Red Planet novel

Red Planet, published in 1949, is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein written for a juvenile audience. It was the first of Heinlein’s works to portray his idealised elder Martian race—an idea later developed more fully in Stranger in a Strange Land. The published 1949 edition was altered by the publisher, Scribner’s, to meet expectations for a youth readership, particularly by softening themes relating to weapon ownership and altering the novel’s conclusion. After Heinlein’s death the novel was reissued in an edition that restored his original text.

Narrative Background and Setting

The story is set on a colonised Mars administered by an Earth-based corporation whose appointed governor wields significant control. The human colonists lack political agency and are obliged to undertake an annual migration to avoid the extreme severity of Martian winters. Heinlein’s Mars in this period adopts the early 20th-century conception of the planet as a cold desert threaded with giant canals built by an ancient civilisation. Such imagery was strongly influenced by telescopic observations from the late 19th century, notably by Giovanni Schiaparelli and Percival Lowell.

Plot Summary

The narrative follows two colonial adolescents, Jim Marlowe and Frank Sutton, who travel at the beginning of the school year to the Percival Lowell Academy on Mars. Jim brings with him Willis, a native Martian “bouncer”—a spherical, furry creature with a child-like intelligence and an extraordinary ability to record and reproduce sounds.
Early in the story Willis meets an adult Martian who introduces Jim and Frank to a group of fellow Martians for a ritual known as “growing together”. During this ceremony they share water, forming what the Martians recognise as a bond of “water friendship” with an individual named Gekko.
At the school, the boys encounter the authoritarian headmaster Mr Howe, who confiscates Willis under a new ban on pets. The boys later rescue Willis and discover, through Willis’ perfect playback of overheard conversations, that Howe and the colonial administrator Beecher intend to sell Willis to the London Zoo. Worse still, Beecher secretly plans to prevent the annual migration to save money, despite the risk that the colonists will not survive the harsh Martian winter.
The boys flee the school and travel across the frozen Martian canals to warn their families. During their journey Frank becomes ill, forcing them to shelter inside a large Martian plant that nearly suffocates them when it closes at night. They later meet native Martians who, recognising Jim’s links with Gekko, treat Frank’s illness and transport the boys home by a previously unknown subterranean route.
Once alerted, the colonists seize the boarding school as a temporary refuge. Beecher, attempting to reassert control, installs automated sensor-driven weapons around the site. After two colonists are killed attempting to surrender, the group resolves to fight back, ultimately capturing Beecher’s headquarters and declaring independence from Earth.
Martians intervene at key moments, causing Howe and Beecher to vanish completely. They issue an ultimatum to the colonists to leave Mars, concerned particularly by Beecher’s threat to Willis. Dr MacRae negotiates an agreement permitting the colonists to stay, aided by Jim’s special relationship with Willis and Gekko. MacRae theorises that Martians begin life as bouncers and later metamorphose into adult forms, eventually persisting as “old ones”. Jim ultimately accepts that Willis must be allowed to undergo metamorphosis, though the restored edition clarifies that this transformation will not occur for forty years.

Thematic and Literary Features

The novel’s themes reflect Heinlein’s interest in independence, resistance to authoritarianism and governance by consent. The depiction of Martian society emphasises personal freedom and cultural complexity. Concepts such as “water friendship”—later reinterpreted as “water brotherhood” in Stranger in a Strange Land—appear here for the first time. The Martians’ ability to remove objects or individuals from the physical plane also foreshadows notable elements of Heinlein’s later work.
Compared with other early science fiction, the novel constructs a detailed and internally consistent Martian ecology and culture. Environmental hardship, colonial mismanagement, and adolescent initiative form the structural drivers of the narrative.

Critical Reception

Upon publication, Red Planet was seen as a defining work within Heinlein’s juvenile series. Commentators praised its credible world-building, coherent action and engaging characters. Jack Williamson considered it Heinlein’s first fully successful juvenile novel, noting the “logically constructed” Martian setting and natural development of plot. P. Schuyler Miller likewise highlighted its convincing detail and the seamless integration of scientific explanation into the storyline.
Scholars have noted its connections with Stranger in a Strange Land, particularly the depiction of Martian life cycles, multi-planar existence and social customs. The Martian mentors in Red Planet are interpreted as precursors to the teachers of Valentine Michael Smith, sharing traits, philosophy and abilities.

Adaptations and Publication History

A significantly altered adaptation appeared as a children’s miniseries for Fox Kids in 1994, produced by Gunther-Wahl Productions. The novel has been reissued in multiple editions, including a restored version by Del Rey Books and a later volume in the Virginia Edition of Heinlein’s works.
The prominence of canals and ancient Martian engineering echoes widespread astronomical beliefs of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and associates the novel with a generation of science fiction shaped by these theories.