Between Planets Book Review

Somehow I always end up coming back to Heinlein’s work. This week was no different with Between Planets, another one of Heinlein’s “juvenile” books. It’s been especially interesting to see how the young adult genre has changed over time. Let’s get into the review.

Robert A. Heinlein wrote and serialized Between Planets in 1951. The book tells the story of Don, a young man born literally “between planets,” on a spaceship instead of on any planet colonized previously. Don currently lives on Earth, while his scientist parents live on Mars. However, he gets taken out of school in New Mexico one day to be sent to his parents, presumably to escape a coming war, though Don doubts that’s the case.

Don is eventually given a plastic-looking ring by a family friend shortly before being arrested. After being released and confirming the ring has no value, Don learns the family friend has died mysteriously. This begins a long journey for Don on his way to Mars as war continues to break out.

I think this is one of my favorite books out of Heinlein’s juveniles for multiple reasons. One is that the plot itself interested me from the beginning. The book did a good job of setting up plot, character, and setting right away before getting into the action, which only built up from there. But this time, things changed for me. The book almost leaned more toward thriller, this time set in space. The book acts as more than just a young boy trying to get home. It puts him in the realm of something bigger, especially with the added detail of the ring. Because of this leaning, the book creates a nice construction that builds up toward a big reveal.

However, while the reveal hints at something bigger, it feels anticlimactic. The last of the action sequences, less a “big battle” and more a rushed conclusion, changed how I viewed the buildup. The ending definitely felt rushed to me, and nothing really resolved. Instead, it promised resolution later on, which feels once without a direct sequel to the book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Now to go back to my TBR. See you all later this week for another blog post. We’re almost to 250 subscribers! Happy reading!

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