I liked the main plot as described but thought it could have happily ended about halfway through. I found Heinlein’s debate of honor and privilege in this to be interesting in much the same way as his notions of earning rights by military service in Starship Troopers. While their society is Utopian and futuristic, they also have notions of honor and violence such that people can get into gun duels when slighted.
It’s not really surprising that this novel came out in the 1950’s when eugenics and superiority of different races was a current topic. There is little risk or adventure in this society, so a bored Hamilton decided to act as a mole within this organization. He gets wrapped up in a group plotting to overthrow the government that thinks only the best of humanity should thrive in society while the control naturals are destroyed or used for experiments. Hamilton Felix genetically represents the best of what humanity has to offer. There are still some normal people (referred to as “control naturals”) that could potentially provide new genetic mutations for the good of mankind. Mankind has also worked toward eliminating weaknesses in the human chromosome via gene selection and intentional breeding. Mankind has created a Utopian society where poverty and hunger are studied in school but don’t actually happen anymore. Big mistake! The revolutionaries are about to find out that recruiting a superman was definitely not a good idea.īeyond This Horizon is classic science fiction with social commentary thrown in as you may expect from Heinlein. Knowing of Hamilton’s disenchantment with the modern world, they want him to join their Glorious Revolution. A secret cabal of revolutionaries plan to revolt and seize control. However, his life is about to become less boring. He is, as far as genetics can produce one, the ultimate man, yet sees no meaning in life. And he is the culmination of a star line each of his last thirty ancestors chosen for superior genes.
Disease, hunger, poverty and war are found only in the history tapes, and applied genetics has brought a lifespan of over a century. Themes: / utopia / revolution / genetic engineering /
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