Varley, John

Driving Home: My Unforgettable Super Bowl Run

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driving home: my unforgettable super bowl run

Driving Home: My Unforgettable Super Bowl Run
Jerome Bettis , and Teresa Varley
Manufacturer: Triumph Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 157243838X

Book Description

Jerome Bettis is telling the story of his remarkable career in a lavishly illustrated new book with stunning photography from both on and off the field, an account of the 2005 season from training camp through the playoffs, plus an accompanying DVD highlighting his life and career.

Customer Reviews:

driving home: my unforgettable super bowl run.......2007-01-04

This was a christmas gift for our grandson, who is a steelers fan.
He was real excited to receive this as a gift.

Average customer rating:

My favorite Science Fiction Series
disappointing early effort from an author better later
Interesing and slightly unique, yet a little choppy....
Better than expected.....
Not worth it

Titan
John Varley
Manufacturer: Ace
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Wizard
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Mammoth

ASIN: 0441813046

Book Description

John Varley's monumental Gaean trilogy--repackaged.

Customer Reviews:

My favorite Science Fiction Series.......2007-01-28

This book begins my all time favorite Science Fiction series: the Gaea Trilogy. I first discovered it by accident in my high school library. I was intrigued by the illustrations and decided to check it out. I quickly was captivated and amazed the High School would stock such a sexually explicit book! But the characters and their discovery of Gaea are what makes the book so compelling, even haunting. Cirocco Jones is one of the greatest female sci-fi heroes of all time and Gaby is no slouch either. Please if you love adventures that push characters too their limits and force them to question who they really are, then by all means give this book a chance.

disappointing early effort from an author better later.......2006-08-30

I greatly enjoyed some of Varley's later work, so I decided to back up and try this series. I am relieved I only bought the first book. Its shallow characters and predictable plotline left me unwilling to read very far in it. Worse, to my unpleasant surprise, it has line drawing illustrations clearly aimed at the fantasy life of adolescent males - don't read this in an airport where a child and her outraged mother might catch a glimpse of the illustrations. Sorry I bought it but I give it 2 stars rather than 1 because there is at least some effort at a plot.

Interesing and slightly unique, yet a little choppy...........2006-07-09

Titan is an older story of astronauts caught into another alien world while exploring space. They are put into a world that has many earth-like similarities, yet are still alien. There is some emphasis on homosexuality, yet a lot of interesting scientific and technical references that will keep any sci-fi geek (like me) happy. While the book had a unique and interesting plot, Varley seemed to have dropped the ball on a couple of areas. First off the book starts off with a whole section dedicated to the captain and her promiscuous ways. It was an immediate turn off. I didn't see why we needed to read who "got it on" with who, when we were just beginning to get to know the characters. It was almost like listening to neighborhood gossip. Also the man can not write dialogue for women. His female characters seemed almost unreal and they had no true distinction between them. We knew one was the brave, untouchable captain, while one was the weepy, dependent one. The other two women that were sisters were like androids. Frankly the character development was lacking and awkward. I didn't care about the characters because there was not much given about them. Sort of like a sci-fi channel movie or straight to dvd flick.

Putting that aside, I would still recommend the book based on the whole idea of Gaea and the interesting alien world. I really enjoyed the concept of exploring in an alien world and relying on the surroundings for survival. Also the feministic undertones gave a nice perspective on the changing times of the 70's and 80's. Some new and old ideas are presented in the book. It is a quick and easy read that could enlighten anyone.

Better than expected............2005-03-10

This book was better than i thought it would be, but didnt leave me wanting to continue at all. I read it shortly after A.C. Clarks first Rama novel, so it was wierd that this book started out so close to that one. But it has enough differences that you will stop thinking about rama once the story gets underway.
Some people mention that there is sexuality involved and explorations into hetero and homo sexuality, and they are right, it does, but if that turns you off, like it did for me, dont worry there is enought here to enjoy if you are not a fan of the explorations of characters in Sci Fi. (I read sci fi for the science and for the mystery, not for the space opera aspects)

What there is to enjoy is the mystery of it all. You will be page turning to see what they saw over the next hill, or find out why a certain character has physically changed and you will enjoy that till the end when all is revealed.
There is Space Opera stuff, but not nearly enough to ruin it for people who dont enjoy that.
the porblem is that once finished, there was no real mysteries left. Im sure the sequels will introduce new things to draw you in, but once you finish this, you will understand how that initial discovery and exploration aspect of the book is lost, and any further reading looks to promise alot more drama than science.

Not worth it.......2005-01-12

Varley's short story "Persistence of Vision" is one of my absolute favorite stories, so when I saw _Titan_, I thought I would be in for an interesting ride. This story, while moderately hard-SF, does explore themes of relationships (both in terms of sexuality-homo, hetero and incest-and companionship; of first contact of human to alien; and creatures to their God). However, I thought the writing fell flat during what is ultimately a quest and exploration story. The main female character, Cirocco, is sometimes more caricature than character (though I do agree that Ripley bears some resemblance in character). The plot was ultimately the driving force of the book, and many of the sequences felt forced. There is a definite feel that this was written in the 70s and the prevailing conventions and attitudes of the times are reflected and explored here.

When Worlds Collide (Bison Frontiers of Imagination)

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Classic Sci-Fi!
Classic really holds up!
Great Old Time Sci-Fi
Clearing up some confusion...
My favorite Book of all time.

When Worlds Collide (Bison Frontiers of Imagination)
Philip Wylie , and Edwin Balmer
Manufacturer: Bison Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0803298145

Book Description

A runaway planet hurtles toward the earth. As it draws near, massive tidal waves, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions wrack our planet, devastating continents, drowning cities, and wiping out millions. In central North America, a team of scientists race to build a spacecraft powerful enough to escape the doomed earth. Their greatest threat, they soon discover, comes not from the skies but from other humans.

A crackling plot and sizzling, cataclysmic vision have made When Worlds Collide one of the most popular and influential end-of-the-world novels of all time. This Bison Frontiers of Imagination edition features the original story and its sequel, After Worlds Collide.

