Customer Reviews

Farmer in the Sky

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A short hop into the future, on an Earth almost as real as the corner store, teenager Bill Lermer lives with his widower father in the Diego Borough of the sprawling City of Southern California. His is a fast new world in which grammar school geography classes take field trips to Antarctica and study their regular lessons from versatile "studying machines."

But while Bill can pilot a helicopter and follow the news from the developing offworld colonies, his world is not perfect: he seldom gets enough to eat. He and his father must limit their diets according to a strict caloric ration book, and although a new yeast plant has just begun production in Montana, the caloric ration has been reduced yet another time. Rather than tighten their belts, the Lermers decide to emigrate to Ganymede, where terraforming is underway and good food abounds. Written in 1950, Farmer in the Sky is one of Heinlein's first boys' books, and also one of the most muscular and optimistic. It deals with nothing less than the future of mankind; what, after all, must humans do to survive, civilization intact, when Earth becomes too crowded, famished and bellicose? Emigration to other colonized worlds is one solution, and that is what Heinlein illustrates so well in Farmer. He presents his readers with a Ganymede already partially modified to support life from Earth, and makes it all seem plausible--even commonplace (at least within the bounds of late 1940's scientific theory). A reader can see Jupiter hanging up there in the greenish sky, and hear the tremendous din of rock-crushing machinery. Against this vivid backdrop, a variety of characters win or lose as they try to wrest a living from Ganymede's newly created soil. Red-bearded Papa Schultz and his large family are seasoned colonists and adept at surviving the caprices of nature. Mr. Saunders, on the other hand, is shiftless and soon goes back to Earth. Perhaps one of the most memorable characters in the book is Hank, who at first seems like candidate for reform school but later proves to be just the right sort of rascal who makes a good pioneer.

Memorable, too, are the young scientists and engineers of the book, courageous and intent on opening up new frontiers for humankind. In light of that (and many other examples in other books) it is no wonder at all that a goodly number of today's scientists and engineers cite Robert Heinlein and his books for young adults as one of their first inspirations. ~~Beth Ager Wegrokit.com

How does this man turn what has to be one of the sillier titles I've ever seen (and probably wouldn't even sell at all today) and an almost absurdly basic concept and turn it into one of his most entertaining books? It must have been depressing try to match him in the fifties, he pulls off everything there here effortlessly, working comfortably within his own style without coming across as formulaic. Here we've got yet another vision of a future earth, where there's too many people and food is scarce . . . people are going to a colony on one of the moons orbiting Jupiter and Bill and his father decide that it's the place for them. Heinlein captures the pioneering spirit and drive brilliantly, subjecting his characters to all sorts of hardships, to the point where you can very easily relate to them even though they're somewhere way out in space and Jupiter keeps hanging in the sky (some of the most beautiful scenes in the novel have to do with that image, I wonder if it really looks like that) . . . even better, whenever one of the characters notes how hard it is to survive there, someone else always points out that most of the early colonies on earth were wiped out to a man. Bill remains a fairly consistent character in the Heinlein mode, always willing to learn, resourceful in the right moments, rarely giving up, he has his own appeal but it's not limited to just him, his father (if you can get past he and his father calling each other by their first names) is cut from the same mold, his friend Hank remains the biggest surprise, and while some of the characters are needlessly whiny only to contrast how hard working the rest of the cast is, those are only minor complaints. The book flies, he manages to make the farmer life but interesting and exciting and if you concentrate on the sights that Heinlein is weaving, it's darn good. It gets a little strange toward the end when he starts pulling out plot twists from nowhere (he kills off someone in a way that you'll find yourself working very hard to care) but the ride is swift and totally fun, the way a good old SF novel should be. If you dismiss this because you think, "Oh it's for kids" or "Oh, it's fifty years old" then you have no idea what you're missing. And you'd be making a terrible mistake.

Worried that life on Earth isn't going to make it? Ready to leave the rat race behind and head off to a virgin territory where a man can be a man and live off the land in peace? Science fiction grandmaster Robert Heinlein points to the new frontier and invites those of us who've really got the guts to leave our comfortable planet, to become Farmers in the Sky.

Amoung the best of Heinlein's juveniles, this fascinating novel tells the story of young Bill Lermer, whose family chooses to leave an increasingly overcrowded earth for the ostensibly greener pastures of a growing colony on Ganymede, the largest moon of Jupiter. Through Bill's eyes, readers get to see the selection process, the thoughtful preparations, the wearying journey, the chaotic arrival, and finally settlement in a new home on a new world. And then things really get exciting...

