Rating: 
Summary: One of the most memorable protagonists you'll ever meet
Review: A new novel from John Varley is a cause for celebration, as well as a reminder that it's probably time to get your booster shots renewed--every five or six years is their typical spacing nowadays. The wait is well worth it, however: _Globe_ is thrilling, richly-detailed, inventive, memorable... and occasionally science fiction. Only occasionally. Even though it's set in John Varley's universe, where one's body is as easy to change as one's makeup, and humans live almost everywhere in the solar system because they were kicked off the Earth, this book is much less involved with the ramifications and repercussions of nifty technologies than some of his previous stories and novels are. Instead, Globe is more concerned with characters. Most of them are the main character. Kenneth Valentine, alias K.C., alias Sparky, alias Dodger, alias Carson Dyle, alias Eustace McGargle, is one of the more memorable figures you're ever likely to find in science fiction, an actor/businessman/actor/con-artist/actor, and _Globe_ is a tale of the Stage Life. From frantic backstage disaster-recovery to stupid omnipotent studio heads, the book shows off the extremes encountered in the life of a star of stage and screen. There's a fair number of future features tossed in for verisimilitude, but most of this book could have been a work of regular old fiction, a journey told in flashbacks and side-jaunts leading to Sparky's Performance of a Lifetime. Along the way, we encounter the Bank Examiner swindle, the ghost of Jimmy Stewart, a formidable hit man from a planet of psychopaths, and the most enviable piece of furniture since Terry Pratchett's Luggage. It's a fantastic story, and one that's over much too soon--in fact, too soon for its own good. The last hundred pages feel rushed, as if an editor were holding Varley to a page limit (or, more likely, as if Varley was bound and determined to get this book finished and published and out of his In Progress pile already... maybe he realized he was approaching his next vaccination appointment). Still, what's here is wonderful enough to ease regrets over what is missing. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, but not like early Varley
Review: I keep reading Varley because I liked his earlier work so much. This one is my least favorite thus far. I'd have liked Valentine a lot better if his tone (and penchant for quoting theater and film) weren't exactly Hildy's in Steel Beach--put a paragraph of each side by side and you probably won't be able to differentiate between them. The editing seemed poor--to make one small but important point, "prop" guns that fire would clearly have been forbidden on Luna in Steel Beach, but elicit no outcry in this volume. In some ways, the very end of the book recycles the end of Steel Beach. I assume Varley's next will be Heinleiners in Space.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing because Varley *can* be so damned good.
Review: I've been a John Varley fan from way, way back. In particular, I've read every single Eight Worlds story that's ever seen print, including all the hard-to-find short stories. When I saw this at the bookstore, I leapt at the chance to buy it right that minute. Alas, I was disappointed. In retrospect, it wasn't so much that it was a bad novel, per se, though it certainly had more than a few hack plots, but that I've come to expect so very much more from Varley. Varley has always been one of the Big Vision writers, of the sort that Heinlein (who he's unfortunately started to emulate in style), Egan, and Niven are (or were). When I crack open a Varley book, I expect to have my sense of wonder expanded. I don't expect cutsey comments, from the protaganist to the type-setter, about the way that italics are used. I want new vistas, not "Gangsters in Space". I want to read about new social and political solutions, not warmed-over Libertarianism with a Heinleinian gloss. In short, I want something better than I got. With the exception of the segment of the book set on Oberon II (an artificial world being made from the Uranian moon Oberon where, among other things, the buildings move around over time), most of the science fiction concentrated on themes that have been done (and often done to death). Again, if this were another writer, I might be more forgiving, but dammit, John Varley is better than this and I've learned to expect more. I'd certainly recommend picking this up. Aside from the central character's sometimes over-the-top rougishness, it's a solid piece of science fiction, but it's also run of the mill in most respects.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books that I have read in years...
Review: It is difficult to find a good book. By a good book, I mean an engaging book that you have trouble putting down, that makes you laugh out loud and a book that you will think about for years afterward. Golden Globe, in my opinion is a good book because it elicited all of the above in me. That hasn't happened in a long time. I accidentally stumbled onto another Varley novel, Steel Beach, several years ago. It was a weird and challenging read but I loved every second. A Whole culture is created with only a few passing remarks about the past and a vivid, gee-whiz description of the era in which the story is set. The characters have depth; there is a great story and quite a few laughs. I danced for joy when I found Golden Globe. I knew it would be good and it was. In the world of Steel Beach, Mr. Varley created some great characters -a boy, his father and a hitman; not to forget some great supporting characters. The story was not overly complicated but it didn't need to be -the characters were! The environments where the characters found themselves were described beautifully, with enough details and reasonable explanations to keep it all moving with out getting boring. When I picked up Golden Globe, I was expecting a book about someone being chased. Then I thought that the author just wanted to write about the future of Hollywood child exploitation. Then I realized it was a book about a very interesting person being chased. While it's not your typical spoon-fed science fiction novel of daring space pilots and cruel aliens, it will definitely take the reader along on an incredible journey!
