Science Fiction and Fantasy Creators Who Became Their Own Genres: Robert A. Heinlein
Heinlein's influence on science fiction is so far-reaching that it's hard to separate his defining characteristics from those of the genre he wrote in. But Heinlein's work also stands apart, partly thanks to his amazing penchant for presenting facts and opinions that go along with the narrative and prop it up. Also, much of Heinlein's work has a few key preoccupations, as Alexei Panshin writes, including liberty and the "unreality of the world," and the recurrence of an ever-changing protagonist whom Panshin calls "The Heinlein Individual." Add in a fair amount of sexual nonconformity and a preoccupation with how social mores will change when we're out in space, and you've got a set of traits that pop up in much of Heinlein's writing, especially his later works.