sdlotu
2/23/2023
This is a rollicking first-person narrative told by a teen reporter for a news service on world of extremes and the people who inhabit it. The population is supported by the collection of 'tallow-wax", a substance unique to the universe and prized back on Terra. They have formed a cooperative to organize sales and export, but the profits are being siphoned off by a corrupt leader and his cronies.
The story ranges from exploration to mystery to planetary civiil way, all told from the perspective of the teen reported, and moves along from one adventure to another at a good pace. There's even a bit of a surprise ending.
There arer few women in the story and none are major characters, there is a lot of smoking and drinking, so the story reflects the tenor of the 1950s in many ways.