Variable Star

Variable Star by Robert A. Heinlein and Spider Robinson

Category: Science Fiction Grade: B

I've been reading science fiction for a long time. The time I started - late 50s/early 60s - was really pretty much the golden age of the genre. The best author of the day was clearly Isaac Asimov, but right up there with him was Robert Heinlein. He probably wrote the best single sci-fi book of the time (maybe of all time), Stranger in a Strange Land. Heinlein has been gone for a while now, but a couple of years ago, his literary executor discovered among Heinlein papers, notes and a detailed outline for a novel that had never been written. The Heinlein estate hired Spider Robinson, an accomplished writer in his own right, to put together a full length novel based on the outline. The result is Variable Star.

The book isn't bad. It's not up there with the best of either Heinlein or Robinson, but it's very readable. It's pretty hardcore "space opera" - space ships, colonies headed to the stars, exploding planets. It's fairly cerebral with not a whole lot of action. Interestingly, for a science fiction novel, one of the themes is music as the eternal language. Overall, a fun read.