Farmer in the Sky

by Robert A. Heinlein

Bill knew his destiny lay in the stars, but how was he to get there?
George Lerner was shipping out for Ganymede to join the fledgling colony, and Bill wanted to go along. But his father would not hear of it -- far too dangerous a mission!
Bill finally talked his way aboard the colony ship Mayflower -- and discovered his father was right!

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Young Adult, Hugo Awards, Space, Adventure, Science Fiction Fantasy

221 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking. His plots often posed provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores. His work continues to have an influence on the science-fiction genre, and on modern culture more generally.
Heinlein became one of the first American science-fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science-fiction novelists for many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered the "Big Three" of English-language science fiction authors. Notable Heinlein works include Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers (which helped mold the space marine and mecha archetypes) and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. His work sometimes had controversial aspects, such as plural marriage in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, militarism in Starship Troopers and technologically competent women characters who were formidable, yet often stereotypically feminine—such as Friday.
Heinlein used his science fiction as a way to explore provocative social and political ideas and to speculate how progress in science and engineering might shape the future of politics, race, religion, and sex. Within the framework of his science-fiction stories, Heinlein repeatedly addressed certain social themes: the importance of individual liberty and self-reliance, the nature of sexual relationships, the obligation individuals owe to their societies, the influence of organized religion on culture and government, and the tendency of society to repress nonconformist thought. He also speculated on the influence of space travel on human cultural practices.
Heinlein was named the first Science Fiction Writers Grand Master in 1974. Four of his novels won Hugo Awards. In addition, fifty years after publication, seven of his works were awarded "Retro Hugos"—awards given retrospectively for works that were published before the Hugo Awards came into existence. In his fiction, Heinlein coined terms that have become part of the English language, including grok, waldo and speculative fiction, as well as popularizing existing terms like "TANSTAAFL", "pay it forward", and "space marine". He also anticipated mechanical computer-aided design with "Drafting Dan" and described a modern version of a waterbed in his novel Beyond This Horizon.
Also wrote under Pen names: Anson McDonald, Lyle Monroe, Caleb Saunders, John Riverside and Simon York.

Reviews

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title tells it all, but this is also a very entertaining book, good read.

**** 2020 re-read

There are some people who can tell you about a trip to the post office and make it interesting. Stephen King famously told about a rabid dog, filed up a novel with said rabid dog story, and it was actually pretty good.

Robert A. Heinlein, is such a writer. Describing a far future world where the Earth is facing overpopulation and scarcity problems, one solution available to Terrans is to join up to be colonists.

Our hero, leaping off the pages of Boys Life Magazine in Heinlein’s 1950 Scribner’s juvenile publication, learns that farming on Ganymede is much different than his agricultural chores on Earth. Heinlein demonstrates the charm of his juvenile work as he explores determination, family, perseverance and hard work.

One of his better juvenile works this one earned a “Retro” Hugo in 2001.

*** 2023 reread -

One of his earlier books, first published in 1950, this is also a demonstration of his hard science sensibilities.

It’s Golden Age Science Fiction, not the Andy Weir SF realism we see today, but for it’s time, this was technically challenging and thought provoking. And like many - most - of his writing, this tells a surface story while also delving into some deeper subjects.

Right out of the gate we have some Malthusian economics and over population. How to deal with too many people folks needing some elbow room? Why, put them on a rocket and send them off to far Ganymede. But, isn’t that too cold? Sure, unless you terraform it! Hey, it’s 1950, have some fun.

This was first serialized in Boy’s Life magazine and there is more than a passing mention of scouts and scouting and if you imagine a Scouts handbook but tailored to fit a terraformed colony fighting for self sufficiency, you can see some of the charm.

One mistake many critics of Heinlein’s Scribners juvenile series (of which this is one) is to consider that these were written by a young man. Bob was 43 when this came out. Reading Grumbles from the Grave reveals how Heinlein’s homey delivery was carefully and artfully constructed for a book sales purpose. The author brought a good deal of real world experience to this work.

The first half of the book was of the colonists leaving Earth and getting there and the second half is of the hard working and industrious folks taking care of business and dealing with conflict.

Wonderful book.

[Christopher Paolini · Rating 3 out of 5]

The unbridled optimism and can-do attitude of Farmer in the Sky makes me smile. Even though the main characters are fleeing an overcrowded Earth, the sense of possibility that Heinlein had about humanity’s future was a wonderful thing. Alas, the female characters aren’t handled particularly well – mainly because of their lack of presence – which is a regrettable flaw in an otherwise admirable YA(ish) story.

[John Mccullough · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been interested in the process of colonization for years. In 1990 I published an article analyzing the survival pattern of the Mayflower colonists during the first year when half the colony died (having relatives along on the voyage was a big help in staying alive!!). I read this book to gain whatever insight brilliant author Heinlein might have had to the process. I “learned” a bit about subjects I had not yet considered, for instance – earth status vs. space status – on such a mundane but interesting topic as scouting, as in boy scouting. The book was published in 1950 and suffers a little from being dated, but as usual, Heinlein’s futuristic mind takes care of some time-incarcerated items.

The book pulls no punches. Although classified (appropriately) as a “juvenile” or “young adult” novel, Heinlein lays bare the probability that tragedy can, and will, happen in the process of colonization. Much of the book concerns the very topic that Andrew Weir took up recently in “The Martian,” namely agriculture on a dead planet and goes into great detail on the ins and outs of this arduous process. Weir’s book extends this education for readers.

The book read well, and while written for young adults it was also tagged as a book that adults could read with great profit. I concur whole-heartedly – another Heinlein triumph. In 2000 it won a Retro Hugo Award in 2000 and deservedly so.

PS – Heinlein was right in one detail of interest to me – the largest family survived well in the midst of disaster, as I found for the Mayflower bunch (and Donner Party).

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the books that made me love space and take another, hard look at the world around me. I can't think of a better one for kids, pre & early teens. Of course, it's great for an older crowd too, but early exposure is best. As a kid, I never liked learning just for its own sake, but you can't help learning something about rockets, celestial mechanics, & ecology as Bill, a young Eagle Scout, immigrates to Ganymede to start a new life as a farmer.

