_Red Thunder_ by Varley, and some politics, and depression

May 14, 2004 07:46

I just read _Red Thunder_, and it was remarkably disappointing. Varley's written some sf that I'm very fond of (notably _The Ophiuchi Hotline_ and _The Golden Globe_ and much of the Nine Worlds short fiction), and part of what I've liked has been his inventiveness. I'm very fond of idea-a-minute sf ( Read more... )

depression, book review, science fiction, torture, good comments

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supergee May 14 2004, 05:30:36 UTC
When the Bush administration started trying to suppress stem-cell research, I figured that would just mean it would be done elsewhere, and that's OK. If "we" are going to be that stupid, "we" don't deserve to be first.

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autopope May 14 2004, 08:01:20 UTC
I was waiting for another "nine worlds" novel, preferably the long-overdue "Irontown Blues". Instead, I got "Red Thunder". Disappointed? I nearly shat myself. "Red Thunder" is basically your updated Heinlein juvenile, all over again -- and it's not as if we need another author banging out sub-Heinlein juveniles, when we've already got Spider Robinson and [sometimes] Allen Steele and the rest of the Cult of Heinlein chorus line in the background. But there's only one John Varley, and he seems to be veering dangerously close to brain-eater territory here. (Say it ain't so!)

Anyway I, too, was annoyed by "Red Thunder". But the good news is that I got so annoyed that I tried to write a novel which is to those of John Varley's eight worlds books as "Red Thunder" is to Heinlein's mid-period. And while I don't think I succeeded perfectly, by ironic coincidence John's editor bought it and it's scheduled for publication in July 2006. So it can't be all that bad.

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nancylebov May 14 2004, 08:11:17 UTC
I'm going to have to reread _Rocket Ship Galileo_, but I don't think _Red Thunder_ is good imitation Heinlein. Heinlein had a gift for including the telling detail. _Red Thunder_ just has a bunch of details.

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Depression talking suecochran May 14 2004, 13:04:04 UTC
Nancy, although I agree that the news out of Iraq is horrifying, I can only empathize with your feelings about it and say that when I'm depressed, it creates this large sucking void in my mind that seems to want to feed on any bad news as confirmation that yes, the world sucks and is filled with too much pain for me to bear.

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Good recent SF cheshyre May 18 2004, 13:16:36 UTC
Earlier this year, I read Elizabeth Moon's The Speed of Dark, and was very impressed.

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