The Cat Who Walks Through Walls

By Robert A. Heinlein

Book Overview

The New York Times bestseller that bridges the iconic The Moon is a Harsh Mistress with the World as a Myth finally returns to print after a wait of 35 years.

An outstanding example of Heinlein's sharp skills of conversational writing, the book starts as a localized mystery when writer and military veteran Richard Ames's dinner is interrupted by an assassin approaches him to ask him to kill a man. However as soon as the request, the assassin himself lies dead across the tablecloth.

So begins a masterpiece of flight and misdirection which leads the story into a massive inter-dimensional mission.

The book is also a reunion with the wildest architecture in Heinlein's imagination: the World as Myth, where the Long family keeps its own calendar and fiction and fact trade places. Hazel Stone of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress takes the stage; so do Lazarus Long and Jubal Harshaw.

A must read for Heinlein enthusiasts and fans of science fiction in general, this is Heinlein at this most playful.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1647102316
• ISBN13: 9781647102319
• Release Date: April 2027
• Publisher: CAEZIK SF & Fantasy
• Length: 440 Pages

Customer Reviews

unfinished

The plot is completely abandoned 2/3 of the way through and it just recaps everything you learn in 'Time Enough for Love'.

Pretty good

Book in great condition, didn’t have the dust jacket like in the picture

As good a place to start as any.

Reading several of the other reviews of this book, one would conclude that if you haven't read several other Heinleins, then you won't understand this book and will be unable to enjoy it. I haven't even heard of most of the other books the other reviews suggest you read before you read this one. I read one or two other Heinleins before reading this one, but thirty years ago. Anything you need to know in order to understand and enjoy this book is explained in this book. No doubt, you'll have a greater depth of understanding if you first read all of those other books suggested by the other reviews, but this book easily stands alone. It's a great story with lots of depth, but it doesn't drowned in the details. Politics, love, adventure -- it's all in there.

Excellent novel

But only if you read certain other books. While this book is reasonably plausible as a stand-alone, reading of Methuselah's Children, Time Enough For Love, and the Moon is a Harsh Mistress are essential if you want to catch everything that's going on in this book. That said, this book is a worthy addition to the Lazarus Long/World of Myth/Howard Families/Parallel/Multiverse saga (try saying that five times fast!) and the addition of Pixel and the philosophies attached make for an very good read.

It Grew on Me Over Time

I read this book two years ago and I didn't like it at all. Oh, the first half of the book was an excellent adolescent chase on a space station and across the moon. However, the second half was more of a... I really can't describe it without giving away the plot. ... And the ending? Well, I simply didn't like it one bit.Two years ago I didn't like it because I wanted a simple, happy adventure story. I didn't want to have to deal with the implications of the second half of the book. Since then, I've read, and *forgotten* a lot of easy adventure books. Yet this book has always stayed in my mind. I haven't yet read many of Heinlein's works, but now I'm going to start. And the ending? You'll never forget it!

Great Book, not Heinlein's best, but a great book.

Call me biased, Heinlein is who got me hooked on Science Fiction, but this is a great book. Lots of fun to read, it's much like Job: A Comedy Of Justice, but it gives us an outsiders look at the Long Family of Time Enough For Love, and ties together many of Heinlein's earlier and later works. Don't read this book until you've read Methusaleh's Children, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Time Enough For Love, and The Number of The Beast.

If you are a fan it's a GREAT book.

I've been always sadened by the fact that Heilein did not have time to finish his work. A lot of his novels are related, and, because of his illness, Heinlein never gave us a conclusion on his universe. So, if you like him, don't misss the oportunity to read this book. He wil no be writing any more novels, so better read what he left. This book is charged with characters that feel, and make you understand some of the ideas Heinlein had about the relationship between Women and Man. Sometimes his male characters are "Macho" and his female characters are "Femimists", sometimes women are submissive and men are "Not Macho". All of them are in a futuristic setting, involved in a kind of interdimensional plot. Mr Heinlein had some good and some not so good view points. I really love the way he expresses them even if I don't agree with everything he writes.