Time for the Stars was published by Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1956 as one of Heinlein’s Scribner’s juveniles. Tom and Pat Bartlett are telepathic twins — their mental communication is instantaneous regardless of distance, making them ideal for maintaining real-time communication between Earth and relativistic starships. Tom ships aboard the Lewis and Clark; Pat stays home. As the ship accelerates toward the speed of light, time dilation kicks in: Tom ages months while Pat ages years, then decades.
The novel is one of the hardest SF in the Scribner’s series — the physics of special relativity is explained clearly and drives the plot rather than merely decorating it. The emotional core is the growing distance between the twins: not just physical but temporal, as Pat lives an entire life while Tom remains young.
The Relativity Novel
Time for the Stars is the most scientifically rigorous treatment of relativistic time dilation in juvenile fiction. Heinlein explains special relativity through the twins’ experience: when Tom returns from his voyage, Pat is an old man and Tom is still young. The emotional weight of this scientific fact — that travel at relativistic speeds means the traveller loses everyone they know — gives the novel its genuine pathos. The concept would later be explored in films like Interstellar (2014), but Heinlein got there first.
Collecting Time for the Stars
First edition (Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1956): Green cloth with Scribner’s “A” on copyright page. Dust jacket.
Approximate market values:
- Fine in dust jacket: $1,000–$3,000
- Very good: $400–$1,000
- Without jacket: $75–$200
Value trajectory (2016–2026): Moderate appreciation.
Projected values (2026–2036): Fine copies should reach $2,000–$5,000.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the telepathy science fiction or fantasy? Heinlein treats it as science fiction — he proposes that telepathy is instantaneous because it operates outside the constraints of special relativity, making it the only possible FTL communication method. The idea is not scientifically valid but serves the plot brilliantly.
Where does this rank among the juveniles? Middle tier — not as popular as Have Space Suit or Citizen of the Galaxy, but more scientifically ambitious than most. It is the juvenile that holds up best for adult readers interested in hard SF.