Podkayne of Mars
by Robert A. Heinlein · first published 1960
11mentions
3recommended by
10HN commenters
2008–2026first – last mentioned
30% recommend70% neutral
Written for the juvenile mid-20th century sci-fi market, the story focuses on relationships between family members, friends, and enemies. Podkayne, a human girl born on Mars, has the opportunity to travel to Terra with her Uncle and her younger brother. She learns about good and evil, trust and betrayal, and, of course, about herself.
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John Christopher's Tripod Trilogy: "The White Mountains", "The Pool of Fire", "The City of Gold and Lead" Robert Heinlein "Podkayne of Mars","Tunnel in the Sky", or "Beyond this Horizon" Samuel Delany "Babel-17" or "The Einstein Intersection" Roger Zelazny "Lord of Light"
on “Science fiction for the young” ↗FWIW I am fairly sure the name is a reference to an old Robert Heinlein novel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podkayne_of_Mars I quite enjoyed it at the time, and I think Lowe is about as old as me...
on “Alkanes on Mars” ↗…falls apart for me when that is kind of set aside. Heinlein almost always has problems with the endings of his books. There's some that stay consistent throughout, like The Moon is a Harsh Mistress or Podkayne of Mars, but most kind of land with a thud. I love his books quite often for the ideas and settings, but yes, the writing isn't the best.
on “Prof. Sussman's Reading List” ↗…last two missions were canceled, the program had sufficient delays that it was getting into the danger zone, and Nixon wasn't about to kill an Apollo crew. For some SF coverage of this, read Heinlein's Podkayne of Mars where during an interplanetary voyage all the passengers and crew had to huddle for a while into the small shielded space the craft had for such an event.
on “Musk says SpaceX knows what caused the latest rocket failure” ↗Heinlein's book "Podkayne of Mars" describes couples marrying and freezing entire babies to be thawed out later when they are older, wealthier, and presumably wiser.
on “Children of older fathers have lower IQs” ↗…because secondary particles are worse than primary. The best thing to do when caught in a solar event beyond the van Allen belts is to hunker down behind a big thick shield; Heinlein covered this in Podkayne of Mars.
on “NASA's New Space Suit Is Life-Saving, Slimming” ↗…that part of your thesis, see also Apollo 13 which was a close call. On the other hand does the Orion have a heavy shield for the astronauts to shelter behind in case of a solar storm (see Heinlein's Podkayne of Mars)? If not Apollo and the Artemis program are every bit as dangerous in what was a primary reason Nixon stopped Apollo before all its planned missions, program delays would have extended it into the change…
on “Orion has splashed down off the coast of Baja, California” ↗This happened with the Heinlein book "Podkayne of Mars" -- the original ending had one character dying and another character changing course because of it. The editor thought it too heavy for a kids' book and directed a rewrite where everyone lived. Years…
on “'I should not have written 'A Clockwork Orange''” ↗Was reminded of that too (currently re-reading another classic Heinlein) but if they were going for that, you'd think they would have stuck with "of" rather than "on" Podkayne of Mars is often taken to be one of Heinlein's juvenile novels (based on the story) but that was not his intent, and he said the "moral" was aimed at adults.
on “Alkanes on Mars” ↗…where anybody can gestate a baby in a tank. Heinlein also explored that possibility a bit in one of his juveniles — in the novel, the tank farms were called "creches." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podkayne_of_Mars
on “First live birth using Fertilo procedure that matures eggs outside the body” ↗…or older I seem to remember plenty of series with girl protagonists like Nancy Drew or the Bobbsey Twins or The Dana Girls or Trixie Belden or even SF like Telzey Amberdon or even The Rolling Stones or Podkayne of Mars. And, of course, there was the Oz books.
on “Dolly Parton's Imagination Library” ↗