A review by quoththegirl
Waldo and Magic, Inc by Robert A. Heinlein
1.0
The best thing about this book was the inscription penciled into the front of my copy:
To Wylie with love on Christmas '71
Love, Tom
"I ain't no hawk,
I ain't no Dove,
just want to get a gun
and shoot 'em full of love."
--BB King, reprinted with permission
I started reading this on Christmas 2021, exactly 50 years later (then got distracted by seven other books before finally finishing it this week). I wonder where you are now, Wylie.
Sadly, the book itself was utterly tedious. I didn't realize until finishing "Waldo" that "Magic, Inc." was a separate, unrelated story and not the latter half of one story's title. "Waldo" would have made a passable short story but was mind-numbingly drawn-out in novella form. Like a lot of older scifi, the concept mattered more than the plot or the characters. That's fine in a short story, but longer works need something else to hang onto, and the concept was fairly unremarkable. "Magic, Inc." was so incredibly boring that my eyes were crossing and by the end I was mostly skimming. If I want detailed legal briefs on obscure bills, I can read them in real life, thank you. I imagine the only reason these two stories were thrown together is that they both deal with magic; they don't fit together otherwise.
To Wylie with love on Christmas '71
Love, Tom
"I ain't no hawk,
I ain't no Dove,
just want to get a gun
and shoot 'em full of love."
--BB King, reprinted with permission
I started reading this on Christmas 2021, exactly 50 years later (then got distracted by seven other books before finally finishing it this week). I wonder where you are now, Wylie.
Sadly, the book itself was utterly tedious. I didn't realize until finishing "Waldo" that "Magic, Inc." was a separate, unrelated story and not the latter half of one story's title. "Waldo" would have made a passable short story but was mind-numbingly drawn-out in novella form. Like a lot of older scifi, the concept mattered more than the plot or the characters. That's fine in a short story, but longer works need something else to hang onto, and the concept was fairly unremarkable. "Magic, Inc." was so incredibly boring that my eyes were crossing and by the end I was mostly skimming. If I want detailed legal briefs on obscure bills, I can read them in real life, thank you. I imagine the only reason these two stories were thrown together is that they both deal with magic; they don't fit together otherwise.