Trouble on Titan

Alan E. Nourse
Trouble on Titan Cover

Trouble on Titan - Alan E Nourse

Thomcat
1/5/2016
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Likely compared to the Heinlein juveniles which were published around the same time, I found this story to be quite a bit better. Ten years later, RAH would dedicate his novel Farnham's Freehold to Alan E. Nourse, and Trouble on Titan was his first published full-length work.

The descriptions of Titan are darn close to what probes found fifty years after this book was published, even though the silicon life forms are a bit fanciful. Women could have played a stronger role here, especially as the colony was described as balanced. The story works well, even though the villain is mostly a cliche. There is a good reason this novel was included in the Winston science fiction series (juvenile novels with a focus on science) and James Wallace Harris' "Defining Science Fiction Books of the 50s" list.

Definitely looking forward to reading more from the late Alan Nourse in the near future!

http://goodreads.com/arcathia