Variable Star by Robert A. Heinlein and Spider Robinson (2006, Hardcover)

Sorry to say, but it was not worth the $1.00 plus shipping I paid for a like-new hardcover. Variable Star was found as a few notes in Robert Heinlein's files, and should have been left that way. As a vehicle for Spider Robinson to demonstrate how fannishly he could co-author Heinlein's work, that vehicle just rolled downhill.
Heinlein's readers will recognize several plot features that he had already used, including "The Number of the Beast", "Time for the Stars", Citizen of the Galaxy"- just off the top of my head. There was no reason (except maybe for the advance?)to waste paper printing this unimaginative, predictable tripe. Sturgeon's law certainly applies.

This is likely the last authentic bit of Heinlein story we will ever see, and Spider Robinson has done yeoman work in remaining faithful to the Heinlein canon. Although the first half of the novel tends to sound like two people telling the same story, it is a story that will engage the reader and bring you along for the ride!

Heinlein's voice comes through very clearly, with an accent from his juvenile novels of the late 1950's, while Robinson brings a current sensibility and jargon to the story. In the last half, though, these voices combine and carry you through the disturbing climax to hope for a new future.

We will never forget Robert Anson Heinlein, but Spider Robinson appears to be a worthy successor to the Grand Master's storytelling abilities.

I'm a rabid Robert A. Heinlein fan. Have all his books, collect the pulps and magazines where various of his stories and novels first appeared, even gave a copy of a story in a 1940's edition of Saturday Evening Post to Newt Gingrich who I knew was also an RAH fan. Variable Star was written by Spider Robinson who had a good relationship with RAH and was also close to RAH's wife Virginia after RAH died. The book is based on notes left by RAH. Whether or not RAH would have wanted Spider or anyone else to write a novel based on what he left is another issue. The result of Robinson's effort is a book that completely captures the feel of a classic RAH novel from the mid to late 1950's, the Double Star and Tunnel in the Sky type books. The decades long voyages to nearby stars in giant spacecraft, the interplay between characters as a neophyte settles into a new situation, all classic RAH. SR managed to avoid any of the preaching and long winded passages RAH indulged in with his later books, the action is well-paced, character development is good, the plot interesting. It's a good story, a very good read. If you've never read a Heinlein book it is a good one to start with as you will get a feel for the style and flavor that made him famous. If you start with a later book like Fear No Evil or (gosh forbid) The Number of the Beast you will wonder who could like such stuff. Heinlein's criteria was to write stories that would be good stories whether they were set in the future, the Old West, Roman times, etc. A good story is a good story and RHA knows how to do it and clearly so does Spider Robinson.

If you are expecting a Heinlein book, you will be disappointed. Likewise if you are expecting a pure Spider book you will be disappointed. However, if you are like me, and your two favorite authors of all time are Heinlein and Robinson, then you are in for a VERY pleasant surprise. The plot reads like classic Heinlein, but the voice of the novel is pure Spider. What a treat! I highly recommend it to the fan of BOTH authors. Pure gold, I loved it.

This was a good book. I purchased it more for the fact that the story outline was a Heinlein. This is not to say that Spider Robinson did a bad jod, he did a good job. Variable Star reads more like a Spider Robinson novel than it does a Heinlein mid 50's teen novel. It is well worth picking up, both for the historic nature and the book itself. But please don't expect vintage Heinlein you may wind up disappointed. LRJ