Posted on 06/23/2006 10:43:25 PM PDT by narses
One book I won't be reading.
Actually, this was one of the books that Heinlein deliberately chose *not* to write, IIRC. See the postscript to _Revolt In 2100_, "Concerning Stories Never Written."
Variable Star was *never* supposed to see the light of day.
Nor I. Too much respect for medically-retired Naval officer Heinlein.
Spider Robinson, you ignorant slut.
thanks for posting this review.
interesting tidbit.
I hope that the Heinlein estate or the ownwer of the Heinlein literary name has the good sense to fire this loser and either start from scratch or do some judicious editing.
I have read every available thing Heinlein ever wrote, but i won't be reading that abortion.
Hard to believe something that plain could be bungled that badly.
I specially like this part:
"... there were probably less than a hundred [muslims] that rabid, and by definition they were so profoundly stupid ..."
That atrocious fiction could not have been more egregiously treasonous than if it had been written or paid for directly by Saudi Arabia!
I'll pass, I've read all of Heinlein's books several times. By his own standard this is not one of his books.
That the book "reads" like Heinlein makes my point: A writer with a distinct, individual style wouldn't be spending his time mimicking someone else.
One of Heinlein's comments on the rise of Nehemiah Scudder, from the same post script.
"The first of these unwritten stories, 'The Sound Of His Wings', starts shortly before 'Logic Of Empire' and continues for several years beyonf the ending of 'Logic'; it would have recounted the early life, rise as a television evangelist, and subsequent political career of the Reverend Nehemiah Scudder, the "First Prophet," President of the United States, and destroyer of its Constitution, founder of the Theocracy."
Elsewhere in the series, he explains why this story will remain unwritten (but it's evidently been plotted out at the time of writing) forever. This is probably the passage that Robinson drew his source material from.
The problem is that he completely ignores something from three paragraphs earlier!
"This present Volume Three starts about seventy-five years later than the end of the last story in Volume Two - and a great amount of "Future History" has taken place between the two volumes [Volume 2 was 'Green Hills Of Earth', Volume 3 is 'Revolt in 2100' - edit mine]. 'Green Hills' ended with [pay attention now -] the United States a leading power in a systemwide imperialism embracing all the habitable planets."
Scudder's rise and the end of interplanetary flight came WELL after what Robinson proposes. Robinson broke canon.
Great reference. If Heinlein "abandoned it", hre did so because he didn't like it. I hate this recent practice of resurrecting dead novelists anyway. Robert Ludlum, Lawrence Sanders, and a host of other long-deceased writers seem to have left stockpiles of "manuscripts" for no-name authors to "put the finishing touches on".
I love "Glory Road." When I first heard of the recent movie of the same name, I suffered a moment of panic-stricken nausea at the prospect of some sodomitic Hollyweird pudknocker trying to turn it into a movie.
Thank God that wasn't the case.
Now I understand why C. S. Lewis left orders that his papers be burned upon his death.
They did a fairly good job with Puppet Masters - but it got crushed by the premiere of Stargate at the box office.
Time Travellers Strictly Hack Garbage.
I can imagine what Heinlein would say about the current crop on the left, and it wouldn't be pretty.
I just went back and reread the entire postscript - and I missed something. This further damns Robinson's idea.
"I imagined Nehemiah Scudder as a backwoods evangelist who combined some of the features of John Calvin, Savonarola, Judge Rutherford and Huey Long. His influence was not national until after the death of Mrs. Rachel Biggs, an early convert who had the single virtue of being the widow of an extremely wealthy man who shared none of her religious myopia - she left Brother Scudder several millions of dollars with which to establish a television station. Shortly thereafter he teamed up with an ex-Senator from his home state; they placed their affairs in the hands of a major advertising agency and were on their way to fame and fortune. Presently they needed stormtroopers; they revived the Ku Klux Klan in everything but the name - sheets, passwords, grips and all. It was a 'good gimmick' once and it still served. Blood at the polls and blood in the streets, but Scudder won the election. The next election was never held."
Game, set, match, I should think.
FYI, Heinlein was a Reagan Democrat and had nothing but contempt for Jimmah, IIRC.
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