From Science Fiction Grand Master Robert A. Heinlein, the New York Times bestselling author of Starship Troopers, comes Variable Star, an unfinished novel originally conceived in 1955, and completed by Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Spider Robinson.
When Joel Johnston first met Jinny Hamilton, it seemed like a dream come true. And when she finally agreed to marry him, he felt like the luckiest man in the universe.
There was just one small problem. He was broke. His only goal in life was to become a composer, and he knew it would take years before he was earning enough to support a family.
But Jinny wasn't willing to wait. And when Joel asked her what they were going to do for money, she gave him a most unexpected answer. She told him that her name wasn't really Jinny Hamilton---it was Jinny Conrad, and she was the granddaughter of Richard Conrad, the wealthiest man in the solar system.
And now that she was sure that Joel loved her for herself, not for her wealth, she revealed her family's plans for him---he would be groomed for a place in the vast Conrad empire and sire a dynasty to carry on the family business.
Most men would have jumped at the opportunity. But Joel Johnston wasn't most men. To Jinny's surprise, and even his own, he turned down her generous offer and then set off on the mother of all benders. And woke up on a colony ship heading out into space, torn between regret over his rash decision and his determination to forget Jinny and make a life for himself among the stars.
He was on his way to succeeding when his plans--and the plans of billions of others--were shattered by a cosmic cataclysm so devastating it would take all of humanity's strength and ingenuity just to survive.
Faithful to the spirit of Heinlein's original vision, and laced with contemporary touches that will appeal to modern readers,
Variable Star is a rare treat for the Grand Master's many fans.
Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) is widely acknowledged to be the most important and influential American science fiction author of the twentieth century. He won science fiction's Hugo Award for Best Novel four times, and in addition, three of his novels were given Retrospective Hugos fifty years after publication. He won Science Fiction Writers of America's first Grand Master Award for his lifetime achievement. Born in Butler, Missouri, Heinlein graduated from the United States Naval Academy and served as an officer in the navy for five years. He started writing to help pay off his mortgage, and his first story was published in
Astounding Science-Fiction magazine in 1939. In 1947, he published a story in
The Saturday Evening Post, making him the first science-fiction writer to break into the mainstream market. Long involved in politics, Heinlein was deeply affected by events such as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Cold War, and his fiction tended to convey strong social and political messages. His many influential novels include
Starship Troopers,
Stranger in a Strange Land,
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and
Time Enough for Love.
Spider Robinson, winner of three Hugos and a Nebula, was born in the Bronx and raised on Long Island, and has been a Canadian resident for 30 years. Holder of a bachelor's degree in English from the State University of New York, he worked as a folksinger and journalist before publishing his first story in Analog in 1973. He now lives on an island outside Vancouver, B.C., where he raises and exhibits hopes.
Over ten of Robinson's books are set in Callahan's Place (including
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon and
Callahan's Key), a fabulous tavern founded by a time traveler, where puns flow as freely as beer, and smell far worse. Robinson has contributed a regular editorial column, "Future Tense," to Canada's national newspaper,
The Globe & Mail, since 1995. In 2000, he released Belaboring the Obvious
, a CD of original music with the legendary Amos Garrett ("Midnight at the Oasis") on lead guitar, and in 2001 he was a celebrity judge at the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam.
