Book review: Dark Lightning

Dark Lightning, released this week (August 2014) is the fourth and final novel in John Varley's "Thunder and Lightning" series.

Rolling Thunder by John Varley

[This is a book review of Rolling Thunder by John Varley, first published in 2008. Rolling Thunder is the third book of Varley's 'Thunder and Lightning' series.]

This installment is my favorite of the series. (So far, anyway -- a fourth book is planned.) Rolling Thunder is about the experiences of Patricia Kelly Elizabeth Podkayne Strickland-Garcia-Redmond, who goes by Podkayne. In keeping with the generational nature of the series, Podkayne is Ray's daughter and Manny and Kelly's granddaughter, and she tells the story in first person. As you might expect, since Podkayne of Mars is a novel by Robert A. Heinlein, there are many Heinleinian references, especially in the final chapters.

Red Lightning by John Varley

[This is a book review of Red Lightning by John Varley, first published in 2006.]

Red Thunder by John Varley

[This is a book review of Red Thunder by John Varley, first published in 2003.]

Red Thunder feels a lot like a John Varley interpretation of a Heinlein juvenile. I love nearly all of Robert A. Heinlein's works, including his juveniles; they're science fiction classics for a reason. I love Varley's works as well. You'd think a combination of the two would ring all of my bells. And they sort of do now. But when I first read this book, I was very much entertained -- but I was also mildly disappointed and confused.