Bill is pretty cool, but far from perfect. He has a copter license & is a troop leader, but he makes a complete ass out of himself over his father's marriage. Understandable and part of the charm. He has some typical adolescent struggles, but is a darn good kid. His descriptions of how the ship got to Ganymede and the night sky were wonderful & perfectly in character.

Bill explains what he learns every step of the way on his new adventure. A friend tells him that living on Ganymede is unnatural. George, his father, tells Bill,
"People have a funny habit of taking as 'natural' whatever they are used to—but there hasn't been any 'natural' environment, the way they mean it, since men climbed down out of trees."
So true! Obvious today, I guess, but when I first read it around 1970, a whole new world & way of thinking opened up for me. There was a big push for 'natural living' back then. (Think 'Mother Earth News' & Silent Spring.) Back to nature was the cool thing, but how far? What is necessary to keep our modern world running?

Later in the book, he discusses turning dead rock into a field that would grow a crop and what went into it. He starts with how the atmosphere was formed, making Einstein's equation real & useful, all the way up to using compost made from garbage. Why bugs & worms were so important, too.
...but it really brings it up to the top of your mind to know that stepping on an insect carries with it a stiff fine if you are caught, as well as a very pointed lecture telling you that the colony can get along very nicely without you but the insects are necessary.
What a fantastic way to make the point!

I've never been all that fond of the end. The last section is tacked on & is too much. Not as bad as the last half of Glory Road, thankfully. Still, in both cases, I get the idea he had to deliver a certain number of words & the story was too short, so he tacked on rather than expanding the story. Oh well, it wasn't awful, just not up to the rest of the book & anticlimactic.

The reader was quite good & this is a marvelous way to enjoy Heinlein's early books all over again. As usual, I'm surprised at how well they've held up since this was written in the 50's. Sure, people are using slipsticks instead of calculators, but that's OK - pretty minor.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

The next in the juveniles.

Bill and his father decide to leave starving Earth to become colonists on Ganymede (accompanied by Bill's father's new wife and her daughter). It's a story about starting fresh in every sense of the word, leaving behind a tragic and hurtful past to forge a better future.

A good 50% of the book is about the travel to the colony world (Ganymede) instead of actually establishing the colony there and BEING the titular farmer. So I was a bit disappointed.
However, once the colonization got underway, Heinlein wonderfully described all the challenges and we followed the entire community when they worked hard to overcome them.
Sadly, Bill, the MC, was almost insufferable. He wasn't always wrong but his absolute arrogance towards almost everyone was getting on my nerves. Fortunately, that, too, got better as the book progressed so maybe it was the Terran upbringing. *lol*

I like Heinlein's classic ideas about self-reliant and competent people living their best lives. I could have done without the sexist remarks that were more numerous and somehow worse than in previous reads despite the MC (Bill) being quite adult for his age.

Though in return, we got a good look at what people need to be prepared for when starting over on a new planet (moon, technically), what life on Earth likely will be like relatively soon, how starvation affects human psyches, and more.

So yes, a little bit of a two-sided sword. But not a bad story at all.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earth is overcrowded but immigration to the outer planets beckons the brave. Join Bill and his family breaking in new farm land on a moon of Jupiter - Ganymede

Engines on. Preparing for take-off

And then "Minus one minute" and another voice took up the count: "Fifty-nine! Fifty-eight! Fifty-seven!" My heart started to pound so hard I could hardly hear it. But it went on: "-thirty-five! Thirty-four! Thirty-three! Thirty-two! Thirty-one! Half! Twenty-nine! Twenty-eight!" And it got to be: "Ten!" And "Nine!" "Eight! "Seven! "And six! "And five! "And four! "And three! "And two-" I never did hear them say "one" or "fire" or whatever they said. About then something fell on me and I thought I was licked. Once, exploring a cave with the fellows, a bank collapsed on me and I had to be dug out. It was like that-but nobody dug me out. My chest hurt My ribs seemed about to break. I couldn't lift a finger. I gulped and couldn't get my breath. I wasn't scared, not really, because I knew we would take off with a high g, but I was awfully uncomfortable. I managed to turn my head a little and saw that the sky was already purple. While I watched, it turned black and the stars came out, millions of stars. And yet the Sun was still streaming in through the port The roar of the jets was unbelievable but the noise started to die out almost at once and soon you couldn't hear it at all. They say the old ships used to be noisy even after you passed the speed of sound; the Bifrost was not. It got as quiet as the inside of a bag of feathers. There was nothing to do but lie there, stare out at that black sky, try to breathe, and try not to think about the weight sitting on you. And then, so suddenly that it made your stomach turn flip-flops, you didn't weigh anything at all.



Getting there is half the fun.
Why not add a tiny meteorite just big enough to put a hole in the space ship.
Watch Bill "sit" on this problem

Suddenly I heard the goldarnest noise I ever heard in my life. It sounded like a rifle going off right by my ear, it sounded like a steel door being slammed, and it sounded like a giant tearing yards and yards of cloth, all at once. Then I couldn't hear anything but a ringing in my ears and I was dazed. I shook my head and looked down and I was staring at a raw hole in the ship, almost between my feet and nearly as big as my fist. There was scorched insulation around it and in the middle of the hole I could see blackness-then a star whipped past and I realized that I was staring right out into space. There was a hissing noise. I don't remember thinking at all. I just wadded up my uniform, squatted down, and stuffed it in the hole.



Why did we come to this near frozen stony land?

