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This book is, above all, a tribute to Bob Heinlein and his "juvenile"
novels. The plot is a lot like Rocketship Gallelleo's "let's build a
spaceship in the backyard," plot. (OK, it was the Mohave desert, but Varley's
kids don't really build their's in the back yard either.) I spotted a lot of the kids'
names as being from various Heinlein books, as well. The dedication is to Heinlein
and others.
Having said all that, this book has everything it takes to make it on its own!
If you had never heard of Robert Anson Heinlein, you would still get an enormous
amount of enjoyment from reading it -- you just wouldn't get any of the little
"inside jokes" that John has included.
Basically, the story begins when a group a star-struck kids almost runs over a
retired astronaut who is laid out drunk on the beach (in Florida, of course). They
decide to take him home and meet his idiot-savant cousin. From there, the plot takes
off -- headed for Mars at break-neck speed. How the kids and the astronaut manage to
put things together and get everything to work is typical John Varley "Heinleiner"
inventiveness.
This is not only an excellent adventure story, but I wish it were really true! John,
keep up the good work!
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