# New Heinlein/Robinson novel due out September 19 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 7, 2006, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498 "2006-07-07T14:06:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/1 "2006-07-07T14:06:29Z")
[_Variable Star_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076531312X/sr=8-2/qid=1152279873/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-8508178-8162241?ie=UTF8) is by [Spider Robinson,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_Robinson) based on a manuscript Heinlein never finished. Robinson has promised to donate half the proceeds to the [Heinlein Prize.](http://www.heinleinprize.com/) Does it get any better than this? šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/2 "2006-07-07T14:08:03Z")
Well, I still hope one day they find Asimovā€™s manuscript for ā€œThe Cosmic Corkscrewā€, so yes, I guess it could get better. At least for me. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/3 "2006-07-07T14:12:47Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [_Variable Star_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076531312X/sr=8-2/qid=1152279873/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-8508178-8162241?ie=UTF8) is by [Spider Robinson,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_Robinson) based on a manuscript Heinlein never finished. > > Robinson has promised to donate half the proceeds to the [Heinlein Prize.](http://www.heinleinprize.com/) > > Does it get any better than this? šŸ™‚ Being a Heinlein fan too, I understand your enthusiasm. However, I gotta say Iā€™m not optimistic. I canā€™t think of a single posthumous collaboration that I ever really liked. In particular, I think of August Derlethā€™s posthumous collaboration with H.P. Lovecraft, and I groan. On the other hand, if they had to do this, they couldnā€™t have picked a better man than Spider Robinson for the job. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/4 "2006-07-07T14:55:28Z")
Iā€™m looking forward to it with guarded optimism. I was highly dissapointed with the last Robinson book I read, _Callahanā€™s Con_ (think that was it). It felt like it was just thrown together following a formula. Heā€™s taken the talking animal gimmick way further than it needed to go, and he killed off a main character for reasons that are not entirely clear. Maybe doing the Heinlein book will recharge his batteries. When Spider is good, heā€™s very good. When heā€™s badā€¦well, heā€™s still tolerable. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/5 "2006-07-07T15:12:02Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Iā€™m looking forward to it with guarded optimism. I was highly dissapointed with the last Robinson book I read, _Callahanā€™s Con_ (think that was it). It felt like it was just thrown together following a formula. Heā€™s taken the talking animal gimmick way further than it needed to go, and he killed off a main character for reasons that are not entirely clear. Maybe doing the Heinlein book will recharge his batteries. When Spider is good, heā€™s very good. When heā€™s badā€¦well, heā€™s still tolerable. I think he might have done something different with Erin Stonebender. Sheā€™s not only an all-knowing supergenius from the day of her birth, but now she can teleport and time-travel with no equipment. Weā€™ve discussed that kind of thing in this forum before ā€“ if your hero/heroine is too powerful ever to run a serious risk of losing, whereā€™s the suspense? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/6 "2006-07-07T15:28:56Z")
As it is Spider doing the job, I have high hopes it will be a good and entertaining book. I did not realize it was due out in September, thank you for the OP. Jim ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/7 "2006-07-07T16:21:01Z")
I have mixed feelings about this one. Oh, Iā€™ll buy it and read it the second it hits the stores, butā€¦ **Oakminster** and **BrainGlutton** have hit my major concerns. On the upside, maybe RAH left detailed notes for the conclusion and Spider canā€™t mess with it too badly. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/8 "2006-07-07T22:40:44Z")
Prepare for the worst ā€“ what if the finished product combines the worst aspects of Heinlein with the worst aspects of Robinson? Having something like that cross my field of vision would be painful. ---
**Author:** ![RolandD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58f4c7/32.png) [@RolandD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RolandD)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/9 "2006-07-07T22:53:48Z")
Iā€™m both enthusiastic and terrified. Heinlein was an ardent individualist libertarian and Robinson is a collectivist libertarian. I love them both, but I fear Spider may ā€œhippyizeā€ things too much. That doesnā€™t mean I wonā€™t be buying it, of course. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/10 "2006-07-07T22:55:02Z")
I havenā€™t read a great deal of SF since I left the Navy in 1991, but I particularly remember a Robinson collection in which he took time and space to seriously unload on people who dared to criticize the old guy. Frankly, I found his degree of Heinlein-worship to be somewhat off-putting. So, **Baldwin** ā€™s concern strikes me as being valid, from my fifteen-years-out-of-date perspective. OTOH, maybe in the past fifteen years Robinson has come to realize that Heinlein _has_ a ā€œworst elements ofā€ to be avoided. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/11 "2006-07-07T23:38:34Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > Prepare for the worst ā€“ what if the finished product combines the worst aspects of Heinlein with the worst aspects of Robinson? Having something like that cross my field of vision would be painful. Thereā€™s an old story that Marilyn Monroe once offered to have Albert Einsteinā€™s baby. MONROE: Think of it, professor! The child might have my beauty and your brains! EINSTEIN: But, my dear, what if it were the other way around?! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/12 "2006-07-07T23:40:03Z")
> [@RolandD](#): > > Iā€™m both enthusiastic and terrified. Heinlein was an ardent individualist libertarian and Robinson is a collectivist libertarian. I love them both, but I fear Spider may ā€œhippyizeā€ things too much. [Ya think?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_strange_land)šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/13 "2006-07-07T23:41:24Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I havenā€™t read a great deal of SF since I left the Navy in 1991, but I particularly remember a Robinson collection in which he took time and space to seriously unload on people who dared to criticize the old guy. [Here it is.](http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/works/articles/rahrahrah.html) FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/14 "2006-07-08T00:48:56Z")
Curiously, however, I canā€™t seem to get into Spider Robinsonā€™s [official website,](http://www.spiderrobinson.com/) which until recent was freely accessible to all with an Internet connection. It now requires a username, password, and domain name, and no clues are offered as to how to acquire or even buy any of those. šŸ˜• ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/15 "2006-07-08T01:06:11Z")
I have a mailing address for Robinson, so there! šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/16 "2006-07-08T01:09:42Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I have a mailing address for Robinson, so there! šŸ˜› Share? Please? ā˜¹ ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/17 "2006-07-08T03:11:05Z")
Iā€™d also say that Iā€™m cautiously optimistic. In the link to [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) in the OP one of the reviews states: > [@](#): > > ā€œCompleting a book from notes by a dead author is almost always a mistake. But Robert A. Heinlein apparently isnā€™t really dead. He was obviously standing at the side of Spider Robinson as he wrote this book, guiding his hand. Variable Star will delight the fans of the greatest science fiction writer who ever lived, and at the same time, stays true to Spiderā€™s passionate themes of optimism, kindness, and humanityā€™s future among the stars.ā€ā€“John Varley, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of The Persistence of Vision and Steel Beach I love John Varleyā€™s writing. And I think his review is probably reliable, given that he obviously likes Heinlein (understatement - ref. _Steel Beach_ and _The Golden Globe_ and the storyline with the Heinleiners). ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/18 "2006-07-08T04:42:30Z")
And wouldnā€™t a Varley/Heinlein combination have been interesting? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/19 "2006-07-08T17:06:24Z")
How detailed/long was Heinleinā€™s outline, anybody? Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498/20 "2006-07-08T17:21:56Z")
> [@Sir Rhosis](#): > > How detailed/long was Heinleinā€™s outline, anybody? > > Sir Rhosis Dunno. The Amazon page doesnā€™t say and Spiderā€™s website is for some reason inaccessible. [This](http://www.interocitor.com/archives/000781.html) (rather negative) review just calls it a ā€œdetailed outline.ā€ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-heinlein-robinson-novel-due-out-september-19/363498.md?page=2)