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Basic test [yes/no:]: Would I recommend you read this book or not. Was it worth the few hours spent reading it? Am I pleased that I spent the time reading it? --- Yes ---
This was a fun read. You have to suspend disbelief a bit, but it was fun to get thru. A homemade spaceship to Mars, whats not to like.
I am a little embarrassed to have enjoyed this book and its first sequel as much as I did, but they were just such a fun read. The ideas and technical descriptions of some of the technology used were fun to read about. I found the pacing of the story to be great and while some of the characters weren't the most fleshed out, some of them were just fun to read about. This is one of the few books that, when I finished, I got on the library website and reserved the sequel.
First in the Red young adult science fiction series set in a futuristic Florida.
The Story
We start with the four best friends, Manny, Kelly, Dak, and Alicia watching the Mars-bound VentureStar rocket take off with its Ares-Seven crew. It's a special event for the four as both Manny and Dak dream about going into space. This summer they are, okay, so they're trying to, studying hard to pass their online college courses. Online because neither of them can afford to go to a real college. But that night changes their lives when they almost run over a drunk, Travis, on the beach. A drunk who turns out to be an ex-astronaut with a brilliant but messed-up brother, Jubal, who has invented perpetual energy.
A fuel source that can power a rocket forever. A rocket the six of them decide to build when Jubal does the math and realizes that the Ares-Seven is probably never returning to Earth. Its design flaws will either cause them to be shipwrecked on Mars or sent off at a tangent into the stars. While it hurts Travis to think of this happening to his ex-wife, one of the Ares-Seven crew, the fact that the Chinese rocket which also launched for Mars is likely to arrive on Mars first is the kicker that fuels them into action.
My Take
I loved this story! It's all underdogs who make good thumbing their noses at the Establishment. Four just-out-of-high-school students, an idiot savant, and a drunk of an ex-astronaut plan to build a rocket and reach Mars in two months using off-the-shelf materials.
A good chunk of the story is a shopping list of buying and building that will crack you up. The last bit is of their flight, the confrontation with the Chinese and how they outmaneuver the politics ending with the rescue of Ares-Seven and their life afterwards. A great story for the maverick reader. I cannot wait to dive into Red Lightning. I am dying to know how these characters carry on.
For all that, this was a very back-and-forth story. The prologue started in the future while the main story started in the past and we kept leap-frogging back and forth. It did sort of make sense—I normally hate this sort of thing, but Varney made it follow-able at the same time that he used it to make the story more interesting.
The Cover
The cover epitomizes the story: the building plans for Red Thunder under their crew badge.
The Story
We start with the four best friends, Manny, Kelly, Dak, and Alicia watching the Mars-bound VentureStar rocket take off with its Ares-Seven crew. It's a special event for the four as both Manny and Dak dream about going into space. This summer they are, okay, so they're trying to, studying hard to pass their online college courses. Online because neither of them can afford to go to a real college. But that night changes their lives when they almost run over a drunk, Travis, on the beach. A drunk who turns out to be an ex-astronaut with a brilliant but messed-up brother, Jubal, who has invented perpetual energy.
A fuel source that can power a rocket forever. A rocket the six of them decide to build when Jubal does the math and realizes that the Ares-Seven is probably never returning to Earth. Its design flaws will either cause them to be shipwrecked on Mars or sent off at a tangent into the stars. While it hurts Travis to think of this happening to his ex-wife, one of the Ares-Seven crew, the fact that the Chinese rocket which also launched for Mars is likely to arrive on Mars first is the kicker that fuels them into action.
My Take
I loved this story! It's all underdogs who make good thumbing their noses at the Establishment. Four just-out-of-high-school students, an idiot savant, and a drunk of an ex-astronaut plan to build a rocket and reach Mars in two months using off-the-shelf materials.
A good chunk of the story is a shopping list of buying and building that will crack you up. The last bit is of their flight, the confrontation with the Chinese and how they outmaneuver the politics ending with the rescue of Ares-Seven and their life afterwards. A great story for the maverick reader. I cannot wait to dive into Red Lightning. I am dying to know how these characters carry on.
For all that, this was a very back-and-forth story. The prologue started in the future while the main story started in the past and we kept leap-frogging back and forth. It did sort of make sense—I normally hate this sort of thing, but Varney made it follow-able at the same time that he used it to make the story more interesting.
The Cover
The cover epitomizes the story: the building plans for Red Thunder under their crew badge.
Fun premise. Awful execution. So boring. Can’t get into it. Gave it 200 pages.
This was a light mental break from everything. Red Thunder tries to follow the "one magic item rule" for science fiction. But goodness, their item is very overpowered.
Characters:
Kid who likes cars
Kid who is half cuban
Kid whose dad is an asshole car dealer.
Kid who I forgot about.
Drunk Uncle Astronaut
And a character people actively call R#@$&.
Characters:
Kid who likes cars
Kid who is half cuban
Kid whose dad is an asshole car dealer.
Kid who I forgot about.
Drunk Uncle Astronaut
And a character people actively call R#@$&.
This is a good book. That being said, it is also BY FAR the most “normal” thing I’ve ever read by John Varley, like… by a lot. That isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing, but it’s certainly notable, because if you’re used to Varley’s work this might come across as pretty… bland?
Red Thunder is set in the present and is essentially about a group of young adult friends (which is no coincidence considering this book is Varley’s first YA novel) who—upon discovering a new technology that allows infinite fuel/energy/power—try to build their own spaceship and beat China (and the US) to be the first people on Mars. It’s full of heart and has a wonderful sense of adventure but, most notably as a big Varley fan, lacks any of his usual “out there” ideas. Again though, I don’t think that’s an issue for the book itself, merely with my own expectations.
The only real trouble I had with Red Thunder is that it takes soooo long to pick up the pace. The first 1/3rd of the book is entirely focused on characterization, they don’t even kick off the actual plot until 150 pages in. That’s not to say the first part of the book is bad, but it’s pretty unnecessary; he probably could have removed 90% of the first 1/3rd and it would have improved the pacing a lot.
It’s certainly not my favorite Varley novel, but it’s still a Varley novel and with that comes a guarantee of a good time, and this is no exception. Nobody infects me with the excitement of science fiction quite like Varley.
Red Thunder is set in the present and is essentially about a group of young adult friends (which is no coincidence considering this book is Varley’s first YA novel) who—upon discovering a new technology that allows infinite fuel/energy/power—try to build their own spaceship and beat China (and the US) to be the first people on Mars. It’s full of heart and has a wonderful sense of adventure but, most notably as a big Varley fan, lacks any of his usual “out there” ideas. Again though, I don’t think that’s an issue for the book itself, merely with my own expectations.
The only real trouble I had with Red Thunder is that it takes soooo long to pick up the pace. The first 1/3rd of the book is entirely focused on characterization, they don’t even kick off the actual plot until 150 pages in. That’s not to say the first part of the book is bad, but it’s pretty unnecessary; he probably could have removed 90% of the first 1/3rd and it would have improved the pacing a lot.
It’s certainly not my favorite Varley novel, but it’s still a Varley novel and with that comes a guarantee of a good time, and this is no exception. Nobody infects me with the excitement of science fiction quite like Varley.
Basically an homage to Robert Heinlein's Have Spacesuit will Travel. And an enjoyable one. A bit of a weak ending but generally just plain fun. First book of 3.
Not really hard scifi, but more of a young adult novel. Unrealistic and a bit jingoistic, but thoroughly enjoyable.