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Double Star

3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 · rating details · 7,501 ratings · 165 reviews

One minute, down and out actor Lorenzo Smythe was — as usual — in a bar, drinking away his troubles as he watched his career go down the tubes. Then a space pilot bought him a drink, and the next thing Smythe knew, he was shanghaied to Mars.

Suddenly he found himself agreeing to the most difficult role of his career: impersonating an important politician who had been kidnap...more

Paperback, 256 pages

Published October 12th 1986 by Del Rey (first published 1956)

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May 26, 2010 Architeuthis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1950s, fiction-that-speculates

Before I begin, I'd like to thank you all for choosing to read this review today. It is you who actively participate in the Goodreads community that are the pulsating heart of this great country, _____. (Insert your country name here.) Without your efforts, intellectual life everywhere would be sure to stagnate. This has always been my position, and I am a man with firm convictions, never changing my mind about anything.

Just yesterday, a young, impoverished child asked me how I was going to hel...more
Before I begin, I'd like to thank you all for choosing to read this review today. It is you who actively participate in the Goodreads community that are the pulsating heart of this great country, _____. (Insert your country name here.) Without your efforts, intellectual life everywhere would be sure to stagnate. This has always been my position, and I am a man with firm convictions, never changing my mind about anything.

Just yesterday, a young, impoverished child asked me how I was going to help improve this country if I am elected Czar. And I said...*checks notes on palm*...lower taxes by wagging war--wagging war? Oh, uh, sorry--WAGING war...on evil countries full of terrorists. I also prioritize putting children first, and also putting the environment and our future first.

It is my pleasure to discuss Double Star this afternoon. Double Star is a terrific book of mine, and I've known it for several weeks. Honestly, I can only say nice things about it. Having won the Hugo in...some year...it is a book with the greatest of accolades to its name.

It's the story of an actor asked to play the most challenging and dangerous role of his life: representing a politician during a ceremony that, if it isn't conducted exactly right, could mean death. But after the ceremony, the politician isn't yet ready to return to his duties, and the actor is hired for another job.

Witty and fast-paced, Double Star is very fun, and I can't honestly say whether I liked this or Starship Troopers better. Yes, I can. I liked this one better because at the end of the day, the message here was, "Politicians can be replaced by decent actors without anyone noticing," whereas the message in Starship Troopers was "Woo Haa! Go team!" While I give full credit to those willing to serve in the armed forces of ________, and I'm aware that they are the pulsating heart of this great country, and without them, nobody would protect our borders from those dangerous terrorists and immigrants, I relate more with the former message.

It is truly a shame that so many of our representatives seem to simply say what they think people want to hear, but unfortunately, some people are stupid enough that they can get away with it. Not you people, though, you people are the foundation that this country is built upon. It's time we take back this country from bland, insipid politicians, and put someone with real positions on the issues back in office! And I have positions! On the issues!

I believe that our children shouldn't take drugs, and education is important! Unlike you-know-who, who wants to undermine all the values that you hold dear! Say no to socialism and fascism! And vote like a patriot! Vote for our future! Vote for me! Click "yes" below, and take a stand for values! You like values, right? (less)

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Jun 28, 2011 Valerie added it · review of another edition

In a sense, the narrator is irrelevant. A poorly-educated waif (I never have quite understood Heinlein's apparent worship of abusive father/teachers. The narrator recites a tale of beatings and abuse that would likely serve as a pretty good legal brief for a lawyer suing the father for damages) becomes 'educated' by subsuming his own personality into the person he's hired to impersonate. Essentially an education by suicide, reminiscent of one of Zenna Henderson's stories in which a woman is one...more In a sense, the narrator is irrelevant. A poorly-educated waif (I never have quite understood Heinlein's apparent worship of abusive father/teachers. The narrator recites a tale of beatings and abuse that would likely serve as a pretty good legal brief for a lawyer suing the father for damages) becomes 'educated' by subsuming his own personality into the person he's hired to impersonate. Essentially an education by suicide, reminiscent of one of Zenna Henderson's stories in which a woman is one of five women...but she's not sure which.

Not necessarily a good education, either. The character Bonforte is almost as abusive as Lorenzo's unlamented father (where was his mother, by the way?), if not so physically so. To take just one instance, it's not pacifists who are dishonest. It's militarists. The basic argument of militarists is "We're right, and no reasonable people will disagree with us. But there are unreasonable people out there, and we have to convince them--by killing some of them, if that's necessary to convince others." Not that it will, of course. People are remarkably tenacious of their beliefs. But the argument for militarism is one of those 'sophistries of villains' Lorenzo is so rightly contemptuous of. And he too readily gives up his own beliefs wholesale to become what he's always despised.

