Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of The Door into Summer

The Door into Summer
The Door into Summer
Author: Robert A. Heinlein
ISBN-13: 9780345413994
ISBN-10: 0345413997
Publication Date: 6/17/1997
Pages: 304
Rating:
  • Currently 4.7/5 Stars.
 12

4.7 stars, based on 12 ratings
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

17 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed The Door into Summer on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
Typical Heinlein. Interesting characters, little plot riddles (that make sense and do get solved), another unusual take on love, and lavish, yet believable, use of sci-fi elements. Highly recommended.

PS there are robots, you will love it
reviewed The Door into Summer on
Helpful Score: 4
This is one of my favorite little books. It is quite a bit dated having been written in the 50s, but is this authors idea of what the future might be like. It involves time travel and romance. A really enjoyable read.
hardtack avatar reviewed The Door into Summer on + 2700 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
This is one of Heinlein's best, even without spaceships, monsters or interplanetary intrigue. And although written in his "free sex" period, it is still one that you can recommend to youngsters. There is no sex or murders, just a lot of mystery, double-dealing in business, robots, time travel, a young girl the hero does his best to protect, and his cat.

It all works out in the end, even for the cat. In fact, the cat is such an essential part of the story that my dog commented favorably on the cat's participation to make everything come out right.

It has everything needed to make an entertaining movie. Why Hollywood hasn't done so, and still continues with its mindless repetition of the same old scripts puzzles me.
Bossmare avatar reviewed The Door into Summer on + 306 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
This is one of the best sci-fi books ever written. It got me hooked on Heinlein and the whole genre. You won't go wrong reading this. Favorite character: Pete the cat.
IMADiva avatar reviewed The Door into Summer on + 43 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Engaging science fiction novel. You can never go wrong reading Heinlein.
reviewed The Door into Summer on
Helpful Score: 1
loved it! funny and heartwarming. A great introduction to Heinlein's work.
QMJudy avatar reviewed The Door into Summer on + 42 more book reviews
One of my favorite classic sci-fi books. No weird names/words. No fantastic creatures. Just a little warping of some assumed laws of nature.
reviewed The Door into Summer on + 57 more book reviews
This was absolutely the best book I've read in some time. Even though this book is 50 years old, the story is very entertaining. With a little mystery in it and sci-fi, it really kept my attention and kept me reading well into the night. This book shows why Heinlein is one of the greats.
carlamo avatar reviewed The Door into Summer on + 269 more book reviews
My favorite character is the cat!
reviewed The Door into Summer on + 12 more book reviews
An inventor is tricked out of his money by his partners and is forced into sleep hibernation to awake thirty years in the future. What happens after he awakes makes a humorous and entertaining story.
If you have read Heinlein before then this is one not to miss. If you haven't read him , and enjoy good Science Fiction , then you might enjoy this one. I did.
cameronmount avatar reviewed The Door into Summer on + 3 more book reviews
Not the best Heinlein book, but clearly foreshadowing elements of future Heinleinian fiction, particularly sexual freedom/revolution, sense of work, truth to self, and community of family.
reviewed The Door into Summer on + 3 more book reviews
This was the first book by Robert A. Heinlein that I read and it inspired me to read his other works. For a book written in the 1950's, it shows some very forward thinking by the author.
reviewed The Door into Summer on + 10 more book reviews
This was a good book.
reviewed The Door into Summer on + 4 more book reviews
This is the book that got me hooked on science fiction as a kid. :)
hardtack avatar reviewed The Door into Summer on + 2700 more book reviews
This is one of my favorite Heinlein novels. No space battles, no zombie plague, no no evil scientist, just a man and a cat who take care of his friend's daughter.

It is a wonderful tale about coming back from the future to make things rights. The protagonist thought the "Door into Summer" was just for his cat, then he found out it was also for him.
WhidbeyIslander avatar reviewed The Door into Summer on + 715 more book reviews
Written in the mid 1950's, the story is mostly set in 1970, where Heinlein imagines a USA after a six-day-nuclear war. The hero is an engineer and I thought there was a little too much, well, engineering. Also the hero's issues with his fiance and partner were a bit drawn out. Since the book is touted as a time-travel story, I was disappointed to find that plot didn't kick in for about 200 pages. Then the complexities of the paradoxes, etc., became interesting. Some of the "future" imaginings are sort of quaint, with a lot of the plot happening in the year 2000, when a newspaper warns that "Unseasonable Warmth Perils Winter Games." AN okay way to spend a few hours although it would have been nice to have an automatic assistant cleaning the house while I read. (Love the cat.)
buzzby avatar reviewed The Door into Summer on + 6062 more book reviews
I enjoyed this, it would appeal to adolescent males. Anyway, it's someone time travelling from 1970 to 2000.