Customer Reviews:

Classic Sci-Fi!.......2007-05-20

I first read this back in the early 80's and because of it, fell in love with science fiction.

The book describes the death of the Earth in horrifying detail. The Noah's Ark theme is classic, where a group of survivors board rockets (arks) in order to escape the destruction of the planet. All in all, the authors give a good story, rich with adventure, emotion and incredible new worlds.

Not perfectly explainable in terms of science, but enjoyable even today.

Classic really holds up!.......2005-07-25

I first read When Worlds Collide/After Worlds Collide in the 1960's, while in junior high school. They were my introduction into what I considered adult science fiction, and I was hooked! After thinking about them for years, I finally ordered them, hoping the books would not disapoint so years many later. The themes are just as current today, though the prejudices and some science are certainly outdated. I highly recommend this book for pleasurable reading as well as a look into science fiction writing from the 1930's. Note that this volumn contains BOTH books bound together.

Great Old Time Sci-Fi.......2005-04-15

This book and its sequel are two of the greatest sci-fi books I have ever read and read and read. I have re-read them at least 5 times since I first read them as a teenager. In fact I still have the books I bought as a teenager!

It's a monumental epic struggle to save the human race and the trials and tribulations of a group of scientists as they prepare to save the human race. It's also a look in to the dark side of man when faced with annihilation and too much time to contemplate it.

I would recommend this book and the second book, After Worlds Collide, to anyone, you won't be disappointed.

Clearing up some confusion..........2005-01-23

Many of the earlier reviews on this site call for a reissue of the sequel, "After Worlds Collide". Please note: BOTH STORIES, "When Worlds Collide" and "After Worlds Collide", are contained in this paperback version. The title is misleading because it only includes "When..." -- but both stories are there.
Other reviewers have correctlly noted that there are some scientific inaccuracies, and some 1930s political and social views that seem out of place today. Who cares?! This is a wonderful story. In part 1, the authors concoct an excellent apocalyptic scenario. And in part 2, their conception of the alien planet is brilliant.
This is a very well-told yarn.

My favorite Book of all time........2003-10-15

I read this book, for a class; we were supposed to pick any book we wanted to. Me not being into reading books that much, went into one of our cupboards in our living room. There I started looking thru some of the books my dad got at a Library sale. This when i found the book entitled "When Worlds Collide" I open it up thinking its going to be about something that is metaphorical, i was wrong. This book is literally about 2 worlds colliding. I started reading it, right there on the floor and i couldn't stop reading it; i was reading the book in school, at times when i wasn't supposed to be reading; like history class. I read all day all night, I didn't want it to end. I read this one part i still remeber in history class, the description of the mathematician, was spot on just like me. I did notice some fallacies in the book, about space, and the spaceship being made out of a material that is radioactive, but i thought nothing of it since the book was so old, they wouldn't be able to know certain things about space. I kinda read over the part really fast while they were in space, because of the schema i already had about space.

I read the whole book in before the project was supposed to be completed, thats when i realised, that i was only about half-way thru the book. It didn't say on the cover, it did say on the inside cover it contained, both "when world collide" and "after worlds collide" I did not know this, so when i reached the second book, i stopped; I didn't want the book to end. I later read the second part, it was great, it was just like how i would imagine exploring a new planet would be. I did think the ending of the second part was little too abrupt, i was somewhat dissapointed of the ending, it seemed like they ran out of ideas and raced to the finish.

One thing i did notice being different with my book was there were lots of spelling errors, and wierd symbols in the words. eg. "æ" they were all over and i had trouble finding the deffinitions for those words. I later found out that my copy is an original copy. So thats why there are all those spelling errors and stuff.

Book Description

Never afraid of risks, award-winning author John Varley took readers and critics by storm with his previous novel, Red Thunder. Now, Varley takes another leap into the great unknown with Mammoth...

In a barren province of Canada, a mammoth hunter has made the discovery of a lifetime: an intact frozen wooly mammoth. But what he finds during the painstaking process of excavating the huge creature boggles the mind. Huddled next to the mammoth is the mummified body of a Stone Age man around 12,000 years old. And he is wearing a wristwatch.

Customer Reviews:

Pulled Together Very Well .......2007-04-29

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. I've been a Varley fan since the 80's and only have felt that Golden Globe didn't deliver. This was a very satisfying novel. I especially liked the way things evolved toward the ending and was pleasantly surprised how the last 20-30 pages became real "what happens next" page turners. Please don't read any summaries of the story, just start on page one and read it through to the end without any book critic's review spoiling the story-line for you.

Mammoth.......2007-03-09

Not really adult science fiction...Story line was good when the author stuck to it...too many lenghty pages on side issues to the characters...would have been better as a short story...

Riveting.......2007-02-22

Mammoth is absolutely riveting. Beginning with the opening page, I simply couldn't tear myself away from this amazing tale.

The story is about a mammoth's corpse which is found sheltering the body of a man with a time machine. It's fascinating, absolutely fascinating, and continually challenges the mind. The protagonist is a super genius, which may account for the massive headache I now have (though that could also be from reading for 6-8 hours straight without wearing my contact). Without offering too many spoilers, I'll just say the book had a little bit of everything I love (drama, mystery, sci-fi, etc.), including a lot of surprises. The ending was completely satisfying, too. And I loved the little intersticials, particularly given how they turned out in the end of the book.

Fantastic time travel story.......2007-01-04

A really solid, exciting time travel story. It redeems (and makes fun of) the flaws in Millenium by the same author.

Better than it ought to be : ).......2006-12-26

Never read John Varley before, but I enjoyed this time traveling entertainment. Not much new here, but the writer succeeds on all fronts in presenting a twilight zone sort of tale. Nifty fun.

