Red Planet [Paperback]

On his way to school with his friend, Frank, they stop off at Cynia Station to wait for the ice to harden. Bored, the two boys decide to go and see the Martian city that lies just outside of the station. They are pleasantly surprised to meet and speak with some Martians, as they usually ignore the human colonists. There Jim makes friends with Gekko, a Martian, but insists that Willis must come with him when Gekko tries to persuade Jim to leave him there. Jim has cause to regret his insistence that Willis accompany him when their new headmaster, Marquis Howe, arrives to take over the school. It is instant hate between Jim and Howe, who infuriates Jim by confiscating Willis and caging him up in his office. Then Jim finds out that Howe is trying to sell him to the London Zoo! Jim persuades Frank to help him rescue Willis and Willis plays back a conversation between Howe and the General where the two boys learn that the Company (the Earth conglomerate who owns the colony) is determined to save money by making the colonists stay on one half of the planet where they will live in bitter cold, -100 below freezing, for one Earth year and then have a normal year, etc. Jim and Frank are determined not to let this happen. They carefully plan their escape and they are off to save their families! What Jim doesn't realize is that he and Willis will do much more than save his own little colony - the fate of all humankind on Mars rests on him and his little round friend...

This book was originally published in the '60s and we obviously have more information Mars since then, but Heinlein's speculation on what Mars may be like does not detract from the story at all - in fact, it is rather fun to read about what he thought Mars would be like. Heinlein's characters are engaging, if a little flat. I do not feel that he took very much time to develop any of the characters so they would become fully fleshed out, but the plot is very fast paced and full of action. This is a great book for children who are in 4-8th grade and their parents/older siblings will enjoy it, too. Many readers will feel that it is a kind of science fiction Harry Potter book and I think that the young readers will really enjoy it.

The book is only 200 pages and revolves around a human boy growing up on Mars named Jim Marlowe. Even in this future there is still room for political strugle. The Marlowes live in a distant colony and are stunch pioniers. When they and other colonists are [troubled] by big city buricrats, it's time for a revolution. The story is good but not that dramatic.

It's interesting how in 1947 the pictured the future (now) so differently. They thought we'd have space ships and colonies on Mars. Yet Heinlein still writes about slide rules and tape players. They couldn't even concieve of PDAs and CDs.

Bottom line, if you like Heinlein you'll like this book. If you're new to Heinlein this might be a good one to start out with.