Rolling Thunder, John Varley
Rolling Thunder, John Varley
List: $22.95 | Sale: $16.07
Club: $11.47

Rolling Thunder

Author: John Varley

Narrator: Eddie Lopez

Unabridged: 13 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/05/2021


Synopsis

Navy lieutenant Podkayne, daughter of Ray Garcia-Strickland, is tired of her job as Martian consul in California—and Earth’s oppressive gravity. So she’s OK with getting called back to Mars, even if it’s because her great-grandmother is sick and being put into suspended animation.After a family reunion, Podkayne’s next port of call is Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, where she can finally realize her dream of being a singer. But just when her life seems to be improving for the better, disaster strikes and Podkayne is put into her own state of suspension.Awakened ten years later, she will discover a solar system in turmoil—where the very survival of humanity is at risk.

About John Varley

John Varley is an American science fiction author, whose works have won the Nebula Award and several Hugo Awards. His short story “Air Raid” was adapted into the film Millennium. His books include the Gaea Trilogy (Titan, Wizard, and Demon), the Thunder and Lightning Series (Red Thunder, Red Lightning, Rolling Thunder, and Dark Lightning), Steel Beach, The Golden Globe, Mammoth, and many more novels.

About Eddie Lopez

Eddie Lopez, a northern California native, earned his BFA in theater from the California Institute of the Arts. He has worked professionally in Los Angeles as an actor and is currently with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He began recording audiobooks for family road trips at the age of eight on his home cassette deck.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bradley on July 02, 2021

First off, the book is a great and delicious tribute to Heinlein -- but updated. That's true for all the books in this series. He outright admits it and names his character Podkayne (as in Heinlein's Podkayne of Mars. But don't get this mistaken for some fan fiction. Varley is a fantastic writer. He......more

Goodreads review by Karen on June 06, 2008

If you couldn't get enough Heinlein back in your teens, and especially if you were female and aggravated at the lack of strong female characters, well, Podkayne is back, and more liberated than ever! Varley has created an excellent Heinlein homage for we baby boomers, with references to many of "the......more

Goodreads review by Janine on January 12, 2011

The fact that he named the main character Podkayne is pretty much the only reason I haven't given this book less than 1 star. Mostly, Podkayne was a Mary-Sue . . . written by a man (so she was more obsessed with her breast size than she was by her exotic eye-color; she did, however, manage to be str......more

Goodreads review by Roger on September 02, 2015

Back when I was in junior high school the school library had a shelf with all the Heinlein juveniles on it. I read every one of them, but my memory of each varies. The school itself no longer exists, but if I could somehow be transported back in time I could still go directly to that shelf and even......more

Goodreads review by Sean on July 27, 2019

Again we drop through the generations, and this is another solid, interesting yarn. Obviously, there's only so much variation on a theme you can get, so the introduction of the Europan critters is an interesting twist to keep things alive. And nice to see so many Heinlein references squozed into tha......more


Quotes

“Loaded with references, some subtle and others blatant, to Heinlein’s many books. Heinlein fans will get a chuckle, or maybe even a guffaw, when encountering one of these. Readers with no Heinlein background will enjoy the story too, but on a different level.” National Space Society

“A zany Heinlein homage…with the disclosure that the protagonist prefers to be called by one of her middle names, Podkayne (see Heinlein’s Podkayne of Mars, 1963).” Booklist