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Millenium by John Varley
FYI on Original Short Story "Air Raid"
Spare me this future!
Don't watch a movie before reading the book very often
Interesting Characters and Plot + Surprise Ending

Millennium
John Varley
Manufacturer: Ace Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0441006779

Customer Reviews:

Millenium by John Varley.......2007-01-13

One of the few science fiction novels about time travel that doesn't make my head hurt when I think about it afterward. Great characters, great plot, and one of the best exemplars of the "if this goes on" sf subgenre. And a kinda sorta happy ending, which still surprises me every time I read it.

Varley is also the author of what I think is one of the best sf short stories ever, "In the Hall of the Martian Kings," collected in The Persistance of Vision.

FYI on Original Short Story "Air Raid".......2005-11-28

FYI, for those trying to locate the short story "Air Raid" which Varley's novel and the movie were expanded upon and based on was written under the name Herb Boehm and originally was published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Spring 1977. It came in 2nd place in both the 1977 Nebula and 1978 Hugo awards for best short story.

Spare me this future!.......2003-01-08

This story skips the reader to the end of the third millennium. What a sight! One that makes almost no sense. Although replicant bodies can be quickly manufactured to replace the accident victims snatched from death, although human organs can be readily replaced by mechanical parts, although robots can possess big computer brains used to rule mankind-it is still necessary to stage cumbersome time-gate flights to the past to acquire humans for the peopling of a new planet. When these future time travelers leave behind some weapons they must turn heaven and hell upside down to get them back. I must admit that like the rest of mankind I don't understand the niceties of time travel but I'm afraid the reader must look elsewhere to solve these riddles. It seems Varley started to write a dystopian ending for mankind by showing us slews of Heaven's Gate type suicides. Then perhaps his film director suggested the rather futile, last minute, happy ending rescue of mankind-one that just left me hanging.

Don't watch a movie before reading the book very often.......2002-10-03

It's not normal practice for me to watch a film prior to reading the book it's based on, but when I do, watching the film can lead me to some very good books. Such was the case with Millennium by John Varley. I had seen the film with Kris Kristofferson and Cheryl Ladd a number of times but had been frustrated in my efforts to obtain a copy of "Air Raid", the original short story the film was credited as being based on, until one day when the book almost literally fell into my lap.

I gotta tell you, Millennium was one of those books I could not put down. From the first page, I found myself absolutely enraptured by the characters of both Louise Baltimore and Bill Smith. Varley's Smith is actually very close to the character that Kris Kristofferson portrayed in the movie, but his Louise Baltimore is a very tough, take-charge kind of gal that's unlike the one played by Cheryl Ladd in the film. That Louise always seemed to be looking to her personal robot, Sherman, for advice, whereas the Louise of Varley's book might have depended on Sherman for emotional support at times, but generally kept her own counsel and scoffed at the very notion that Sherman's ideas could be taken seriously in a critical mission such as the one she was running to Smith's time in order to get her lost "stunner". The funny thing was, in the end it was the Big Computer who was running everything, and not Louise or Bill or even Sherman.

I am currently on my 6th copy of this excellent time-travel novel (the other 5 have worn out due to repeated readings), and I hope that all of you who are sci-fi enthusiasts will take the time to pick up a copy and read it, if you haven't read it already. It's a definite page-turner.

Interesting Characters and Plot + Surprise Ending.......2002-04-04

I became a hard-core sci-fi fan in the 1950s. Since then, my reading has become more discriminating. This book meets my much higher standards for a good read for several reasons. First, I liked the character of Louise Baltimore. Second, I liked Varley's telling of this tale through alternating points-of-view in alternating chapters. I liked the plot, and finally I liked the last chapter, where a final character emerges to tie it all together by revealing the things not seen in the characters povs.

Average customer rating:

A Sci-Fi Joy Ride
"We were the first!"
A Great Book for Young...
Fun read, realistic characters, semi-realistic story
Good fun, if slight and implausible

Red Thunder
John Varley
Manufacturer: Ace
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0441011624
Release Date: 2004-04-27

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Debuting in 1974, John Varley became the decade's freshest, most exciting, and most important new science fiction author. He dominated the Seventies with numerous stories and two novels, set mostly in his Eight Worlds future history. By 1984 he had won three Hugo Awards and two Nebula Awards. Yet his output dwindled through the 1980s, and in the 1990s he released only two novels, Steel Beach and The Golden Globe, a pair of Eight Worlds books that received tepid responses.

Fans who feared Varley was devolving into another Robert A. Heinlein imitator may have mixed reactions to Red Thunder, Varley's first novel of the new millennium. Part of SF's turn-of-the-century trend of "Mars novels," but not part of Varley's Eight Worlds series, Red Thunder reads a lot like a Heinlein juvenile novel, if Heinlein were alive and writing juveniles in 2003. Varley's paying tribute to the Master's juveniles, especially Rocket Ship Galileo and Red Planet (and also, more subtly, to the ending of Alfred Bester's novel The Stars My Destination). Though Varley is working with decades-old tropes and is not in his full wildly-imaginative 1970s mode, Red Thunder is an enjoyable SF novel that should win back many disgruntled fans and gain him a new generation of admirers. --Cynthia Ward

Book Description

Seven suburban misfits are constructing a spaceship out of old tanker cars. The plan is to beat the Chinese to Mars--in under four days at three million miles an hour. It would be history in the making if it didn't sound so insane.

Customer Reviews:

A Sci-Fi Joy Ride.......2007-06-01

"Delightful" is not a word I often use, especially to describe sci-fi novels. But "Red Thunder" is a simply delightful read, a fun, fast-paced joy ride of a story. Don't get me wrong, I love high-tech violence and bleak, dystopian futures as much as the next guy, but it's nice to know science fiction can still bring a smile as well.

Which is not to say that "Red Thunder" is total fluff. It tells the story of four Florida teenagers who strike up an unlikely friendship with a disgraced astronaut and his semi-autistic genius brother. The group hatches a scheme to use one of the brother's inventions to build a home-made spaceship, and sets about trying to beat the Chinese to Mars.

