Red Thunder
Nov. 3rd, 2004 05:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cdybedahlJust finished John Varley's latest novel, Red Thunder. It was a bit of a disappointment, actually. I got to like Varley for his wildly imaginative things, like the Gaia trilogy and The Ophiuchi Hotline. This is not that. This is a perfectly straightforward point A to point B science fiction story, with one impossible element and a lot of extrapolation from that. It also has rather a lot of extremely optimistic politics.
In a way it's a Heinlein YA book. A bunch of kids, a washed-up astronaut and his genius cousin build a spaceship and go to Mars. It's even a pretty good Heinlein YA. Give it to someone age 14 and they'll probably love it to bits, the way I loved Space Cadet way back when.
But for adults it's a bit too bland and uncomplicated, I think.
In a way it's a Heinlein YA book. A bunch of kids, a washed-up astronaut and his genius cousin build a spaceship and go to Mars. It's even a pretty good Heinlein YA. Give it to someone age 14 and they'll probably love it to bits, the way I loved Space Cadet way back when.
But for adults it's a bit too bland and uncomplicated, I think.
