Red Thunder (Varley)

Somewhere, Robert A. Heinlein is smiling. John Varley, whom many of the current generation of sci-fi readers probably don’t know about, has returned with a pitch-perfect Heinlein juvenile, Red Thunder. Calling it a “juvenile” isn’t a slam; it’s a reminder of the time years ago when authors like Heinlein wrote books that were nominally “young adult” in scope but had enough sophistication for adults. (Stephen Barnes is still doing it, bless his heart!) The plot of Red Thunder is simple: idiot-savant Cajun inventor discovers a new physical principle that can be turned into a high-acceleration space drive. A group of plucky mixed-race kidscreative young adults pair up with a disgraced former astronaut, and the team is off to Mars to rescue the American crew of the Ares (and, not incidentally, to beat the Chinese to Mars’ surface). In large measure, the book is predictable, but Varley’s such a good writer, and obviously takes such joy in his stories and characters, that it’s never boring.
If RAH were still alive, this is very well a book he might have written, with a few caveats. Varley is known for larding his work with lots of bad language and graphic sex. I was disappointed to find that in what would otherwise have been a terrific book for young adults; I thoroughly enjoyed it, and when David’s older he’ll probably enjoy it too. (Bonus: there are tons of in-jokes and references to Heinlein’s books… the protagonist is named Manny, for instance.)