Red Planet - Robert A Heinlein
First published 1949.
I first read this story as a kid, and have fond memories of it.
It is also very weird, something that Elise pointed out as well.
This is the only book I have read (so far) of Robert A Heinlein, and yet I know by reputation that he was a prominent science-fiction writer in his day. This book, first written in 1949, is certainly of its day. We get a Mars with canals, native plant and animal life, and a sentient Martian species with ruined cities on the surface and still-thriving (if less populated) sections underground.
Our main character, Jim Marlowe Jr, is a teenager living in South Colony. He has befriended a local 'bouncer', a basketball-sized Martian creature that can perfectly mimic what it hears, parrot-like, and also has some level of intelligence. 'Willis', as Jim calls the creature, is a hugely important part of the plot, helping Jim and his friend Frank get out of numerous scrapes, as well as advancing the plot in other ways - such as when the bouncer gets captured by Headmaster Howe, the villain of the piece.
The plot of Red Planet breaks into a number of segments, each of which feels almost like its own story, and yet links together by the end. We begin with a few chapters introducing the world of Mars and the human colony on it. We then get a section of Jim and Frank's adventures at boarding school, followed by a trek for survival as they flee the school for various reasons. This section includes surviving overnight in the harsh Martian outdoors by following Willis into a giant Martian 'cabbage' - something that stands out as one of the most memorable plot points to me - as well as a section in a Martian city where Jim encounters an 'Old One', which is close enough to a Martian ghost that I felt comfortable including it in the reading challenge. After this the book morphs into a political book and then an action book, shifting focus from the boys to Jim's father and the local eccentric doctor as they stand up to the corrupt elements in the human government of Mars. Finally, the book closes with a few chapters philosophising on how Martian society might work, focusing on the differences between the people of Earth and the people of Mars.
It's a lot. It's weird. I'm not sure whether Elise really liked it.
And yet, there's something about it that is very interesting.
I'll definitely read it again some day.
Completed with Elise, 27 July 2025.
(Elise Books)
(2025 Reading Challenge - "Includes a Ghost" (2 of 2))
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