If that sounds a bit unlikely, well, sure, it is. Varley puts a lot of effort into making the ship and its propulsion system sound plausible, and he succeeds well enough. The idea of four teenagers becoming a crack team of spacecraft engineers is more of a stretch. But so what? It's fun! You want to see these kids go to Mars, so when the ship develops miraculously fast, you cheer rather than question. Are they going to succeed? Of course. The end is no more in doubt than in a Disney movie. But you still want to go along for the ride.

This is my first encounter with John Varley, and the man is clearly a gifted storyteller. The story fairly bubbles as it moves along. The tone is light, and the characters likable. From what other reviewers have said, Varley has lost a step. If so, I am eager to read his earlier work.

"We were the first!".......2007-01-26

Think, as the characters themselves say, "The Little Rascals Go to Mars," and you'll be close to the flavor of this engaging book. There's also a fair amount of Heinlein juvenile (especially _Rocket Ship Galileo_), which is understandable since Varley is a deep fan of Heinlein. The setting is Daytona, Florida, where Manny Garcia, twenty-year-old heir to a crumbling motel, and his best friend, Dak, and his girl, Kelly, and Dak's girl, Alicia, nearly run over a drunken ex-astronaut on the beach one night. (Lots of Heinleinian names, there, too.) The astronaut is Travis Broussard, one of a large clan of Cajuns from the Florida panhandle, and cousin of Jubal, a mildly autistic Einstein-class genius, who has invented (he's not quite sure how) a "squeezer" -- a device whose nature is never really explained, but which is the potential source of nearly unlimited energy. But Manny and Dak are both space nuts and to them and the girls, the Squeezer means a way of getting to Mars, where American and Chinese spaceships are now headed. With the power source taken care of it, would it really be possible to build -- in the course of one summer and with a budget of only one million dollars -- a privately-owned vehicle capable of getting them to the Red Planet and back? Varley shows you how it might, maybe, possibly, be done. With NASA having done most of the research and testing over the years, and with computers so small and cheap, and with many of the necessary parts (like a food freezer from Sears) purchased off-the-shelf, and with vital specialized hardware like space suits available for a little dickering from Russia, and with Travis's extensive experience as a space pilot, . . . well, why not? I'm sure there are plenty of implausibilities, but who cares? It's all great fun, in any case.

A Great Book for Young..........2006-10-22

Anyone who liked the film "The Explorers" (River Phoenix/Ethan Hawk) will enjoy this book about two young men who run into (quite literally) a Bruce Willisesque former astronaut and his idiot-savant brother who build the impossible; a faster-than-light spaceship that can rescue a team of astronauts stranded in the space between Earth and Mars.

It is a very fast read, you'll have a hard time putting it down. Though slightly implausible, the character development is rich, the action is fairly constant, the humor is dry and well placed, and the storyline ("youth coming of age" meets "story of redemption") is strong.

Fun read, realistic characters, semi-realistic story.......2006-07-18

This is a fun and fairly fast read. Our 4 characters are about 20 years old, in this update on the Heinlein type "juveniles" (call it a "semi-juvenile")... in which the 4 characters from varied backgrounds have to deal with adult themes of sex, drugs, fast cars/motorcycles, and Florida spring breaks - while they pursue careers in "space exploration".

Set in the near future (2020?), the two male characters are attempting to "pursue their dreams" of becoming astronauts, by studying for science degrees online. They manage to get involved with an ex-astronaut hero, who is battling an alcohol problem, and is caregiver to an eccentric genius inventer cousin, who manages to invent a technology that will allow our heros to acheive their dream of becoming astronauts.

While the story is a bit far-fetched, the characters are very believable, especially the drunken ex-Astronaut Colonel Broussard, who manages to keep his booze problems in check long enough to oversee the construction of the spaceship "Red Thunder".

Good fun, if slight and implausible.......2006-06-15

John Varley is well-known as a writer much influenced by Heinlein, and Red Thunder pretty openly advertises its influence. To begin with the basic plot echoes slightly that of Heinlein's first juvenile, Rocket Ship Galileo. In the Heinlein book, a couple of teenagers, with the help of a knowledgeable older man, build a spaceship and travel to the Moon. In Red Thunder, four teenagers, with the help of a knowledgeable older man (an ex-astronaut), built a spaceship and travel to Mars. Also, Varley adds in a couple of very direct RAH references by way of character names: the main character is named Manny Garcia, and another major character is named Jubal. Basically, the book is good fun, propelled (pun intended) by a thoroughly implausible scientific advance but otherwise at least in the range of plausibility, with a heartfelt and not too overt message about responsibility and power at its core.

One night Manny and his best friend Dak, and their girlfriends Kelly and Alicia, having just witnessed the latest Venture Star launch, run over a drunk man on a Florida beach. The Venture Star is a shuttle successor, and this latest launch would be boring and routine except that the passengers are the astronauts on NASA's Mars mission. (The book was obviously finished before February 1, 2003, and thus in mentioning the potential dangers of space travel Challenger is brought up a few times, but never Columbia -- one of the pitfalls of writing SF!) Manny and Dak are space nuts, and their girlfriends tolerate this. Manny and Dak are also trying to work their way through college on the Internet, handicapped by their relative poverty and the debased public school system. It turns out that the man they run over is Travis Broussard, an ex-astronaut who was quietly pushed out of NASA a few years previously. And Travis's ex-wife is one of the Mars astronauts.

They strike up a friendship with Travis (who is uninjured by the mishap, thanks to the sand he was laying in), and soon they meet his strange cousin Jubal. Jubal is mentally damaged by his father's abuse, but he is extremely intelligent in his odd way. And Manny stumbles across an invention of Jubal's, the potential of which Jubal doesn't recognize, but Travis does -- it offers the possibility of a spacedrive that can maintain 1g acceleration for approximately forever. One thing leads to another, and the kids hatch an idea for building a spaceship, powered by Jubal's drive, that can get to Mars fast enough to beat not only the American mission but the Chinese mission that is slightly ahead of the Americans. All becomes more urgent when Jubal figures out that the American spaceship has a flaw, which could lead to a disaster -- and only a spaceship like the one they propose to build could possibly rescue anyone. But there are problems, such as convincing the kids' parents to let them go ...

