On Tue Feb 24, Leo Noll said to Brion Lienhart: 
 BL> Have you ever read any other Heinlein books? It was one of his last
 BL> books, and  they tended to be long and rambling compared to his earlier
 BL> works. I'm a big  fan of his books, but mostly can't abide anything he
 BL> published after the late  sixties. 
 -LN> 
 -LN> I tried REALLY hard on two separate occasions to read (and to like) 
 -LN> Dune, but failed miserably.  So if the later books are worse than the
 -LN> earlier, I am just not cut out to be a Heinlein fan.
First of all, _Dune_ is by Frank Herbert, not Robert A. Heinlein. I did like 
_Dune_ a whole lot, and have read it a bunch of times. As for Heinlein, I 
don't know that I'd call his later books worse, just disappointing. His early 
books were taught, well plotted and moved right along. There was a slight 
tendancy to break out into lecture, but he kept it under control. However, 
after _Stranger in a Strange Land_, he became a mega-star, and too important 
to edit (or something) and his books started to become long rambling 
lectures, with people talking about doing things, instead of actually doing 
them. _Number of the Beast_ is one of the worst in this regard. A lot of 
people *do* like his later books, but those are mostly people who read those 
first, and didn't grow up reading his classic works.
If you do like _The Cat Who Walks Through Walls_, I'd also recommend _The 
Moon is a Harsh Mistress_, and _The Rolling Stones_, both in the same 
setting. There aren't any cats in Moon, although there are Martian Flat Cats 
in Rolling Stones.
  
 
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