The Star Beast
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| The Star Beast | |
 First Edition cover for The Star Beast |
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| Author | Robert A. Heinlein |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Scribner's |
| Publication date | 1954 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | Starman Jones |
| Followed by | Tunnel in the Sky |
The Star Beast is a 1954 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein about a high school senior who discovers that his late father's extra-terrestrial pet is more than it appears to be. The novel, somewhat abridged, was originally serialised in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (May, June, July 1954) as "Star Lummox" and then published in hardcover as part of Scribner's series of Heinlein juveniles.
[edit] Plot summary
An ancestor of John Thomas Stuart XI brought the long lived Lummox home from an interstellar voyage. The articulate, intelligent pet he inherited has gradually grown from duffel bag size to a ridable behemoth--especially after consuming a used Buick! Lummox is perceived to be a neighborhood nuisance and, upon leaving the Stuart property one day, causes huge problems and substantial property damage across the city of Westville. John's mother wants him to get rid of it, and a court orders it destroyed.
Desperate to save his pet, John Thomas considers selling Lummox to a zoo. He rapidly changes his mind and runs away from home, riding on Lummox's back. His girlfriend Betty Sorenson joins him and suggests bringing the beast back into town and hiding it in a neighbor's greenhouse. The court that ordered Lummox destroyed is unable to carry out the sentence, much to Lummox's amusement.
Representatives of an advanced, powerful and previously unknown alien race appear and demand the return of their lost child...or else. A friendly alien diplomat of another species intimates that the threat is not an empty one. Initially, no one associates Lummox with the alien newcomers, in part due to the size difference (Lummox was overfed). Eventually though, Lummox is identified as royalty, complicating the already-tense negotiations. It is discovered that, from her viewpoint, the young Lummox has been pursuing her only hobby and principal interest: the raising of John Thomases. She makes it clear that she intends to continue doing so. This gives the chief human negotiator, Under Secretary Kiko, the leverage he needs to avert the destruction of the Earth. At the request of Lummox (who wishes to pursue her hobby), the recently wedded John and Betty accompany her back to her people as members of the human diplomatic mission.
[edit] Editions
All paperback editions and the Science Fiction Book Club hard cover edition omit page 148 of Chapter VIII, "The Sensible Thing to Do", which existed in the Scribner's edition and the magazine serialization. In this chapter, John Thomas rereads the entries in his great-grandfather's diary of how Lummox was found. Of significance on the omitted page is that:
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- The diary skipped a couple of days; the Trail Blazer had made an emergency raise-ship and Assistant Powerman J. T. Stuart had been too busy to write. John Thomas knew why ... the negotiations opened so hopefully with the dominant race had failed ... no one knew why.
The rest of the page summarizes John Thomas' grandfather's family history, discussing the first John Thomas Stuart, who had retired as a sea captain. The history, as reprinted in the paperback and Science Fiction Book Club editions, then resumes with John Thomas Stuart, Junior.
[edit] External links
- The Star Beast publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
