Dream/dream1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Alexei expresses awe in Heinlein's ability to show readers a world so drastically different from the one we live in now, yet have so many similarities. He says that "We find ourselves not only in a world other than our own, but identifying with a living, breathing individual who is operating within its context, and thinking and acting according to its terms."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/Golden/goldenage1.html|title=Heinlein and the Golden Age, 1|last=Panshin|first=Alexei|website=Panshin.com|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=March 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325191609/http://panshin.com/critics/Golden/goldenage1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Two complete science adventure books 1952win n7.jpg|thumb|upright|Heinlein's 1942 novel ''[[Beyond This Horizon]]'' was reprinted in ''[[Two Complete Science-Adventure Books]]'' in 1952, appearing under the "Anson McDonald" byline even though the book edition had been published under Heinlein's own name four years earlier.]]
[[File:Galaxy 195109.jpg|thumb|upright|The opening installment of ''The Puppet Masters'' took the cover of the September 1951 issue of ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction]]''.]]

The first novel that Heinlein wrote, ''[[For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs]]'' (1939), did not see print during his lifetime, but Robert James tracked down the manuscript and it was published in 2003. Though some regard it as a failure as a novel,<ref name="aolbio"/> considering it little more than a disguised lecture on Heinlein's [[social theory|social theories]], some readers took a very different view. In a review of it, [[John Clute]] wrote:

<blockquote>I'm not about to suggest that if Heinlein had been able to publish [such works] openly in the pages of ''Astounding'' in 1939, SF would have gotten the future right; I would suggest, however, that if Heinlein, and his colleagues, had been able to publish adult SF in ''Astounding'' and its fellow journals, then SF might not have done such a grotesquely poor job of prefiguring something of the flavor of actually living here at the onset of 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nielsenhayden.com/electrolite/archives/004356.html|title=Electrolite: 'He was the train we did not catch.'|publisher=nielsenhayden.com|access-date=August 28, 2016|archive-date=October 29, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029170922/http://nielsenhayden.com/electrolite/archives/004356.html|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

''For Us, the Living'' was intriguing as a window into the development of Heinlein's radical ideas about man as a [[social animal]], including his interest in [[free love]]. The root of many themes found in his later stories can be found in this book. It also contained a large amount of material that could be considered background for his other novels. This included a detailed description of the protagonist's treatment to avoid being banished to [[Coventry (short story)|Coventry]] (a lawless land in the Heinlein mythos where unrepentant law-breakers are exiled).<ref>{{Cite book|title=For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs|last=Robert A.|first=Heinlein|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2004|isbn=9780743261579|page=133}}</ref>

[[File:Robert Heinlein Amazing 5304.jpg|thumb|left|Heinlein as depicted in ''Amazing Stories'' in 1953]]

It appears that Heinlein at least attempted to live in a manner consistent with these ideals, even in the 1930s, and had an [[open relationship]] in his marriage to his second wife, Leslyn. He was also a [[Naturism|nudist]];<ref name="hine-line_soc"/> nudism and body [[taboo]]s are frequently discussed in his work. At the height of the [[Cold War]], he built a [[air-raid shelter|bomb shelter]] under his house, like the one featured in ''[[Farnham's Freehold]]''.<ref name="hine-line_soc"/>

After ''For Us, the Living'', Heinlein began selling (to magazines) first short stories, then novels, set in a [[Future History (Heinlein)|Future History]], complete with a time line of significant political, cultural, and technological changes. A chart of the future history was published in the May 1941 issue of ''Astounding''. Over time, Heinlein wrote many novels and short stories that deviated freely from the Future History on some points, while maintaining consistency in some other areas. The Future History was eventually overtaken by actual events. These discrepancies were explained, after a fashion, in his later World as Myth stories.