Well, as I said -- good fun. The characters are engaging and involving, though there is a bit of convenience in the way all the good guys are good in just the right ways. I'd say it was a perfectly appropriate YA book -- though there is a fair amount of sex. The central SFnal McGuffin, Jubal's drive, is totally unbelievable, but why quibble? The other SFnal element, the technical and logistical details of building the rest of the spaceship, are, I suspect, a bit stretched, but Varley tries hard to make that stuff work, and it mostly does.

Average customer rating:

Shakepeare in Space!
Re-Readable fun
Not Varley's Best
Space-Theatre is even more fun than space-opera!
A slightly different take on trademark Varley

The Golden Globe
John Varley
Manufacturer: Ace Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0441005586

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Sparky Valentine is a former child star turned down-on-his-luck thespian who's just reached the grand old age of 100. Not that you could tell by looking at the old ham, who for some reason never seems to age--or stay out of trouble. Sparky's in the midst of a whirlwind theatrical tour designed to bring a bit of culture to the frozen desolation of the outer solar system when bad luck strikes in the form of a gumshoe hot on his tail. Sparky decides to skip the outer burgs for the more hospitable environs of Pluto, but things only get worse when he runs afoul of the notoriously unforgiving Charonese Mafia. As he's making his getaway, he learns something astonishing. The famous director Kaspara Polichinelli of Luna is planning a performance of King Lear, and he's short a lead to take on the title role. Sparky wires Polichinelli that he's interested, and Polichinelli tells him the part is his. Now all Sparky has to do is find a way to scrape together enough cash to get to Luna before the play starts while avoiding a seemingly unstoppable (and unkillable) Charonese hitman. --Craig E. Engler

Book Description

Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, John Varley is truly one of the "greats" of science fiction, comparable only to Heinlein, Herbert, Asimov, and Clarke. Now the all-time master returns--with his long-awaited epic novel of life beyond the great beyond... All the universe is a stage, and Sparky Valentine is its itinerant thespian. He makes his way from planet to planet as part of a motley theater troupe, at could put the universe back to square one. And it is not terrifying. It is tempting...

Customer Reviews:

Shakepeare in Space!.......2006-12-07

In the future of Varley's book, almost everyone remembers Sparky
Valentine. Even if they aren't old enough to remember the glory year's of the kid's show, "Sparky and His Gang" they remember their parents talking about it or watching old recordings. Many also remember something about allegations of a terrible crime, and may assume that Sparky is deceased, since they haven't heard anything about him in years.
But wait, here we have Sparky's autobiography, his epic story beginning
with his roots in a fifth generation theatrical family, his rise to riches, his fall from grace, and on and on through his long years of seedy outer-planet theatres, Punch & Judy shows and scams; hunger, keeping one step ahead of various planetary jurisdictions, then eventually running afoul of a dreaded crime syndicate.

This is a rich, wonderful novel blends Shakespeare and Howdy Doody,
Jimmy Stewart and Errol Flynn; a heady mix of popular culture and future
history. The solar system is recovering from a mysterious invasion which
destroyed all human life on earth, but allowed off world colonies to survive.

Long time science fiction readers will appreciate the way Varley's story
incorporates one of the field's most influential and well-remembered icons.

Re-Readable fun.......2006-11-29

I have found only 2 books that I could read time and time again. This book is a wonderful story. Not my normal fare, but a surprise. When I first picked this book up I had no idea what I was in for. It picks you up and will not put you down. About once every two years I find myself re-reading this book, and each time I enjoy it so.

If you are going on vacation and would like a good time, this book is a wonderful investment of your time and money.

Not Varley's Best.......2006-09-12

The narrative is presented in a present day/flashback/present day/flashback alternating sequence, and my main problem with it is that I found all the flashbacks to be really boring, but all the present day stuff to be pretty good

Even in the good stuff, there were frequently bits that felt forced or sections where I felt Varley was just putting in someting to satisfy fans and not because it was interesting or advanced the story at all

A minor complaint would be that even though its set far in the future, any time the hero wants to make a comparison between some weird thing he encounters and something that a person might be more familiar with, he compares it to a situation or place in the 20th century, which I thought was pretty silly

If you just want something to read and then forget, you could do alot worse than this, but if you want really good sci fi get some of Varley's earlier stuff or something by a different author

Space-Theatre is even more fun than space-opera!.......2005-10-15

Kenneth (Sparky) Valentine is the fully-developed solar systems greatest actor and one of it's most accomplished con men. At 100 years young (but with no sign of slowing), when the top director of the era mounts a production of King Lear, he knows the role must be his, but to fulfill his destiny, he has to find a way to get from Pluto to Luna, defeat an unkillable hit man and put to rest a horrific past involving parental abuse. Varley throws away more good ideas than most authors ever find, and is skilled at world building, character development and language. The book is also liberally sprinkeled with laugh-out-loud moments. The boogeymen of this future are unknown aliens who long ago wiped out the human race on earth (in about 2 days)and took up residence on Jupiter. I would love to go back to find out why. Anyone who appreciates theatre will applaud how Varley shows how the more things change, the more they stay the same. I had a hard time getting into Steel Beach, but read this one straight through, as I did the Gaia trilogy. Highly recommended!

A slightly different take on trademark Varley.......2005-06-27

At first read, I didn't like this book as much as I did "Steel Beach". I'm not sure why, but I suspect it was Varley's decision to have this book entirely narrated by a male character. I've become so impressed by Varley's heroines, including Hildy Johnson, the narrator of "Steel Beach," that I guess I just started expecting them. Ken Valentine, aka Sparky, just wasn't doing it for me.

