{"id":621,"date":"2007-08-06T01:57:06","date_gmt":"2007-08-06T05:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=621"},"modified":"2018-08-16T21:33:49","modified_gmt":"2018-08-17T01:33:49","slug":"15143-%c2%a0%c2%a0-robert-a-heinlein-spider-robinson-variable-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=621","title":{"rendered":"15143. (Robert A. Heinlein &<\/span> Spider Robinson) Variable Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the 2003 World Sci\u00adence Fic\u00adtion Con\u00adven\u00adtion in Toron\u00adto, it was revealed that an out\u00adline exist\u00aded for a nov\u00adel that Robert Hein\u00adlein had cho\u00adsen not to write. The out\u00adline, pre\u00adpared in 1955, was detailed. It cried out to be com\u00adpleted, and vet\u00aderan sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion writer Spi\u00adder Robin\u00adson was assigned the task. Vari\u00adable Star<\/em>, is the result.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>I think that sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion is in the mid\u00addle of a process of self-destruc\u00adtion. While the glob\u00adal read\u00ading pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion has been expand\u00ading, the sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion shelves in the book\u00adstores have been shrink\u00ading. It is now almost impos\u00adsi\u00adble for a new writer to break into the field, and edi\u00adto\u00adr\u00adial poli\u00adcies are increas\u00adingly con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive and for\u00admu\u00adlaic. At the same time, there\u2019s a per\u00adva\u00adsive recy\u00adcling of old mate\u00adr\u00adial. One of the most annoy\u00ading activ\u00adi\u00adties is the pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion of end\u00adless sequels to old works, some\u00adtimes writ\u00adten by oth\u00aders after the death of the author, or works \u201cset in the uni\u00adverse of\u201d an estab\u00adlished clas\u00adsic. Baroque styl\u00adis\u00adtic con\u00advo\u00adlu\u00adtions are pre\u00adferred. We have entered a kind of Hel\u00adlenis\u00adtic Alexan\u00addria, where the dead out\u00adrank the liv\u00ading and clev\u00ader\u00adness con\u00adsists of say\u00ading what has been said before, only in a more con\u00adfus\u00ading and duller way.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, nor\u00admally, I would not both\u00ader read\u00ading some\u00adthing like this. I assume that if some great writer in the past didn\u2019t both\u00ader com\u00adplet\u00ading a project, he prob\u00ada\u00adbly had good rea\u00adson not to do so. But this is dif\u00adfer\u00adent. It\u2019s Hein\u00adlein. And the posthu\u00admous col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtor is Spi\u00adder Robin\u00adson, a writer for whom I have some respect. I know a lot about Heinlein\u2019s per\u00adsonal life and habits, from help\u00ading out his biog\u00adra\u00adpher in some research and proof\u00adread\u00ading. My curios\u00adity, in this case, was cat-like.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m hap\u00adpy to say that I was not dis\u00adap\u00adpointed. Robin\u00adson did a fine job. First of all, his style is in the same ball park as Heinlein\u2019s, but notice\u00adably dif\u00adfer\u00adent. It\u2019s more sen\u00adsu\u00adous and ambigu\u00adous in tim\u00adbre, like a sax\u00ado\u00adphone, while Heinlein\u2019s is an unam\u00adbigu\u00adous clar\u00adinet. It\u2019s clear that Robin\u00adson was some\u00adtimes specif\u00adi\u00adcally try\u00ading to mim\u00adic Heinlein\u2019s style\u2026. but not always. You can go through the work and pick out para\u00adgraphs and sen\u00adtences and tag them as \u201cHein\u00adleinesque\u201d or \u201cRobin\u00adson\u00adian\u201d, which one would think would be annoy\u00ading, but in this case works quite well. I found myself get\u00adting plea\u00adsure from the inter\u00adplay. (If sax and clar\u00adinet sound like an odd com\u00adbo for you, check out some of the tran\u00adscrip\u00adtions of Mozart that have been done that com\u00adbo. They\u2019re charming.).<\/span><\/p>\n

I won\u2019t describe the sto\u00adry, because it does have devel\u00adop\u00adments which should not be spoiled for the read\u00ader. I can see why Hein\u00adlein aban\u00addoned the project. Not because it was a bad idea, but because it con\u00adtained too many good ideas. Its var\u00adi\u00adous com\u00adpo\u00adnents were best worked out in more than one book, and you can plain\u00adly see how they were sub\u00adse\u00adquently used in Time for the Stars<\/em>, and Cit\u00adi\u00adzen of the Galaxy<\/em>. The book has a teenage pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist, and was prob\u00ada\u00adbly intend\u00aded for his series of \u201cjuve\u00adniles\u201d pub\u00adlished by Scribner\u2019s. But the sub\u00adject mat\u00adter was too grim, and the implied sex\u00adu\u00adal\u00adity to obvi\u00adous, for Scribner\u2019s to have accept\u00aded in the mid 1950\u2019s. Hein\u00adlein had encoun\u00adtered aggra\u00advat\u00ading edi\u00adto\u00adr\u00adial prud\u00adery for much less, and had already expand\u00aded the bub\u00adble to near the burst\u00ading point.<\/span><\/p>\n

As with the style, there are scenes and details that are clear\u00adly not Heinlein\u2019s. As the book pro\u00adgresses, it becomes more and more a Spi\u00adder Robin\u00adson book. Frankly, this is for the best. The Hein\u00adlein com\u00adpo\u00adnents, by neces\u00adsity, could hold no real sur\u00adprises. In his post\u00adscript, Robin\u00adson speaks of Heinlein\u2019s ghost\u00adly pre\u00adsence while he was writ\u00ading it, but ghosts are, after all, only mem\u00adory, and Hein\u00adlein is dead. Robin\u00adson is a liv\u00ading man, and his voice comes, not from the cool mists of Nifl\u00adheim, but from the warm sun of Geor\u00adgia Straight. The parts that were most clear\u00adly Robinson\u2019s \u2014 the musi\u00adcal sec\u00adtions, in par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar \u2014 pleased me most. I\u2019m sure that most pur\u00adchasers of the book will file it under H. My copy will be in the Rs.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the 2003 World Sci\u00adence Fic\u00adtion Con\u00adven\u00adtion in Toron\u00adto, it was revealed that an out\u00adline exist\u00aded for a nov\u00adel that Robert Hein\u00adlein had cho\u00adsen not to write. The out\u00adline, pre\u00adpared in 1955, was detailed. It cried out to be completed, \u2026<\/p>\n

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