Podkayne of Mars

Just reading a description of the story doesn't leave one excited to read it, but when you start listening, you find it hard to stop.

Podkayne is a girl who would be around 17 or 18 earth years old. See is very world-wise and people-wise for her age. She plans her long term goals and goes after them.

I'm a 64 year old man. I tend to think of Podkayne as a terrific daughter or granddaughter that I would be very proud of. If I did have a teenage or even pre-teenage granddaughter, I would see to it that she listened to this at least once, and hopefully more than once. Podkayne would be a very good roll model for any girl.

This starts as a very pleasant story that builds to a very exciting story. I think that if you got this book, you would be glad you did.

I know that this is not the original ending the author had planned but I still didn't like it. I do sense sexist undertones in the decisions of the heroine to abandon her calling to be a space pilot & embracing a love for babies, but I think it reflects the time it was written in. Overall an interesting book.

Emily Card did a wonderful job of characterizing Podkayne. She truly did. The reading of this novel called for a teenage girls voice using inflections as if she were conversing with a voice recorder or talking on a telephone. Ms. Card delivered splendidly. However, her talent as a reader may be limited in this respect. She could deliver a good performance with similarly themed science fiction books, and she might do really well reading chick-lit novels or perhaps classics like Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, but her voice has too high of a pitch to embody masculine characters very well.

Enough criticisms about the reader. The book is one of my favorites. Heinlein's simple stories always entertain me completely. However, when I read this book a couple of years ago; I read a Baen paperback copy and I believe that there was an alternate ending to the novel. I may be wrong, maybe it was another book that offered an alternative ending. Perhaps it was the one with the two telepathic twins, or maybe "Tunnel in The Sky". But I didn't like the ending to this book. It was too sad and left too much unanswered. If you want to understand what I am talking about then buy the book and listen for yourself.

Pros:
I think this is a very good book--how it's written and comes to it's surprising ending. The author does a great job of making the reader want to see Earth from a Mars-men perspective.

Cons:
The overall theme that women should stay at home and raise children, and that is what women should naturally like to do and are best at doing, is a bit 1800s. Though perhaps I missed the point somewhere, feel free to explain!

This is one of my favorite coming of age stories -- where you hear the thoughts of a young girl as told to her diary. The narrator does a great job of having different voices that enhance the story.

I enjoyed this story right up until the end when it seems like the producer walked in and said "You have 5 minutes. Wrap it up." It left me confused, surprised and a little mad. If not for the ending I would give the story 5 stars. Otherwise, it is a good listen and I will consider other books by Robert Heinlein. I did see other reviews where readers complained about the attitude towards women. I thought the author was pointing out social injustice, not endorsing it.

The narration was easy to understand but the different voices were hard to distinguish. That is why I only gave the performance three stars.

Yes as it shows the results of the out come of dreams coming partly true!

The Rolling Stones and Have Space will Travel which show Heinline's ability to bring a world to life into the here and now.

Where Clark is doing the postscript at the end of the book while taking care of the Fairy for Poddy!

The politics of three worlds and how they can pull in innocents into harms way!

Heinline makes fiction so real!

The Narration is perfect

Any Heinlein Juvenile!

Emilie Janice Card was perfect for this book. She IS Poddy!

A female Will Robinson who is NOT Lost In Space

I just wish Robert would have written more about this character in other novels.

I love Heinlein stories and this one was very enjoyable. I also appreciated the quality of the narration by Emily Janice Card.

I have always enjoyed Heinlein's stories. This is an interesting study of a young girl. I listened to it with one of my daughters and we both loved it. The story has a great voice in the heroine. The reader does an excellent job in bring the book to life.