Heinlein's first novel published as a book, ''[[Rocket Ship Galileo]]'', was initially rejected because going to the Moon was considered too far-fetched, but he soon found a publisher, [[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner's]], that began publishing a Heinlein [[young adult literature|juvenile]] once a year for the Christmas season.<ref>Robert A. Heinlein, ''Expanded Universe'', foreword to "Free Men", p. 207 of Ace paperback edition.</ref> Eight of these books were illustrated by [[Clifford Geary]] in a distinctive white-on-black [[scratchboard]] style.<ref>{{cite web |author=Alexei Panshin |url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/Dimension/hd03-1.html |title=Heinlein in Dimension, Chapter 3, Part 1 |publisher=Enter.net |access-date=May 16, 2012 |archive-date=July 31, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020731131454/http://panshin.com/critics/Dimension/hd03-1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Some representative novels of this type are ''[[Have Space Suit—Will Travel]]'', ''[[Farmer in the Sky]]'', and ''[[Starman Jones]]''. Many of these were first published in serial form under other titles, e.g., ''Farmer in the Sky'' was published as ''Satellite Scout'' in the [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scout]] magazine ''[[Boys' Life]]''. There has been speculation that Heinlein's intense obsession with his privacy was due at least in part to the apparent contradiction between his unconventional private life{{clarify|date=June 2020}} and his career as an author of books for children. However, ''For Us, the Living'' explicitly discusses the political importance Heinlein attached to privacy as a matter of principle.{{refn|1=The importance Heinlein attached to privacy was made clear in his fiction, ''e.g.'', ''For Us, the Living'', but also in several well-known examples from his life. He had a falling out with [[Alexei Panshin]], who wrote an important book analyzing Heinlein's fiction; Heinlein stopped cooperating with Panshin because he accused Panshin of "[attempting to] pry into his affairs and to violate his privacy". Heinlein wrote to Panshin's publisher threatening to sue, and stating, "You are warned that only the barest facts of my private life are public knowledge&nbsp;...".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/StoryHiD/HiDF.htm |title=The Story of Heinlein in Dimension, 6 |first=Alexei |last=Panshin |website=Panshin.com |access-date=December 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224095534/http://www.panshin.com/critics/StoryHiD/HiDF.htm |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Heinlein was a nudist, and built a fence around his house in Santa Cruz to keep out the counterculture types who had learned of his ideas through ''Stranger in a Strange Land''. In his later life, Heinlein studiously avoided revealing his early involvement in left-wing politics,<ref name="Perry A">{{cite web |url=http://www.panshin.com/critics/Perry/perryA.htm |title=Ham and Eggs and Heinlein, 1 |first=Thomas |last=Perry |website=Panshin.com |access-date=December 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224113014/http://www.panshin.com/critics/Perry/perryA.htm |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> and made strenuous efforts to block publication of information he had revealed to prospective biographer Sam Moskowitz.<ref name="Perry A" />}}

The novels that Heinlein wrote for a young audience are commonly called "the Heinlein juveniles", and they feature a mixture of adolescent and adult themes. Many of the issues that he takes on in these books have to do with the kinds of problems that adolescents experience. His protagonists are usually intelligent teenagers who have to make their way in the adult society they see around them. On the surface, they are simple tales of adventure, achievement, and dealing with stupid teachers and jealous peers. Heinlein was a vocal proponent of the notion that juvenile readers were far more sophisticated and able to handle more complex or difficult themes than most people realized. His juvenile stories often had a maturity to them that made them readable for adults. ''[[Red Planet (novel)|Red Planet]]'', for example, portrays some subversive themes, including a revolution in which young students are involved; his editor demanded substantial changes in this book's discussion of topics such as the use of weapons by children and the misidentified sex of the Martian character. Heinlein was always aware of the editorial limitations put in place by the editors of his novels and stories, and while he observed those restrictions on the surface, was often successful in introducing ideas not often seen in other authors' juvenile SF.

In 1957, [[James Blish]] wrote that one reason for Heinlein's success "has been the high grade of machinery which goes, today as always, into his story-telling. Heinlein seems to have known from the beginning, as if instinctively, technical lessons about fiction which other writers must learn the hard way (or often enough, never learn). He does not always operate the machinery to the best advantage, but he always seems to be aware of it."<ref>[[James Blish]], ''The Issues at Hand'', p. 52.</ref>

===1959–1960===
Heinlein decisively ended his juvenile novels with ''[[Starship Troopers]]'' (1959), a controversial work and his personal riposte to leftists calling for President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] to stop nuclear testing in 1958. "The 'Patrick Henry' ad shocked 'em", he wrote many years later of the campaign. "''Starship Troopers'' outraged 'em."<ref name="In A Strangle Land">{{cite web|url=http://nrd.nationalreview.com/article/?q=YjE5OGQwZDgzODc5OTYwODRkNTIzM2Y5ZWZhNDUwNTE= |access-date=November 27, 2009 |title=In A Strange Land |author=John J. Miller |publisher=National Review Online Books Arts and Manners |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717033555/http://nrd.nationalreview.com/article/?q=YjE5OGQwZDgzODc5OTYwODRkNTIzM2Y5ZWZhNDUwNTE%3D |archive-date=July 17, 2011 }}</ref> ''Starship Troopers'' is a coming-of-age story about duty, citizenship, and the role of the military in society.<ref>[http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/062007/06302007/296085/index_html Centenary a modern sci-fi giant] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120708204624/http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/062007/06302007/296085/index_html |date=July 8, 2012 }} The Free Lance Star, June 30, 2007.</ref> The book portrays a society in which [[suffrage]] is earned by demonstrated willingness to place society's interests before one's own, at least for a short time and often under onerous circumstances, in government service; in the case of the protagonist, this was military service.

