author : Jerry Pournelle

Contents (possible spoilers)

• A Matter of Sovereignty. 1972

• Power to the People. 1972

• Enforcer. 1974

• High Justice. 1974

• Extreme Prejudice. 1974

• Consort. 1975

• Tinker. 1975

16 year old Rick Luban finally plays a practical joke on the wrong person, and is expelled from his useless school. The fact that no-one is allowed to be a failure has reached its illogical conclusion: the whole curriculum is so watered down that no-one learns anything. But Rick gets a second chance, to join an asteroid mining company as a trainee. Now he gets some real education, in a hostile environment where a mistake can mean death.

This is a deliberate, and not that bad, attempt at a Heinleinesque juvenile, coupled with a savage attack on the US educational system, 'political correctness' and lack of discipline. The political message is laid on with a trowel.

The plot is typical of its kind: we see Rick and his classmates grow from semi-literate surly thugs to hard-working apprentices, learning both how to learn, and the value of learning, on the way. And, of course, there's the obligatory little plot twist to enliven the action at the end. We've seen this before, in Heinlein's Have Space Suit, Will Travel, and Space Cadet --- although Higher Education has a more up-to-date level of sex and violence, more unpleasant protagonists, and rather less polished info-dumping.

Contents (possible spoilers)

• Gail Kimberly. Gloria. 1978

• Jerry Pournelle. Black Holes and Cosmic Censors. 1974

• Grant Carrington, George Zebrowski. Fountain of Force. 1978

• Jerry Pournelle. Fuzzy Black Holes Have No Hair. 1975

• Larry Niven. The Hole Man. 1973

• Robert L. Forward. Pluto Is Black!. 1978

• Poul Anderson. Kyrie. 1968

• Larry Niven. The Borderland of Sol. 1974

• Jerry Pournelle. In the Beginning.... 1975

• Michael Bishop. For the Lady of a Physicist. 1978

• Mildred Downey Broxon. Singularity. 1978

• Greg Bear. The Venging. 1976

• Dian Girard. The Nothing Spot. 1978

• Peter Dillingham. The Salesman Who Fell From Grace With the Universe. 1978

• Jerry Pournelle. He Fell into a Dark Hole. 1973

• Charles Sheffield. Killing Vector. 1978

• Reginald Bretnor. Papa Schimmelhorn's Yang. 1978

• Peter Dillingham. Cygnus X-1. 1978

Contents (possible spoilers)

• Richard Sean McEnroe. A Death in Realtime. 1981

• Poul Anderson. Marius. 1957

• David Drake. Ranks of Bronze. 1975

• Eric Frank Russell. I am Nothing. 1952

A powerful anti-war polemic

• Robert Sheckley. The Battle. 1954

• Joe Haldeman. Saul's Death. 1982

(poem)

• Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle. Reflex. 1982

• James Warner Bellah. Spanish Man's Grave. 1947

• Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy. The Soviet Strategic Threat from Space. 1981

• Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game. 1977

• Spider Robinson. Overdose. 1975

• Robert A. Heinlein. The Good News of High Frontier. 1982

• Daniel O. Graham. Project High Frontier. 1982

• Jon Post. City-Killer. 1982

• Jon Post. Ground Zero. 1982

• W. R. Yates. Diasporah: A Prologue. 1982

• Jerry Pournelle. His Truth Goes Marching On. 1975

• Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy. Thor: Orbital Weapon System. 1981

• Philip K. Dick. The Defenders. 1953

• Hayford Peirce. Unlimited Warfare. 1974

• Jerry Pournelle. Mercenaries and Military Virtue. 1980

• Gordon R. Dickson. Call Him Lord. 1966

• David McDaniel. Quiet Village. 1970

• Jerry Pournelle. The Strategy of Technology. 1982

• Rudyard Kipling. The Widow's Party

Contents (possible spoilers)

• John Brunner. Talion. 1985

• Gordon R. Dickson. House of Weapons. 1985

• Ben Bova. Nuclear Autumn. 1985

• Rory Harper. Pertorgypsies. 1985

• Edward P. Hughes. A Cure for Croup. 1985

• Dean Ing. Evileye. 1985

• John Park. The Software Plague. 1985

• Eric L. Davin. Avenging Angel. 1985

• Robert W. Bussard. Iris, Vega and Intelligent Life in the Galaxy. 1985

• G. Harry Stine. Cheap Shots. 1985

Contents (possible spoilers)

• Vernor Vinge. The Ungoverned. 1985

• Rivka Jacobs. Morning on Venus. 1984

• Alexander Jablokov. A Wink in the Eye of the Wolf. 1985

• John Dalmas. Out of the North a Giant. 1982

• David Drake. The Bond. 1985

• Thomas Wylde. Space Shuttle Crashes!. 1984

• Charles R. Pellegrino. The Ultimate Whodunit. 1985

• John Gribbin. Right-Angle Realities. 1985

• Charles Sheffield. Space Talking. 1985

Contents (possible spoilers)

• F. Paul Wilson. Dydeetown Girl. 1986

• John Dalmas. Opening Move on Egil's World. 1986

• Roland J. Green. The Leading Edge. 1986

• Terry Rich Hartley. Shark Destiny. 1986

• Ronald Anthony Cross. Golden Dawn. 1986

• S. M. Stirling. Cops and Robbers. 1986

• James Benford. Star Wars is not Mad. 1986

• Gregory Benford. Reactionary Utopias. 1986

• C. J. Cherryh. The Prince. 1986

Contents (possible spoilers)

• John Dalmas. A Lion to the Sea. 1986

• Charles Sheffield. Space Transportation. 1986

• Gregory Benford. Dancing with the Straw Man. 1986

• Edward A. Byers. The High Reach. 1986

• Keith Laumer. There is a Tide. 1986

• G. Harry Stine. Escape from Planet Earth. 1986

• G. Harry Stine. The Space Beat. 1986

• David Drake. Ranks of Bronze. 1975

• Lois McMaster Bujold. Aftermaths. 1986

Contents (possible spoilers)

• Roland J. Green. The Leading Edge. 1986

• David Drake. The Tank Lords. 1986

• John Gribbin. The Naked Chimp. 1986

• Dave Smeds. Tournament. 1986

• Charles Sheffield. New Worlds for Old. 1986

• John Dalmas. A Field to Play on. 1986

• Elaine Radford. En Route. 1986

• G. Harry Stine. The Space Beat. 1986

• G. Harry Stine. In the Wake of the Challenger. 1986

• Janet Morris, David Drake. The Great Beer Shortage. 1986

Contents (possible spoilers)

• Charles Sheffield. On Timeline Singularities, Space, and Human History. 1986

• Poul Anderson. Iron (part 1). 1986

• Ralph Roberts. Lord Rifkin's Risk. 1986

• Phillip C. Jennings. Teddy Bug and the Hot Purple Snowball. 1986

• Timothy Zahn. Guardian Angel. 1986

• John Gribbin. Timewarps Revisited. 1986

• Robert Reed. The Armistice. 1986

• Roland J. Green. The Leading Edge. 1986

• G. Harry Stine. America: A Second-Class Space Power. 1986

• Roger MacBride Allen. Winged Mysteries - The Soviet Shuttles. 1986

• Roger MacBride Allen. Young As You Feel. 1986