His many influential novels include Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and Time Enough for Love.'The most thrilling and tingling kind of science fiction story.'─ Kirkus Reviews Long involved in politics, Heinlein was deeply affected by events such as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Cold War, and his fiction tended to convey strong social and political messages. In 1947, he published a story in The Saturday Evening Post, making him the first science-fiction writer to break into the mainstream market. He started writing to help pay off his mortgage, and his first story was published in Astounding Science-Fiction magazine in 1939. Born in Butler, Missouri, Heinlein graduated from the United States Naval Academy and served as an officer in the navy for five years. He won Science Fiction Writers of America's first Grand Master Award for his lifetime achievement. He won science fiction's Hugo Award for Best Novel four times, and in addition, three of his novels were given Retrospective Hugos fifty years after publication. Heinlein (1907-1988) is widely acknowledged to be the most important and influential American science fiction author of the twentieth century.

This edition contains the true ending of the story, as Heinlein had intended it. The original ending had been changed by the first publishers of this book. Heinlein at his best, with an exciting adventure story, colorful characters and exquisite aliens. Can they warn the colony in time to save it from the administrator's nefarious plans? Once enrolled at the school, Jim and Frank rescue Willis from the authoritarian headmaster who had confiscated the 'pet', Willis, and discover the colonial administrator's plans for Mars, which threatens the very survival of the colony in its present form. The Martian, who is oddly protective of Willis, becomes a 'water friend' to the young boys and exposes them to the true wonders of the planet.

While on their way, along with Jim's volleyball-sized native pet, Willis the Bouncer, the boys wander into the 'forbidden' territory where they meet a native Martian, Gekko. Heinlein's iconic Red Planet tells the story of Jim Marlowe and Frank Sutton's journey to the Lowe Academy boarding school on Mars, and the discoveries they make there that impact the future of their entire colony.

Marking the first appearance of the Martian elder race that plays such a prominent role in Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. The Martian setting is logically constructed and rich in convincing detail the characters are engaging and the action develops naturally.' ─ Jack Williamson 'The most thrilling and tingling kind of science fiction story.'─ Kirkus Reviews

Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein