What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

OK, this one may be a bit difficult. I only remember one specific bit from the book. It references Heinlein's book, "Tunnel in the Sky" Spoiler for Heinlein's book ahead.
ETA: Thanks to Kalltc for correcting me. The book referenced is "Tunnel in the Sky", not "Time for the Stars".


Spoiler for "Tunnel in the Sky"
Near the end, a group of youths have a choice between building a permanent town in the area they are currently in, that may be subject to flash floods or another better placed location that they would have to relocate to. The leader convinces them to stay where they are. End spoiler.

In the book I'm looking for, a group of youths end up on a planet that turns out to be the one from Heinlein's book. They stumble on the ruins of Heinlein's group's town (or one very like it) and it has been washed away by a flash flood. The main character thinks or says they were idiots or fools for building in that spot. The book doesn't specifically mention Heinlein, but anyone who's read that book would recognize it.
I read this back into the 80s or 90s, though it may be a bit older than that. I think it was a male author, but I'm not sure. I think the author was taking a jab at Heinlein. I know I thought remaining where they were was a bad decision when I read Heinlein's book. Unfortunately that's all I remember, Group of space youths end up on Heinlein's planet.

ETA: Something else I've remembered. In my forgotten book, there was a large docile creature that had a flat tail like a beaver or manatee. The kids found out it could use the tail as a weapon. I think it lived in muddy areas.

ETA: I remember the leader character thought less of one of the other males for starting a relationship with one of the females.

One more thing. I thought this was part of the book, Outward Bound, but I just reread it and that scene isn't in there.

Wow. I'd love to know what this was. Niven, Pournelle and Barnes wrote Legacy of Heorot, which has similarities to Tunnel, but not that one. I'll have to check some other likely suspects like Sheffield or Spider Robinson (or John Varley) when I can get to my computer- currently I'm on the phone.

I'm interested, too. No clue, unfortunately.

Bargle: http://www.heinleinsociety.org might be able to help.

Kalltc wrote: "Point of clarification please.
I think the Heinlein book being referenced is Tunnel in the Sky not Time For the Stars.
In any case I looked up both Heinlein books on Wikipedia hoping to find a ref..."

Hmmm, might be. I need to give both a quick skim and see which it is. I might be conflating the 2.

Kalltc wrote: "Point of clarification please.
I think the Heinlein book being referenced is Tunnel in the Sky not Time For the Stars.
In any case I looked up both Heinlein books on Wikipedia hoping to find a ref..."

You're right, it is "Tunnel in the Sky". I'll correct the first post.

Also interested in finding out if this book is ever found!

Do you know the name of the Heinlein group town or the planet in Tunnel in the Sky? That might help our search.

Nicholas wrote: "Do you know the name of the Heinlein group town or the planet in Tunnel in the Sky? That might help our search."

Not off-hand. I'm not sure it was given one. I'll give it a quick look-through and let you know.

ETA: see Sarah's answer below.

Putting Up Roots?


It also has a tenuous relationship to Outward Bound, since they're both 'Jupiter' novels.

Lou wrote: "Putting Up Roots?


It also has a tenuous relationship to Outward Bound, since they're both 'Jupiter' novels."

I'll take a look. May be a while since I'll have to get it through either inter-library loan or the used bookstore.

Nicholas wrote: "Do you know the name of the Heinlein group town or the planet in Tunnel in the Sky? That might help our search."
The main characters come from Patrick Henry High School, and another school, Ponce de Leon Institute, also has the same planet as their test. There's also students there from Teller University.

They named their settlement Cowpertown, and ended up on the planet of Tangaroa.

Sarah wrote: "Nicholas wrote: "Do you know the name of the Heinlein group town or the planet in Tunnel in the Sky? That might help our search."
The main characters come from Patrick Henry High School, and anothe..."

Thanks a bunch, Sarah! :-)

Lou wrote: "Putting Up Roots?


It also has a tenuous relationship to Outward Bound, since they're both 'Jupiter' novels."

I've now read Putting Up Roots and it wasn't it. I'm going to read the other Jupiter novels as well, but that may take a while. Any other suggestions until then would be welcome.

And I've updated the thread title so the Mods won't complain.

Bargle, have you remembered anything else since posting this? I have searched for things like "books that criticize Heinlein" or "Tunnel in the Sky parody" and have turned up nothing. Is there anything else you remember?

Unfortunately, no. I wish I did.

Heinlein reference thread.

