Thoughts II

Similarly, a Superman comic strip unaccountably reminded me of a Robert Heinlein novel. On reflection, I realized that the common themes were a lunar setting and parallel universes. It was this precise conceptual combination that, for me, made the graphic work recall the prose work.

Heinlein excelled at lunar settings and Poul Anderson followed in his footsteps. On the other hand, what a mess Heinlein made of the multiverse in his later novels. By contrast, Anderson presented several independently substantial narratives and connected them as parallel universes:

intriguing alternative histories in two short stories;
a Carolingian universe in one novel;
a Shakespearean universe in one novel;
a Heinlein-inspired magical universe in two novels;
the Technic History in many volumes;
characters from these and other universes, including ours, meeting in an inn between the worlds.

Whatever Heinlein does either well or badly, Anderson does as well or better. My advice to anyone starting to read sf is: read both authors but make your own judgments about the later Heinlein. I have met people who liked Lazarus Long's Notebooks but for me the Future History is complete with Orphans Of The Sky.