- Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
- Audible.com Release Date: April 27, 2012
- Print Release Date: 1953
- Media: Audiobook
- Duration: 8 hours 40 minutes
- ASIN: B007Y5UI7O
- Print ISBN: 978-1-4516-3785-4
- Author: Robert A. Heinlein
- Read by: Bronson Pinchot
Assignment In Eternity by Robert A. Heinlein is a collection of two novellas (“Gulf” and “Lost Legacy”) and two short stories (“Elsewhen” and “Jerry was a Man”). Originally published together in 1953, the individual stories were all published in magazines in the early 1940s.
Gulf was originally written and published in Astounding Science Fiction magazine in 1949. This story follows the adventures of a super spy who is trying to transport secret plans to Earth when he is captured by an evil group who want the super weapon. When he escapes, and is almost immediately dubbed a double-agent, he is forced to work with a group of self-proclaimed super intelligent men top try to stop the destruction of the Earth.
Elsewhen was originally written in 1939 and published in 1941 (as Elsewhere), also in Astounding under the pseudonym Caleb Saunders. This story follows a group of college students who follow their professor’s process to jump to alternate realities. While not directly related, this story gives us a glimpse of Heinlein’s thoughts on the multiverse that he covers in much greater detail in his later novels like The Number of the Beast and The Cat Who Walks Through walls.
Lost Legacy was written in 1939 and published in Super Science Stories in 1941 as Lyle Monroe. Set in a near future America, a psychology professor, his surgeon friend and a female student stumble on the source of psychic powers. They are able to unleash these powers in themselves, but run into disbelief and antagonism when they try to demonstrate it to the public. They come across a secret society of ancient psychics near Mt. Shasta and have to do battle with an evil group of psychics that wants to control humanity.
Jerry Was A Man was written in 1946 and published in 1947 in Thrilling Wonder Stories. Sometime in the future, a genetic engineering company can create any sort of animal for you. When the husband of the richest woman in the world decides he wants a Pegasus, she tours the company site. She finds that they also create anthropoid workers and that these “Joes” outlive their usefulness, they are euthanized. She adopts one of these workers, Jerry, and hires a shyster to try to change the way they are perceived and treated.
Robert A. Heinlein is one of my favorite authors of all time, and I enjoyed all of these stories, but I have to admit, they are not my favorite Heinlein stories. The super-intelligent super spy misses making some obvious conclusions. The explanations for the psychics and why they are in hiding is a little slim. The two short stories are actually my favorite parts of this collection. Neither of them is perfect, but they seem more internally consistent.
Matt Truxaw’s newest book is Monster, which released on 1/12/2026. This urban fantasy, horror, thriller will keep you turning the pages.
He is also the author of the hard science fiction thrillers: “Plastiphobia/Plastivore” and “Anthrophobia: A Teacher’s Tale”
You can find them all on Amazon in Paperback, Hardback, Kindle and/or free to read with Kindle Unlimited.
When you read any of them, he would really appreciate a review/rating on Amazon or your favorite book seller/book reader site.
More about Matt:
He was born in Orange County California many years ago and he still lives there. He has been reading books for most of those years and writing up book reviews for the last few years. He gets MANY of his books out of the library/Libby so expect a lot of old science fiction classics book reviews and other science related reviews in addition to newer books he comes across.
If you want to be ‘in-the-loop’ on these and other works, you can follow his author’s page on Amazon or his Facebook page.
For more reviews and articles by Matt here on Amazing Stories (Click here).
Monster: A Novel by Matt Truxaw