I muttered something about having to go take a look at Mabel. I went out into the living room and put on my heavy clothes and actually did go outside, though I didn't go near the barn. It had been snowing and it was already almost pitch dark, though the Sun hadn't been down more than a couple of hours. The snow had stopped but there were clouds overhead and you couldn't see Jupiter. The clouds had broken due west and let the sunset glow come through a bit. After my eyes adjusted, by that tiny amount of light I could see around me-the mountains, snow to their bases, disappearing in the clouds, the lake, just a sheet of snow-covered ice, and the boulders beyond our fields, making weird shapes in the snow. It was a scene to match the way I felt; it looked like the place where you might be sent for having lived a long and sinful life. I tried to figure out what I was doing in such a place. The clouds in the west shifted a little and I saw a single bright green star, low down toward the horizon, just above where the Sun had set. It was Earth. I don't know how long I stood there. Presently somebody put a hand on my shoulder and I jumped. It was Dad, all bundled up for a nine-mile tramp through the dark and the snow. "What's the matter, Son?" he said. I started to speak, but I was all choked up and couldn't. Finally I managed to say, "Dad, why did we come here?" "Mmmm... you wanted to come. Remember?" "I know," I admitted. "Still, the real reason, the basic reason, for coming here was to keep your grandchildren from starving. Earth is overcrowded, Bill." I looked back at Earth again. Finally I said, "Dad, I've made a discovery. There's more to life than three square meals a day. Sure, we can make crops here- this land would grow hair on a billiard ball. But I don't think you had better plan on any grandchildren here; it would be no favor to them. I know when I've made a mistake." "You're wrong, Bill, Your kids will like this place, just the way Eskimos like where they live." "I doubt it like the mischief." "Remember, the ancestors of Eskimos weren't Eskimos; they were immigrants, too. If you send your kids back to Earth, for school, say, they'll be homesick for Ganymede. They'll hate Earth. They'll weigh too much, they won't like the air, they won't like the climate, they won't like the people."



More than just scratching a living out bare rock Bill's family must face unexpected challenges.

Enjoy!

[Jared Millet · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Well gosh, Pop, wasn't that about the hokiest book you ever did read?"

"Why, yes indeedy, son. Even with them newfangled rocket ships n' all."

A few months ago I wrote in my review of Little Fuzzy that the far-future characters seemed mired in the culture and mores of the 1950's. I take it back. Compared to Farmer in the Sky, Piper's work was visionary. In Farmer we have microwave ovens, easy space travel, and mass-to-energy conversion technology, but we also have a teenager who plays accordion and cribbage, works hard on his merit badges, and thinks girls are yucky. I've enjoyed Heinlein's juveniles in the past, though I've never been one of those who worshiped at his altar (I always preferred Asimov or Clarke). I think this book may have put me off of him forever, since about halfway through it the theme to The Andy Griffith Show started playing in my head and wouldn't stop. All done now. Next!

I can't go as low as 1 star because the book does have a few good bits, just not enough to redeem it. The central theme of colonization being hard, backbreaking work is strong and well-presented, though the lack of ground transportation on the colony was hard to swallow. The earthquake disaster and planetary freeze is compelling and, if you could remove it from the larger context, would have made a great short story.

Throughout, though, we get Heinlein in preachy mode with a Mary Sue protagonist and other characters who fall into the categories of Wise Men Who Are Never Wrong and straw men for Heinlein to attack. And then, in the end, for no good reason at all... Aliens! Because gosh, wouldn't that be swell.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book about a family who emigrate to Ganymede to start a farm as part of the burgeoning human colony there. As with most SF from this period, it's part adventure story and part science lesson, and I love that. It has a very pioneering feel to it.

I was slightly frustrated by the ending; I'd've liked the big revelation of the final few chapters to be explored in greater detail.

[Kevin Kuhn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this as a boy and picked it up for my 10 year old, but had to give a reread first. Slightly dated, but largely holds up the test of time. It's definately young adult but I still enjoyed it. Largely a colonization story told first person by a teen boy. Very fast read.

[Lubinka Dimitrova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love me some good old classic science fiction... This book was just wonderful, short and sweet, and the only thing that saddened me was the fact that it reminded me of Andy Weir's Martian, when it should have been the other way around. The first step into my Hugo Awards odyssey was quite promising, can't wait for what's to come next :)

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-Read

This is an early SF by Heinlein, way back in 1950. He tackles colonialism, as if Ganymede could handle farms, and handles the homesteading question from a YA kind of novel.

It may be slightly dated, and this damn cocky kid has RAH's trademark DIY attitude, which is fine, but the novel IS a part of its time. It's basically reflection of Boy Scouts and coming to grips with population pressures, but for as simple as this sounds, it's still a solid SF. Small town, frontier cowboy ethics IS rather a sign of the cultural zeitgeist of the 1950's.

If it's focused more on boys growing up to be men, so be it. It's not one of my favorites of RAH, but it has a pretty solid story.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

[Jan-Maat]

All I can remember about this book is a boy and his Dad and his sister travel as colonists to a different planet to settle. They knock about a bit. At the end they discover alien technology/life but don't make any contact, for some reason that I can't recall.

The amusing thing for me is that this science fiction as a rerun of the American frontier but this time made perfect because no pesky indigenous peoples as apparently they are extinct and this time the settlers had nothing to do with it, and there are no inconvenient minorities. Implicitly the consequences of our history are insoluble, the answer is the cosmos as expanding frontier, under which all problems can be swept and ignored.

Life is short and there are more memorable books to read.

[Whitney (SecretSauceofStorycraft) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heinlein coming of age story that has held up very well over time.

Considered a “Heinlein Juvenile”— we have a coming of age space exploration story featuring a teen boy whose father’s new marriage takes him to Ganymeade to help colonize. Initially resistant, our main character comes to find purpose in the stars and learns he doesnt always have to be the hero.

There are really good morals and a sense of wonder and adventure in this story. It is so far my favorite of all the Heinlein Juveniles I’ve read. Would recommend!!

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Heinlein Juvenile that I haven't really loved. It was certainly well written and interesting, but not a lot happened. It tells the story of some Earth colonists settling on Ganymede. Unfortunately, it's long on the details of the process and short on action, mystery and intrigue. Only at the very end is there a really interesting discovery. Definitely my least favorite so far among the early Heinlein works.

[Megan Baxter · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is remarkably hard to hunt down some of the earliest books that were nominated for a Hugo at either of the libraries I have access to, but I assumed that one of Heinlein's juveniles would not particularly pose a challenge. Turns out I was wrong. Then again, it popped up at a local used bookstore, and so it was, in the end, not really an issue. I was just surprised that it had been a problem at all, particularly since the one I picked up used was a recent re-issue.

Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

[Kat Hooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Originally posted at FanLit.

As I mentioned in my recent review of The Number of the Beast, I used to be a fan of Robert A. Heinlein’s “Juveniles” when I was a kid. I give Heinlein much of the credit for turning me into a speculative fiction lover at a young age, so I was really disappointed that The Number of the Beast was so dreadful. To cleanse my palate, and to restore my trust in a man who was such an influence on me, I decided to read Farmer in the Sky, a Heinlein Juvenile which has recently been produced in audio format by Brilliance Audio.

