I’ve started the Thunder and Lightning series (Red Thunder, Red Lightning, Rolling Thunder, and Dark Lightning) by John Varley. So far, I’m enjoying the read. It does remind me of Robert Heinlein, as advertised, with most of the emphasis on character development and teenagers coming into maturity.
In the first book, an eccentric Cajun backwoodsman invents a new source of free power. He and his friends (including a quartet of teenagers) are planning to use the device to power a spaceship and make sure that America beats the Chinese to Mars. However, as they build Red Thunder, they begin to realize that the invention will change humanity as much as the discovery of fire.
In the second book, mankind has colonized Mars, but the children of two of the teenagers from Book 1 learn that their “Uncle” Jubal (the inventor) has managed to evade his “keepers” on Earth and his whereabouts are currently unknown. When the keepers show up in force on Mars, the colonists are forced to fight for their freedom.
I’ve just started the third book, which will deal with the daughter of two of the kids from Book 2. She wants to be a singer. I predict she will end up fighting instead, as in each of the other books. I look forward to finding out if I’m right, however.
As I said, these books are good reads. Space opera without dwelling on the actual physics of the new power source, and Heinleinesque characters and situations. Pick up a copy (or the boxed set) and see for yourself.
