One of Robert Heinlein's lesser known works is his 1963 science fiction novel Podkayne of Mars. In it Podkayne...or "Poddy"...lives on Mars with her parents, precocious 11-year old little brother Clark, and the infant triplets that have diverted her parents' attention and cancelled a long-desired family trip to Earth. Yes, by all this you can assume that it's some time off in the future and humanity has colonized Mars...plus Venus as well, its extremely overheated and poisonous atmosphere still unknown at the story's writing. And yes, there are native intelligent life forms on both planets...Heinlein mixes this "soft" science fiction with "hard" passages describing space travel in detail that makes such a scenario nearly seem plausible. Well, the Mars senator, who just happens to be Podkayne's uncle, hears of the trip's cancellation and invites her and Clark to accompany him on a trip to Earth...with a stopover in Venus. At this point I won't go any further revealing the plot and instead will focus on two areas: super-intelligent Clark and the story's original and altered endings...
There is a mythos in our modern society about the incredibly smart little know-it-all kid who almost magically knows advanced science, math, and technology...like Stewie in Family Guy with his time machine or Artemis Fowl with his criminal shenanigans in Eoin Colfer's children novel series. Look at young Sheldon on TV...the kid just "knows" so much more than the dumb adults around him. Clark in Heinlein's story is another example of a child whose intellectual level is vastly beyond what one would reasonably expect from even a genius at his age. And why is it that these brilliant kids seem to tend toward manipulation and villainy? I don't know about you, but I'm getting sick and tired of this recurring super-smartass-scheming-brat caricature I see in books and on the screen...
Robert Heinlein wrote an ending to Podkayne of Mars that did not sit well with his publisher, who insisted that he change it...which he reluctantly did: I read the revised version. Yet, the original is also still out there and I understand that some editions feature both endings. Talk about a schizophrenic novel. In any case, I don't have to read the original ending to know what's different about it...all in all I enjoyed this short book, but it's not anywhere near the quality level of the author's Stranger in a Strange Land or The Moon is a Harsh Mistress...
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