Lazarus Long, member of a select group bred for generations to live far beyond normal human lifespans, helps his kind escape persecution after word leaks out and angry crowds accuse them of withholding the “secret” of longevity. Lazarus and his companions set out on an interstellar journey and face many trials and strange cultures, like a futuristic Odysseus and his crew, before returning to Earth. This classic novel, set in Robert A. Heinlein’s Future History universe, introduces the author’s most beloved and widely quoted character (see THE NOTEBOOKS OF LAZARUS LONG).
"Not only America's premier writer of speculative fiction, but the greatest writer of such fiction in the world."
- Stephen King
"There is no other writer whose work has exhilarated me as often and to such an extent as Heinlein."
- Dean Koontz
"One of the most influential writers in American Literature."
- The New York Times Book Review
"Heinlein wears imagination as though it were his private suit of clothes."
- The New York Times
"Heinlein… has the ability to see technologies just around the bend. That, combined with his outstanding skill as a writer and engineer-inventor, produces books that are often years ahead of their time."
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
"One of the grand masters of science fiction."
- The Wall Street Journal
