About this title: One of Heinlein's juvenile space adventures, this books features 16-year-old Martian girl, Podkayne Fries, who agrees to accompany her uncle and younger brother to Earth so that she can learn about becoming a starship captain. Sidetracked on Venus under some extremely suspicious circumstances, Podkayne finds herself tangled up in a conspiracy.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Berkley
Date Published: 1971
ISBN-13:9780425020739ISBN:0425020738
Description: Fair. 0425020738. Great Value. Prompt delivery with tracking. Many satisfied customers. Satisfaction guaranteed. Go Green! ; 1 x 7 x 5 Inches; 176 pages. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: 11th Printing
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: A Berkley Medallion Book By Berkley Publishing
Date Published: 1963
Description: Fair. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Tale of engagingly dangerous Marsgirl & her incredible kid brother who wouldn't interfere with the end of the world unless he could get a commission on it. Covers worn & creased, edges very worn, spine tight, text crisp & clean. read more
"I loved it as a kid; it was one of the only science fiction books I read that was about a girl/woman. As an adult it was less satisfying, largely because it was incredible sexist. Well, it was by Heinlein, need I say more?"
The characters are so very strange in their own unique ways. The discussion of whether parents are actually ready to have children or not and whether careers might get in the way of actually showing those children the proper parenting.
This is an amazing novel and both endings are quite telling.
A very strong bridge from the earlier youth oriented books towards the later adult oriented books by RAH."
"The main thrust of the story doesn't get going until the very end, and the first two thirds are largely expository. That said, Heinlein's prose is sharp and immensely enjoyable.
Conceptually, the book isn't his deepest, but Podkayne is a charming protagonist and, in her chatty narration, very entertaining despite the lack of dramatic meat for most of the novel.
Just don't expect his sociological "future" to be terribly enlightened. Especially towards women."
I remember enjoying this book 45 years ago. But now the funnest thing about this old copy of Podkayne of Mars (Ace Science Fiction) is the misdirectional blurb on the back cover: "An interplanetary bombshell who rocked the constellations when she invaded the Venus Hilton and attacked the mighty mechanical men with a strange, overpowering blast of Sex Appeal."
A good rule of thumb is never to re-read adolescent fiction. Leave it alone with your subconscious. But because of that blurb I had to re-read this volume to make sure it's safe for my eleven-year-old.
Not to worry. In this 1963 novella, Robert Heinlein sticks to the classic formula of a sweet adolescent girl and her troublesome, precocious younger brother caught up in an interplanetary intrigue.
The interesting aspect of the book is Heinlein's attempt to portray the first-person female persona and identify an essential difference between man and woman. Although Podkayne is not very successful in this regard, you can tell that Heinlein is really interested. A few years later he revisited this theme in I Will Fear No Evil. But as a psychological study that ambitious and "adult" novel was no more successful than the chaste Podkayne."
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