In the opening, Deety is dancing with Zeb at a party at Hilda's mansion. The names 'Dejah Thoris', 'Burroughs', and 'Carter' are overt references to John Carter and Dejah Thoris, the protagonists of the Barsoom novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The book is a series of diary entries primarily by each of the four main characters: Zebadiah 'Zeb' John Carter, programmer Dejah Thoris 'Deety' Burroughs Carter, her mathematics professor father Jacob Burroughs, and off-campus socialite Hilda Corners. Excerpts from the novel were serialized in the magazine Omni (1979 October, November). So here it finally is, the other half of Heinlein's audacious experiment: a parallel novel about parallel universes.The Number of the Beast is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. A recent re-examination of these fragments made it clear that, put together in the right order, they constituted the complete novel that is finally being published as The Pursuit of the Pankera.Īs both books are 'parallel' books, they carry the subtitle A Parallel Novel About Parallel Universes. Over time the manuscript was largely forgotten, although it survived in fragments. The companion parallel book was never published, and there have been many competing theories as to why (including significant copyright issues in 1977 due to some of the material used in the book). Although some later passages may be found in both books, most of them are, fascinatingly, given a totally different context or perspective.

From that point on, the plot lines diverge completely. The novels share the same start, but as soon as the Gay Deceiver is used to transport them to a parallel universe, each book takes the readers to a totally different parallel world. He effectively wrote two parallel novels about parallel universes. However, unknown to most fans, Heinlein had already written a 'parallel' novel about the four characters and parallel universes in 1977. Heinlein's The Number of the Beast, originally published in 1980, follows the adventures of Zeb, Deety, Hilda, and Jake when they are ambushed by the alien 'Black Hats' and barely escape with their lives on a specially configured vehicle (the Gay Deceiver) that can travel along various planes of existence, allowing them to visit parallel universes. The Number of the Beast, by the legendary author of the classic bestseller Starship Troopers, is one of the most audacious experiments ever done in science fiction.

The number of the beast robert heinlein