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    Cover of Farmer in the Sky

    Farmer in the Sky

    Robert A. Heinlein · 1950

    Farmer In The Sky is a 1950 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein about a teenaged boy who emigrates with his family to Jupiter's moon Ganymede, which is in the process of being terraformed.

    Science FictionFiction & Literature
    Open LibraryAmazon
    Stats for nerds
    3recommend
    11mentions
    6people
    2016–2026years
    73% recommend27% neutral

    Mentions per year

    201620182020202220242026

    What Hacker News says

    1. NetMageSCWApr 2026
      Early Heinlein e.g. Have Spacesuit - Will Travel, Farmer In The Sky, The Rolling Stones or for non-juveniles, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress have lots of science.

      Later works, less so.

      thread
    2. anotherevanDec 2025
      If you're on a Heinlein kick, try and catch Farmer In The Sky. It's about the only one of his I re-read every few years or so. Don't know why.
      thread
    3. anotherevanSep 2022
      There are several books I've read at least once a decade since my teens, if not a bit more often. They are:

      The Chrysalids by John Wyndham,

      Farmer in the Sky by Robert Heinlein, and

      Dune by Frank Herbert. Just the first book though. I really disliked the rest of the series.

      Honourable mention must also go to The Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher: The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, and The Pool of Fire. I did read these a few times in my teens but lost track of them. Stumbled across a boxed set not too long ago and read again and they're still just as good.

      More recent fare that I've read and/or listened on audiobook to at least three times are:

      The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North, and the

      Bobiverse Series by Dennis E. Taylor which I'm about to start listening to again.

      Links:

      https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/826845.The_Chrysalids

      https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50851.Farmer_in_the_Sky

      https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44767458-dune

      https://www.goodreads.com/series/40878-the-tripods

      https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35066358-the-first-fifte...

      https://www.goodreads.com/series/192752-bobiverse

      thread
    4. anotherevanJul 2018
      Farmer in the Sky by Robert Heinlein [1]

      The Complete Robot by Isaac Asimov [2]

      The Wrong Unit [3] wasn't a bad little humorous tale.

      Pretty much anything by Timothy Zahn (sans Star Wars novelisations) [4] or Robert Sawyer [5] floats my boat.

      The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North [6]

      Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard by Lawrence M. Schoen [7] made me care about sentient elephants.

      Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi [8] is very funny. Audiobook version narrated by Wil Wheaton.

      Of ones already mentioned:

      The Bobiverse was surprisingly good (including the audiobook version).

      The Expanse is good.

      With regards to Dune, there are some like myself who only ever liked the first book in the series. (Also there is a good audiobook version out there.)

      The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and sequels are great world building and characters, although the plots seem to meander about with not too much purpose.

      The Martian is great.

      [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50851.Farmer_in_the_Sky

      [2] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50091.The_Complete_Robot

      [3] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30959279-the-wrong-unit

      [4] https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12479.Timothy_Zahn

      [5] https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/25883.Robert_J_Sawyer

      [6] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18295861-the-first-fifte...

      [7] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25667916-barsk

      [8] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11167622-fuzzy-nation

      thread
    5. anotherevanJun 2018
      My top three would be:

      Dune by Frank Herbert (only the first book, dislike the rest of the series)

      Farmer in the Sky by Robert Heinlein

      The Crysalids by John Wyndham

      I've probably read these three books at least twice a decade since the 80s when I was a teenager.

      The Complete Robot from Isaac Asimov would be a close forth.

      The Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher would be fifth on the list. Hadn't read since a teenager, but about ten years ago tracked down copies of them (and the prequel) and it was delightful to reread.

      thread
    6. anotherevanFeb 2017
      Three books I tend to re-read every 3-8 years are: Farmer in the Sky[1], The Chrysalids[2] and Dune[3][4]. Read them as a teenager and thirty years later still re-read.

      Others I’ve re-read recently are:

      * Camouflage [5]

      * The Green And the Gray [6]

      * The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August [7]

      * The Martian [8]

      * I Am Not A Serial Killer series [9]

      I plan to re-read in the near future:

      * Touch [10]

      * The Hollow City [11]

      * Pulling Up Stakes [12]

      Yes, I read a lot. [13]

      ---

      [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50851.Farmer_in_the_Sky

      [2] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/826845.The_Chrysalids

      [3] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1000049.Dune

      [4] Only the first book in the series. Really disliked all the rest. Last couple of times I’ve listened to the Audible audiobook version which is excellent.

      [5] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21607.Camouflage

      [6] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216455.The_Green_And_the...

      [7] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18295861-the-first-fifte...

      [8] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18007564-the-martian

      [9] https://www.goodreads.com/series/49883-john-cleaver

      [10] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23561543-touch

      [11] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13034956-the-hollow-city

      [12] https://www.goodreads.com/series/94696-pulling-up-stakes

      [13] http://www.michevan.id.au/content/reading-habits-of-2015/

      thread

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