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Farnham’s Freehold Audiobook
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(3.00) - 6,285 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Hugh Farnham is a practical, self-made man, and when he sees the clouds of nuclear war gathering, he builds a bomb shelter under his house, hoping for peace and preparing for war. But when the apocalypse comes, something happens that he did not expect. A thermonuclear blast tears apart the fabric of time and hurls his shelter into a world with no sign of other human beings.
Farnham and his family have barely settled down to the backbreaking business of low-tech survival when they find that they are not alone after all. The same nuclear war that catapaulted Farnham two thousand years into the future has destroyed all civilization in the northern hemisphere, leaving Africans as the dominant surviving people.
In the new world order, Farnham and his family, being members of the race that nearly destroyed the world, are fit only to be slaves. After surviving a nuclear war, Farnham has no intention of being anyone’s slave, but the tyrannical power of the Chosen reaches throughout the world. Even if he manages to escape, where can he run to?
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"Think survivalists are loons? Perhaps most are but not the ones in this book! If the world ever does end you'll be glad you read this, an entertaining how to survive the end of the world guide. Oh and a wicked twist about _who_ might really repopulate the world . . . ;-) "
— Max (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Heinlein’s story is as engrossing now as it was in its original form decades ago.”
— Midwest Book Review -
“Surprising, exciting, horrifying, and very stimulating…Heinlein is at his controversial best.”
— SFRreviews.com -
“Heinlein, the iconoclast…attempt[s] to question some of society’s long-held ideas about race, sex, and male-female relationships…[Tom Weiner] does an exceptionally good job…[Farnham’s Freehold] is oftentimes frustrating. It is sometimes shocking. It is never boring.”
— SFSite.com -
“There’s more to Freehold than mere Heinleinian goodness…It still serves to remind you that Heinlein’s lesser works sparkle more brightly than some other author’s masterworks.”
— Bookslut.com
Farnham’s Freehold Listener Reviews
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" Takes you away - glad I found another great Heinlein Book! Characters are as colorful and deep and loving as ever. "
— Timbob, 4/3/2022 -
" First Heinlein book and one of my favorites! "
— Kim, 1/30/2014 -
" Usually I love Heinlein's work, but this one was a stretch. A nuclear holocaust transplants a libertarian (ah, hell with it... an anarchist) know-it-all (Mary Sue) into a future of reverse oppression. Contrived? Yes it is. What could have been a kind of "sci-fi Swiss Family Robinson" fell apart in Heinlein's obsession with autodidactism and "manly awesomeness". "
— Sean, 1/23/2014 -
" This apocalyptic time travel novel was enjoyable and easy to read. It is hard-boiled genre fiction with much less of the sensitivity and nuance that make some of Heinlein's other books so incredible. The characters are flat and unbelievable, developed only enough to support the story, technology, and social allegory which are the real meat of the book. They are archetypes, even the most well rendered of them, the main character, Hugh. However, Heinlein is not simply telling a fancy story. His novel is actually a well thought out satire about race, power, slavery in America, the Cold War, and gender. Just because these philosophical roads are explored through sci-fi's speculative universes rather than realistic dialogue and character development does not take away their importance. The archetypal characterization did occasionally get too heavy handed and convenient, however. It was a good story, but there were moments where our hero was just too good, or his leading lady too accommodating to be believed. Those moments kicked me out of the fantasy and are the reason this book gets 3 stars and no more. Heinlein has done better, but fans of Heinlein, time travel, speculative sic-fi, will not be disappointed if this book is in the beach bag. "
— Aaron, 1/12/2014 -
" Cards, war and time travel - oh my! I picked this book up to take with me to the bar and read while waiting for a friend...and didn't put it down until I finished it a day later. Hilarious and thought provoking with a tolerable amount of that mushy love stuff. I grok. "
— Sara, 12/29/2013 -
" Farnham's Freehold is one of my alltime favorites. I found the novel to be one of deep and abiding hope. I have read this book several times. "
— Donald, 10/28/2013 -
" OMG, what a sexist pig. "
— Harley, 8/19/2013 -
" Paranoid cold war narrative at it's best. "
— David, 4/21/2012 -
" I can't get passed the 1950s language and sensibilities "
— Aaron, 4/14/2012 -
" This book did not grab me. The potential was there, but I grew bored reading it. "
— Matt, 1/9/2012 -
" Even having read this book before several times, it still blew my socks off. Heinlein's deep look at racism, his typically brilliant characters and one of the cases where he didn't lose interest in his plot all dovetail in a great book. "
— Jeff, 12/21/2011 -
" Nice homesteading adventure. "
— Alexander, 8/18/2011 -
" It kind of reads like a version of Ayn Rand light. Definitely more of an allegory than a novel. "
— Slightly, 8/10/2011 -
" Heinlein - always a good read! "
— Meryl, 7/19/2011 -
" Science Fiction's most controversial novel? Lots of taboo subjects in this book. Plus time travel!<br/> "
— Aaron, 6/14/2011 -
" First Heinlein book and one of my favorites! "
— Kim, 4/10/2011 -
" I'd give it 3.5, but I'm a stickler against bullshit time travel physics. "
— Dan, 2/24/2011 -
" This was more or less readable, but there were a lot of creepy incestuous elements to it. Heinlein was a free-thinker, and that's a plus, but sometimes his thinking went places I choose not to follow. "
— Dave, 2/20/2011 -
" una famiglia americana alle prese con il dopo terza guerra mondiale ... "
— Bicefalus, 2/2/2011 -
" This is why there should be MST3K for books. "
— Dolly, 2/1/2011 -
" Interesting read just from the history of Sci-Fi point of view. It jumps around too much for me. I've read better Heinlein. "
— Willy, 11/23/2010 -
" Seemed pretty cheesy at the start and definately had a whole boy scout hero who's a hit with the ladies angle (which can be fun sometimes). But I really liked the scenario towards the end which dealt with the concept of freedom and prosperity. "
— Ben, 10/20/2010 -
" Good, but not my favorite RAH book. "
— John, 6/3/2010
About Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) is widely recognized as one of the greatest science fiction authors of all time, a status confirmed in 1974 when the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America gave him their first Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement. A four-time Hugo Award winner, he is best known for such works as Starship Troopers, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and the sensational bestseller Stranger in a Strange Land. Several of his books were New York Times bestsellers, and his worldwide bestsellers have been translated into twenty-two languages.
About Tom Weiner
Tom Weiner, a dialogue director and voice artist best known for his roles in video games and television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Transformers, is the winner of eight Earphones Awards and is an Audie Award finalist. He is a former member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.