[notahacker]

Don't think I've ever been as disappointed in the second half of a book as "Stranger in a Strange Land". Starts off with a very interesting high concept about the awkwardness of interacting with a human who has no idea of human values (as well as a solid stock plot about people trying to control him) and then rapidly turns said vulnerable, weird protagonist into a powerful free love cult-leader promoting all the very human preoccupations and social systems Heinlein happened to find intriguing at the time.

As for Starship Troopers, I think it's very clearly written and generally read as exactly the paean to military discipline Heinlein intended at the time (with Heinlein himself being the one who rowed back on the ideas in it having become more libertarian later in life)

[stochastic_monk]

He started out sharing profound insights into altruism and enlightenment... and proceeds to teleport everyone's clothes off for an orgy.

What a frightfully bizarre turn.

[Sebguer]

This is a problem with Heinlein's books in general. They tend to start off strong and then just get kind of bizarre in the second half.

[linsomniac]

Totally agreed. Friday was the first book of his I read, bought largely based on the cover when I was 15 :-). I prefer his short stories in general, though I've read Starship Troopers a few times.

I just finished Ringworld by Niven, and felt it had a similar problem, where the ending just kind of petered out. Maybe it is just the style back then?

[maxerickson]

The second half of the book is sort of a joke about how we impose a lot of restrictions on ourselves. "Martian logic" is to not do that. The wild ride is the punchline to the joke.

I wonder what story you think could better be told as the second half of the book. Should the alien become a conformist and live happily ever after as a librarian?

[WillReplyfFood]

There is lots of scifi that trys to run with a concept, and runs out of runway. Stranger in a strange land is that kind of thing.

I remember a book - forgot the name about a ressurrection attempt of a dead female CEO with psychology. It really tryied, and failed miserably, as it got stuck in the swampf of pseudo science that is psychology.