The Pursuit of the Pankera

A Parallel Novel about Parallel Universes

By: Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin, Jennifer Jill Araya, Richard Ferrone, Bernadette Dunne

The Pursuit of the Pankera is one of the most audacious experiments ever done in science fiction by the legendary author of the classic best seller Starship Troopers.

Robert A. Heinlein wrote The Number of the Beast, which was published in 1980. In the book Zeb, Deety, Hilda, and Jake are ambushed by the alien "Black Hats" and barely escape with their lives on a specially configured vehicle (the Gay Deceiver) which can travel along various planes of existence, allowing them to visit parallel universes.

However, unknown to most fans, Heinlein had already written a "parallel" novel about the four characters and parallel universes in 1977. He effectively wrote two parallel novels about parallel universes. The novels share the same start, but as soon as the Gay Deceiver is used to transport them to a parallel universe, each book transports them to a totally different parallel world.

From that point on the plot lines diverge completely. While The Number of the Beast morphs into something very different, more representative of later Heinlein works, The Pursuit of the Pankera remains on target with a much more traditional Heinleinesque storyline and ending, reminiscent of his earlier works.

The Pursuit of the Pankera was never published, and there have been many competing theories as to why (including significant copyright issues in 1977). Over time the manuscript was largely forgotten but survived in fragments. A recent re-examination of these fragments, however, made it clear that they constitute the complete novel.

And here it finally is: Robert A. Heinlein's audacious experiment. A fitting farewell from one of the most inventive science fiction writers to have ever lived: a parallel novel about parallel universes, as well as a great adventure pitting the forces of good versus evil only the way Heinlein could do.

©2020 Robert A. Heinlein (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Need to read other old SciFi first?

So much of the book references old SciFi series, Barsoom and the Lensman series. I had not read either of these, so it felt like this book kept referring to things that I didn’t know about. It makes the book dry and confusing in large sections.

A posthumous novel by Robert A. Heinlein

This book was compiled from bits and parts long after Heinlein's death. It appears to be an abandoned first draft of The Number of the Beast (NofB), as the first 11 chapters are identical.

After that, PotP takes a different path. The four main characters are mostly the same, but much of the rest of the book is a tribute to three other classic book series, just barely touching a few older Heinlein characters. However, unless you've read those classic book series (or know a lot about them), you may lose some of the enjoyment of this book. (The three are the Oz books, Lensman series by E.E. "Doc" Smith, and the John Carter of Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs)

In comparison, NotB dove heavily into Heinein's prior work. Unless one had read much of Heinlein's previous work, the last third of the book would make little sense.

This book might be a better stand-alone book than NotB, as NotB was a "fan service" book intended to revisit many of Heinlein's characters.

As a long-term Heinlein fan, I certainly enjoyed PotP. The writing style and the character banter was pure Heinlein. It was fun to see how the story differed from NotB. Fortunately, I have read at least some of the books in all three classic series, so I understood most of the references.

The Audiobook performance was very good. There are four performers, each playing one of the main four characters. Each chapter is from one of the main four characters' point of view, and each performer read his or her character well, while also having to perform the dialog of other characters.

Not your typical Heinlein

While the style itself is typical Heinlein and very enjoyable once you get past the dates attitudes of the time it was written, the story itself took an unexpected tangent that ‘borrowed’ from other stories. I won’t give details as it would be a major spoiler but it rapidly took the pleasure out of hearing the story. I think I understand why this was not originally published.

Luckily the narration is well done and does maintain the Heinlein prose and period so I was able to make it to the end.

Curious but slightly disappointed

Glad this one was included in audible. Would've been better with 1 person reading. Not one of his best as I enjoyed Number of the beast more.

Stupid production

4 main characters, 4 narrators and each narrator doing all 4 characters? What an idiotic idea. You never know who’s talking. Just about the time you can identify the characters the next chapter begins with a different narrator and 4 different voices. Enjoyed the story in spite of the frustration but they really did the author’s work an injustice.