Reading
I started this book about May 20, 2005. I finished in on May 25,
2005. There was a break between this book in the last as I started
to read several books that turned out not to be interesting.
Specs
Varley, John, Red Thunder,
published by Ace Books, New York, New York, in 2003. This is from
the Central Resource Library. This is a fiction book. (John Varley
is the same age I am.)
Overview
This is about the first trip to Mars. A group of four young
adults (19-21) almost run over an ex-astronaut on the beach. At this
time there are almost daily launches. The year is not given, but the
is short turn futuristic fiction.
The astronaut was drummed out of the astronaut corp because he is
an alcoholic. He was known because of saving a crew on a landing in
Africa, which would have crashed but he had a gun on board, and shot
a hole in the spacecraft. Another time he was drunk and landed a
ship at the Atlanta airport, almost hitting a plane. He much be
older.
The kids dry him out. In doing so they discover he has a cousin
who was almost killed by his fundamentalist
father, who was declared innocent by reason of insanity, and lives at
a mental institution. One of the children's
parents had her father kill her mother, so he is serving time. The
protagonist (one of the kids) is Hispanic-white, and therefore is out
of touch with both his grandparents due to racism. His father tried
to make some money in a drug deal, and was killed. The fourth one
has a very rich father, who sells cars, but is very self absorbed.
The cousin (Jabal) is really a genius, although he is almost
autistic. He creates things, and the ex-astronaut (Travis) sells
them. Jabal can create many things, but has no concept of what their
worth, or what they can be used for. One thing he invents is a
"squeezer." The protagonist (Manny) discovers one, and is taken
into the confidence of Jabal and Travis. (Actually, Travis is
Jabal's legal guardian since Jabal is legally incompetent. Recall
the autism.) The balls are a kind of force field that Jabal thought
might be almost indestructible Christmas Tree ornaments.
They actually can be used to create a very powerful rocket engine.
The main plot involves a race with the Chinese to Mars. The
homemade rocket is built from railroad cars, and beats the Chinese to
Mars, even though they leave just a few days before the Chinese land
on Mars.
The plot on this book is not always sequential. One chapter (15)
is, honestly, out order, as we have the group renting a warehouse
before the reason for the warehouse is explained.
It is also written in the first person. There are several
grammatical errors. Of course, when Jabal speaks, his language is
very twisted (acceptable) but I noticed several places where the
there are too many and's. For example, "Kelly and Alicia, and
Jabal" and the like.
Having lived in an Hispanic community, I wonder if the author
isn't Hispanic.
It also tends to be a bit of a red-neck story. That is, that is
the circles these people move in. Fundamentalist Christians are
viewed as being slightly crazy (or very crazy depending on the
person).
Also, the author probably understands Newton's theory, because he
talks of going from Earth to Mars in three and a half day, which I
have shown to be correct. However, he does not understand the
specifics of Relativity, as he talks of going almost anywhere in the
galaxy in one year apparent time. While qualitatively correct, it is
not quantitatively correct, as I have shown that a trip to Alpha
Centuri would that 3 and a half years apparent time. At the end
(last paragraph) he has people traveling to many local stars.
This also has people who are very suspicious of the government.
For example, when the president asks them to land at Andrews Air
Force base, the people just say "no,' for the stated reason that
they don't trust the government. Instead, they land at Disney World
where they can be observed by millions of people, so the government
can't run a coverup.
This book spends a lot of time doing character development,
although it is mixed with some action.
A biography of John Varley (http://www.varley.net/Home.htm)
shows he has been around, although as I suspected, he grow up in the
south. Also, he wrote "Millenium" (the movie) although the site
says he didn't really like it.
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