Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is one of Heinlein’s juveniles, and like a few others in that series it reflects a time when our notions of the other planets were still pretty uneducated. We didn’t have spacecraft orbiting or landing on other planets when this was written, so the idea of a Mars that has actual canals, vegetation, and inhabitants was still within the realm of the possible. And in some ways this book is in the same universe as Stranger In A Strange Land, with the same Martians. It also has themes characteristic of Heinlein, such as sturdy individuals who fight back against evil government officials.

The protagonist, Jim Marlowe, is a student at a boarding school on Mars where the residents have adopted a practice of migrating half-way through the Martian year because of the cold that comes with the change of seasons. But Jim discovers that government agents are planning to cancel the migration because it costs too much money. A revolt ensues, and the Martians get involved helping the rebels.



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