Citizen of the Galaxy
- 288
- Pages
- about 5 h
- Reading time
Affiliate link: buying through it supports BookRank at no extra cost to you.
Our view
“Citizen of the Galaxy” is a richly plotted Heinlein coming-of-age novel modelled on Kipling’s “Kim”. Its hero, the young Thorby, spends the book looking for where he belongs across the galaxy, and some readers find it has aged well. Others feel too much time goes on family structures and corporate finance, and are left unsatisfied by the ending.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Citizen of the Galaxy is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in Astounding Science Fiction and published in hardcover in 1957 as one of the Heinlein juveniles by Scribner's. The story is heavily influenced by Rudyard Kipling's Kim.
Reading order · Heinlein juveniles
Full order & progress →- Rocket Ship GalileoStart here
–Not ranked yet - Space Cadet
7.67.6 / 10 - Red Planet
7.67.6 / 10 - Farmer in the Sky
7.67.6 / 10 - The Rolling Stones
–Not ranked yet - Starman Jones
7.77.7 / 10 - The Star Beast
–Not ranked yet - Tunnel in the Sky
–Not ranked yet - Time for the Stars
7.67.6 / 10 - Citizen of the GalaxyThis book
7.67.6 / 10 - Have Space Suit—Will Travel
7.57.5 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.5 across 93 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 39% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Science fiction average of 7.8. That is how 7.6 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.0 | 14 | 15% |
| Hardcover | 7.4 | 79 | 85% |
Frequently asked
How long is Citizen of the Galaxy?
It has 288 pages — shorter than 81% of the ranked books in Science fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Science fiction — and a score of 7.6, the closest to this book.
