Orphans of the Sky was published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in 1963, collecting two novellas originally published in Astounding Science-Fiction in 1941: “Universe” and “Common Sense.” Together they form one of the foundational texts of science fiction: the generation ship story, in which the passengers of a vast starship — launched centuries ago toward a distant star — have forgotten that they are on a ship. The corridors are their world. The Ship is the Universe. The idea that there might be something outside the Ship is heresy.
Hugh Hoyland, a young scientist aboard the Ship, discovers the truth — the Ship is a vessel in space, and the “mutie” barbarians who inhabit the upper decks are fellow passengers, not aliens. His struggle to convince his people of the truth, and their violent resistance to it, is a parable about the difficulty of accepting paradigm shifts — about the way societies cling to worldviews that have outlived their usefulness.
The Generation Ship Concept
Heinlein did not invent the generation ship — the concept appeared earlier in Laurence Manning’s The Living Galaxy (1934) — but “Universe” is the story that established it as a permanent fixture of science fiction. The idea that a civilisation could forget its own origins, could mistake its vehicle for its universe, has been explored in dozens of subsequent works: Gene Wolfe’s Book of the Long Sun, Alasdair Reynolds’s Pushing Ice, the film Wall-E. Heinlein’s version remains the most concentrated and the most influential.
Collecting Orphans of the Sky
First edition in book form (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1963): Boards with dust jacket.
Approximate market values:
- Fine in dust jacket: $500–$1,500
- Very good: $200–$500
- Without jacket: $50–$150
- Astounding Science-Fiction magazine publications (May and October 1941): $200–$600 per issue
Value trajectory (2016–2026): Strong appreciation.
Projected values (2026–2036): Fine copies should reach $1,500–$3,000.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Ship based on a real design? The Ship is a cylindrical generation ship, rotating for artificial gravity — a design now known as an O’Neill cylinder, though Heinlein’s story preceded O’Neill’s proposals by three decades. The concept is physically plausible and has been studied by NASA.
Why is this published so late (1963) if the stories are from 1941? The novellas circulated in magazine form and anthologies for two decades before being collected as a standalone book. The Putnam’s edition is the first book publication.