Without giving anything away, government and Company control play a big role in the story. We also don’t find out what exactly happened between the early colonists and the Martians, but I think we can assume that history repeated itself there. Indeed, there is something attractive in the idea of being the first to settle in a new land and to experience the adventure of it all. But from some quips by various characters here and there we know that the colonists chose to go to Mars and that it has a Wild West feeling that they enjoy. We don’t really get a sense of why there are colonists on Mars in the first place (unless I missed it?), which would have been nice for some context. What’s nice about this book is that the characters really do seem to respect this rule, and in fact the rule comes into play in an important way later on.
These early attempts resulted in the hard and fast rule that no human may interfere with or harm a Martian in any way. The narrator alludes to disastrous attempts by early colonists to interact with Martians, who have a very difficult language. At the same time, native Martians, wonderfully described by Heinlein, also live on Mars. In the book, several human colonies exist on Mars, all of which seem to be run by the Company. The main themes found in Red Planet are colonialism, independence/government, and life on Mars. Unfortunately, they don’t undergo too much character development and the exposition really drags the story out. The story is essentially a YA adventure, with young Jim and Frank integral to pushing the plot forward. Thanks to Willis’ perfect memory, Jim and his friend Frank discover a sinister secret by the Company and resolve to make it right. The story starts with Jim heading off to boarding school with Willis in tow. Jim and his family are part of a group of colonists on Mars settled there by the Company. Red Planet tells the story of Jim Marlowe and his little Martian friend, Willis. I didn’t really enjoy it that much as it seemed to drag on at parts. I recently finished Robert Heinlein’s Red Planet, the 14th book on my list, which took me a lot longer to read than I expected.
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