Customer Reviews

Birth of Fire

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4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
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I had not read any of Jerry Pournelle's other books, when I picked this up years ago. It is an amazingly good yarn dealing with the now cliched notion of the colonization of Mars. The lead protagonist Garrett is given the option to stay in jail in overcrowded earth or get shipped out to Mars on a work detail.
He opts for the latter and gets involved in a revolution to free Mars from the oppressive multinational corporations back on earth. I read this book at least thrice! Great writing. The author moves the action at a good pace. The book felt very believable.

Jerry Pournelle is one of the more qualified people writing science fiction nowadays - he's done a lot of things, knows a lot, and seems to have a network of contacts rivalling what Winston Churchill had in the `30s.

Like most of the near-greats, he's written a couple of brilliant books that made his name, and a lot more that aren't *quite* at that level. Birth of Fire is one of the latter - it's better than what most SF authors do, but it's not up to Pournelle's best. Which still places it above 90% of published SF.

Other reviews have summed the plot up well enough: intelligent but no-direction teenager is sent to Mars as a convict and gets involved in a revolution. Simple enough plot, but the skill is in the execution. Pournelle draws economic and political relationships well, but doesn't waste words on unnecessary detail. There are authors who like extensive description, to "stop and smell the roses"; Pournelle isn't one of them.

The plot moves fast and the action scenes are as good as anything Pournelle has done in his better-known military fiction - which is to say, very good indeed. There's an ingenious and nicely-executed scene involving the immobilization of a solar-powered transport; the combat in general, both strategic and tactical, is well-handled. Pournelle seems to have really done his research, which is common enough, and *thought* about how these details apply to tactical and political situations, which is less common.

Not quite up to the standard of Lucifer's Hammer or the Falkenberg's Legion books, but as good as anything else written by one of today's best living SF authors.

Birth of Fire is an entertaining read with all of the Pournelle elements you would expect. The character of the young protagonist is developed nicely. The plot is solid and moves along well; helped by some interesting military tactics. The Martian setting is very well developed.

However, the book doesn't have the same spark as most other Pournelle novels. The biggest disappointment is that only the main character is developed enough to make the reader care about his fate. We never really learn enough about the thoughts and motivations of the girl who is one of the two supporting characters to become caught up in her story. The Martian colonial society also has a few small but nagging inconsistancies.

I've read this story 5 times. It is an excellent book as most of his books are. Solid storyline. I highly recommend this for beginning sci-fi readers. Almost as good as Heinlien, and that is high praise indeed. I also recommend Footfall, Lucifer's Hammer, Mote in God's Eye series, King David's Spaceship, the Falkenberg series and the Janissaries series

After I read 'Janissaries' I had a 'Pournelle reading frenzy' and this is one of the novels I bought as well.

I like it, it's quite classic. Boy gets to mars 'cause he doesn't have much of a future back home. When arriving on Mars it seems he won't have much of a future there either. But the locals help him out and suddenly he finds himself caught up in a revolution...

classic, not the most complex plot ever, but a good read never the less.

The War of Martian Independence

Birth of Fire (1976) is a standalone SF novel. It takes place several decades from now in a future where Mars has been settled. The planet is being used as an alternative to prison for convicts, much like Australia.

In this novel, Garrett Pittson is a member of a youth gang. His Dog Soldiers have a rumble with the Hackers, leaving several dead bodies, including two cops. As the only adult among the captives, Garrett gets reamed.

Alexander Farr is superintendent of the Mars training school. It teaches newcomers how to survive on Mars. Farr is also recruiting a few newbies into the Martian underground.

Sarge Wechsung is a Marsman. He owns a claim on the Hellas rim. He is a part of the Martian underground.

Erica Hendrix is Marsborn. Her father is Sam Hendrix, owner of a large claim on the Hellas rim. His claim has a huge amount of frozen water.

In this story, the jury returns a verdict of guilty on Murder One. Garrett gets twenty years to life. Then the deputy public defender gives him an alternative: exile for life to the Mars colony. Garrett jumps at the chance to get offplanet.

Life on Mars is strange. Farr tells the newcomers the four rules on the first day of training: don't try to escape. Ultimately, escape means trying to breathe the outside air. That is not conducive to long life and good health.

One local quirk is the air tax. It seems that the air is not free. The air tax tags change colors over time. If you are not wearing a tag or if it is red, you get thrown out the airlock.

Another quirk is the justice system. There is a distinct lack of courtrooms and prisons, but plenty of airlocks. For most crimes, the punishment is local and quick: out the airlock.

After Garrett gets out of training, he hangs around Hellastown. Farr has told him to look around and wait for someone to come for him. So Garrett gets a job as a runner for a hole-in-the-wall store until Sarge comes for him.

Back at Sarge's place, Garrett is worked hard and learns much about running a Martian farm. He gets out to meet the neighbors and falls head over heels for Erica. He also gets to hear a lot of political discussions from her father and the neighbors.

Then one day, the marines come for Sarge. Garrett and Erica are in the marscar coming back from Hendrix's place when they hear a call from Sarge. They hide the car and walk in a back way. They watch two marines take Sarge to town, but most of them head toward Erica's home.

This tale describes a revolution against the Earth government. The Marsmen have already seen how the government works for the big Earth corporations and against their own interests. Now they have the chance to declare their independence.

Garrett is much like Kevin Senecal in Exiles to Glory. Yet Garrett is younger, less educated, and more foolish than Kevin Senecal. Luckily, Garrett has Erica to keep him straight. Read and enjoy!

Recommended for Pournelle fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of planetary colonization, interplanetary politics, and true romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This book, which incidently was originally released by the now long defunct Laser Books, is definitely classic Pournelle. Young Garrett Pittson teams up with the "Sarge",who is going to teach Pittson how to farm on Mars. All Garrett wants to do is learn how to farm and mind his own business, however the bureaucrats have some other ideas. This book is not quite as good as Jerry's John Christian Falkenberg stories but it is a good read and worth buying

A fine novel of Mars colonization... hiding in the shadows of more well-known Mars books like the Mars Trilogy. Pournelle typically has novels with lengthy segments of politicking and strategics. But he cleaned up this novel and just left the bits which really added depth and substance to the plot at hand. The military scheming is kept to a minimum, thankfully, so the reader isn't bogged down in meaningless Martian terrain or cryptic troop formations. While the plot may be well troddened by past similar stories, but Birth of Fire has flare and a soul. Pournelle makes a ex-con a likable guy and a hero.

A very good book with a good story line and excellent characters. A good by at .01 cents used!

Garrett Pittson is a youth without a future in a Washington slum. After a fight between gangs he is convicted to exile and slave labour on Mars. There he is picked up by the Marsmen, emigrants and former convicts turned settlers outside the cities and mines governed by companies - and lands in the midst of a revolution in growing. Allegiance to new-won friends and love to a settler's daughter makes him join the revolution and together with the revolution the Project - using nukes to make volcanoes spew out enough water and gases to strengthen Mars atmosphere sufficiently for humans to live without space suits on Mars. Some fight scenes of the Falkenberg quality. All in all a lot like Heinlein's juveniles - in atmosphere as well as in message.