I'm not saying that Smythe was always right (or even often so). But he'd be better advised to shop around, and to pick and choose what he'll accept. If this causes doubts about his 'Bonforte' identity, he should just say that people grow and learn, and he's changed his mind. People do, you know.

The technical elements are frankly sketchy, and more than a little scary. Technologies where you have to operate at a breakneck pace to avoid getting a potentially lethal dose of radiation are hardly ideal. Heinlein accepted nuclear technologies too readily, without (apparently) much real understanding of the risks involved. This is true of many of his books. It's more or less sidelined in this one, in which the 'torchships' are just settings, and ways of cutting the lengthy trips shorter, so that somebody could plausibly do something on Mars and (less than a fortnight later) be politicking on the Moon. But they'd have impacts on the Solar System that aren't well thought out, and aren't really developed.(less)

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Oct 16, 2009 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Brian Aldiss, in Trillion Year Spree, says this is Heinlein's most enjoyable novel. Who am I to fault his judgment? It is, indeed, a lot of fun: pathetic, failed actor Laurence Smith (stage name, "Lorenzo Smythe") is hired to impersonate John Joseph Bonforte, leader of the Expansionist party, and the Solar System's most important politician. Bonforte has been kidnapped, and for complicated reasons there is an appointment he must attend; no excuse will be acceptable if he fails to turn up on time...more Brian Aldiss, in Trillion Year Spree, says this is Heinlein's most enjoyable novel. Who am I to fault his judgment? It is, indeed, a lot of fun: pathetic, failed actor Laurence Smith (stage name, "Lorenzo Smythe") is hired to impersonate John Joseph Bonforte, leader of the Expansionist party, and the Solar System's most important politician. Bonforte has been kidnapped, and for complicated reasons there is an appointment he must attend; no excuse will be acceptable if he fails to turn up on time.

So Smythe is drafted in, proceeds to learn Bonforte's mannerisms and background story, and starts his unusual new job. The first public appearance goes fine, and no one suspects a thing. Then he has to do another one, and then yet another. Pretty soon he's living Bonforte's life for him. I don't want to give away too much of a fun plot, but the basic message is that politicians, even good ones like Bonforte, are fakes. Any halfway competent actor with a few weeks of prep time could step into their shoes, and they would do just as well.

I think Heinlein was unusually prescient here. When he wrote it, remember that there was no Reagan or Schwarzenegger. And even now, the book has some punch left. Politics is less and less about ideas, more and more about appearances; you need a good script, and the ability to project your character in a convincing way. For a couple of weeks in 2008, it looked like Sarah Palin had a decent shot at becoming Vice President (and maybe, later, President), largely on the strength of her "hockey mom" persona. It now seems that that was largely a construct, but I believed it at the time, even though I didn't like it.

In England, it appears that we're going to get David Cameron as our next Prime Minister. He's a Conservative, and he's campaigning on a platform of helping the poor and the environment; it's difficult to believe it's any more honest than Dubya's "compassionate conservatism". But that's not the important thing. He interprets the role imaginatively, and he looks convincing; if this were the Oscars, I'd be tipping him for a statuette, and most voters are viewing the election in pretty much that way. Heinlein had a point.

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Oct 19, 2012 Tony rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

DOUBLE STAR. (1956). Robert A. Heinlein. ***.
I read lots of Heinlein’s science fiction novels when I was a teenager; this wasn’t one of them. It probably wouldn’t have interested me then, and I find it rather dated and dull now. Although pitched as a thriller set in the future, it is really a novel about forms of government which, though set on an interplanetary backdrop, smacks heavily of post-Korean War Earth. A roving actor looking for work meets up with a space captain in a ‘waterfront’ bar...more

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Jun 21, 2011 Jay Daze rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, sf

An excellent version of The Prisoner of Zenda story.

