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Liked It “A pretty good space opera-ish book. A very easy read and while it does cram some science facts into the story, it does so in a fairly easy to understand way. I think my only real ding against what was an enjoyable story was that what seemed to be the major plot line, the crystals, doesn't seem to...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “I love Varley's characters - he fleshes them out nicely and has little difficulty making them sympathetic. But the storyline was very fitful in this one - lots of setup, a dozen or so pages of action, and most of the rest just aftermath. Throw in a tease for the next volume at the end, and you...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“A pretty good space opera-ish book. A very easy read and while it does cram some science facts into the story, it does so in a fairly easy to understand way. I think my only real ding against what was an enjoyable story was that what seemed to be the major plot line, the crystals, doesn't seem to go anywhere. But perhaps in the next book, if he writes one.”
Stephen M wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Great story - this is John Varley at his finest. Just when you think you know what's going on, WHAM! He changes the story on you. He continues to amaze me in this book. Great end (?) to the trilogy.”
Albigensia wrote this review Monday, July 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Varley's "Black Bubble" series shoves its "Heinlein lite" status in your face with this one. It reads in many ways like one of RLH's late books where he jammed his earlier works together with characters from novels that had influenced his work. Here Varley gives us Podkayne and her little brother (our Poddy's brother is an orphan Martian named Mike), the spaceship from "Orphans of the Sky" from is now named "Rolling Thunder," the Black Bubbles give us our time travel or stasis thread from works like "The Door into Summer," and Jubal (where've I heard that name before?) Broussard is the spitting image of Andrew Jackson Libby in many regards.
Anthony A wrote this review Thursday, July 24 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
BUT, Varley can write! And his homage is a sincere recreation of RLH's style, not a clumsy fanfic effort. His writing compels you stay reading and although the ending feels like it should simply read: TO BE CONTINUED, the book stands as an complete work, although not so complete as the previous works in the series did. I will definitely read the next book.”“I love Varley's characters - he fleshes them out nicely and has little difficulty making them sympathetic. But the storyline was very fitful in this one - lots of setup, a dozen or so pages of action, and most of the rest just aftermath. Throw in a tease for the next volume at the end, and you have what amounts to a place holder in an otherwise entertaining series.”
Jim B wrote this review Monday, June 23 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Lieutenant Patricia Kelly Elizabeth Podkayne Strickland-Garcia-Redmond (otherwise known as Podkayne) is a Martian, a human born on Mars. While serving out her military term on a toasty Earth things suddenly change. A higher-up gets her an audition with the Martian Navy and she passes! You see, the Martian Navy has its own entertainment division--musicians and the like. Life is hard enough when you're trying to be the "next big thing", but Podkayne quickly learns that being a singer in the Martian Navy, even with a little bit of fame under your belt, doesn't mean you can get a free ticket to safety-planet. She might just find herself in a bit of trouble!
Arconna wrote this review Thursday, May 8 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The one thing I have to say about Varley's Rolling Thunder is that it isn't like other science fiction novels I have read. What I mean is this: rather than dealing entirely with major events and characters reacting to them from a personal standpoint, Rolling Thunder is about the lives of characters doing what people would be doing in the world presented. There isn't really a whole lot of war here, though some does take place. We're presented with Podkayne, and that's where we stay. We follow her through her life doing what we might all assume to be regular everyday things in a future human time when we've (humankind) moved off and colonized the majority of the solar system. Most of the nitty gritty stuff we're familiar with in SF takes place in the background (that's not to say I don't like the nitty gritty stuff, just that this novel really does move away from all of that).
Varley's style is different than I'm used to. Rolling Thunder is written in first person, but some of it feels very much like stream of consciousness. In the beginning it bugged me, but it sort of grew on me as the novel progressed. I think a lot of my initial reactions to the beginning were influenced by my assumption that this would be more in the vein of techy/war-based SF, when this novel clearly isn't that. The beginning does move a little slow though, but once you get into it and get used to the style it really is an enjoyable read. Podkayne's comments are rather humorous (or Varley's comments, if you want to take the fun out of pretending Podkayne is a real person) and descriptions of things (technological and otherwise) are more often than not unobtrusive in the sense that they actually add to the story rather than pull you out of it (these would be sections that would otherwise be labeled as "telling", but seem to work well enough in almost all cases).
The black bubbles are probably the coolest thing invented in an SF novel in a long time. "Black bubbles" sounds funny because it should and because they are, gasp, black bubbles. In Varley's future, people use them as a way of putting themselves in a form of stasis. The bubbles actually freeze time for the person. You can put anything into them. You want to save a piece of that really good chocolate cake you're eating for when you're 90? Okay, put a black bubble around it and open it up later! That cake will be just as fresh as when you put it in the bubble. Are you sick and dying? Put yourself in a bubble and when they have a cure or a way to fix you the doctors can pull you out and do so. And, guess what, they work almost instantly! Now that's cool technology!
I would consider this a novel for those that aren't necessarily SF nuts and also a new SFnal look for those of us who are well versed. If you want something that has some of the flashiness of SF, but without all the war, the governments going haywire, dystopian scary bits, and the like, then you should seriously take a look. Yes, there are dystopian elements in the novel, and there is some darkness, but the way in which it is portrayed is different from other novels. We learn everything through Podkayne and a vast majority of it doesn't directly affect her. Mostly she remarks on the happenings as they occur elsewhere, if that makes sense, which is somewhat refreshing. There is a good bit of optimism here and while pessimism is fine in SF it is always nice to get a taste of something else. That's sort of how I would describe this: a taste of something else. I mean that in a good way, of course.
So, if you're looking for something a little different from what you're used to in SF, then this might be what you're looking for. If you don't usually read SF, then maybe this would be a good starter novel for you. It's accessible to a wide range of audiences, or at least I think so, and who knows, maybe this could be the novel that gets those of you who've never really liked SF to change your mind!”
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