Our discussion of Variable Star

On Wednesday, August 26^th, the group met to discuss Variable Star by Robert Heinlein and Spider Robinson. Thank you to everyone for welcoming me as the newest facilitator for the group. I am looking forward to learning from everyone and being a part of this terrific group. Here are some highlights of the discussion:

On Spider Robinson writing the book based on Heinlein’s outline:

• Rachel used to love Heinlein’s juveniles, but was not sure about this book – it was too long.
• Theresa said many events in the book were based on Heinlein’s charts and she was glad that Spider added those elements.
• Nathan said he didn’t care about Joel and his bad decisions. Nathan also felt it was too convenient that a means to travel faster than the speed of light arrived just when it was needed.
• aNON noted that Heinlein’s characters are usually very lucky – winning the lottery lucky. He also felt the book was more Spider than Heinlein.
• Menolly said Heinlein was all about the space opera and this book had those elements.
• Ed said he has read some Heinlein and some Spider Robinson and this book didn’t make him want to read more of either author. He felt it was trying too hard and had too many references to Heinlein.
• Glenn agreed there were too many inside jokes, but he still found it enjoyable. He liked the puns and humor because they lightened up the book.
• Theresa felt there were too many one liners and Hola felt Joel spent too much time laughing.
• Menolly didn’t enjoy some of the hard science explanations and felt the charts were not necessary. Burt Macklin, FBI said if you thought the charts were bad in the book, in the audio book the charts were read out loud...
• Glenn thought the fight scene was like a Three Stooges movie and was glad the drug dealers weren’t part of a Conrad scheme. Burt Macklin, FBI said this scene was confusing on audio – what happened?
• Klaupaucius liked the book and felt it was like a series of short stories. He enjoyed the descriptions of meditation and music – especially when Joel used his saxophone virtuosity (including circular breathing) to break Sol out of his depression.
• Menolly felt the disasters came too fast at the end.
• Mike felt the ship was pretty amazing with a bar around every corner and luxurious offices. Glenn pointed out that Joel’s quarters didn’t start out very nice. Mike also thought it was interesting that Joel’s three saxophones didn’t count toward his weight allotment – what if he had been a pianist? Also, did he bring 20 years-worth of reeds?

Characters:

• Mike said Joel didn’t sound 18 and acted like he was in his 30s. Many people agreed. Also, he felt the book needed editing and that we didn’t need ten pages on yoga.
• Hola liked the book’s lighthearted tone, but felt Joel’s character was egotistical and she knew right away that the “worthless” shares he inherited would not always be worthless.
• Menolly said that Smithers, the body guard who was killed, had seemed sympathetic in the beginning, but then was presented as a goon at the end. Hola felt the character could have changed over the years since we last saw him.
• Many felt the relationship with Evelyn was problematic and creepy, but some felt it was explained in an acceptable way.
• Hola and Menolly didn’t think Ginny was evil at first, but at the end she was evil. Was she the bad guy or was it Conrad?

Please add any additional thoughts or comments you may have about Variable Star. We gave this title the codes SOP, AGE, ALC, and HOME and an average rating of 3.