Podkayne of Mars (original 1963; edition 2010)

by Robert A. Heinlein

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Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML: From the author of Friday and Rocketship Galileo comes this classic tale featuring the Grand Master of Science Fiction�??s most remarkable heroine. Podkayne Fries, a smart and determined maid of Mars, has just one goal in life: to become the first female starship pilot and rise through the ranks to command deep-space explorations. So when she is offered a chance to join her diplomatic uncle on an interstellar journey to distant Earth via Venus, it�??s a dream come true �?? even if her only experience with diplomacy is handling her brilliant but pesky younger brother, Clark. But she�??s about to learn some things about war and peace, because Uncle Tom, the Ambassador Plenipotentiary from Mars to the Three Planets Conference, is traveling not quite incognito enough �?? and certain parties will stop at nothing to sabotage negotiations between the three… (more)

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Member:	kmc26
Title:	Podkayne of Mars
Authors:	Robert A. Heinlein
Info:	Ace Trade (2010), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 224 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
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Work Information

Podkayne of Mars by Robert A. Heinlein (1963)

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I think this is the only book by Heinlein where the central character and narrator is a teenage girl. He does a good job from my male point of view although some female readers complain about Poddy's excessively cloying cuteness. The ending is dark and when the publisher complained, Heinlein made it even darker. I still don't get the reason for this. There's a political plot lurking in the background that's never really explained as well.

This is one of the books from Heinlein's late period. I hated these books when I was younger, but now that I'm in my seventies, I find myself drawn to them. They're not so much slick SF stories but rather musings on "What is Life, After All". (

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ssmmiitthh | Feb 3, 2024 |

I have a feeling Heinlein had a new baby in the house when he wrote this. And he had a problem with it. Very amusing sexism floating around in a sea of racial equality. (

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jennifergeran | Dec 23, 2023 |

It is a Heinlein story, so that guaranteed quality to the writing, which it has. The story is told in a semi-journal manner mostly from Podkayne. Most of the book is about the main character's experiencing cultures and politics different than Mars. There is overt 1960s sexism going as there are awkward flirtations going on which Podkayne is uncertain to deal with

However little of that matters as the end is an abrupt change and a disappointing one, or I should say two.My edition of the story has 2 endings and both are sad, on more so than the other.

It's an okay book but far from Heinlein's best. I give it 3/5 stars. It could have been better. (

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Henry.Tjernlund | Sep 8, 2023 |

Podkayne is a young adult human female born and raised on provincial Mars, who dreams of becoming a starship captain... Heinlein wrote this novella in 1963 and it mostly serves as an expository vehicle for the author's ideas of what life might be like in the future in terms of science and social mores. The actual plot is superficial ("Poddy" takes an interplanetary trip with her uncle and brother) and the real action doesn't occur until the final chapters. Pure science fiction and dated, it doesn't hold up after sixty years of real-world advancements (both technological and societal) and and the lack of depth in regard to the plot make this little more than a curiosity. (

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Tanya-dogearedcopy | May 4, 2023 |

Doesn't hold up well on re-reading 20 years later. I was probably able to cut Heinlein some slack during my early "Heinlein period" but nothing is authentic about the characters. (

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mjduigou | Feb 27, 2022 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Heinlein, Robert A.	—	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Card, Emily Janice	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Davies, Gordon	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Lehr, Paul	Cover Artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Stawicki, Matt	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Publisher Series

Delta Science Fiction (193)

Goldmann SF (028)

Goldmann Zukunftsromane (52)

New English Library Science Fiction (2386)

Super Ficción. Martínez Roca (21)

Tiikerit (7)

Is contained in

The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature by Jack Zipes

Urania #323 by Robert A. Heinlein

Millemondiestate 1975 : tre romanzi completi di Robert A. Heinlein (Una famiglia marziana - Fanteria dello spazio - La porta sull'estate) by Robert A. Heinlein

Inspired

Martians Abroad by Carrie Vaughn

Has as a study

Heinlein's Children: The Juveniles by Joseph T. Major

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Audie Award (Finalist – Science Fiction/Fantasy – 2010)

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

Podkayne of Mars

Original title

Podkayne of Mars

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Podkayne ragazza di Marte

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Epigraph

Dedication

For Gale and Astrid

First words

All my life I've wanted to go to Earth.

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▾References

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Wikipedia in English (1)

Wikipedia:Upload log archive/October 2002

▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML:

From the author of Friday and Rocketship Galileo comes this classic tale featuring the Grand Master of Science Fiction�??s most remarkable heroine. Podkayne Fries, a smart and determined maid of Mars, has just one goal in life: to become the first female starship pilot and rise through the ranks to command deep-space explorations. So when she is offered a chance to join her diplomatic uncle on an interstellar journey to distant Earth via Venus, it�??s a dream come true �?? even if her only experience with diplomacy is handling her brilliant but pesky younger brother, Clark. But she�??s about to learn some things about war and peace, because Uncle Tom, the Ambassador Plenipotentiary from Mars to the Three Planets Conference, is traveling not quite incognito enough �?? and certain parties will stop at nothing to sabotage negotiations between the three

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