If you're having any problems finding the "Jupiter" books, the first one is on OpenLibrary
https://openlibrary.org/books/OL81532...

Was the name of the planet in your book the same name as the planet in the Heinlein book?

Tab wrote: "Was the name of the planet in your book the same name as the planet in the Heinlein book?."

I don't recall.

Bargle, please don't delete your old bumps. It means when you do a fresh bump it doesn't show up with a red "new" indicator.

I'm only doing it periodically now after the thread has dropped back a ways to get rid of the cluttered mess of useless posts. I did it too early here. Sorry.

If this thread hasn't received any new suggestions in about a month, I'm going to move it to the "Query abandoned by poster" folder. I just don't remember enough for anyone to identify it or so it seems.

Moving this to "Query abandoned by poster". I haven't been able to remember anything else about the book, so the chances of someone recognizing it are very slim.

Someone else has posted a new query about what may be the same book, so I'm moving this back to active.

Link to the other thread.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Maybe Farnhams Freehold but that might be a stretch.

Andrew wrote: "Maybe Farnhams Freehold but that might be a stretch."

I don't think that's it, but I'm going to read it to be sure.

Andrew wrote: "Maybe Farnham's Freehold but that might be a stretch."

OK, got it and definitely not Farnham's Freehold.

Could it be Crash Landing on Iduna by Arthur R. Tofte?

MangoSmoothie556 wrote: "Could it be Crash Landing on Iduna by Arthur R. Tofte?"

Cover doesn't look familiar, but I'll see if I can get a copy through the library.

Well, it wasn't "Crash Landing on Iduna". The search goes on.

Have you tried consulting the Heinlein Society? :) Might be worth a go, if you're so inclined - they might remember a slight against him. ;) https://www.heinleinsociety.org/

EDIT: Sorry, that was suggested already. My apologies.

I had already taken a look at the .fandom for Heinlein and it wasn't great.. was reminded by the Star Wars thread.

Long shot, but maybe one of the short stories from Expanded Universe?

Taylor wrote: "Long shot, but maybe one of the short stories from Expanded Universe?"

No, my book was definitely a full length story and wasn't by Heinlein.

Maybe The Green Book?

Mary wrote: "Maybe The Green Book?"

If you mean the one by Jill Paton Walsh, afraid not. Thanks for trying.

Well, it's not Higher Education by Charles Sheffield. That's the first book in the Jupiter series. None of the others look promising.

Old Heinlein reference thread bump.

I finally remembered something else about my book. There was a large docile creature that had a flat tail like a beaver or manatee. The kids found out it could use the tail as a weapon. I think it lived in muddy areas.

Just in case it gets lost, I'm copying over Christy's description to here.

This is an older sci fi novel that I read most likely between 1985-1995. A group of humans colonize an uninhabited planet. I can't recall how they got there, but I don't think it was by choice. Maybe intended to go somewhere else but crashed or ended up by mistake? Maybe forced by aliens? The colony ends up being pretty primitive, man against nature sort of thing. I remember that they used a stream running through a cave or something similar to make constant flow toilets. Also, at one point these previously docile jackrabbit like creatures start attacking and the colonists end up hunting them just to protect themselves, but the animals taste like gasoline. The characters make reference to famous sci fi author Robert Heinlein in the context of the story, particularly in regards to the constant flow toilets. One of the characters got the idea for constant flow toilets from an old Heinlein book. For some reason the phrase "good eating" comes to mind, but I'm not certain if that's definitely from this book.

Any chance it’s called “The Tails of Jorlan”?

Eliza wrote: "Any chance it’s called “The Tails of Jorlan”?"

Not ringing any bells for me. Not getting anything from a quick search. Can you tell me more about it?

I've remembered something else. The leader character thought less of one of the other males for starting a relationship with one of the females.

Added to the first post.

Another suggestion eliminated. The Legacy of Heorot. The characters are all adults and the creature is very different.

Suggested over at the Sub Reddit PrintSF.

Also eliminated, the sequel to The Legacy of Heorot, Beowulf's Children.

Another possible eliminated. Survival planet: A Novel of the Future. In it the new colonists are adults, not teens.

Old Heinlein reference thread bump.

Old Heinlein reference thread bump.

Heinlein reference thread bump.

Note to self: last post Aug. 31.

Another suggestion from over at Reddit eliminated.

Heritage of Flight by Susan Shwartz. No space battles or large winged creatures in mine. Mine also had a male narrator/viewpoint character only.