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Jupiter #3
Putting Up Roots
When Josh and his autistic cousin Dawn are sent to the planet Solferino, they join a group of kids already working for an interplanetary conglomerate stationed there. Assured by the bosses that no intelligent life exists on Solferino, Josh and Dawn come to suspect otherwise. Especially when Dawn makes contact with one of the creatures, a creature with whom she shares a mysterious ability to communicate.
With the corporation pressuring them, Josh and Dawn are drawn into a battle to save the creatures. And, it turns out, to save themselves.
With the corporation pressuring them, Josh and Dawn are drawn into a battle to save the creatures. And, it turns out, to save themselves.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
4 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Charles Sheffield
216 books171 followersCharles A. Sheffield (June 25, 1935 – November 2, 2002), was an English-born mathematician, physicist and science fiction author. He had been a President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronomical Society.
His novel The Web Between the Worlds, featuring the construction of a space elevator, was published almost simultaneously with Arthur C. Clarke's novel about that very same subject, The Fountains of Paradise, a coincidence that amused them both.
For some years he was the chief scientist of Earth Satellite Corporation, a company analysing remote sensing satellite data. This resulted in many technical papers and two popular non-fiction books, Earthwatch and Man on Earth, both collections of false colour and enhanced images of Earth from space.
He won the Nebula and Hugo awards for his novelette "Georgia on My Mind" and the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for his novel Brother to Dragons.
Sheffield was Toastmaster at BucConeer, the 1998 World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore.
He had been writing a column for the Baen Books web site; his last column concerned the discovery of the brain tumour that led to his death.
He was married to writer Nancy Kress.
His novel The Web Between the Worlds, featuring the construction of a space elevator, was published almost simultaneously with Arthur C. Clarke's novel about that very same subject, The Fountains of Paradise, a coincidence that amused them both.
For some years he was the chief scientist of Earth Satellite Corporation, a company analysing remote sensing satellite data. This resulted in many technical papers and two popular non-fiction books, Earthwatch and Man on Earth, both collections of false colour and enhanced images of Earth from space.
He won the Nebula and Hugo awards for his novelette "Georgia on My Mind" and the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for his novel Brother to Dragons.
Sheffield was Toastmaster at BucConeer, the 1998 World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore.
He had been writing a column for the Baen Books web site; his last column concerned the discovery of the brain tumour that led to his death.
He was married to writer Nancy Kress.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 7, 2021
The Jupiter novels were YA stories in the tradition of Andre Norton's or Robert A. Heinlein's juvenile novels of a previous generation. James P. Hogan and Jerry Pournelle also contributed to the line, which seemed to share a common setting (not on Jupiter, that was just the imprint), though the characters didn't overlap and all of the books could be read in any order. This is a good one, though I thought it might have been aimed at a younger audience than his other books. It's a good and scientifically sound story with some of Sheffield's best characterization in the autistic protagonists Dawn and her cousin Josh, and their adventures with other kids and mysterious aliens on the planet Solferino.
September 6, 2024
YA novel. Josh's ho mom dumps him on his aunt and uncle and their autistic daughter Dawn. Except his aunt is dead and uncle has a new trophy wife who does not want any kids, so Josh and Dawn get sold off to Big Foodstuffs to be early settlers on a new planet. The two of them get shipped off along with half a dozen others between the ages of 10 and 15. Turns out they aren't to be so much new settlers as they are explorers since the whole planet has like 40 people on it.
Things go wrong right off. When they get to the planet there are not 40 people waiting, there is one surly guy. He orders them around then a mousy woman from HQ shows up. She shuts ups and does what she's told by the big guy, and his idea of leadership is to shout a lot. HIs idea of adult supervision is to send the kids out into the jungle of this virtually unexplored alien world, tell them to look around for anything interesting, and come back by nightfall. Then yell at them. And sometimes disappear for days. All the while ships from Big Mining that should not be there keep flying overhead. Looks like the kids are right in the middle of a big corporate struggle, and maybe this planet isn't so uninhabited after all.
This is a young adult adventure story where the adults aren't just useless but are criminally negligent. Josh learns some group dynamics and how to socialize, they start out not trusting each other then come together, that sort of thing. The adults are the enemy. Part of the story is Dawn. She is basically nonverbal, and when not needed stays silent and out of the way. No autistic meltdowns with screaming and hitting, just staring and drawing things. But over time Josh learns that she is not just a burden that he is stuck with, and she has her own special talents. It's a pleasant novel that moves along well told from the POV of a 14 year old, so from that perspective it's perfectly alright for a couple of tweens to wander off into the jungle and vanish for days. They'll be fine.