Actor, The Great Lorenzo, is hired to impersonate a politician (absent for reasons outlined in the book) bent on bringing equal rights to aliens in the Human Empire. It's an old story line, Zenda was published in 1894 and I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will list even older variations. (Oops, like The Prince and the Pauper or The Man in the Iron Mask.) But Heinlein uses the plot to tackle such ideas as image politics, identity and racism a...more

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May 18, 2011 Bill Ward added it

Shelves: sf-review

Before Stranger in a Strange Land, before Starship Troopers, and before The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, there was Double Star, Heinlein’s first, and least known, Hugo Award wining novel. It isn’t a big idea novel, you aren’t going to see people throwing around words they don’t understand, like ‘fascist,’ when they talk about it. In a way, Double Star — which has nothing to do with binary star systems, if you were thinking it did — is sort of a hybrid of a Heinlein juvenile and one of his idea book...more Before Stranger in a Strange Land, before Starship Troopers, and before The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, there was Double Star, Heinlein’s first, and least known, Hugo Award wining novel. It isn’t a big idea novel, you aren’t going to see people throwing around words they don’t understand, like ‘fascist,’ when they talk about it. In a way, Double Star — which has nothing to do with binary star systems, if you were thinking it did — is sort of a hybrid of a Heinlein juvenile and one of his idea books. It’s short and uncomplicated, fast-paced and fun, but also takes its central message seriously and presents us with one of Heinlein’s most memorable characters.

Lorenzo Smythe — or Larry Smith if you check his birth certificate — is an actor. As ‘The Great Lorenzo’ he’s a one man stock company, a “Pantomimist and Mimicry Artist Extraordinary.” He’s also flat broke and completely full of himself. An apparently chance encounter with a spacer, man-of-action Captain Dak Broadbent, changes all that and Larry — excuse me, The Great Lorenzo — finds himself on the way to Mars and in the midst of the acting challenge of a lifetime.

On Mars, Lorenzo’s assignment is to perfectly mimic one of the most famous political figures in the Solar Empire, a man named John Joseph Bonforte, head of the Loyal Opposition to His Majesty’s Government and leader of the Expansionist Party. The real Bonforte, in a plot reminiscent of The Prisoner of Zenda, has been kidnapped by his political enemies — removed from action so that he cannot attend a crucial ceremony that would see him adopted into a Martian nest.

I get a bit of sympathetic nostalgia about science fiction of this era, the time when you could have Martians and Venusians (or, Venerians as Heinlein would have them) rubbing shoulders with spacers from earth, confident men who steered their atomic rockets between the planets with naught but a slide rule to guide them. It was a different time, and a different aesthetic, and Double Star reflects it. It was also a very different time politically and socially, and science fiction was just starting to move beyond its ray-guns and rockets roots to take on social and political issues — something Heinlein would become famous (or infamous) for.

And Double Star does play with some of these issues, most notably racism. Lorenzo hates Martians, he’s scared of them, but as Bonforte he must deal closely with them. After a bit of hypnotic conditioning he’s able to suppress his fear — and that’s enough for him to start to see the Martians for the extraordinary beings they are, rather than just obsess about their otherness. Racism could be seen as one of the primary differences between Bonforte’s party and that of his rivals, the Humanity Party, who want to exclude non-human races from mankind’s empire. All of this is fairly casually laid into the story, which isn’t anything like as political as, say, Starship Troopers, but it’s a clear and unambiguous denouncement of racism written in a time prior to the Civil Rights movement.

But the real strength of the story lies in its central character, who also narrates. At first glance Lorenzo doesn’t seem anything like the typical Heinlein Competent Man protagonist — he’s fussy, relatively cowardly, extremely arrogant, not very practical, shallow, immature, and xenophobic. But as an actor, mimic, and student of human nature, he’s a genius, and Heinlein paints a compelling, if not exactly believable, picture of Lorenzo’s transformation into a perfect copy of Bonforte. The various behavioral minutia Lorenzo adopts and the schemes of his handlers to avoid detection all make for an entertaining read.

What was supposed to turn into a brief stint as Bonforte’s replacement becomes a great deal longer, due to injuries the real Bonforte suffered at the hands of his kidnappers. And here is the real transformation of Lorenzo’s — and the true heart of the book — because the mimic becomes the subject. Lorenzo tries on another’s skin as a challenge and retains it as a duty — a concept he could only have learned when he stopped being Lorenzo. Double Star is really about taking responsibility as a fully-fledged adult, as our feckless and selfish narrator transforms into a a genuinely dedicated, and even wise, leader of the people. It’s all done so skillfully in-between the breathless pace of events that it has a way of sneaking up on the reader, just as it did on Lorenzo.