Farmer in the Sky took me back to my childhood — when I loved to think about riding in spaceships while most girls were thinking about riding horses. In this story, Earth is overcrowded and food is rationed, so 16 year old Bill and his father George decide to emigrate to Ganymede, one of Jupiter’s moons. There’s a new colony on Ganymede and they’re struggling to survive as Earth, to ease its population tensions, keeps sending spaceship-loads of new settlers. Terraforming Jupiter’s moons is a difficult and dangerous enterprise, but Bill is determined to succeed by making his own farm productive. The skills he learned in Boy Scouts prove to be helpful for this and other tasks he undertakes to help his new colony.

You can’t get much more exciting than taking a spaceship to Ganymede to build a new colony, so youngsters looking for speculative adventure will surely enjoy Farmer in the Sky. But I think the book is also appealing to kids who enjoy frontier stories such as Little House on the Prairie. In addition to homesteading skills, they’ll learn a bit of science, too.

Though Bill is having a life-changing experience, he’s still easy to relate to. He’s a normal kid with normal kid desires and problems — he’s concerned about his Boy Scout uniform and badges, he’s mourning the death of his mother and upset about his father’s new relationship, he doesn’t like girls, and he has to deal with bullies and a few stupid adults. During the course of the story, Bill experiences both triumph and tragedy, and the reader feels them, too.

Brilliance Audio’s version was read by Nick Podehl who does a great job reading stories with young men as protagonists (e.g., Patrick Rothfuss’s KINGKILLER CHRONICLE). When I see Nick Podehl’s name on the cover, I know it’s going to be a great audio production.

A shorter version of Farmer in the Sky was originally serialized in Boy’s Life magazine in the fall of 1950 under the title “Satellite Scout,” so that gives you a good sense of its target audience. However, I recommend Farmer in the Sky for both teens and adults who love a good wholesome SF adventure. Farmer in the Sky was published as a novel in 1953 and won the Retro Hugo award.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not changed my opinion of the story, after all of these years. I still really liked it! It never really mattered to me if it was scientifically correct or not. What are important are the characters and they are wonderful. This is a great story to dream about, even now, 50 years later.
Hard work and opportunity. What could be better? This is a story of a young man and his family who go to one of the moons of Jupiter to be farmers. To have their own land, to raise their own food and make something of themselves for their future family. It is not easy, but they find out who they really are and what matters most, and like the Boy Scouts of America motto "to be prepared".

[Dan Keating · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first thing that you should know about Robert Heinlein's "Farmer in the Sky" is that it was written on commission from the Boy Scouts of America - they commissioned him to write a story about establishing a Boy Scout troop in space. Between that and the publication date in the 1950s, you can pretty much get your expectations straight - the book has a definitely sanitized feel and at times feels like it takes its diction directly out of an episode of Leave it to Beaver, and people who aren't tough or naturalistic or willing to sacrifice their amenities or their sense of privilege are presented frequently as overblown caricatures, clearly present for derision.

The book is further plagued by rather massive pacing issues. In particular, a section of the book in which something extraordinarily important is not given any lead-up, is then stated matter-of-factly in a single paragraph rather than described through narration, and is mostly ignored thereafter. I won't give anything away, but suffice to say that shit like this should be treated with more depth.

So, why bother with "Farmer in the Sky" at all? For one thing, the hard science fiction aspects are quite interesting - in particular, Heinlein paints a picture of the alien landscape of Ganymede as being a hybrid of a world completely unlike Earth - as all worlds that aren't Earth should rightly be expected to be - and Earth itself. It's similarities are really what make it feel so different. This is very well-executed.

The other thing is a rather brief section near the end in which one of the characters discusses the idea that Earth is heading towards a cataclysmic war due to overcrowding. That particular section was pretty thought provoking - exploring the idea of how human society reacts to its own overwhelming growth.

Ultimately, "Farmer in the Sky" is not a great book. It's not even a really good book. It does have a couple of thought-provoking sections, but those are pretty tough to reach for all but the most dedicated classic science fiction fans. If you're a big fan of the Golden Age sci-fi greats and want to check out a lesser-known pulp by a well-known science fiction author, I wouldn't rule out "Farmer in the Sky." All others need not apply.

[WadeofEarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I love about Heinlein is that he does not use the infinite possibilities within the sci fi genre as a crutch on which to lean, like many who have written in the genre do. What I mean by that is that it is easy, within sci fi, to get so enamored by what is possible and the implications of it all, that many books end up reaching far beyond what is tenable. What Heinlein does is he makes some assumptions upon the future development of humanity and different developments and the he explores how these things would affect every day people. In Farmer in the Sky we get to see a young man leave overcrowded and food rationed earth to head out to Ganymede (one of Jupiter's moons) to continue the work of settling it. In many ways it is more reminiscent of stories of settlers heading out West in American history than it is to other Sci fi. The toil and the struggles are the same and yet the setting is so different. Here he helps us question what things are actually worth working for, even when payoff is not guaranteed.

Sci Fi is overflowing with stories about alien invasions, plots to take over the world (or universe), rebellions against evils that have already taken over the world (or universe), enormous space battles, planetary decimation, mind blowing "technologies", and basically every other epic idea exploded out over the galaxy. What Heinlein does here (and elsewhere) feels more like classical literature, in that, much like Dostoyevsky, Steinbeck, Dickens, and Joyce (and many other classic authors) Heinlein isn't writing an epically proportioned story that is larger than life and focused on a plot and happenings that are so big that they either destroy or magnify the characters therein, but rather he tells a story about the lives of people that feels like it could be reality. He writes a story, not an epic; he writes about people in a way that shows a deep understanding, rather than plotting major points together in a story that transcends the people in it.

[Stefan · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Farmer in the Sky" is a Heinlein juvenile (today we'd call it Young Adult science fiction) about a plucky boy who joins the colonization effort on Ganymede to escape Earth's overcrowding, food rationing, and the memory of his recently deceased mother.

