The Rolling Stones (novel)
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The Rolling Stones (also published under the name Space Family Stone in the United Kingdom) is a 1952 science fiction novel by Robert Heinlein
- June 1, 1952, Atheneum, library binding, ISBN 0684923033
- June 13, 1985, Del Rey, paperback reissue edition, 256 pages, ISBN 034532451X
- May 12, 1977, Del Rey, paperback, ISBN 0345260678
- February 12, 1978, Del Rey, paperback, ISBN 0345275810
- February 12, 1982, Del Rey, paperback, ISBN 0345303326
- February 2005, Full Cast Audio, CD audio book, ISBN 1932076808
This is a story about a family of "Loonies" (i.e., Lunar citizens with a sense of humor) who buy a used spaceship and go sightseeing around the solar system. The twin teenaged boys, Castor and Pollux, buy used bicycles and hope to sell their cargo at a profit. Their sister sings on their radio show in the asteroids. Their kid brother Buster has the highest IQ of the whole family, and no one but granny Hazel can keep him in line. A Martian flat cat named Fuzzy Britches, born pregnant and producing a soothing vibration (compare tribbles), makes more trouble and more money than anyone thought possible. Then Buster and Hazel get lost in the Asteroid Belt, and Hazel almost dies before they are rescued by the twins. A condensed version of the novel had been published earlier in Boy's Life under the title "Tramp Space Ship."
Connections to Other Heinlein Works
This book makes reference to Hazel Stone as an influential figure in the Lunar Revolution. Fourteen years later, Heinlein published The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, which tells the story of that revolution, including the small but vital role that Hazel played as a child. Hazel also reappears in The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.
Castor and Pollux reappear briefly in The Number of the Beast.
The British rock group The Rolling Stones did not take their name from Heinlein's book. They named themselves after a Muddy Waters song, after at least two other bands had considered and then discarded the name.