Things go wrong right off. When they get to the planet there are not 40 people waiting, there is one surly guy. He orders them around then a mousy woman from HQ shows up. She shuts ups and does what she's told by the big guy, and his idea of leadership is to shout a lot. HIs idea of adult supervision is to send the kids out into the jungle of this virtually unexplored alien world, tell them to look around for anything interesting, and come back by nightfall. Then yell at them. And sometimes disappear for days. All the while ships from Big Mining that should not be there keep flying overhead. Looks like the kids are right in the middle of a big corporate struggle, and maybe this planet isn't so uninhabited after all.
This is a young adult adventure story where the adults aren't just useless but are criminally negligent. Josh learns some group dynamics and how to socialize, they start out not trusting each other then come together, that sort of thing. The adults are the enemy. Part of the story is Dawn. She is basically nonverbal, and when not needed stays silent and out of the way. No autistic meltdowns with screaming and hitting, just staring and drawing things. But over time Josh learns that she is not just a burden that he is stuck with, and she has her own special talents. It's a pleasant novel that moves along well told from the POV of a 14 year old, so from that perspective it's perfectly alright for a couple of tweens to wander off into the jungle and vanish for days. They'll be fine.
November 25, 2018
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3104175.html
This is a YA book taken from the template of Heinlein's Tunnel In the Sky; a group of young people are stuck on a planet together and have to make the best of it. I had acquired it because the viewpoint character is charged also with looking after his autistic cousin, who turns out to have magical rapport with the local aliens (yep, Disability Superpower); together they unravel the deadly plot of the evil capitalists (apology for spoilers). It's harmless enough, not great literature.
This is a YA book taken from the template of Heinlein's Tunnel In the Sky; a group of young people are stuck on a planet together and have to make the best of it. I had acquired it because the viewpoint character is charged also with looking after his autistic cousin, who turns out to have magical rapport with the local aliens (yep, Disability Superpower); together they unravel the deadly plot of the evil capitalists (apology for spoilers). It's harmless enough, not great literature.
May 20, 2025
I liked the story. I liked the writing although at times who was speaking might be in question.
It felt original and its own story.
The last chapters felt forced. As if it had to be wrapped up.
I did feel this book had to be read and it kept my interest.
It’s worth reading.
My comments are not negative but constructive.
Because I couldn’t write this.
I liked the world that was created.
The ending was vague.
I probably was intended to be but I felt a different twist was needed. It was so good that it seemed chopped.
It felt original and its own story.
The last chapters felt forced. As if it had to be wrapped up.
I did feel this book had to be read and it kept my interest.
It’s worth reading.
My comments are not negative but constructive.
Because I couldn’t write this.
I liked the world that was created.
The ending was vague.
I probably was intended to be but I felt a different twist was needed. It was so good that it seemed chopped.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2022
The writing of the kids and the situations in this story seemed much more age appropriate than the first two books in the series. I would have enjoyed a little more continuation of the story than was provided - it left me wanting just a little bit more.
June 23, 2021
Phenomenal. So enjoying this series. Sci fi with great, believable protagonists, one of which has autism. So good.
May 29, 2015
This is the third of the Tor Jupiter novels released between 1997 and 2003. (The other three are
Higher Education
,
The Billion-Dollar Boy
, and
The Cyborg from Earth
.)
Putting Up Roots
is a 90-degree shift from the first two novels, in that its main character, Joshua Kerrigan, is a great kid, whom we can like from the start.
Unfortunately, he’s saddled with a mom who shifts him with her from pillar to post, teaching him more about detecting when an adult is lying than anything else. Eventually she dumps him on her deceased sister's widower, pitching the boy into a farming family that is already overburdened. Their response is to sign up Joshua, and their own autistic daughter Dawn, to be farmers on a distant colony planet.
Once there, the young adults find little farming. The colony seems to be organized more to support prospecting, and the adult managers are ignoring obvious signs of an indigenous intelligent life form. The manner in which Joshua supports Dawn as they both grow is well-written, and her autism is handled with a light touch.
With its theme of finding freedom in a frontier society, and the way the youngsters have to face and overcome the moral failings of adults who are nominally charged with their care, this novel reminded me strongly of L. Neil Smith’s Pallas .
Unfortunately, he’s saddled with a mom who shifts him with her from pillar to post, teaching him more about detecting when an adult is lying than anything else. Eventually she dumps him on her deceased sister's widower, pitching the boy into a farming family that is already overburdened. Their response is to sign up Joshua, and their own autistic daughter Dawn, to be farmers on a distant colony planet.
