Does anyone have any news about the next John Varley book? I believe that it is supposed to be about a cop and be called Irontown blues, but googleing has not gotten me much more info than that.
I am a hardcore Varley reader, and jonesing here!
Haven’t heard of it, but I will say that one of his books – Titan – was the most important book I ever read, and led to me achieving my dreams.
What a weird coinkidink!
I’m right now on a Varley kick; I just finished The Barbie Murders and am currently reading Persistance of Vision.
Did we ever win against the aliens? Did they just leave? Did we ever find out their motives?
And if I was listing weird (but great) moments in Science Fiction, I’d have to say the bit in Demon where Gaia is rampaging around Titan while wearing a giant, cloned Marilyn Monroe body (“FIFTY FOOT TWO AND EYES OF BLUE”) has gotta be in the top ten.
Fenris
Someone writes novels about the reporter from The Front Page?
Not as such, Hildy is a character that is a reporter who has taken that name as a sort of homage.
I take it you have not read any Varley. If that is the case, I whole-heartedly recommend that you get to a bookstore fast! Varley is one of those authors that (IMHO) are so good I wish that I could somehow erase all memory of everything by him that I have read, just so that I could find the books on my shelf and be reading them for the fist time again.
Varley (among other interesting themes explored) looks at a society that is so automated and has medicine so figured out that our appearance/gender and the like area as much a matter of choice as the clothing that we wear is today. That and there is almost unlimited leisure time and no upper limit to human lifespan.
Then things get interesting. We follow one character or another and see how people react to this environment.
Also Fenris, in the novels (Ophiuchi (sp?) hotline, Steel beach and Golden Globe) we get a little more insight as to what is up with the aliens. On another note, aren’t you the same poster from the Unaboard asking all the hard sci-fi questions in the thread I opened?
But darn it, at this point I have read and own everything by this man and want more! I need news!
I’m with you Eve. That was my first reaction too. I wonder if Walter Burns got in the act too?
Hecht and MacArthur will be so surprised.
Can’t wait…can’t wait!
Don’t forget Millennium, which was much better than the movie they made it into.
Greetings, fellow Varley fans!
I got started with the short story collections … I think Golden Globe is my favorite novel so far. Or maybe Steel Beach.
:: Googling for bibliography::
http://www.sfsite.com/isfdb-bin/exact_author.cgi?John_Varley
Hmmm…looks like I have everything except The Barbie Murders & (maybe) The Ophiuchi Hotline. I’ve been looking for a while – gonna haveta break down & either special order from the local Books-A-Million or get it from Amazon.
I second Binarydrone’s posting that Varley is very good at showing how people/society are affected by a given technology.
The ability to easily change genders, for example; what kind of person would change? (Or conversely - what kind of person would not change?) How would this affect relationships?
He also has a few short stories that hinge on cloning technology & recording memories – how is an individual defined?
Are you still the same person as the one whose memories were recorded 3 months ago & played back into your (new) body?
Dangit – time to add to the pile of Stuff to (Re)Read…
Politzania: If you have a short story collection called Picnic on Nearside, you have The Barbie Murders. Allegedly, Mattel (?) made Varely change the title 'cause Barbie was copyrighted or something. “The Barbie Murders” is a better title, though.
Binarydrone: that was me, but they weren’t all that hard, were they? 
Anyway, I’ve read all of Varley’s books, but I didn’t remember if there was ever a conclusion to the alien subplot.
Fenris
Well, I just ordered “The Barbie Murders/Picnic on Nearside” from half.com… now to patiently wait…
I also saw a book called “Press Enter” – is this a compilation of different short stories than the other collections (Blue Champagne & Persistence of Vision) or would I just end up buying the same stories again?