All You Zombies

Known as the Dean of Science Fiction Writers, Robert Heinlein first went to sea. He graduated from Annapolis and spent several years aboard US Naval vessels. Discharged due to a lung ailment, he won a story-writing contest where the judge offered him a job instead of a prize. His unique voice and outlook quickly made him one of the most influential sci-fi authors. During the 1940s and 1950s, Heinlein settled into a role as a juvenile writer; he then moved into sci-fi for adults and never looked back.

Heinlein’s most famous novels include Stranger in a Strange Land, about a human raised by Martians who returns to Earth and starts a new religion; Starship Troopers, a making-of-a-soldier story; Glory Road, the chronicle of a Vietnam vet’s knight-like quest on behalf of the queen of an alternate universe; and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, the tale of a rebellion by a lunar colony against Earth. Heinlein’s chatty dialog, exciting plots, and thought-provoking ideas helped redefine mid-century speculative fiction; his unique perspective on politics often caused controversy but never proved dull. Heinlein died in 1988.