I have completed the first third of Variable Star by Heinlein and Robinson and have really been enjoying it. It certainly feels like the first act has ended at this point and the plot is picking up pace. When I saw the spine of the book in my local bookstore I thought it strange that there would be a Heinlein (one of my favorites) book I was not at least familiar with. It turns out that the book was completed from Heinlein's notes after his passing by Spider Robinson, who later won the Robert A. Heinlein Award for Lifetime Acheivement. Makes sense.
Since I have only read the first third, I can really only comment briefly on the tone and we can get to a fuller review next week. The feel of Variable Star reminds me a lot of Fuzzy Nation, a book I wrote about a few weeks ago. It has the tone of classic science fiction but it has been updated to fit what we know about technology and where we're headed. Incidentally, I'm looking forward to re-reading contemporary science fiction in thirty years to see what we've gotten right and wrong.
Suffice to say that if Variable Star keeps it up, I'll be reading more of Spider Robinson's work in the future.
Andrew
Reading:
Variable Star: Page 86/318
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