I'm sure lots of boys who read this in the fifties and sixties got hooked on SF (and possibly signed up for the Boy Scouts). For the present, I think this would be a good book to recommend to a young reader who's maybe not quite ready yet for something like Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars - think Ganymede instead of Mars, and boy scouts and pioneer-like farmers as opposed to a bunch of dysfunctional scientists.

I'm rating this book three stars, but I'm rating it the way I think its target audience would. For someone with an adult's knowledge and taste, this book is probably too simplistic, but I think an early-to-mid teenage boy would lap this up. It's a short and fast read with a bit of humor, some action, and just enough science to make it seem plausible to a young reader. While some of the mannerisms and expressions sound extremely dated now (the book is almost 60 years old), it's still a fun read. It has "wholesome" written all over it.

[Stephan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably my favourite feel-good book among Heinlein's juveniles, maybe because I first read it as a kid, borrowed from the university library shelf of pulp fiction ghettoised for academic analysis.

I recently got the Kindle edition and re-read it. It is depressingly clean and, in contrast to other Heinlein novels, nauseatingly full of American Family Values of the 1950s or so. In that, as often with science fiction, it tells us more about the time it was written in than the future it tries to describe. But the action moves at a good speed, and it takes a very optimistic view about humans destiny on other planets.

Recommended for nostalgics, and for the children of people who understand that the kids probably won't take on John Wayne's view on life after a single fun book.

[César Bustíos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leer a Heinlein siempre es entretenido y divertido. La novela fue publicada inicialmente en 1950 y no fue hasta el 2001 que recibió el premio Retro Hugo.

Los Lermer deciden escapar de una Tierra superpoblada a tal punto que la comida es racionada. Se alistan al proyecto Júpiter con la esperanza de convertirse en colonos de Ganímedes y tratar de empezar una nueva vida.

[Jeff Yoak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heinlein's story of a boy and his family leaving an over-crowded and starting to starve Earth to become farmers on Ganymede, moon of Jupiter, really touches me. I find I like it more with time.

2014: So much so that I just changed it to five-star. :-) It was especially good with the kids.

[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started listening to it, then after the bad recording I finished it on the Nook. Nice descriptions of basic farming; wish we were closer to settling another body in space :(

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘GRANJERO DEL ESPACIO’ ES, POSIBLEMENTE, LA NOVELA MÁS ADULTA DE LAS JUVENILES DE HEINLEIN (POR CIERTO, PARA MÍ NO CUENTAN ‘CADETE DEL ESPACIO’ NI ‘TROPAS DEL ESPACIO’ COMO JUVENILES; AUNQUE ENTREN EN ÉSA CATEGORÍA).
CON UN TEMPO DE NARRACIÓN ENVIDIABLE Y UN BUEN RAMILLETE, PERO DOSIFICADO, DE ALGUNAS DE LAS TEMÁTICAS Y VIRTUDES DE SUS ‘HISTORIAS DEL FUTURO’ (la temática de la colonización, la exploración planetaria, la adaptación a otros planetas ajenos a nuestro sistema, el rumbo de una nueva sociedad, la inevitable guerra, hambre y desgracias que conlleva el desarrollo, que en un principio es beneficioso para el humano por deterioro de su planeta...), ES UN GRAN TRABAJO DE ESTRUCTURACIÓN Y REALISMO PATENTE (MEDIANTE LA NARRACIÓN EN PRIMERA PERSONA DE BILL, UN JOVEN QUE DESEA SER GRANJERO PARA SUSTENTARSE POR EL MISMO) DE LO QUE SERÍA EL ‘RETRATO’ DE LA COLONIZACIÓN DE LOS HUMANOS, COMO PIONEROS EN UN PLANETA POR ACABAR DE EXPLORAR. PERO, ADEMÁS, UNA NARRACIÓN LLENA DE ESPERANZA Y DEL NO REDIRSE, LAS MARAVILLAS DE LO DESCONOCIDO, EMOCIÓN, ALEGRÍA, PELIGRO, LUCHA Y DRAMA.

Pero voy allá con el argumento de demás apreciaciones....
George y Bill ( padre e hijo, estudiante de exploración e ingeniero, respectivamente), viven en un planeta Tierra devastado por los humanos, en el que la sobre población ha hecho ya mella y los alimentos que ingieren son racionados por el gobierno de cada país y contados como puntos negativos o positivos como ciudadano. La atmósfera es asfixiante. George decide probar suerte e intentar pasar las pruebas para acceder a una plaza de colono rumbo al planeta Gadímides (el tercero después de Júpiter, con un primer contacto en 1985, un tercio de la gravedad de la tierra, tremendamente grande, más que Mercurio y la Luna, y helado), pero quiere que su hijo permanezca en la Tierra y acabe sus estudios para la ciudadanía de tercera clase (el gobierno le paga por formarse cómo explorador para después conseguir su carnet de trabajo si aprueba; una buena estrategia para motivar, aunque algo forzosamente, a los más jóvenes). Al final irán ambos, más la actual pareja de George y su hija, que en un principio son causa de irritabilidad por parte del chico (por el recuerdo de su difunta madre), para pasar a ser personas queridas....