On second- and third-reads, however, darned if the little bugger didn't start to grow on me. Sparky's an actor, who really does see life as a stage and himself merely a player. He's a damn good player, but still. When we first meet him, Ken/Sparky is hiding out in the far reaches of the solar system, doing third-rate community theater and running cons. Almost simultaneously, he learns his oldest, dearest friend - and the best director in the system - is staging "King Lear" back on Luna; that the long arm of the law is onto him; and that the Charonese Mafia, a race of super-devoted assassins, has put out a hit on him. Seems like a good time to hit the road, and Sparky does, starting him on a long journey back towards Luna.

Along the way, we learn in flashbacks about Sparky's history as a child star, his abusive actor father, who seems eerily invested in living his life through his son, and the events which sent him into exile. We pass through several other worlds, such as Pluto, Oberon II (which bears some resemblance to Gaia from Varley's "Titan" series), and, of course, Luna. It's on Luna that Sparky runs into Hildy Johnson, and a post-Glitch Luna CC, picking up where "Steel Beach" left off.

"Golden Globe" is more personal than "Steel Beach", more focused on the particular life of the narrator rather than the general society of the Eight Worlds. There's still plenty of Varley's fantastic imagination on display, however, and tons of his trademark humor and cynicism. The more I read this book, the better I like it!

Average customer rating:

This is the first time I've ached to give a book SIX stars . . . .
30 years of greatness
I don't like short stories but I like this book !
John Varley Reader
A short, enthusiastic review

The John Varley Reader
John Varley
Manufacturer: Ace Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0441011950
Release Date: 2004-09-07

Book Description

From the moment John Varley burst onto the scene in 1974, his short fiction was like nothing anyone else was writing. His stories won every award the science fiction field had to offer, many times over. His first collection, The Persistence of Vision, published in 1978, was the most important collection of the decade, and changed what fans would come to expect from science fiction.

Now, The John Varley Reader gathers his best stories, many out of print for years. This is the volume no Varley fan-or science fiction reader-can do without.

Customer Reviews:

This is the first time I've ached to give a book SIX stars . . . ........2006-01-16

Okay -- Christopher Priest is arguably more poetic, and Tim Powers is more literary, when he cares to be. But it's a proven fact that John Varley is the all-around best SF writer working these days. That's even more true when it comes to the short form, as this recapitulative collection demonstrates. Varley is a Texan by birth and very close to my own age and, like me, he spent his early adult years in the San Francisco Bay area. As I rediscovered in his biographical introductions to these stories, we share a lot of the same life-shaping milieux. Of course, I've read Varley's stories and novels over the years with great appreciation as they were published, since the first appearance of his first short story, "Picnic on Farside," in 1974, but reading this volume straight through is like sitting down with a spoon to a quart of caviar. All of his best award-winning work is here: "Press Enter" (still a nerve-wracking read), "The Pusher" (still very unsettling), and "The Persistence of Vision" (still one of the most affecting pieces of writing I've ever read, from anyone). There are also five never-before-anthologized stories, of which "The Flying Dutchman" may, as the author says, convince you to take the train the next time you have to travel. Most of these stories are in the "Eight Worlds" series, though the Anna Bach sub-series (sort of police procedurals but really much more than that) are prominent, too. The weakest piece in the book, to me, is "Options," which is a bit too earnest and cloying for my taste, but it's still an excellent story. And there's one that's entirely new to us: "The Bellman," originally destined for Harlan Ellison's third "Dangerous Visions" volume (also something of a flying Dutchman . . .), which doesn't seem nearly as radical as it would have when it was written in 1978.

30 years of greatness.......2006-01-14

As someone who had only read the novels of John Varley, excepting one short story, which happened to be the last story in this collection, The Bellman, I came to it with fresh eyes and no fog of nostalgia from reading the stories when they were new.

Not only are the stories solid, we also get some brief autobiography and background of the stories containing such interesting info as Varley rates a car as one of the best places he's lived(during Woodstock), his first novel didn't get published, but his first short story, which is contained in this collection, did, he does not like writers groups and showing his work for criticism and generally does not rewrite his work.

Not only do the stories, particularly the 8-worlds and the Anna-Louise Bach stories, have the wow factor one expects from the field, they also make you think. Particularly the 8-worlds stories where gender changing, body changing and age changing is fast, easy and ubiquitious. What happens to gender roles and how people relate when your friend shows up at your door tomorrow as the opposite sex?

One problem of story collections is that it can be a little much to read nothing but short bites of the same author, to badly mix a metaphor, but this collection gets it right despite a moderate length by mixing the stories of his various milieus up. At the end you will be sated with Varley, but not fed up.

Highly recommended, as are his Gaea trilogy.

I don't like short stories but I like this book !.......2005-11-28

I like stories with indepth character and plot development. Shorts always leave me wanting more. However, this is just worth reading.

John Varley Reader.......2005-10-17

I love John Varley and have all his short story collections. I only decided to buy this because there were 4 new stories that I had not read. I'm so glad I did. His introductions to each story are so interesting, that even if there were no new stories I would want this book.

A short, enthusiastic review.......2004-11-16

How is it that I always forget just how good John Varley is? Well, if you too need reminding, just pick up this collection. It's terrific - some of the stories were old friends, others were in the 'how did I miss that!' category. If you've never read Varley, you're in for a real treat. Either way, don't miss this gem (oh, and the author's comments and commentaries just add to the enjoyment).

Average customer rating:

Bizarre, Depressing, but Sometimes Hilarious Look at the Future
What Do We Do Without Needs?
Holy cow, is this good sci-fi!
Heinlein Rip off
Some Interesting ideas, but...

Steel Beach
John Varley
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0441785654

Customer Reviews:

Bizarre, Depressing, but Sometimes Hilarious Look at the Future.......2006-07-14

STEEL BEACH (1993) is a bizarre, mostly depressing, but sometimes hilarious look at the far future of humanity (some 200 years in the future). Man has been ousted from Earth by aliens, and lives in enclaves on The Moon, and other Solar System planets.

Brain implants, direct computer interfacing, nanobots, life extension, and sexual modifications are the norm, and our hero has a problem with depression and suicide, which the "all knowing computer" of Luna is trying to help solve (or is he the cause of problem all along).