Later, in ''[[Expanded Universe (Heinlein)|Expanded Universe]]'', Heinlein said that it was his intention in the novel that service could include positions outside strictly military functions such as teachers, police officers, and other government positions. This is presented in the novel as an outgrowth of the failure of unearned suffrage government and as a very successful arrangement. In addition, the franchise was only awarded after leaving the assigned service; thus those serving their terms—in the military, or any other service—were excluded from exercising any franchise. Career military were completely disenfranchised until retirement.

===Middle period work, 1961–1973===
[[File:If 196211.jpg|thumb|upright|Heinlein's novel ''Podkayne of Mars'' was serialized in ''[[If (magazine)|If]]'', with a cover by [[Virgil Finlay]].]]
From about 1961 (''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]'') to 1973 (''Time Enough for Love''), Heinlein explored some of his most important themes, such as [[individualism]], [[Libertarianism in the United States|libertarianism]], and free expression of physical and emotional love. Three novels from this period, ''Stranger in a Strange Land'', ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]'', and ''Time Enough for Love'', won the [[Libertarian Futurist Society]]'s [[Prometheus Hall of Fame Award]], designed to honor classic libertarian fiction.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lfs.org/awards.htm|title=Libertarian Futurist Society|website=Lfs.org|access-date=November 26, 2017|archive-date=June 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628180047/http://www.lfs.org/awards.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Jeff Riggenbach described ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' as "unquestionably one of the three or four most influential libertarian novels of the last century".<ref name=Riggenbach>{{cite journal|last=Riggenbach|first=Jeff|title=Was Robert A. Heinlein a Libertarian?|journal=Mises Daily|publisher=[[Ludwig von Mises Institute]]|date=June 2, 2010|url=https://mises.org/daily/4428/Was-Robert-A-Heinlein-a-Libertarian|access-date=September 13, 2014|archive-date=September 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914002124/https://mises.org/daily/4428/Was-Robert-A-Heinlein-a-Libertarian|url-status=live}}</ref>

Heinlein did not publish ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' until some time after it was written, and the themes of free love and radical [[individualism]] are prominently featured in his long-unpublished first novel, ''For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs''.

''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' tells of a war of independence waged by the Lunar penal colonies, with significant comments from a major character, Professor La Paz, regarding the threat posed by government to individual freedom.

Although Heinlein had previously written a few short stories in the [[fantasy]] genre, during this period he wrote his first fantasy novel, ''[[Glory Road (Heinlein novel)|Glory Road]]''. In ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' and ''[[I Will Fear No Evil]]'', he began to mix hard science with fantasy, mysticism, and satire of organized religion. Critics William H. Patterson, Jr., and Andrew Thornton believe that this is simply an expression of Heinlein's longstanding philosophical opposition to [[Positivism (philosophy)|positivism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Patterson |first=William H. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Martian_Named_Smith/BZkrAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Heinlein+positivism+Thornton&dq=Heinlein+positivism+Thornton&printsec=frontcover |title=The Martian Named Smith: Critical Perspectives on Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land |last2=Thornton |first2=Andrew |date=2001 |publisher=Nitrosyncretic Press |isbn=978-0-9679874-2-2 |pages=129 |language=en}}</ref> Heinlein stated that he was influenced by [[James Branch Cabell]] in taking this new literary direction. The penultimate novel of this period, ''I Will Fear No Evil'', is according to critic James Gifford "almost universally regarded as a literary failure"<ref>Gifford, James. ''Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion'', Nitrosyncretic Press, Sacramento, California, 2000, p. 102.</ref> and he attributes its shortcomings to Heinlein's near-death from [[peritonitis]].

