Known as the Dean of Science Fiction Writers, Robert Heinlein first went to sea. He graduated from Annapolis and spent several years aboard US Naval vessels. Discharged due to a lung ailment, he won a story-writing contest where the judge offered him a job instead of a prize. His unique voice and outlook quickly made him one of the most influential sci-fi authors. During the 1940s and 1950s, Heinlein settled into a role as a juvenile writer; he then moved into sci-fi for adults and never looked back.

Heinlein’s most famous novels include Stranger in a Strange Land, about a human raised by Martians who returns to Earth and starts a new religion; Starship Troopers, a making-of-a-soldier story; Glory Road, the chronicle of a Vietnam vet’s knight-like quest on behalf of the queen of an alternate universe; and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, the tale of a rebellion by a lunar colony against Earth. Heinlein’s chatty dialog, exciting plots, and thought-provoking ideas helped redefine mid-century speculative fiction; his unique perspective on politics often caused controversy but never proved dull. Heinlein died in 1988.