Glory Road

In the pantheon of 20th century science fiction authors I'd give Robert Heinlein a place with Clarke and Crichton among the best. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress is the quintiscential libertarian space drama, and my first major AI project I dubbed "Mike" in honor of a similarly cyber character from that book. Likewise Stranger In A Strange Land explores the loosening of social mores at mid-century from the perspective of a man from Mars. Glory Road, on the other hand, while making overtures to science fiction sits squarely in the fantasy realm.

Glory Road isn't just a fantasy novel though, but Heinlein's vehicle to make literary allusion to just about every work written in the English language. Throughout an absurdist vein is also present, presaging a style that would later be the bread and butter of Terry Pratchett. A not atypical example:

Star had sketched the valley for me. "First we fight our way through the marsh. After that it is easy going—we simply have to look sharp for blood kites. Because we come to a brick road, very nice."
"A yellow brick road?" I asked.
"Yes. That's the clay they have. Does it matter?"
"I guess not. Just don't make a hobbit of it. Then what?"

Swordplay, wenching, slaying dragons, storming the castle, and magical pentagrams all make an appearance in this tale. But then the adventure ends and the second half of the book we are left dealing with the malaise of the retired hero. And then I found myself, for the first time, more than a little bored with Heinlein. If I'd realized the adventure was never going to pick back up again I might have just put it down without reading those last 100 pages.