En LA PRIMERA PARTE, INVISIBLE, DE LA OBRA, SE NOS INTRODUCE TODA LA SITUACIÓN SOCIAL Y DE ENTORNO DE LA TIERRA, PRESENTÁNDONOS A LOS PERSONAJES PRINCIPALES, BILL Y GEORGE. Es una delicia todo éste pasaje, ya que CONSIGUE SER UNA RADIOGRAFÍA SENSATA DE UNA FAMILIA HUÉRFANA DE MADRE, con afecto aparente pero sin afectividad a la vista, con mucho respeto mutuo, sin tapujos en sus discusiones y observaciones.
George le enseña a Bill, a no rendirse ni darse de menos si no los escogen cómo colonos, EL PADRE ALIENTA AL HIJO DE MANERA MUY JUICIOSA Y SABIA, a ser una persona ambiciosa, en el buen sentido del adjetivo. El chico, Bill, debe tener iniciativa propia y no ser un monigote movido por los demás (sus opiniones); la cual cosa se ve reflejada en el excelente final, digno de la época dorada del maestro, de la novela (entendámonos, su padre le quiere bien, por eso y en ése sentido, pese de enseñarle a pensar y actuar por sí mismo, aquí peca de practicar al revés que su teoría; lógico en los progenitores).
REALMENTE, GEORGE, ES UN PERSONAJE PATERLANISTA Y ASTUTO 100% HEINLEINIANO, FILOSOFÍA PRAGMÁTICA, PURA Y DURA, DIGNO DE ENTRAR EN LA CATEGORÍA DE LOS ‘SECUNDARIOS’ DE LUJO (E INSTIGADORES DE LA TRAMA) COMO EN LAS NOVELAS: LA LUNA ES UNA CRUEL AMANTE, AMO DE TÍTERES, FORASTERO EN TIERRA EXTRAÑA Y VIERNES...una lástima que salga en contadas ocasiones, sin embargo, nos deleita, directa o indirectamente, con sus enseñanzas.
Y volviendo al contenido de ésta primera parte, decir que ESTÁ CARGADA DE POLÍTICA Y DISCURSO CRÍTICO SOCIAL; mucho más aparente que en otros de sus juveniles ( ya lo sabéis, dejad de lado a los anteriores que cité)
En lo referente a la figura de Bill, es un personaje que evoluciona. Al principio, y aparentando cinismo y emancipación de carácter, no logra conseguirlo hasta ‘haber ajustado las cuentas’ realmente con su destino, mediante la experiencia dura del día a día como adulto forzado por las circunstancias. Eso le ayuda a dejar de lado ciertas aptitudes de prejuzgar a las personas y a los géneros. Un personaje que comienza por caerte normal a resultarte entrañable y hasta sentimental.
Por otro lado, si aquí LOS PERSONAJES FEMENINOS NO RESULTAN RELEVANTES, SI TIENEN SU FUNCIÓN PARA APOYAR EL DESARROLLO DRAMÁTICO DE LA HISTORIA Y EVOLUTIVO DE NUESTRO PROTAGONISTA.

En LA SEGUNDA PARTE DE LA OBRA, SE NOS RECREA, EXHAUSTIVAMENTE, TODO LO QUE SUCEDE EN EL INTERIOR DE LA NAVE ESPACIAL y LA SENSACIÓN DE ESTAR ‘COLGADO’ AHÍ FUERA, EN EL ESPACIO. Allí nos encontraremos con momentos de ocio, conflictos humanos y de liderazgo (con sus jerarquías, tipo de pequeño gobierno: Monarquía constitucional engañosa, creación de una grupo de exploradores que luego se les será arrebatado a los más jóvenes, cuando ya han dado el resto ellos,). A RESALTAR, A PARTE DE TODA LA CRITICA SOCIAL Y POLÍTICA, NUEVAMENTE, LA MARAVILLOSA DESCRIPCIÓN DE LA NAVE, LA MAR DE CURIOSA, COMPUESTA POR UN SISTEMA DE ROTACIÓN QUE LA HACE ESPECTACULAR A LA VEZ QUE TEMEROSA Y ALGO LABERÍNTICA. La ‘ Mayflower’ es un cohete mejorado respecto a las anteriores, ya que su masa es de conversión (coherente con lo narrado a nivel evolutivo en sus ‘ Historias del futuro’), con distintos usos horarios por cubierta y un campo creador de oxigeno natural.
EN ÉSTE PUNTO DE LA NOVELA, YA SE PUEDE INTUIR QUE HAY MUCHO MÁS CONTENIDO TÉCNICO – CIENTÍFICO, SE HACE MÁS HINCAPIÉ, QUE EN OTRAS JUVENILES SUYAS, PERO, UNA VEZ MÁS, EXPLICADO DE MANERA COMPRENSIBLE Y FÁCIL, como por ejemplo en el sistema de gravedad, durante el viaje, y su adaptación a la órbita y los pasajeros.
PERO NO TODO ES CRÍTICA E IRONÍA SOLAPADA, TAMBIÉN HAY MOMENTOS NOSTÁLGICOS, MUY BIEN RETRATADOS (la nostalgia del emigrante), DE PELIGRO Y TENSIÓN.

