Birth of Fire

Rating:
Summary: Good story - classic Pournelle
Review: After I read 'Janissaries' I had a 'Pournelle reading frenzy' and this is one of the novels I bought as well.

I like it, it's quite classic. Boy gets to mars 'cause he doesn't have much of a future back home. When arriving on Mars it seems he won't have much of a future there either. But the locals help him out and suddenly he finds himself caught up in a revolution...

classic, not the most complex plot ever, but a good read never the less.

Rating:
Summary: Good story - classic Pournelle
Review: After I read 'Janissaries' I had a 'Pournelle reading frenzy' and this is one of the novels I bought as well.

I like it, it's quite classic. Boy gets to mars 'cause he doesn't have much of a future back home. When arriving on Mars it seems he won't have much of a future there either. But the locals help him out and suddenly he finds himself caught up in a revolution...

classic, not the most complex plot ever, but a good read never the less.

Rating:
Summary: solid but unexceptional Pournelle
Review: Birth of Fire is an entertaining read with all of the Pournelle elements you would expect. The character of the young protagonist is developed nicely. The plot is solid and moves along well; helped by some interesting military tactics. The Martian setting is very well developed.

However, the book doesn't have the same spark as most other Pournelle novels. The biggest disappointment is that only the main character is developed enough to make the reader care about his fate. We never really learn enough about the thoughts and motivations of the girl who is one of the two supporting characters to become caught up in her story. The Martian colonial society also has a few small but nagging inconsistancies.

Rating:
Summary: solid but unexceptional Pournelle
Review: Birth of Fire is an entertaining read with all of the Pournelle elements you would expect. The character of the young protagonist is developed nicely. The plot is solid and moves along well; helped by some interesting military tactics. The Martian setting is very well developed.

However, the book doesn't have the same spark as most other Pournelle novels. The biggest disappointment is that only the main character is developed enough to make the reader care about his fate. We never really learn enough about the thoughts and motivations of the girl who is one of the two supporting characters to become caught up in her story. The Martian colonial society also has a few small but nagging inconsistancies.

Rating:
Summary: A juvenile in the Heinlein tradition
Review: Garrett Pittson is a youth without a future in a Washington slum. After a fight between gangs he is convicted to exile and slave labour on Mars. There he is picked up by the Marsmen, emigrants and former convicts turned settlers outside the cities and mines governed by companies - and lands in the midst of a revolution in growing. Allegiance to new-won friends and love to a settler's daughter makes him join the revolution and together with the revolution the Project - using nukes to make volcanoes spew out enough water and gases to strengthen Mars atmosphere sufficiently for humans to live without space suits on Mars. Some fight scenes of the Falkenberg quality. All in all a lot like Heinlein's juveniles - in atmosphere as well as in message.

Rating:
Summary: A juvenile in the Heinlein tradition
Review: Garrett Pittson is a youth without a future in a Washington slum. After a fight between gangs he is convicted to exile and slave labour on Mars. There he is picked up by the Marsmen, emigrants and former convicts turned settlers outside the cities and mines governed by companies - and lands in the midst of a revolution in growing. Allegiance to new-won friends and love to a settler's daughter makes him join the revolution and together with the revolution the Project - using nukes to make volcanoes spew out enough water and gases to strengthen Mars atmosphere sufficiently for humans to live without space suits on Mars. Some fight scenes of the Falkenberg quality. All in all a lot like Heinlein's juveniles - in atmosphere as well as in message.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Mars Colonization Novels Ever
Review: I had not read any of Jerry Pournelle's other books, when I picked this up years ago. It is an amazingly good yarn dealing with the now cliched notion of the colonization of Mars. The lead protagonist Garrett is given the option to stay in jail in overcrowded earth or get shipped out to Mars on a work detail.
He opts for the latter and gets involved in a revolution to free Mars from the oppressive multinational corporations back on earth. I read this book at least thrice! Great writing. The author moves the action at a good pace. The book felt very believable.

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Sci-fi, almost as good as Jannisaries series
Review: I've read this story 5 times. It is an excellent book as most of his books are. Solid storyline. I highly recommend this for beginning sci-fi readers. Almost as good as Heinlien, and that is high praise indeed. I also recommend Footfall, Lucifer's Hammer, Mote in God's Eye series, King David's Spaceship, the Falkenberg series and the Janissaries series

Rating:
Summary: Classic Pournell and, only 10 years old!
Review: Pournells usual fine mix of har SF and the military genre taking gurrila warfare into a explosive environmet! So good ive read it 3 time already! Check out his WarWorld anthology series too!

Rating:
Summary: Classic Pournelle
Review: This book, which incidently was originally released by the now long defunct Laser Books, is definitely classic Pournelle. Young Garrett Pittson teams up with the "Sarge",who is going to teach Pittson how to farm on Mars. All Garrett wants to do is learn how to farm and mind his own business, however the bureaucrats have some other ideas. This book is not quite as good as Jerry's John Christian Falkenberg stories but it is a good read and worth buying