STEEL BEACH

John Varley states that this book is not a part of his novels and short stories known as the Eight Worlds future history. I say it is, and one day he will tie all these tales together in some kind of chronological order with a final book in this series. Having read Varley's Gaea and Red Thunder trilogies, I expected more of the same. No way! This book explodes with new thoughts and innovations unlike any of the previous seven Varley books I've read and enjoyed.

If you saw the play The Front Page or the movie His Girl Friday, you will remember the heroine was a lead reporter named Hildy Johnson. Well, he (or she) is back along with the crusty Editor who doesn't want him to quit. Varley has also added a reporter named Brenda Starr. Remember her from the eponymously titled comic strip? Only the time period is 199 years after the aliens kicked us off the Earth! The aliens evicted the humans to the Moon and other planets so they could give the Earth to the non-polluting whales and dolphins. No one can describe the aliens since anyone who has seen one has been killed.

On the Moon, the editor of The Nipple wants to do a Bicentennial Commemoration of the invasion of Earth. He puts the suicidal Hildy Johnson in charge of the project, who does his best to avoid this assignment and spends most of his time trying to commit suicide, scooping the competition on other lunar stories, and building his period house in a Disneyland known as Texas of the 1800s. The infrastructure of the Moon and the health of the humans are controlled by a central computer known as The CC. Halfway through the story, Hildy changes to a female, a routine operation on the Moon, while some of the other characters in the book also change their sex from time to time. Wouldn't you get bored with your body if your life span was at 200 to 300 years? Only a splattered brain was incurable, although The CC was working on a remedy for that.

This is not your normal world. How about: dinosaur farms, microscopic nanobots in your body, slash-boxing as a sport, or children born in jars? Then, enter the mysterious Merlin, a.k.a. Mister Smith and his Heinleiners, their starship and nullfields. What's a nullfield? Don't ask. When Hildy, Mister Smith, and The CC collide, the result is what was known as The Big Glitch! This clash with the Lunarians and The CC is monumental and tragic resulting in a unexpected ending.

This is a typically well written book by John Varley. His character development has always been second to none. He also continues his trend of having prominent female characters. Varley has the ability to make his innovative technology easily understandable. This novel has his usual sexual situations, but they don't get in the way of the story. My final conclusion? Great book!

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

Comment: John Varley has won 10 Locus, 3 Hugo and 2 Nebula Awards. Many of his novels are of the trilogy genre or related themes. If you want to read one of his stand-alones, grab a copy of Mammoth. It's fabulous.