EN LA TERCERA PARTE, NOS ENCONTRAMOS CON EL NUDO DE LA TRAMA, LA LLEGADA DE LOS COLONOS AL PLANETA, SU ADAPTACIÓN A LAS CIRCUNSTANCIAS, SU DURA VIDA COMO PIONEROS, PERO A LA VEZ, LLENA DE SORPRESAS MARAVILLOSAS, COMO LA CONTEMPLACIÓN DE JÚPITER Y SUS ‘LUNAS’ POSTIZAS, ECLIPSES Y AURORAS (¡un soberbio y ensoñador pasaje!) Y OTRAS DESAGRADABLES; DEBIDO A LOS INEVITABLES PERCANCES DE LA NATURALEZA; MÁS PODEROSA QUE NOSOTROS, SIEMPRE.
La comisión colonial proporciona un apartamento en la ciudad por familia, le ayuda a elegir su trozo de parcela para mejorarlo y crear sus propia granja y vivienda, con el cual podrá subsistir a la larga, y lo mantiene durante dos años. Después tendrá 10 para saldar su deuda con ellos.
La narración del día a día es magnífica, detallada en lo referente al entorno de una tierra inhóspita y los recursos que tienen los hombres para manipularla y convertirla en asequible para la cosecha (todo explicado a nivel técnico); MUY JUICIOSO ESO DE CALIFICAR LA POLÍTICA COMO SÓLO UN ASPECTO DE LA ECOLOGÍA!: ‘ la ciencia de las interrelaciones de los organismos vivos con su entorno’ ( HEINLEIN, EL HOMBRE Y SU MELLA, Y LA RELACIÓN CON EN EL ENTORNO; EL DESENCADENANTE, POR ENDE, DE LAS CORRELACIONES EN EL PLANETA Y ENTRE ASTROS, A VECES, INCLUSO, NI CIENTÍFICAS SINO CAUSUALÍSTICAS). Gadímines es un suelo en el que se protege a los insectos, mediante multa, para no dañar su cadena biológica. Heinlein, llegado éste punto, resalta el aspecto de la ingeniería relacionada con la ecología; la Agronomía matemática, para aprovechar los recursos propios de cualquier planeta, y exportar los más beneficiosos del nuestro.
Además, del diario como colonos y pioneros, con sus duras tareas, se puede leer entre líneas, EL ENSALZAMIENTO DE LO TRADICIONAL ( llamadlo obsoleto, si gustáis..), PORQUÉ TODOS, ABSOLUTAMENTE TODO EL MUNDO DESEA UN HOGAR, UN AUTÉNTICO HOGAR Y TIERRAS EN EL QUE SENTIRSE A GUSTO, QUE NO ACOGIDO...TODOS BUSCAMOS UN ESPACIO ‘NUESTRO’ Y PARA LOS NUESTROS. ES EL HOGAR Y EL AMBIENTE CON EL QUE CARGAMOS O NO, 24 HORAS AL DÍA, Y ES IGUAL DÓNDE ESTÉS, AQUÍ O EN JÚPITER. AHÍ ES DÓNDE VA A PARAR EL MAESTRO CON ÉSTA NOVELA, PRINCIPALMENTE. Y CON ELLO y Por descontado, Trata de la magnitud de las tragedias inesperadas, pero por encima de todo, EL IMPULSO DE NO RENDIRSE, DE PERSEGUIR TU SUEÑO, SEGUIR CON TU VIDA Y ESPERANZAS EN EL FUTURO: ‘ PUEDES LLORAR SÓLO HASTA CIERTOS PUNTO, A PARTIR DE AHÍ ES AUTO-COMPASIÓN’. A añadir, y de manera más secundaria, que no menos importante, nos habla de las ventajas y desventajas de la colonización para aliviar la presión demográfica, y de lo inevitable de una guerra como parte del desarrollo humano. Sin embargo, siempre hay esperanzas, hasta incluso en las actuaciones poco morales y cuestionables que hacen según qué vecinos colonos.
HEINLEIN, COMO SIEMPRE, CONSIGUE DOTAR DE ENTIDAD HUMANA A LA NOVELA Y SUS PERSONAJES, QUE TE PONGAS EN SU PIEL CUANDO SE ALEGRAN, RÍEN, SE ENTRISTECEN. VIAJAN Y SUEÑAN JUNTO A TI, LECTOR/ A. SIEMPRE HA SIDO UN NARRADO ÚNICO EN ÉSE ASPECTO DENTRO DE LA SCI FI, Y AQUÍ, UNA VEZ MÁS, LO DEMUESTRA CON CRECES.

Así pues, ‘Granjero de las estrellas’ ES UNA OBRA CON ENCANTO, ESPECIALMENTE POR SU MENSAJE. UN CANTO A LA ESPERANZA, A LOS SUEÑOS, A LA LUCHA, A LA EXPLORACIÓN Y CONQUISTA DE NUEVOS MUNDOS PARA UN BUEN FIN Y A LAS MARAVILLAS DESCONOCIDAS DEL UNIVERSO.
UN MERITORIO HUGO POR SUS VALORES.

[Valerie]

I got this book the first time out of a box of books a teacher brought in to class--which, given the school, would've been when I was fifteen.

Frankly, my interest in the 'adventures' was minimal at best. I was drawn from the start by the science--the descriptions of what I didn't know at the time was called terraforming. The social stuff frankly repulsed me, though I was interested in the idea of a blended family, then somewhat new to me.

One point: There's a sort of sneak introduction of a subtheme here: the heroes find mechanisms clearly left behind by aliens (and use them to transport a sick person), and there's an indication that their efforts at terraforming are reactivating previous efforts at
'x'-forming by an earlier civilization. The matter is never followed up--we never find out who the aliens
were--is it possible that Heinlein was preparing the ground for a sequel, then never got around to it?

In the case of the near-solar planets, it's easy to critique the planetography in light of more recent information from probes, flybys, etc. The information has been widely disseminated, and most people have picked up a smattering at least.

To critique the description of the terraforming of Ganymede, it's necessary to get at such things as the reports of the Galileo probe, as well as the flyby information from the Pioneers, Voyagers, etc. The first edition of this is from 1950, and Heinlein would have had access to none of these.

The 'heat trap' (which is never really described) would deal with only one of the problems any colonists would face. More updated information indicates that below the ice are large bodies of subsurface water (MUCH bigger than Lake Vostok in Antarctica. Possibly even whole oceans.) Not only might these bodies of water be habitats of life like those around hydrothermal vents (not sterile at all, likely), but you'd have to do something will all that water, which would probably lead to significant cloudbursts if an atmosphere were created at all--and gullywashers would wash away any soil that wasn't almost immediately anchored by plant roots and filtered by leaves, humus, etc. There are very few trees in this book, but they should be nearly the first step in terms of vegetation. Grasses (all cereal grains are grasses), other produce plants, and even legumes should come after the trees.

But all this is predicated on the resolution of one major problem. Heinlein underrstood (probably better than a lot of planetographers at the time) about the impact of tidal forces. What he likely didn't know about was the danger from magnetic flux. Jupiter's colossal magnetic field extends well beyond the Galilean satellites. It's said that despite Io's lack of atmosphere (because of the outgassing from volcanoes), Io has the most spectacular aurorae in the Solar System--but that if you were there to see it in person, you'd die very quickly. And Ganymede is even closer to Jupiter than Io. You'd have to come up with some sort of solution to the magnetic fluxes before you could even CONSIDER setting up colonies there. Details, details, eh?

Corrections to the above--Ganymede is further away from Jupiter than Io, but still well within Jupiter's magnetic field. The text states that it's tide-locked, but I don't quite see how this would prevent tides in liquefied ice. Not from Jupiter itself, maybe--there'd be a tidal bulge, which might create what would effectively be a permanent hill of water (wonder how that'd work?). And there'd be a sort of 'anti-tidal bulge' opposite Jupiter. But Ganymede does still move relative to Jupiter. The same face may always face Jupiter, but there should still be movement of water. And tidal forces increase internal heating, so that a planet that had lost most of its original heat through radiative heat dispersion would still be generating internal heat, even billions of years later.