===Later work, 1980–1987===
After a seven-year hiatus brought on by poor health, Heinlein produced five new novels in the period from 1980 (''[[The Number of the Beast (novel)|The Number of the Beast]]'') to 1987 (''[[To Sail Beyond the Sunset]]''). These books have a thread of common characters and time and place. They most explicitly communicated Heinlein's philosophies and beliefs, and many long, didactic passages of dialog and exposition deal with government, sex, and religion. These novels are controversial among his readers and one critic, [[David Langford]], has written about them very negatively.<ref>See, e.g., {{Cite web |title=Vulgarity and Nullity. Robert A. Heinlein 'The Number of the Beast' |url=https://ansible.uk/writing/numbeast.html |first=David |last=Langford |access-date=December 29, 2022 |website=Ansible.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120081308/http://www.ansible.co.uk/writing/numbeast.html |archive-date=January 20, 2013}}</ref> Heinlein's four Hugo awards were all for books written before this period.

Most of the novels from this period are recognized by critics as forming an offshoot from the Future History series and are referred to by the term ''World as Myth''.<ref>Patterson, William H., Jr., and Thornton, Andrew., The Martian Named Smith: Critical Perspectives on Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, p. 128: "His books written after about 1980&nbsp;... belong to a series called by one of the central characters ''World as Myth''." The term Multiverse also occurs in the print literature, e.g., Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader's Companion, James Gifford, Nitrosyncretic Press, Sacramento, California, 2000. The term World as Myth occurs for the first time in Heinlein's novel ''[[The Cat Who Walks Through Walls]]''.</ref>

The tendency toward authorial self-reference begun in ''Stranger in a Strange Land'' and ''Time Enough for Love'' becomes even more evident in novels such as ''The Cat Who Walks Through Walls'', whose first-person protagonist is a disabled military veteran who becomes a writer, and finds love with a female character.<ref name="Robert A. Heinlein Biography">{{cite web|url=http://library.ucsc.edu/special-collections-exhibits|title=Robert A. Heinlein, 1907–1988|access-date=November 27, 2009|work=Biography of Robert A. Heinlein|publisher=University of California Santa Cruz|archive-date=April 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418114331/http://library.ucsc.edu/special-collections-exhibits|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 1982 novel ''[[Friday (novel)|Friday]]'', a more conventional adventure story (borrowing a character and backstory from the earlier short story ''[[Gulf (novella)|Gulf]]'', also containing suggestions of connection to ''[[The Puppet Masters]]'') continued a Heinlein theme of expecting what he saw as the continued disintegration of Earth's society, to the point where the title character is strongly encouraged to seek a new life off-planet. It concludes with a traditional Heinlein note, as in ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' or ''Time Enough for Love'', that freedom is to be found on the frontiers.

The 1984 novel ''[[Job: A Comedy of Justice]]'' is a sharp satire of organized religion. Heinlein himself was agnostic.<ref>{{cite book|title=Robert Heinlein Interview: And Other Heinleiniana|year=1999|publisher=Pulpless.Com|isbn=978-1-58445-015-3|page=62|author=J. Neil Schulman|chapter=Job: A Comedy of Justice Reviewed by J. Neil Schulman|quote=Lewis converted me from atheism to Christianity—Rand converted me back to atheism, with Heinlein standing on the sidelines rooting for agnosticism.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction and Faith|year=2010|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-9360-4|page=57|author=Carole M. Cusack|quote=Heinlein, like Robert Anton Wilson, was a lifelong agnostic, believing that to affirm that there is no God was as silly and unsupported as to affirm that there was a God.}}</ref>

===Posthumous publications===
Several Heinlein works have been published since his death, including the aforementioned ''[[For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs|For Us, the Living]]'' as well as 1989's ''[[Grumbles from the Grave]]'', a collection of letters between Heinlein and his editors and agent; 1992's ''[[Tramp Royale]]'', a travelogue of a southern hemisphere tour the Heinleins took in the 1950s; ''[[Take Back Your Government]]'', a how-to book about participatory democracy written in 1946 and reflecting his experience as an organizer with the [[End Poverty in California|EPIC campaign of 1934]] and the movement's aftermath as an important factor in California politics before the Second World War; and a tribute volume called ''[[Requiem (short story collection)|Requiem: Collected Works and Tributes to the Grand Master]]'', containing some additional short works previously unpublished in book form. ''[[Off the Main Sequence]]'', published in 2005, includes three short stories never before collected in any Heinlein book (Heinlein called them "stinkeroos").

