Book review: Red Thunder.

[gridlore]

This is the best Robert Heinlein I've read in a long time. Sure, the cover say it was written by John Varley, but who are you going to trust? Me, or some giant publishing house?

(speaking of which, yesterday I had a coworker convinced I was from Rhodesia. I should have been a con man.)

Anyway, Red Thunder is an excellent book, and yes, I'm not going to stop with the Heinlein comparisons. We get extremely smart young people, crusty old astronauts, a bit of jingoism, the all-American "hey kids, let's go to Mars!" sense of wonder, and even the Grand Master's patented Romance accelerator. All wrapped around a fun plot, interesting characters (I include places and things in that, by the way), and very solid writing.

I don't think I'm giving too much away by pointing out that the actual flight of the Red Thunder is almost an afterthought. This is a novel about engineering and invention.

The Admiral would be proud. I give it five penguins.

Yes, I am fully aware of the sequel. It is on my list to buy either before or at Baycon.

Comments

[isomeme.livejournal.com]

Have you been reading his "One True" (aka "Century Next Door") series? It starts with _Orbital Resonance_ and goes weirder from there. The latest one, _The Sky so Big and Black_, was especially Heinleinesque -- but like many of his works, there's a darker and more disturbing undercurrent than you'd ever have seen from RAH. _Kaleidescope Century_ in particular belongs in a new category of horror-kink-SF.

[cleverthylacine]

I thought Doug said he was reading a John Varley, not a John Barnes.

(I have never met a John Barnes book I didn't love, even with the sexual violence in some of them that will usually send me running away.)

[isomeme.livejournal.com]

Doh! You're right. <emily-latella>Never mind.</emily-latella>

[aurictech.livejournal.com]

yesterday I had a coworker convinced I was from Rhodesia

That would make you an African-American, would it not? ;-)

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Yup!

I had my contributor's copy of Interstellar Wars with me, and when he asked, I told him I wrote part of it. He didn't believe that I could write a book. So I told him a story. :)

[claire.livejournal.com]

Ooooh! *makes note in "Books to buy" list*

Red Thunder

[murbin.livejournal.com]

I read this last year. It was a fun read. Take a look at Warp Speed by Travis Taylor. It's obvious that Dr. Taylor (he really does research on warp drives) is a big fan of The Admiral and one of RAHs mentors E.E. "Doc" Smith.

Re: Red Thunder

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

I'll put it on the list, thanks.