Once there, the young adults find little farming. The colony seems to be organized more to support prospecting, and the adult managers are ignoring obvious signs of an indigenous intelligent life form. The manner in which Joshua supports Dawn as they both grow is well-written, and her autism is handled with a light touch.
With its theme of finding freedom in a frontier society, and the way the youngsters have to face and overcome the moral failings of adults who are nominally charged with their care, this novel reminded me strongly of L. Neil Smith’s Pallas .
October 15, 2016
All four of these are basically the same plot, with similar themes. They're engaging, but not awesome, imo. Probably best for teen boys. Possibly dated by now. The first is the grittiest. My favorite is Putting Up Roots. This is the most cliched. All are recommended if you happen to find them at your library or friend's house, none if you have to buy them.
They do *not* need to be read in order. The significant characters do not carry over, nor does the plot. The world that is being built is developed further in each, but an understanding beyond what is included in each book is not necessary.
The writing is unexpectedly fresh and clean, with some gems. From The Billion Dollar Boy, "Shelby woke up bit by bit, body before brain, memory before mind."
(Review copy-pasted to each of the four.)
They do *not* need to be read in order. The significant characters do not carry over, nor does the plot. The world that is being built is developed further in each, but an understanding beyond what is included in each book is not necessary.
The writing is unexpectedly fresh and clean, with some gems. From The Billion Dollar Boy, "Shelby woke up bit by bit, body before brain, memory before mind."
(Review copy-pasted to each of the four.)
December 12, 2008
By this book it is a pretty clear formula that the author is working from. I think the Jupiter thing was actually meant to draw in other authors to maybe play with the world-set or play off the formula, but with only the one author on it, it gets a bit dull.
Not that the story suffers much. This book could be, and honestly should have been, expanded into a *real* novel. The elements of a great book are all there, and the saddest part is that the length isn't enough for Sheffield to take time and expand on anything. When the worst part of a story is that there isn't enough of it, it's a damn good story.... and probably a very whiny reader.
Not that the story suffers much. This book could be, and honestly should have been, expanded into a *real* novel. The elements of a great book are all there, and the saddest part is that the length isn't enough for Sheffield to take time and expand on anything. When the worst part of a story is that there isn't enough of it, it's a damn good story.... and probably a very whiny reader.
August 31, 2008
I did not care too much for the book, its plot, nor its ending. It just did not seem the greatest in any aspect. Certainly, the author is well-worded, but none of the characters are likeable and that makes a big difference in how one views the story. I like how Sheffield placed such great detail in the planet, making this book seem much more realistic. And it did get better at the end, once the excitement level picked up a little and they were doing more than just scouting out the island or grumbling at each other.
May 16, 2013
This is a cute but tame and predictable kids-in-space story. The kids' relative naivete, passivity and acceptance of adult control may be realistic, but felt dated compared to today's expectations of badassery and quick wit in MG/YA novels. It reminds me of the relative weeniness of the kids in the original Karate Kid movie compared to more recent kung-fu remake. If you're in the mood for a cute fuzzy alien story, I'd recommend Elzabeth Moon's Remnant Population instead.
May 7, 2016
Sin ser un POMM, se deja leer, con la ventaja de que al ser una novela YA (Young Adult), el inglés es bastante sencillote, aunque no así el argumento, que hace que pienses va a acabar de una forma pero termina de otra.
Josh en un adolescente al que su madre manda con unos tíos, y estos a un planeta inhóspito porque tampoco quieren tenerlo, con el añadido de enviar una hija autista que tienen. Menudos padres. El chaval no se lo toma muy a mal, y en ese planeta vivirá las aventuras típicas de este tipo de novelas.
Josh en un adolescente al que su madre manda con unos tíos, y estos a un planeta inhóspito porque tampoco quieren tenerlo, con el añadido de enviar una hija autista que tienen. Menudos padres. El chaval no se lo toma muy a mal, y en ese planeta vivirá las aventuras típicas de este tipo de novelas.
June 25, 2016
Good read.
I really liked the way Sheffield tried to show that someone with autism is not stupid.
For my clean readers:
Includes swear words and violence. May require discussion about drugs and autism with your child. Characters refer to autistic child as retarded, but it is used in a way to show the character's ignorance about autism.
I really liked the way Sheffield tried to show that someone with autism is not stupid.
For my clean readers:
Includes swear words and violence. May require discussion about drugs and autism with your child. Characters refer to autistic child as retarded, but it is used in a way to show the character's ignorance about autism.
Read
April 18, 2016I thought it was well planned out, however, toward the end I began to lose the context and interest in the book. Yet, I managed to finish the book because it had a happy ending. They wanted to stay on the planet, because they knew that their relatives and parents did not care for them.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews