The Number of the Beast
- by Robert A. Heinlein
- Novel
- Science Fiction
- Adults
- Definite Time Travel
- English
- The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein (Fawcett Columbine, 1980).
Semi-mad scientist Jake Burroughs, his beautiful daughter Deety, her strong love interest Zeb Carter, Hilda Corners (“Aunt Hilda” if you prefer) and their time/dimension-traveling ship Gay Deceiver yak and smooch their way though many time periods in many universes (including that of Lazurus Long), soon realizing the true nature of the world as pantheistic multiperson solipsism.
In Heinlein’s first version of this novel, written in 1977, the middle third of the story takes place on Barsoom, but in the 1980 published version, Barsoom was replaced by a futuristic British Mars
In Heinlein’s first version of this novel, written in 1977, the middle third of the story takes place on Barsoom, but in the 1980 published version, Barsoom was replaced by a futuristic British Mars
—Michael Main
Sharpie, you have just invented multiperson solipsism. I didn’t think that was mathematically possible.
Tags
(22)
- Time Periods
- Circa AD 1800 to 1899: Lewis Carroll is likely here.
- Circa AD 1970 to 1999: Most time periods appear to be analogs of our late 20th century, and the gang also visits 1982 Arizona in Lazurus Long’s universe.
- Near Future, AD 2300 and Beyond: The time of Lazurus Long was a few millennia after the 20th century. The Lensman universe and others are likely here, too.
- Time Travel Methods
- Themes
- Artist Paradox: There may small artist’s paradox when Deety tells Lewis Carroll about a book he has yet to write.
- Cheating History: Rescuing Maureen from the past in a way that does not change history’s recording of her death in Albuquerque.
- Real-World Tags
- Fictional Tags
- Alice’s Wonderland
- CoDominium Universe: The red fog universe may be from The Mote in God’s Eye.
- Heinlein’s Future History
- Lazarus Long
- Legion of Space Universe: The green fog universe may be from The Legion of Space.
- Lensman Universe
- Lilliput, Brobdingnag, and Other Swiftlands
- Maureen Johnson Smith Long
- Metafictional Reality
- Nightfall Universe: The blinding light universe may be from “Nightfall.”
- Oz
- Parallel Universes or Dimensions: along three spacial axes and three other axes that each have their own advancement of time
- Groupings
Variants
(3)
- The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein (Fawcett Columbine, 1980).
- prominent excerpt.
The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein, 2-pt. excerpt, Omni, October–November 1979. - alternative title to coincide with the publication of The Pursuit of the Pankera.
The Number of the Beast: A Parallel Novel about Parallel Universes by Robert A. Heinlein (Caezik SF and Fantasy, March 2020). - audio reading.
The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein (Blackstone Audio, May 2012). - Číslo bestie [Beast number] by Robert A. Heinlein (Classic, 1996).
- Het getal van het beest [The number of the beast] by Robert A. Heinlein (Elmar, 1981).
- Die Zahl des Tiers [The number of the animal] by Robert A. Heinlein (Heyne, May 1981).
- 666: מספר החיה [Beast number] by Robert A. Heinlein (כתר :: Ketr, 1983).
- Il numero della bestia [The number of the beast] by Robert A. Heinlein (Gradi Scrittori di Fantascienza, November 1981).
- O Número do Monstro [The monster number] by Robert A. Heinlein, 3 vols. (Livros do Brasil, 1980).
- Число Зверя [Beast number] by Robert A. Heinlein (Эксмо :: Eskmo, 2002).
- El número de la bestia [The number of the beast] by Robert A. Heinlein (Martínez Roca, 1982).
Translations
(9)
- The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein (Fawcett Columbine, 1980).
- prominent excerpt.
The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein, 2-pt. excerpt, Omni, October–November 1979. - alternative title to coincide with the publication of The Pursuit of the Pankera.
The Number of the Beast: A Parallel Novel about Parallel Universes by Robert A. Heinlein (Caezik SF and Fantasy, March 2020). - English: audio reading.
The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein (Blackstone Audio, May 2012). - Czech.
Číslo bestie [Beast number] by Robert A. Heinlein (Classic, 1996). - Dutch.
Het getal van het beest [The number of the beast] by Robert A. Heinlein (Elmar, 1981). - German.
Die Zahl des Tiers [The number of the animal] by Robert A. Heinlein (Heyne, May 1981). - Hebrew.
666: מספר החיה [Beast number] by Robert A. Heinlein (כתר :: Ketr, 1983). - Italian.
Il numero della bestia [The number of the beast] by Robert A. Heinlein (Gradi Scrittori di Fantascienza, November 1981). - Portuguese.
O Número do Monstro [The monster number] by Robert A. Heinlein, 3 vols. (Livros do Brasil, 1980). - Russian.
Число Зверя [Beast number] by Robert A. Heinlein (Эксмо :: Eskmo, 2002). - Spanish.
El número de la bestia [The number of the beast] by Robert A. Heinlein (Martínez Roca, 1982).
Previous Works
major rewrite of The Pursuit of the Pankera, (1977)
Indexer Notes
(1)
- Tags—A gaggle of characters from Heinlein’s other stories and other fictional universes show up, but we’ve tagged only the time traveler Lazurus Long. If we notice any other characters who time traveled in their own right, we’ll tag them later. We did tag those definite fictional settings that we could identify such as Oz and Lensman Universe. Also, plenty of real-world authors are mentioned as attending the climactic convention, but we spotted only Lewis Carroll on stage or having a significant effect on the story at hand, so we didn’t tag the rest. Perhaps we should also tag additional characters such as: Glinda the Good, Captain Bill, Woggle-Bug, Mr. Scarecrow, Jack Pumpkinhead, Alice’s rabbit,