I just finished reading this. I’m a big John Varley fan. I was wondering if any one else is reading/has read this yet. I’d be interested in discussing it, especially as it relates to Heinlein.
I’ve read it!
It seemed like a pastiche of Heinlein’s juvenile novels; “Rocketship Galileo” in particular.
I enjoyed the book overall - enjoyed spotting the Heinlein references. But it was a little too self-conciously imitative for me.
Good to see a new Varley novel on the shelves, though.
Varley’s one of my 3 favorite authors. He’s got a style that just grabs me.
I, too, thought it was very reminiscent of Heinlein’s juveniles, with a couple exceptions, of course. There were a few scenes that never would have made it into a Heinlein juvenile.
Two of the biggest references to Heinlein were the names Jubal and Manny.
I don’t know how to do the “Spoiler box” thing, so I’ll just tab down a bit…
… The basic plot reminded me of “Rocketship Galileo”. the character of Manny reminded me of Cliff from “Have Spacesuit - Will Travel”. The incident near the end, repairing the spacesuit with duct tape - that reminded me of Cliff’s attemps to recharge Peewee’s oxygen bottle, on the Moon.
Manny’s extended family reminded me of “Stranger in a Strange Land”; The big meeting with representatives of the world’s governments reminded me of the Loonies’ discussions at the end of “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”. The squozer drive could have come from “Between Planets”.
There was the discussion about the ethics of command, from, oh, “The Number of the Beast”, say ; the distrust of government; the admiration of private business enterprise…
I enjoyed the book very much. I just don’t know if it would appeal to someone who wasn’t already a Varley or Heinlein fan.
As to the sex scenes - didn’t Heinlein say that the best way to write a good kid’s book was to write the best book you could, then take out all the sex and violence?
One more thing: given the gender identity theme running through so much of Varley’s other work, I was convinced that “Manny” was going to turn out to be short for “Amanda”.
I’ve read it. It’s definitely influenced by Heinlein’s “boy’s books” and is very old fashioned in the idea – people building a spaceship at home. As a matter of fact, I don’t think you can spoil the book, since it all happens pretty much the way you expect.
What makes it work is the characterization. Everyone’s so interesting, it makes up for the rather hackneyed plot.
Even after
the scene with the “whore”? Doesn’t seem likely a woman would play that scenario. Actually, it doesn’t seem likely a guy Manny’s age would (it seems like an older man’s fantasy).
BTW, Varley is one of my favorite authors and his book Titan is the book that had the greatest influence on my life.
Another name reference: Dak is also a character in Double Star.