A lot of the technologies introduced in this book probably seemed "new and exciting" in 1993, but now they've all been hashed over, and done better, in numerous other books since then.

There are way too many sexually bizarre sections in this book... I'm no prude, but this stuff is just too strange - for instance, the story follows in great detail the main character's thinking when going thru a "routine" sex change operation - evidently, in this future world, people change sex about as often as I change oil in my car.

The pace of the book is slower than I usually like, and I didn't find very many really "exciting" passages; however, there are a number of humorous passages, and the parts describing the disguting "David Earth" character totally cracked me up, and really saved the book from a 1 star rating. David Earth is the ultimate in enviromentalists, actually "wearing" the Earth on his huge body - with small animals enhabiting the environment that "grows" on his body in small biospheres and fur patches - e.g., his hair is actually a bioengineered grass that grows on a dirt flim attached to his skull.

What Do We Do Without Needs?.......2006-03-26

John Varley's Steel Beach is a daring, well-conceived work of science fiction. Humanity has been ejected from Earth by enigmatic aliens trying to save cetaceans. Homo sapiens finds itself exiled to strongholds throughout the solar system, foremost of which is Luna. There, human beings live in great comfort with almost all of their needs met and very little to worry about. As a result, they are losing their minds.

Through the unremarkable antagonist Hildy, Varley asks what happens to human beings who lack challenges and who lack any real direction. Comforts there are aplenty in Luna. Technology makes sex changes routine and has all but defeated death itself. So now what? Humanity has slumped into a self-absorbed torpor that would be bad enough if the unimaginably complex supercomputer that controls every aspect of Lunar life weren't on the edge of a catastrophic breakdown. Hildy gains an increasing awareness of this problem as the narrative progresses; and he (later she) manages to struggle out of the cocoon of smothering comfort that threatens to make humanity incapable of responding to the imminent central computer breakdown.

As with much good science fiction, Varley uses Steel Beach to ask what humanity ought to do with its capabilities. He suggests that it is human nature to use awesome abilities for small-minded diversions. We are our own greatest limitation, though we are also our own greatest resource.

The story is overlong, though. The pace drags a bit. More ruthless editing would have yielded a story that was better-paced but still covered the important points.

Though it can be uncomfortable to read (or perhaps because), Steel Beach is quite worthy of the reading.

Holy cow, is this good sci-fi!.......2005-06-07

"Steel Beach" was my first introduction into Varley's "Eight Worlds" universe (although he claims that this book technically does not belong in that series because of several timeline inconsistencies, come on, we all know it for what it is). The action in this book takes place much earlier than most of his "Eight Worlds" short stories, right at the Bicentennial celebration of mankind's eviction from Earth.

Denied their own home planet, Varley's humans have nevertheless carved themselves out a few nice spots in the solar system. They've managed to create a society totally dependent upon machines and artificial intelligence for their survival - the "steel beach" of the title, where man must struggle to evolve to his new environment.

Varley addresses a wide range of topics here, everything from suicide and depression to journalism, animal rights, child abuse, and the Second Amendment. Sound awfully didactic? Then you haven't been treated to Varley's prose yet, a delightful mix of cynicism, insight, imagination, and humor. His narrator, a tabloid journalist named Hildebrandt/Hildegarde Johnson (he undergoes a routine sex change partway through the story) walks us through Varley's world conversationally, as though you're an old friend.

I'm always impressed by how well Varley writes women (particularly Cirocco and Gaby from his "Titan" series). Hildy Johnson is another great female character, a tough cookie with a heart of... Well, gild at least. Secondary characters are great, too, although you end the book feeling that there were a lot of stories left untold. I wanted to know so much more about Callie, Walter, Liz, and the Heinleiners! I can only hope Varley returns to Luna soon.

Heinlein Rip off.......2005-03-26

I read this book after reading the great Gaea series and was expecting at least an original piece of work. Steel Beach rehashes concepts covered by many other authors. Many reviews compare this work to Heinlein and it seems to me as if Varley was channeling RAH when he wrote this novel. It also reads more like a treatment for some sort of future reality show than a novel. It starts out on a fairly high note and half way through becomes bogged down in a morass (literally and figuratively) of sex addicted stoner speak. Even with the poor review I still think Varley is a gifted author and soon will be reading The Golden Globe.

Some Interesting ideas, but..........2003-08-19

Overall it was an effort to finish reading because I repeatedly had little sense of direction for the novel. Characters come and go and the main character Hildy often does things, such as change sexes, that only seem like gimmicks. Many times he skips around to an overindulgent and annoying extent. I didn't find him overly sympathetic or interesting. However, It is interesting to think that people and even a supercomputer could become depressed as life becomes too easy as everything is taken care of down to morning breath. This is the only Varley book I've read to date. I get the sense from the way many chapters read like episodes, he may be a better short story writer.

Average customer rating:

It's... okay
Vanilla Sci-Fi
A Feeble Sequel
The greatest invention
I love Varley, but...

Red Lightning
John Varley
Manufacturer: Ace
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0441014887

Book Description

The son of one of the first men to fly to Mars and back, Ray Garcia-Strickland is now a disgruntled Martian, tired of the Red Planet's overdevelopment and the gravity-dependent tourist Earthies. But that doesn't stop him from fearing the worst when Earth is struck by an unknown object, causing a massive tsunami. Living high on his father's glory was okay, but now Ray must literally come down to Earth-and solve one of its greatest mysteries.

Customer Reviews:

It's... okay.......2007-06-13

Red Lightning is a sequel to a delightful book, Varley's 2004 "Red Thunder." Unfortunately, the second helping is not as tasty as the first.

A generation after Red Thunder - a home-built spacecraft powered by the ingenious new Squeeze drive - won the race to Mars, its former crew are now hotel owners on the red planet. The story is told by one of their children, Ray. The family spends nearly half the book dealing with the aftermath of a mysterious tsunami on Earth, wading through the wasteland of Florida to rescue their relatives and friends. In the second half of the book, we learn that the tsunami is related to the events of the first book, and Ray has to escape an invasion of Mars to preserve their only hope of survival.

