Methuselah's Children

Did You Know?

• Andrew 'Slipstick' Libby previously appeared as a young adult in the short story 'Misfit'.
• In Time Enough for Love, Libby is said to have become Lazarus Long's partner in space travel until his death.

Plot summary

Ira Howard, a grocer who became rich as a sutler wholesaler during the American Civil War, died of old age at 48 or 49. His will's trustees carried out his wish to prolong human life by financially encouraging those with long-lived grandparents to marry and have children. By the 22nd century, the Howard families have a life expectancy exceeding 150 years and keep their existence secret through the Masquerade, faking deaths and obtaining new identities. After surviving the dictatorship of Nehemiah Scudder, some Howard members reveal themselves to The Covenant, hoping the free society after Scudder's defeat will be friendly. Others refuse to believe the Families obtained their lifespan by selective breeding, insisting they have a secret rejuvenation method. Administrator Slayton Ford, Earth's leader, believes them but cannot prevent efforts to force the Howard members to reveal alleged treatments. Lazarus Long, the eldest member, proposes hijacking the colony starship New Frontiers. Using an inertialess drive invented by Howard member Andrew Jackson 'Slipstick' Libby, the Families leave the Solar System with Ford. The first planet they discover has humanoid inhabitants domesticated by godlike natives; Earthly humans are expelled when they resist domestication. The second planet is lush with no predators and mild weather. Its inhabitants, the Little People, are a group mind that can manipulate the environment genetically. Mary Sperling, the second oldest member, joins the group mind to become immortal. The Families are horrified when the group mind modifies the first baby born on the planet into a new alien form. A majority want to return to Earth to demand freedom; Libby, with the group mind's help, builds a faster-than-light drive to take them home in months.

Critical reception

Alva Rogers wrote that Methuselah's Children was full of adventure, conflict, romance, and enough casually tossed-off ideas to serve as the basis for a half-dozen other stories. Alexei Panshin noted that its main theme of escaping death recurs in Heinlein stories and that an amazing number of brilliant ideas are tossed out along the way. Floyd C. Gale called the book a classic.