Birth of Fire

Birth of Fire

1976 • 191 pages

Ratings2

Average rating4

15

If someone had given me this book with the authorial information removed, I would have asked for details about how an unpublished Heinlein young adult novel was found. Birth of Fire really does read like a book by the master. Heinlein's influence is no surprise, I suppose, as Pournelle and Heinlein were close friends in 1973 when this book was originally published. That is another thing – Birth of Fire is not dated at all even though it was written almost 40 years ago. It could have been written yesterday.
Basically, this is a science fiction adventure about a Martian war of independence. Military SF fans take note. It is also a coming of age story, and it has a strong line of romance to boot. It was recently rereleased in Kindle format with a new afterward by the author as an added bonus.
Read it, you won't be sorry.

August 10, 2011Report this review