This book was originally serialized in "Boy's Life", the Boy Scouts of America magazine, which is why scouting finds its way into each chapter, but Heinlein makes excellent use of the concept, not only in terms of character building (which is an essential feature of this coming-of-age novel), but also as an important part of a practical education. While Bill studies for his merit badges, the reader gets to look over his shoulder and learn everything a greenhorn needs to know to survive on this untamed world, from physics to ecology. Best of all, Heinlein makes his explanations seem so reasonable that one almost wonders why we aren't out there building colonies right this minute.

But despite his gung ho pioneer spirit, Heinlein isn't a Pollyanna - he isn't trying to hide the more unpleasant facts of colonial life. During the selection process and the long voyage out, Bill has ample time to observe the uglier side of human nature. At the new colony, danger is part of everyday life, and there are deaths aplenty before the story is over. The adventure with the survey expedition is a little over the top, but the philosophic discussion about the future of the human race more than makes up for it. And the characters are superb - Hank, the risk-taker, Captain Hattie, the gruff pilot, the unflappable Schultzes, Bill's father, but most of all Bill himself, whose honesty, determination, and naiveté combine to make him one of the most believable (but still lovable) characters in all of Heinlein.

This book has everything a kid could want in a science fiction novel - carefully thought-out science, a thoroughly believable space journey, a revealing look at everyday life in a developing but managed ecology, settling a brave new world, mysterious alien artifacts, and one of the most engaging and personable characters ever to appear in science fiction. Adults should enjoy this book as well, although there's no hint of sex and women get pretty short shrift here. But all scouts (and would-be pioneers) are guaranteed to love it.

Farmer in the Sky is the first Heinlein book I ever read, and is easily one of the best. I first read it 8 years ago, when i was 10, and can still pick it up today, and enjoy it just as much as the first time i read it, even though it was written with a child in mind. The characters are solid, as is the plot, creating an unforgetable story.

A wonderful futuristic adventure; the "pioneering of space" theme of Heinlein is again the focus of this novel. The terraforming ideas--while wildly speculative--add to the drama of place (Jupiter's frigid moon Ganeymede). Why this is ever considered a "juvenile" is beyond me; Heinlein treated his young readers as smart, sophisticated adults. Get this book and regain your sense of wonder, spirit of individuality, and your birthright to explore the unknown!

_Boy's Life_, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts of America, used to publish a lot of science fiction. It has been quite a few years since I have read the magazine regularly, but I suspect that it still does so. Some of the stories that I read in my youth were pretty marginal stuff. I dimly remember a series about some Scouts from the past, present, and future who got in and out of scrapes with a time machine.

On the other hand, _Boy's Life_ published stories by Ray Bradbury, Poul Anderson, James Blish, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert A. Heinlein. A large portion of _Farmer in the Sky_ (1950) was serialized in _Boy's Life_ as "Satellite Scout" ( Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. 1950 ). The satellite is a terraformed Ganymede and the Scout is Bill Lermer, a teenager working on completing his Eagle. The novel deals with some elements of Scouting: merit badge lessons in areas like astrogation and alien ecology, conflicts between members, and power politics between different troops.

But it is not exclusively about Scouting. Bill gets sidetracked by other concerns, such as the details of working a five-acre farm and various family emergencies. At the close of the novel, he still hasn't completed his tests for Eagle.

Alexei Panshin , in _Heinlein in Dimension_ (1968), notes that in Heinlein's later novels, he began to present his opinions as "facts" to the artistic detriment of his work. But _Farmer in the Sky_ has real facts-- or at least, realistic detail-- about how a torchship is powered and spun, how Ganymede was terraformed, how you go about farming land that was once all rock, why a certain tree is the most beautiful one on the planet, what a multiple eclipse of Jupiter's moons will look like, and how a political meeting or a ship's mast is run.

As with many of Heinlein's early works, it is the detail that carries the day. This is a juvenile that can readily be read by young and old readers alike. It well deserves a five-star rating.

Farmer In The Sky is one of 14 "juvenile" science fiction novels written by Robert A. Heinlein (Stranger In A Strange Land, The Puppet Masters, etc.) between 1947 (Rocket Ship Galileo) and 1962 (Podkayne Of Mars). It is not one of the author's best works, but probably the most typical - that is, the best single example of his work, fitting, in more ways than one, right in the middle. Heinlein's juvenile novels are all exceptionally well-written, as entertaining and enlightening for adults as for teenagers, but appropriate for kids to read. Each novel (with a couple exceptions) deals with space exploration in settings that expand on the previous novels - first, the moon, and later on, the stars.