It's not great, it's not terrible. At best, Red Lightning is a parable about the dangers of technological power and its ability to corrupt. Varley writes well, and with wit. But the story doesn't grab your imagination like the first book. The characters seem flat. The plot meanders. Halfway through, my wife asked me what the book was about, and I realized I didn't know yet; not a good sign. The Florida rescue section is interesting, but not worth the number of pages devoted to it. To be honest, Red Thunder was a bit thin, too, but it had enough humor and irony to make it enjoyable. Red Lightning lacks that spark.

There's precious little suspense in the book, so I don't want to give anything away. But when you finally discover, about 300 pages into the book, the true cause of the disaster, it's hard not to see it as a rather transparent allegory to recent world events. The hand of the author peeks through, which makes the story feel contrived.

Overall, it's fine. It just wasn't as good as I had hoped.

Vanilla Sci-Fi.......2007-02-07

At times, while reading Red Lightning, I almost forgot that I was supposed to be reading a sci-fi story. For example, other than the introduction where we meet Ray, the first half of the book basically boils down to a search/rescue tale set in a Katrina-like disaster. The second half of the book can be summarized as a fight for freedom by a rebel colony, told from the colony's point of view.

The narrator of the story is 19 year-old Martian-born Ray Garcia, son of the first colonists to Mars. It begins by introducing the reader to life on Mars as seen by Ray, how the planet has become a tourist attraction for "Earthies", how Martians view them, and life on Mars in general. When disaster strikes Earth, the Garcia family immediately departs to rescue loved ones. Upon returning to Mars, the Garcia family discovers that their home planet has become hostage to various governments/organizations who are seeking Jubal, inventor of the Squeezer, which provides unlimited power, etc, etc.

If the summation above seems brief it's because there's not much more to the story than that. And while it did keep me going, it was somewhat bland, even during the "exciting" parts. There just didn't seem to be all that much emotion and the characters were, for the most part, cardboard cutouts. Overall, I'd say it's an okay book...not that bad, but not that great either.

A Feeble Sequel.......2006-09-15

In 1956, a movie reviewer described John Wayne cast as Ghengis Khan in "The Conqueror" as "willing suspension of disbelief hung by the neck until dead, dead, dead." While all science fiction requires the willing suspension of disbelief, Varley comes close of violating the Ghengis Khan principle here.

Ray, the 17-year old son of his famous father, the protagonist of Varley's earlier "Red Thunder," is a bored Mars teenager. But when a mysterious object strikes the North Atlantic, creating a gigantic tsunami that obliterates coastal Florida, he is as anxious as the rest of his family to find out what happened to his grandmother and the family's Florida resort. Jubal, the inventor of the "Squeezer"" used as the rocket drive featured in the earlier "Red Thunder," disappears as well, and the chaos Ray found on the Atlantic seaboard follows Ray and his family back to Mars.

This is not John Varley's best story. The "Squeezer" from "Red Thunder" was a MacGuffin, and despite some brief attempts at explication, remains a MacGuffin here. The plot is really two somewhat related stories: Ray's adventures on Earth, following the tsunami, and Ray's adventures on Mars and in space, following Jubal's disappearance. The stories are linked by chronology and a by the reason behind Jubal's disappearance. That link is so obvious that only the naïve Jubal can be surprised in this post-9/11 world: any technology, no matter how useful, can be used as a terrorist weapon.

This novel is less obviously derivative to Heinlein than was "Red Thunder," but there are still elements of "Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" and, heaven help us, "Friday." Unlike some other reviewers, I found Varley's description of the United States before and after the tsunami all too plausible. The events on Mars were even likely. But I'm not sure that the cheerful opportunism on Varley's Mars - a close cousin to Heinlein's lunar government - is preferable as a government or an economy.

The plot resolution solution is clever and consistent with the original premises of the Squeezer. But the reaction of Earth is improbable. And, sadly, it involves just another kind of terrorism as well, although one that causes no loss of life. Is it okay to terrorize absolutely everyone on Earth if it makes Earth leave Mars alone? Do the ends justify the means?

It all leaves room for another sequel, but perhaps there shouldn't be.

Bottom line: Okay but not great. Recommended to Varley fans.

The greatest invention.......2006-08-13

A joke that swept through The University of Texas a long time ago:

A freshman physics teacher at Texas A&M asked his class to name the greatest invention of all times. One student said fire. Another said gunpowder. Another said the internal combustion engine. Then a Texas A&M football player on the front row said, "The thermos bottle."

When asked by the teacher why he would pick that as the greatest invention, the student said, "You put something hot in it and it stays hot. You put something cold in it and it stays cold."

The teacher asked why that made it great, and the student replied, "How do it know which to do?"

That thermos bottle is in this book in the form of a magic (indistinguishable from magic) sphere. I liked the first book, in spite of its "magical" science. This novel seemed like a shaggy dog story leading to the thermos bottle. Much ado about little.

I love Varley, but..........2006-08-12

I'm sorry, but I find his vision of America implausible. I suppose the United States could turn into a third-world fascist country in the next ?20? years, but I'd need more explanation or back-story before I could willingly suspend my disbelief.

That would be enough for a 2-star or 3-star review. What, frankly, offended me about the book was the psychopath in uniform and the Homeland Security monsters. I'm a veteran, I know other veterans, I know people in the service right now, I know people who've been to Iraq and Afghanistan. The psycho and the "Homesecs" are an insult to our troops.

The afterword says the book was inspired by the events of 9/11. I'm afraid my sympathies are with the people risking everything to keep more innocents from being blown up by terrorists.

I was really looking forward to this book. I have almost everything Varley's written, and have never given anything less than 4 stars, and usually 5. But not this time. An immense disappointment. :(

If you liked this book, I hope my review doesn't offend you. Maybe I took it too personally. I just want to warn others who might react as I did. I wish I hadn't bought this.

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