Stranger in a Strange Land is an audiobook by Robert A. Heinlein, narrated by Christopher Hurt. The unabridged Audible edition runs 16 hrs 17 mins.
Publisher’s Summary
Stranger in a Strange Land is the epic saga of an earthling, Valentine Michael Smith, born and educated on Mars, who arrives on our planet with “psi” powers—telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, telekinesis, teleportation, pyrolysis, and the ability to take control of the minds of others—and complete innocence regarding the mores of man.
After his tutelage under a surrogate father figure, Valentine begins his transformation into a kind of messiah. His exceptional abilities lead him to become many things to many people: freak, scam artist, media commodity, searcher, free love pioneer, neon evangelist, and martyr.
Heinlein won his second Hugo Award for this novel, sometimes called his “divine comedy” and often called his masterpiece. This Blackstone audiobook is the “as published” version, read from an Ace paperback published in 1987. The full, uncut text was not made available until 1991.
Audiobook Details
- Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
- Length: 16 hrs 17 mins
- Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
- Release year: 1999
- Audible category: Literature & Fiction / Classics / Literature & Fiction
Listener Ratings
Stranger in a Strange Land holds an average listener rating of 4.4/5 from 11303 Audible ratings.
On Audible, ratings for this title break down into narration performance and story separately:
- Performance (narration): 4.6/5
- Story: 4.4/5
- 5-star ratings: 60% of all ratings
What Audible Listeners Are Saying
5/5 stars — “The reader groks Jubal”
Very well done. The voice of the reader in conveying Jubal Harshaw was great and added a lot to the story for me. I have read the book many times over the years and it simply doesn’t age. This reading of the book was very well done and I enjoyed it very much!— Mike Hart, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “Wonderful”
When I first read Stranger in a Strange Land, I needed a few days to absorb it and figure out where it stood in my "favorites" list. It’s one of the few books that has actually influenced my life on a noticeable scale, and as such, I wasn’t sure I would allow myself to enjoy the audiobook. If I have previously read a book and loved it, I’m a lot more critical of the choice of the narrator when it’s read or dramatized.
I have also listened to a number of audiobooks and have developed an attachment to certain narrators (Stephen Briggs’ Discworld narrations over other Discworld narrators, for example) and am a bit of a "quality" snob.
In my opinion, this is a very well done audiobook. The quality is somewhat gruff, but I insist this fits the book. The narrator’s performance of beloved characters is stellar and I would definitely recommend it, with the caveat that you should give it a few minutes to adjust, if you’re used to crisp and clean audio quality.— Abby, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “The MUST READ Sci-Fi book of the 21st Century…”
This classic story begins as a galloping adventure yarn, and spirals into a mystical philosophy of life and belief that is not to be missed. I re-read it every 10 years. Valentine Michael Smith is an amazingly well realized character, and his coming of age in a strange world is joyous, full of wonder, incredibly moving, and beautifully realized. Sexy and funny and sad and joyful and wise…do yourself a favor and read this glorious book (unabridged!)— Henry, Audible listener
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