Farmer In The Sky, written in 1950 (and first published as "Satellite Scout" in Boys' Life magazine), was one of Heinlein's last limited to our Solar System, after his characters had explored the Moon, Mars, and Venus, but before moving on to the stars, a step barely hinted at in this novel and the next (Between Planets). It's the story of young Bill Lermer and his widowed father, George, who decides to emigrate to Ganymede, one of the four larger moons of Jupiter. Bill feels abandoned when George remarries apparently because it's a requirement of emigration, but he's determined to stick with the newly restructured family and fly to Ganymede with them. There's plenty of suspense and adventure on the space journey and on the new world.

The author's writing style and depth of characterization is superior to typical juvenile novels like Tom Swift or The Hardy Boys. Heinlein works in appropriate ideas and lessons for young readers, like a character perceived as an irresponsible, inconsiderate jerk at the beginning, who turns out to be a reliable friend by the end, and a few examples of dealing with death and catastrophe, as well as his usual tidbits of philosophy, such as a discussion of population pressure inevitably leading to war (an event realized in the next novel in the series, Between Planets).

I believe this is the first novel ever to seriously explore the concept of terraforming a desolate alien world for human colonization. It is also unique in the skillful marrying of two diverse genres (or at least, settings), the futuristic space adventure and the pioneer farm family (Heinlein was raised on a farm), without changing pace or belying characters. Heinlein revisited that concept in later books like Tunnel In The Sky, but with less contrast.

If you've never read Heinlein, Farmer In The Sky would be a good one to start with, even if not the best. Overall, it's good enough to get 5 stars, for readers of all ages.

Farmer in the Sky is a rather nice piece of work. On the whole, the writing is all right and the plot is okay, but what really makes the book remarkable is the general description of living in a world where a family can immigrate to a fully terraformed Ganymede. This book's largest problems are the sometimes oppressive "Gee Whiz! Boy Scouts!" air and the occasional dubious space science, but it's a great introduction to Heinlein for young readers. (And, for that matter, a pretty good book in general.)

Though not famous - and infamous - for such controversial adult science fiction masterpieces as Starship Troopers, Stranger In A Strange Land, and Time Enough for Love, Robert A. Heinlein initially reached fame as a writer of "juvies" - science fiction novels with young adults as its target audience. This is one of the first of such books. Consequently, it is not as polished and immaculate as later works, but it is enjoyable, and shows the distinct writing style that would come to characterize his later and better works. This is the work of a writer that showed promise - and is still very readable and quite enjoyable today, 50 years on. The plot of the book involves a subject that was one of Heinlein's chief literary concerns: the population problem of planet Earth. It is the future, Earth is overcrowded, and food is given out on rations. One family decides they've had enough and move to Ganymede. Now, this is a very basic and, indeed, extremely straight-forward plot for a science fiction book - particularly a Heinlein one. Still, as always with Heinlein, it is not the plot, or even the point (though his books always invariably contain a definite and usually obvious moral) that keeps you reading the book: it's the sheer enjoyability of his writing style. Though his prose is neither as polished or as refined and witty as later works would be - you can tell that this was an early novel from Heinlein - but his ultra smooth and intelligent dialogue is ever-present here as always, and is a joy to read. This is not his best "juvie" - it has some strange points: odd plot twists; an odd relationship between the father and son that I was never quite able to make out - but it is good Heinlein. All of his books are in the end worth reading - purely for the delectability of the dialogue (much like Oscar Wilde in that respect), if for nothing else. This shouldn't be one of your first Heinlein reads; however, if you've dipped your toe quite far into the waters of the man's magnificent oeuvre, then you certainly can't go wrong by furthering your experiences with this delightful and enjoyable novel.

This book is about a boy and his father who get to head out to the frontier of one of Jupiter's moons to be farmers. Lured by stories of no rationing, land of thier own they take off with bright hopes of a good comfortable living as farmers. After a trip on a crowded spaceship and some unexpected excitement to break up the boredom of the long trip they arrive in the promised land.

As the old saying goes "If it sounds too good to be true...."

Father and son settle into local life. The brochures were right about one thing....they have plenty of food, no rationing, and they get to have some land. But, it's not what was expected. Hard work and the help of some good neighbors help them settle in and set up thier farm, but life is still fraught with dangers.

Not as good as some of Heinlein's other books, but it's still a good book, fun to read, and gives food for thought.