[[Spider Robinson]], a colleague, friend, and admirer of Heinlein,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/articles/rahrahrah.html |title=Heinleinsociety.org |publisher=Heinleinsociety.org |access-date=May 16, 2012 |archive-date=January 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115075823/http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/articles/rahrahrah.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> wrote ''[[Variable Star]]'', based on an outline and notes for a novel that Heinlein prepared in 1955. The novel was published as a collaboration, with Heinlein's name above Robinson's on the cover, in 2006.

A complete collection of Heinlein's published work has been published<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heinleinbooks.com/ |title=heinleinbooks.com |publisher=Heinleinsociety.org |access-date=January 17, 2015 |archive-date=December 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227222914/http://www.heinleinbooks.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> by the Heinlein Prize Trust as the "Virginia Edition", after his wife. See the Complete Works section of [[Robert A. Heinlein bibliography]] for details.

On February 1, 2019, Phoenix Pick announced that through a collaboration with the Heinlein Prize Trust, a reconstruction of the full text of an unpublished Heinlein novel had been produced. It was published in March 2020. The reconstructed novel, entitled ''The Pursuit of the Pankera: A Parallel Novel about Parallel Universes'',<ref>{{cite book | last = Heinlein | first = Robert | title = The pursuit of the Pankera : a parallel novel about parallel universes | publisher = CAEZIK SF & Fantasy, an imprint of Arc Manor Publishers | location = Rockville, MD | year = 2020 | isbn = 978-1647100018 }}</ref> is an alternative version of ''The Number of the Beast'', with the first one-third of ''The Pursuit of the Pankera'' mostly the same as the first one-third of ''The Number of the Beast'' but the remainder of ''The Pursuit of the Pankera'' deviating entirely from ''The Number of the Beast'', with a completely different story-line. The newly reconstructed novel pays homage to [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] and [[E. E. Smith|E. E. "Doc" Smith]]. It was edited by [[Pat LoBrutto|Patrick Lobrutto]]. Some reviewers describe the newly reconstructed novel as more in line with the style of a traditional Heinlein novel than was ''The Number of the Beast''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/08/unseen-robert-a-heinlein-novel-reworks-awful-the-number-of-the-beast|title=Unseen Robert A Heinlein novel reworks 'awful' The Number of the Beast|date=February 8, 2019|website=The Guardian|access-date=February 13, 2021|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108002430/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/08/unseen-robert-a-heinlein-novel-reworks-awful-the-number-of-the-beast|url-status=live}}</ref> ''The Pursuit of the Pankera'' was considered superior to the original version of ''The Number of the Beast'' by some reviewers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tor.com/2020/04/09/long-lost-treasure-the-pursuit-of-the-pankera-vs-the-number-of-the-beast-by-robert-a-heinlein/|title=Long-Lost Treasure: The Pursuit of the Pankera vs. The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein|first=Alan|last=Brown|date=April 9, 2020|website=Tor.com|access-date=May 1, 2020|archive-date=April 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412140938/https://www.tor.com/2020/04/09/long-lost-treasure-the-pursuit-of-the-pankera-vs-the-number-of-the-beast-by-robert-a-heinlein/|url-status=live}}</ref>  Both ''The Pursuit of the Pankera'' and a new edition of ''The Number of the Beast''<ref>{{cite book | last = Heinlein | first = Robert | title = The number of the beast : a parallel novel about parallel universes | publisher = CAEZIK SF & Fantasy, an imprint of Arc Manor Publishers | location = Rockville, NY | year = 2020 | isbn = 978-1647100032 }}</ref> were published in March 2020. The new edition of the latter shares the subtitle of ''The Pursuit of the Pankera'', hence entitled ''The Number of the Beast: A Parallel Novel about Parallel Universes''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.arcmanormagazines.com/six-six-six|title=six-six-six|website=Arc Manor Magazines|access-date=February 26, 2019|archive-date=February 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204180059/https://www.arcmanormagazines.com/six-six-six|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://file770.com/pixel-scroll-6-20-19-mamas-dont-let-your-pixels-grow-up-to-be-scrollers/|title = Pixel Scroll 6/20/19 Mamas, Don't Let Your Pixels Grow up to be Scrollers|date = June 21, 2019|access-date = June 23, 2019|archive-date = June 23, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190623204359/http://file770.com/pixel-scroll-6-20-19-mamas-dont-let-your-pixels-grow-up-to-be-scrollers/|url-status = live}}</ref>