In 2000 it won a Retro Hugo Award in 2000 and deservedly so. I concur whole-heartedly – another Heinlein triumph. The book read well, and while written for young adults it was also tagged as a book that adults could read with great profit. Weir’s book extends this education for readers. Much of the book concerns the very topic that Andrew Weir took up recently in “The Martian,” namely agriculture on a dead planet and goes into great detail on the ins and outs of this arduous process. Although classified (appropriately) as a “juvenile” or “young adult” novel, Heinlein lays bare the probability that tragedy can, and will, happen in the process of colonization. The book was published in 1950 and suffers a little from being dated, but as usual, Heinlein’s futuristic mind takes care of some time-incarcerated items. space status – on such a mundane but interesting topic as scouting, as in boy scouting. I “learned” a bit about subjects I had not yet considered, for instance – earth status vs. I read this book to gain whatever insight brilliant author Heinlein might have had to the process. In 1990 I published an article analyzing the survival pattern of the Mayflower colonists during the first year when half the colony died (having relatives along on the voyage was a big help in staying alive!!). I have been interested in the process of colonization for years.
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