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Podkayne of Mars

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Podkayne of Mars

By: Robert A. Heinlein
Narrated by: Emily Janice Card
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From the author of Friday and Rocketship Galileo comes this classic tale featuring the grand master of science fiction’s most remarkable heroine. Podkayne Fries, a smart and determined maid of Mars, has just one goal in life: to become the first female starship pilot and rise through the ranks to command deep-space explorations. So when she is offered a chance to join her diplomatic uncle on an interstellar journey to distant Earth via Venus, it’s a dream come true—even if her only experience with diplomacy is handling her brilliant but pesky younger brother, Clark. But she’s about to learn some things about war and peace—Uncle Tom, the ambassador plenipotentiary from Mars to the Three Planets Conference, is traveling not quite incognito enough, and certain parties will stop at nothing to sabotage negotiations between the three worlds.

©1963 Robert A. Heinlein (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Science Fiction
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Critic reviews

“Heinlein's skill...makes this story a delight.”

(New York Herald Tribune)

“Narrating the excerpts from Poddy’s diary, Emily Janice Card adopts the confident tone of a teenager who aspires to be the first woman starship captain. She talks about her brother with the condescending tone of a slightly older sister who feels the burden of looking out for a sibling who finds her superfluous. In the portions of the story told by Clark, Card smoothly delivers the attitude of one who bears the burden of being smarter that anyone else he knows.”

(AudioFile)

“An interplanetary plot and a moral append a highspirited entertainment for all ages.”

(Kirkus Reviews (starred review))
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I found this to be an enjoyable short story. Nothing very exciting or stimulating much though, but reasonably entertaining.
I didn’t like the narration though as I found the voice and way of speaking used for Podkayne to be annoying.

Nice story - not so keen on narration

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Although the storyline was interesting and well paced I felt that the end had come rather sooner than it should and I didn't feel there was a climax point in the story. It just sort of ends. Bizarre.

No real climax.

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