And then there are the other satellites. Given the new understandings after the impact of Shoemaker-Levy 9, you'd have to keep a constant watch against the danger of a collision between satellites. Granted, it's more likely that one of them would hit Jupiter itself. But what effects might that have? And there'd be tidal effects from the other moons, particularly the Galilean moons, even where there was little risk of collision. Not to anticipate, but this effect isn't irrelevant to the story.

The proposed method of creating an atmosphere is frankly reckless in the extreme. Even given the postulated unlimited power, using electrolysis (via extreme heat, in this case) to dissassociate water into hydrogen and oxygen is an inherently dangerous process. I find it extremely implausible that the hydrogen would rise to the top with no risk of massive fires (cast your mind back to the Hindenberg). But even if it DID happen, the hydrogen would eventually escape to space, resulting in a significant loss of water. Furthermore, since oxygen is extremely reactive stuff, it would tend to be constantly trying to reform itself into water with the escaping hydrogen. Perhaps explosively. And the nitrogen which is necessary for plants is described as plentiful--but not (apparently) released by the atmosphere project. Seems a bit shortsighted. Why DIDN'T they release the trapped nitrogen at the time?

Anyway, it's an interesting story. I wouldn't give much credit to Heinlein's Malthusian fantasies. He's too prone to deplore Malthus' conclusions--but not to recognize that they're based on the false premise that humans reproduce mindlessly and automatically, with no decisionmaking on the part of the parents and society. In general, I find Heinlein's dismissive attitude toward most of his fellow humans more than a little arrogant. If you think people are ignorant, why is anger and despair a more appropriate response than education? And as for the argument that they're obdurately and inescapably stupid, maybe Heinlein's confusing the resentment of people he tried to bully into learning (instead of taking advantage of their innate pleaure in learning) with inevitability. Speaking personally, I've only ever seen one baby who wasn't actively exploring the world--and that one was mortally ill. If children lose that, isn't it just possibly at least partly the fault of an abusive educational system?

[Soo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notes:

The slang is definitely dated, but the content was great! Excellent story about leaving Earth & striking out to colonize a far off planet.

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surely this book isn't too old-fashioned... It's those stupid kids who are being too new-fashioned!

[María Greene F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Qué hermosa es la ciencia ficción y qué feliz sería yo de ser una granjera de las estrellas. Esos mundos nuevos que se abren, aunque sean inhóspitos, abren mi imaginación. Yo podría estar ahí, rompiendo rocas para preparar tierra para sembrar algún día, amando cada lombriz importada que podría hacer la diferencia entre tener éxito y no. A veces, estando dentro de un tierra tan fértil, uno pierde la noción de cuán preciosa y compleja (y afortunada) es la vida, y de cuán estéril y poco amable puede ser en general el universo.

Es muy bonito, recordar eso. Y un poquito angustiante también.

Además, gozo cuando leo libros viejines (1950), que dan descaradamente cátedra sobre ciencia que ya sabemos desactualizada. Es entretenido comparar, es motivante el coraje de llegar y decir, y además ese "error" es parte del proceso: Asimov solía enfatizar a la ciencia ficción como esencial en el progreso humano, porque ayuda a convertir lo soñado en realidad, y es que todo empieza desde la imaginación.

No toda la ciencia está desactualizada, además, y los problemas sociológicos son aún más actuales que tal ciencia. Por así decirlo. Porque, en el fondo, el espíritu humano es el mismo.

Tres estrellas porque, pese a todo, creo que hay libros mejores. La trama avanza en cuotas, algunas muy interesantes, otras méh.

Pero a mí me gustó mucho.

[Doug Turnbull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Farmer in the Sky was first published in a condensed serial format by Boy’s Life Magazine under the title of Satellite Scout. The copyright of this series is 1950. The full length novel I am reviewing was actually published in 1953 by Charles Scribner’s Sons at a price of $3.31. It was well received by critics at the time, and rightly so. The novel was awarded a Retro Hugo award in 2001.

Set at an unspecified time in the future, the overcrowded Earth is establishing colonies throughout the solar system, including one on a newly terra-formed Ganymede, the third and largest of Jupiter’s Galilean moons. Bill Lermer, a teen aged boy and Eagle Scout, lives with his widower father in Diego Borough, which is part of the LA-San Diego Megalopolis and he is the main character and narrator of the story. This style is a departure for Heinlein as all of his previous juveniles were third person narratives.

After some debate, Bill and his father decide to emigrate to the farming colony on Ganymede. During their journey with 6000 other immigrants in the enormous spaceship Mayflower, when a meteor punctures their compartment, Bill saves his bunk mates from suffocation by improvising a patch out of his scout uniform. To combat the boredom of the long trip, the Boy Scouts among the passengers form scout troops. On their arrival at Ganymede, Bill accepts an invitation to live with a prosperous farmer and his family to learn what he needs to know to set up his own farm, while his father signs on as an engineer in town. Eventually the Lermers build their own homestead and are living there when a rare alignment of all of Jupiter's major moons causes a devastating moon quake which damages most of their buildings. In addition, the machinery that maintains Ganymede's "heat shield" is knocked out and the temperature starts dropping rapidly. Many colonists perish in the disaster, either from the quake or by freezing. The Lermers consider returning to Earth, but in true pioneer spirit, they decide to stay and rebuild. Later, while exploring with an expedition organized to survey more of Ganymede he and a friend make an amazing discovery.

The science in this book is prescient. Early in the novel we are introduced to a device Heinlein calls a “quickthaw” that prepares frozen meals in minutes. What Heinlein described of course, was a microwave oven, an invention not introduced as a household appliance until 25 years later. In addition, he gives detailed descriptions of the complexities associated with planetary ecology, again decades before the term ecology came into wide use. And, Heinlein gives us an introductory course in the concepts of free-fall, interplanetary orbits and the physics of atomic power. While the planetary science about Ganymede is dated, remember that what we believe to be true now will be dated soon as well, so don’t let those details get in the way of the story.

The underlying themes of this book are strong and are invoked many times during the narrative. They involve homesteading, opening a frontier, jealousy, self-reliance, and courage in the face of adversity. How Bill handles these many challenges and how facing them causes him to mature is the overarching theme of the novel.

This story marches right along and never really gets slow. Bill is a good guy, the kind of guy you would want beside you in any tight situation. If you haven’t caught the Heinlein bug yet, reading this book will infect you for sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3femC...