Rating: 
Summary: This had always been my aboslute favorite book ever!
Review: Sure there are many wonderful books out there, but I never got so into one as Steel Beach. I read it twice. Once three years ago, and again last year. The second time around was twice as good as the first. I highly recommend it along with his other works to any reader, sci-fi fan or not. It brings up more issues than years of news and documentarys and seriously gets you thinking.
Rating: 
Summary: John Varley fans will love it, others maybe...
Review: The main character of the book and Varley's central ideas are engaging. Varley's obsessions with sex (visible in some of his earlier work) continue throughout this book, where the character starts as a man and gets a sex change about a third of the way into the book.In somewhat Heinleinian fashion, Varley seems more interested in exploring ideas than actually moving a plot forward, giving the book an unfocused feel. The comparison to Heinlein is doubly apt because, while this is definitely NOT a Heinlein novel, there are tributes to Heinlein within it. Clearly the Varley doesn't see the world like Heinlein and yet he clearly admires Heinlein and draws inspiration from him; it would be hard not to see this book as something of a tribute to the older man. Sometimes a fun romp, sometimes pedantic, sometimes funny, often self-indulgent. If you like John Varley you'll probably like this a lot. Otherwise, if you're looking for a fun SF book that spends most of its time wandering around exploring ideas in science and philosophy you'll love this. If you're looking for a straightforward yarn with a tight plot and complex characters, look elsewhere. Fun, but no great shakes.
Rating:
Summary: One of my top-5 favorites of all time
Review: This book had me laughing out loud so many times my wife finally read it just to see what was so funny -- and she's not even a sci-fi fan (she loved this book, too). Varley's social commentary is so incredibly amusing and agonizingly accurate that it truly seems as if this were a very possible future for us. While the plot of this book can be a bit slow and wandering at times, the book itself is never boring. I highly disagree with other reviews on here stating that the characters are flat -- Hildy Johnson is, to me, a very believable character who engages my empathy and compassion. The only real problem I had with this book was the fact that it ended.
Rating:
Summary: Great beginning, poor follow-through
Review: This has one of the most audacious beginning lines--an opening worthy of Harlan Ellison, famous for his eyeball-kicking first lines. "The penis will be obsolete within 5 years." What a great line. Unfortunately, Steel Beach is downhill from there. It's a slow downhill slope, and I kept expecting for the novel to start moving upward as I was reading through it, but a downer it is. Somebody on rec.arts.sf.written had heard that this was a Heinlein pastiche, but couldn't reconcile that with their experience of Heinlein, because, they said, "Steel Beach was boring, filled with long monologues on immortality." Ha, I say. Name me a better description of Time Enough for Love, I dare you. In fact, if we compare Steel Beach with later Heinlein, Steel Beach really shines. There's enough thought and adventure here for any Heinlein fan who can stomach all the extraneous words. And, better yet, there's at least an ending here that is consistent with what went before. The conclusion is long and anti-climactic, but at least it is there, which is more than can be said about The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. Maybe I'm being rough on Varley. This novel came out against some stiff competition, including Connie Willis' wonderful Doomsday Book and Michael Bishop's satiric view on art in Count Geiger's Blues. Maybe--probably--I expected more after a ten-year hiatus. I should remind myself that Varley spent a large part of those ten years toiling in Hollywood, not necessarily conditions conducive to improving or even maintaining one's artistic merit. Maybe I should be thankful that Steel Beach isn't any worse than it is. And, if Varley's learned his lesson, maybe there won't be a ten-year gap before the next.
Rating:
Summary: One Of The Best Books I've Ever Read
Review: This is the best Science Fiction book I've ever read. This book gives you a great look in to what could be the not so distant future. Not one of Varley's usual types of book, though
Rating:
Summary: Why Is a Harsh Mistress Homage a Bad Idea?
Review: This is the first review i've ever bothered to write here.I've noticed no matter how bad a book is there's someone who just dosen't understand why.I've always laughed..until now.I loved this book.Most of the criticism seems to focus on the setting being ripped off from Heinlein;but seeing that there are entire SF series based on other writer's worlds why not Heinlein's as well?It's certainly more worthy then some others I've seen.The complaints about the plot and extraneous scenes I can understand more easily,but to me the main character IS the plot;rather what he(she) experiences and how it changes him(her)The science fiction element does seem kind of a front to make interesting things happen to her,though.There is soom goofy stuff thrown in..(dinosaur breeding,David the walking forest)but it's not nearly as bad as in the Gaean books, which seem to be adored.Anyway...I forgive all thanks to the main character gender/personality switch that occers halfway through.It's one of the most interesting and well done concepts I've ever seen in SF.I don't know why Tom Clancy (or his fans)would recommend this...It's one of those "people working out life" stories,not a "defeat terrorists with covert tactics" kind of thing.Oh,well.I enjoyed it very much.Now tell me why I,m wrong!
Rating: 
Summary: boring
Review: this is the worst Varley book i've ever read. btw, I'm a fan of his. it's too long & going no where. not being a fan of Heinlein does not help either.
Rating:
Summary: Varley By The Numbers
Review: This novel reads as if it was written to fulfill a contractual obligation. Sloppy, passionless, and ultimately pointless. Hopefully, the new novel to be published this fall will represent a return to form for this once passionate visionary.
Rating:
Summary: Rewarding (Varley always is), but overlong
Review: Varley is always worth reading, but STEEL BEACH is somewhat draggy and overlong. Probably this results from the fact that its protagonist is not particularly likable--at some point I lost interest in the book's primary focus, which is what is going on in his/her psyche. Varley's universe is a compelling one, with many interesting concepts. Unfortunately, many of those in this book have been introduced elsewhere in short stories. I think STEEL BEACH might have made a good novella.
Rating:
Summary: John Varley is the best of the best
Review: Varley is not upbeat. He is not little trolls or faeries with gossamer wings. Varley can be man and woman, flesh and machine, human and god. If you want to read without thinking, stick to fantasy; If you want your grey matter stimulated, Varley!!!!
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