Double Star is a fun and undemanding book that prefigures Heinlein’s great idea novels, but itself doesn’t contain anything especially controversial. Even by today’s PC standards, Double Star comes across more as quaint than offensive; such as in the case of the shrinking violet of a female lead, Bonforte’s love-struck and childlike secretary, who is sketched with such innocence it’s hard to take her emptiness seriously. The book is certainly the product of the fifties, with some dated idioms, Leave It To Beaver style sexual politics, black-and-white morality, and some notions about the future that will of course appear dated today. But it holds up despite all this, and is worth reading for the quirky narrator and Heinlein’s phenomenal ability to tell a story.

If you liked this review, be sure to check out my review site, DEEP DOWN GENRE HOUND (less)

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Mar 05, 2011 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, novel

While The Rolling Stones was merely pretty good Heinlein, Double Star explains why Kyle has always raved about his books.

Of course I'm always a sucker for political intrigue, and Heinlein actually manages to keep his wheeling and dealing surprisingly moral. The staff of John Joseph Bonforte, leader of the progressive Expansionist Party, are genuinely nice people who truly believe that their party's platform will best serve the people of the Empire. While they do manage to convince self-absorbed...more

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Feb 21, 2011 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Heinlein is Still a Master no Matter What Age.

A Heinlein Trilogy by Robert Heinlein

I picked up this book from a library book fair, it had been awhile since I had read a Heinlein and I wanted to read some classic sci-fi from one of the masters. It’s three of his stories.

The Puppet Masters – The story of an alien attack on our world where the aliens act as parasites on humans taking over their thought processes and actions. They can regenerate quicker than rabbits and adapt so their small parasi...more Heinlein is Still a Master no Matter What Age.

A Heinlein Trilogy by Robert Heinlein

I picked up this book from a library book fair, it had been awhile since I had read a Heinlein and I wanted to read some classic sci-fi from one of the masters. It’s three of his stories.

The Puppet Masters – The story of an alien attack on our world where the aliens act as parasites on humans taking over their thought processes and actions. They can regenerate quicker than rabbits and adapt so their small parasitic form located on the spinal column is barely noticeable with clothes on. So backless attire becomes the norm. But the aliens take hold of the airwaves in controlled areas where the locals aren’t aware of the danger they are in and aren’t in the dress for alien distress style.

Double Star – The story of an actor who gets to play the role of a lifetime but can’t tell anyone about it as he is acting as a double for a world leader who was kidnapped and drugged. The actor learns the truth about “walking a mile in a man’s shoes” and gets to appreciate what this man’s life is really all about and what makes him so important

The Door into Summer – A wonderful story about time travel but in a bit of a unique way through cryogenics and time displacement. This should have been made into a movie as it has more turns in it than “The Time Machine.” It gives the traveler the opportunity to learn about some the changes he should have made, the changes he didn’t know he had made and the chance at to create a new life within his own time span.

These stories were written in the 1950’s but Heinlein’s story telling abilities still hold up albeit some jargon that more befits the 50’s timeframe than now. If you haven’t read any of his stories lately, take a trip back in time for some enjoyable reading.

Each week I do interviews with published authors who share their experiences of getting published and give tips from what they’ve learned. If you would like to learn more about writing, you can find them at... http://TheWriteChris.blogspot.com. My Feb 22nd interview is with Tracy Krauss and we discuss her new book, My Mother the Man-Eater.
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Sep 14, 2012 Evan Filby rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Being a “geezer” who was reading science fiction long before it was socially acceptable, taught in college classes, etc, I am always fascinated by how people react to Robert Heinlein’s work, and what features they chose to comment on. The reactions to “Double Star” do not disappoint. Since so many have outlined the overall plot -- and enough of the outcome to be “spoilers”-- I won’t go there. Unlike in many of his books, R.A. does not explore a lot of really “big ideas” in this rather short nove...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Heinlein fans

Shelves: books-from-1956, sci-fi

Lorenzo Smythe is a down-and-out actor with zero prospects when he gets recurited by a space pilot to impersonate an important politician. For real! Because the politician has been kidnapped by an intergalactic political group, an action which could lead to interplanetary war.

Using this wacky plot, Heinlein gets to comment on all sorts of issues: the ways of actors, the ways of politics, the political awakening of a self-centered person, etc. He also addresses the problem of achieving harmony...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Delicious Strawberry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: robert-a-heinlein, science-fiction

For a book that was written over 50 years ago, it's a fine read. It's cool to read sci fi from back then since it wasn't as accepted a genre as it is now. I rather like Lorenzo's character and his thoughts. There's a bit of acting advice here that real-life actors could actually use. Some people might decry the implausibility of the plot, but we need to remember the time and content that this story was written in. While I LOVE the Lazarus Long books, I have found Heinlein's older works to be a t...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Rob rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, fiction

Our astonishingly mincing narrator is an actor who is coerced into playing a big-shot politician. There's something fun about the anachronistic future universe Heinlein's imagining in the 1950s, particularly the bizarre European Earth-Emperor on the moon, and the odd martians with their "life-wands."

