Reviews

Farmer in the Sky (Heinlein's Juveniles, #4) by Robert A. Heinlein

spacecomics's review against another edition

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5.0

One of the best books I've ever read.

carlbruce1979's review against another edition

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adventurous informative medium-paced

4.0

sylectra's review against another edition

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4.0

This one moved kind of slow at first but had plenty of substance. I liked the main character, a young man named Bill who moved with his family to Ganymede. The story feels like a classic rugged adventure story with the central question being "Does Bill have what it takes to stick it out? Does he want to make a life here," Satisfying read.

titusfortner's review against another edition

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4.0

All of the things I like about Heinlein's story telling with none of the things I don't like. An imaginative and engaging story, well deserving of its Hugo.

acrisalves's review against another edition

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3.0

Publicado em https://osrascunhos.com/2017/06/05/a-farmer-in-the-sky-robert-a-heinlein/

O mesmo autor de Stranger in a strange land e The Moon is a Harsh Mistress também precisava de pagar as contas, e este livro é um exemplo disso. Pago para escrever ficção científica mais dinâmica e juvenil, Farmer in the sky apresenta algumas incoerências científicas que visam apresentar uma determinada estratégia de colonização que há-de servir de base para as dificuldades que buscam um paralelismo com colonizações terrestres de novos territórios.

Quando a mãe morre, a relação entre Bill, um jovem rapaz e o pai, aprofunda-se. Talvez por isso não esperava que este voltasse a casar, decidindo mudar-se para Ganimedes para ajudar a formar a nova colónia humana. Depois de um pequeno período de resistência, Bill consegue convencer o pai a ir também, deixando os estudos e tendo como única perspectiva a criação de terreno agrícola e de uma pequena quinta.

Nesta lua de Júpiter encontra-se um escudo que permite manter a atmosfera viável a uma nova colónia. O espaço das naves é escasso. Cada colonizador tem uma carga bastante reduzida que pode levar consigo e é à custa de emagrecer que Bill consegue levar o uniforme de escoteiro.

Depois de uma viagem em que são transportados como gado, o que encontram no destino não é o que lhes foi prometido. Por forma a se manterem não podem dedicar-se todos à criação da quinta, e o pai é obrigado a aceitar um emprego metalúrgico deixando Bill sozinho na tarefa de estabelecer os primeiros campos de cultivo.

Como seria de esperar a história é demasiado centrada numa única personagem, jovem, conferindo-lhe excessivo envolvimento em acontecimentos importantes onde desempenha um importante papel. Ainda assim consegue dosear a apresentação das suas capacidades, colocando-o como herói secundário nalgumas intervenções.

Farmer in the sky não é um livro excelente mas é uma história com boa dinâmica que intercala momentos explicativos com momentos de acção, não se coibindo de apresentar os momentos pausados e quase aborrecidos da viagem interplanetária.

juniperbranches's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

thomcat's review against another edition

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3.0

Started listening to it, then after the bad recording I finished it on the Nook. Nice descriptions of basic farming; wish we were closer to settling another body in space :(

waywardkangaroo's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

bickleyhouse's review against another edition

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4.0

The latest stop in my epic quest to read all of the Science Fiction Grand Masters, Farmer in the Sky was one of Heinlein's novels that I knew very little about.

William and George Lerner live in a time when food is rationed and each person has an allotment of food credits that can be used each month. William is still a student, and George, his father, is an engineer. Both are considering emigrating to Ganymede to help begin a new colony of earth people. Bill can't seem to make up his mind, early on, when he finds that his father has signed up to go. First, he wants to go, then he doesn't want to go, then he wants to go, then he finds out his father is re-marrying a woman he knows who has a bratty daughter, so then he really doesn't want to go.

Ultimately, he decides to go, and the rest of the story involves the adventures that were encountered on one of Jupiter's moons.

The ideas put forth in this 1950 Science Fiction novel are, not unusual for Heinlein, very forward-thinking. The models for space flight, the process of terraforming Ganymede, and other such things, seemed logical, but I'm not a scientist.

I also like how everything doesn't just turn out "rosy" for everyone. The emigration is a real struggle, and there is tragedy that is encountered, one that completely took me by surprise. There are also political struggles, because, in reality, people don't always just get along, do they?

Also not unusual for Heinlein, there is a chapter that, for my taste, was way overloaded with science and math. There are also a few times when I get weary of Bill's character. But those times were only enough to keep me from rating it "amazing." Over all, I enjoyed the story, and, like recent Jack Williamson reads, it is a throwback to what I consider to be "good ol' Science Fiction."

barryhaworth's review against another edition

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4.0

Another Heinlein juvenile which I haven't read since high school. This one tells the story of a young man and his father who leave an overcrowded Earth to join a new colony on Jupiter's moon Ganymede. I have no particular memory of the book from the first time I read it except for the family with the apple tree; but this time around I was struck by the description of how Ganymede is terraformed - not the most obvious candidate for terraforming, but with unlimited power (from total conversion reactors) the method described sounds plausible at least. I also enjoyed the description of the sky - enormous Jupiter going through its phases over the course of a week, the other Jovian moons moving through the sky.

Plot wise, not a whole lot happens in this story. The attraction is that of exploring a world.