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Review Summaries
" Young Bill gets a wild notion to venture out to the stars and escape the crowded, regimented life he was used to. After getting some additions to the family and a long painstaking trip across the solar system, he finds that the really demanding part of his adventure has only just began!
Althoough a bit slow at first, this book is smack-full of good reading. Developing the alien side of the story could have possibly made it better too, but nonetheless a superb story from one of the masters."
Michael Conner, Resident Robert A. Heinlein Scholar
"With food shortages growing on Earth, colonies are established on outlying colonies to grow food. This is the story of Bill Lermer, who along with his Dad, newly minted stepmom and stepsister, emigrate to Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter that has been newly terraformed. The first half of the story describes the trip to Jupiter on the aptly named Mayflower, as the emigrants try to cope with very crowded conditions on the passenger ship as well as a natural disaster. The second half of the story describes the very difficult life they face on Ganymede, and how Bill has to homestead. It's more interesting than it sounds, as we watch step by step how Bill prepares his soil and builds a home for his family. Then disaster strikes, in the form of a quake, and we see how Bill and the survivors cope with that. Finally, the book ends with an adventure on a nearby moon which looks almost tacked on and is basically extraneously.
Like all other early Heinlein stories, the character of Bill is squeaky clean. The father character is somewhat interesting for the wry observations he makes about society and life, but the stepmom and stepsister are basically throwaway characters who have relatively little impact on the story. While not one of Heinlein's greatest stories, if you like "survival and pioneering on new worlds" stories, this one may be for you.
"
Steve, Resident Robert A. Heinlein Scholar
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Overall Review
Our unique search engine breaks down books and movies into
dozens of literary elements, all of which are searchable.
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book Descript. of chases or violence - 10% planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 50% Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30%
Tone of book
- very upbeat
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- science fiction story
Coming of age
Yes
Youngster becomes
- an adult (general)
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story
Yes
Plotlets:
- colonizing/homesteading another planet
- surviving natural elements on planet
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- student
- farmer
Age:
- a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- natural phenomena
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- an average amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Terrain
- Mountains
- Asteroid
Earth setting:
- medium future 22-24th century
Spaceship setting:
- futuristic human freighter/transport
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body:
- humans in a primitive/fantasy society
- empty, or nearly empty world
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Planet outside solar system?
Yes
Takes place in spaceship?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 1st
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only)
- some scientific explanation
- a fair amount of scientific explanation
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
How much dialogue?
- mostly dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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