The number of the beast by Robert Heinlein book review

This story is a non-stop adventure through space, time, and a whole bunch of parallel realities.  As with any Heinlein book there is quite a bit of philosophy as well, but unlike his earlier books where the characters mostly state their philosophy, his later books (of which this is one) demonstrate it through the actions and reactions of his characters, and in bits and pieces of conversations they have.  If you pay attention you can find it all over.  This particular book explores the concept of parallel realities, and the idea that all possible things will happen in some universe.  The story illustrates this point by linking many of Heinlein's story-lines, and a few other fictional universes together using a device that allows for dimensional hopping.  There is even a trip to Oz thrown in there.

As with most Heinlein books there is not really anything I don't like about this book.  That being said some of the technological concepts that it is based on have long since been surpassed particularly in the field of computers, and the way they operate.  On the other hand the things that he has the outdated hardware doing are still largely out of reach today.  Personally I think that the two things balance out, but it could be jarring for some if this is their first Heinlein book.

This book is a story about a group of people who discover a way to hop between dimensions.  They are not the first to obtain this technology, and their excursions are almost immediately noticed.  The main characters Zeb, Deety, Hilda, and Jacob are thrown into a fight of flight situation in Zeb's modified ( read armed) roadable aircraft.  Jacob rigs the air-car for dimensional travel and they are off keeping one step ahead of the black hats.  Whenever they think that they have lost them they show up again.  As I mentioned earlier they make stops at several fictional universes along the way where they augment their capabilities and move on.  In the end their problems start to get resolved when they meet up with Lazurus Long (from time enough for love), Mike(from the moon is a harsh mistress), and several other Heinlein hero's.  Throughout the story the concept of parallel realities making all things be real things is explored.  This book will really make you think about the reality you see around you, and ponder the 'what if's' of your favorite stories.

This book will appeal to any Heinlein fan, and any science fiction fan.  It will also appeal to people who like action adventure or fan fiction since the book is full of references, and interactions with characters or worlds from other works.

This book is available at www.amazon.com as an audio book or in print.  I could not find it in E-book, so if you see it in that format please let me know where.