Rating: 
Summary: Not THAT Great -- Not Bad, Though
Review: Looking at some of the other reviews of "The Golden Globe" here, it appears that most readers reacted either very positively or very negatively. I'm going to try to stake out some ground in the middle. I wouldn't characterize this book as "great" or a "must read". I thought some aspects of the future solar system society, as depicted here, were laughable. For example, as the story opens, Kenneth "Sparky" Valentine is a sometime actor/sometime con man traveling the outer reaches of the solar system as part of a traveling acting troupe. When he flees this outfit, he has a difficult time getting away because of the expense of interplanetary travel. And it would be expensive. Several months of food alone would cost a small fortune. Under such circumstances, how would a third rate traveling theatrical troupe survive? They'd never make enough to pay their expenses. That aspect aside, the first part of this book was slow. The lengthy flashbacks to Sparky's salad days were too lengthy. There was too little action. Nor did I need two or three hundred pages to get the idea of what John Valentine is like. The pseudo showbiz articles and reviews (especially the ones written in 23rd century valley-girlspeak) are especially tedious, and quickly become way too cutesy. Too many pages are spent on the showbiz aspect. Only when the Charonese Mafia appears do things get really interesting, and even they are just too nasty and relentless to be believable. On the other hand, I thought Sparky and the other principal characters were well conceived and believable. Sparky's wit and patter were enjoyable. Best of all, the last 150 or 200 pages got much more engaging. The main storyline is intriguing enough, and after slogging through the first two thirds, the final third of the book (when things got down to business) went by quickly. The bottom line on "The Golden Globe"? I ended up more satisfied with it than I expected, but it is longer than it should be and it has some other shortcomings. Not the best scifi I've read, not even the best book I've read by Varley, but it was OK. I felt that I should rate it somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. In the end, I decided to give it 4 stars, but be advised that this is a soft 4 stars (it would be 3.6 or 3.7). That's a tepid recommendation, so if you don't like it, don't blame me.
Rating:
Summary: This book is torture
Review: Looking at some of the other reviews of "The Golden Globe" here, it appears that most readers reacted either very positively or very negatively. I'm going to try to stake out some ground in the middle. I wouldn't characterize this book as "great" or a "must read". I thought some aspects of the future solar system society, as depicted here, were laughable. For example, as the story opens, Kenneth "Sparky" Valentine is a sometime actor/sometime con man traveling the outer reaches of the solar system as part of a traveling acting troupe. When he flees this outfit, he has a difficult time getting away because of the expense of interplanetary travel. And it would be expensive. Several months of food alone would cost a small fortune. Under such circumstances, how would a third rate traveling theatrical troupe survive? They'd never make enough to pay their expenses. That aspect aside, the first part of this book was slow. The lengthy flashbacks to Sparky's salad days were too lengthy. There was too little action. Nor did I need two or three hundred pages to get the idea of what John Valentine is like. The pseudo showbiz articles and reviews (especially the ones written in 23rd century valley-girlspeak) are especially tedious, and quickly become way too cutesy. Too many pages are spent on the showbiz aspect. Only when the Charonese Mafia appears do things get really interesting, and even they are just too nasty and relentless to be believable. On the other hand, I thought Sparky and the other principal characters were well conceived and believable. Sparky's wit and patter were enjoyable. Best of all, the last 150 or 200 pages got much more engaging. The main storyline is intriguing enough, and after slogging through the first two thirds, the final third of the book (when things got down to business) went by quickly. The bottom line on "The Golden Globe"? I ended up more satisfied with it than I expected, but it is longer than it should be and it has some other shortcomings. Not the best scifi I've read, not even the best book I've read by Varley, but it was OK. I felt that I should rate it somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. In the end, I decided to give it 4 stars, but be advised that this is a soft 4 stars (it would be 3.6 or 3.7). That's a tepid recommendation, so if you don't like it, don't blame me.
Rating:
Summary: Sci-Fi and Theater Lovers, This is for You!
Review: The allusions to Shakespear's works and parody of early Hollywood studios make this an unusual and delightful romp through futuristic solar system. The tongue-in-cheek dialogue kept me chuckling throughout the book. I hope J. Varley writes a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: draws you in as you go
Review: The Golden Globe is a fairly good read. It starts off slow and then builds. About 1/4 of the way thru the book it starts jumping around in the guy's life between now (he is 90) and his childhood / adult hood. It gets confusing at times, especially when it changes from 3rd person to 1st person. However, by the halfway point, the book is defintely moving on and has you hooked. And, it has another common thread of Heinlein's The moon is a harsh mistress, he talks to sentient computers all over the place.
Rating:
Summary: draws you in as you go
Review: The Golden Globe is a fairly good read. It starts off slow and then builds. About 1/4 of the way thru the book it starts jumping around in the guy's life between now (he is 90) and his childhood / adult hood. It gets confusing at times, especially when it changes from 3rd person to 1st person. However, by the halfway point, the book is defintely moving on and has you hooked. And, it has another common thread of Heinlein's The moon is a harsh mistress, he talks to sentient computers all over the place.
Rating:
Summary: well done but a rip-off
Review: The Golden Globe, the story of stage and child actor Kenneth "sparky" Valentine is an interesting and well written story. I throughly enjoyed reading it with only two exceptions. First, That it is really only Science fiction in a very offhand way. The backround is futuristic but story really isn't. the main problem I have with this novel is that it appears to me that this story is a blatant rip-off of the Robert Heinlein novel Double Star. The "sparky" character in the golden globe and the "lorenzo the great" character in double star draw too close a parallel to be a coincidence. also the milleu is similar. A solar system wide civilization with luna being the center of power and culture. While The Golden Globe is a good story and is in my opinion a bit more developed than Double Star (The Golden Globe is approx. three times the legnth of Double Star.)I hate to see such an obvious theft of story line.
Michael
|
