Podkayne of Mars

What Hacker News says

1. lprovenMar 2025
   FWIW I am fairly sure the name is a reference to an old Robert Heinlein novel:

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podkayne_of_Mars

   I quite enjoyed it at the time, and I think Lowe is about as old as me...

   thread
2. tjlApr 2015
   For me, I really like the first half of the book where he's viewing society from outside. It kind of falls apart for me when that is kind of set aside. Heinlein almost always has problems with the endings of his books. There's some that stay consistent throughout, like The Moon is a Harsh Mistress or Podkayne of Mars, but most kind of land with a thud. I love his books quite often for the ideas and settings, but yes, the writing isn't the best.
   Show morethread
3. skmurphyJul 2008
   John Christopher's Tripod Trilogy: "The White Mountains", "The Pool of Fire", "The City of Gold and Lead"

   Robert Heinlein "Podkayne of Mars","Tunnel in the Sky", or "Beyond this Horizon"

   Samuel Delany "Babel-17" or "The Einstein Intersection"

   Roger Zelazny "Lord of Light"

   thread
4. NetMageSCWOct 2026
   Even in the 70s when I was 8 or older I seem to remember plenty of series with girl protagonists like Nancy Drew or the Bobbsey Twins or The Dana Girls or Trixie Belden or even SF like Telzey Amberdon or even The Rolling Stones or Podkayne of Mars.

   And, of course, there was the Oz books.

   thread
5. polynomialMar 2025
   Was reminded of that too (currently re-reading another classic Heinlein) but if they were going for that, you'd think they would have stuck with "of" rather than "on"

   Podkayne of Mars is often taken to be one of Heinlein's juvenile novels (based on the story) but that was not his intent, and he said the "moral" was aimed at adults.

   thread
6. dctoedtJan 2025
   > Imagine a world where anybody can gestate a baby in a tank.

   Heinlein also explored that possibility a bit in one of his juveniles — in the novel, the tank farms were called "creches."

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podkayne_of_Mars

   thread