The central character is actually pretty neat, although that narrative style would have been painful in a longer book. The other characters are fairly one-dimensional, but whatevs, again it's a short...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Micke Nimell rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, classics

You can tell right away that Double Star is from the fifties - almost all sci-fi elements feel ridiculously anachronistic. There are rocket ships, but you still need to dial the operator when you use your car phone; at least two other alien races exist but microfilm is still in use and every executive have a female secretary.

Luckily the futuristic stuff are more of a backdrop to the straightforward political intrigue that is the plot.
The narration is heavy on dialogue but is easy to get in to a...more

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Nov 28, 2010 Kevin Brown rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This is one of my "read all the Hugo and Nebula novels" books. Of all the authors on the list, Heinlein I fear the most. He won four Hugos. I have tried to read "Stranger In a Strange Land" before and could not get into it. "Farnham's Freehold" (admittedly, not an award winner) was god-awful. So I have to mark "Double Star" as a pleasant surprise; a fairly straightforward political story with a main character who (unlike many of RH's) avoids atrocious, long-winded lecturing. And even the dialog,...more

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Aug 31, 2011 Jay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Clever double-entendre in the title and not what I expected; classic Heinlein and interesting how the first person in many of his novels has taken so many roles, courier, explorer, engineer, assassin, etc., and now actor. Despite being published in 1956 it did not seem too dated to me; was a fast read and easy to digest. Knowing Heinlein I was able to predict the betrayal and the death and found a parallel to the Moon is a Harsh Mistress, but was surprised he didn't develop the plot line with th...more

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May 06, 2012 Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I have a soft spot for Heinlein. Often I think that a Heinlein book that I really enjoy will not be for everyone, however, in this case, I think nearly everyone would enjoy this light, entertaining romp of a book.

The narrative is from the POV of the protagonist Lawrence Smythe (hack actor "The Great Lorenzo"). Smythe is a narcissistic, self delusional asshat who is suddenly, more or less without his informed consent, thrust into what turns out to be the life changing role of a lifetime. It is f...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Nerine Dorman rated it 5 of 5 stars

Laurence, or “the great Lorenzo” might not admit it to himself, but he’s a washed-up has-been of an actor not quite succeeding at eking out a living. That is, until he runs into a potential employer who isn’t quite whom he appears to be. Soon Lorenzo is studying for the greatest role he’s likely ever to play, and the stakes have become far higher than he expected. Heinlen explores the notions of the self in Double Star, and how one person quite literally becomes another. This is a story of perso...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Allie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think Double Star might be my favorite Heinlein novel to date. It seems to lean more towards the juvenile end of the Heinlein spectrum, but it still engages with some political issues that were likely especially relevant at the time of its publication. The story is ridiculous at times, but it is fast-paced and I found it very easy to get caught up in the excitement. Some character portrayals, such as the childish secretary Penny, are a bit tiresome, but they never seem mean-spirited. Like most...more

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Nov 19, 2010 Felix Dance rated it 4 of 5 stars

Finally, Heinlein at his best! I’m glad I read this book straight after Starship Troopers because this is everything the previous book is not: witty and humourous, not taking itself too seriously, with an excellent twisting plot that torments and changes the characters within it. No concept is impervious to Heinlein’s insight and boisterous flippancy as he spurts out terrific lines and opinions that dig deep into one’s central cortex, whether or not one agrees with them, or even their underlying...more

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Apr 06, 2012 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens

My family’s book collection has a fairly extensive Heinlein collection and this week I decided to dip into it. I pulled out “Double Star,” a book that won a Hugo Award in 1956. It’s one of the “good-old-Heinlein” books from the fifties that so many have enjoyed before me.

Until “Double Star,” I’d never read a Heinlein novel. I’d memorized the Heinlein rules of writing (and not followed them), and I’d heard a few things about this revered sci-fi writer, but I’d never actually read him.

What a pleas...more My family’s book collection has a fairly extensive Heinlein collection and this week I decided to dip into it. I pulled out “Double Star,” a book that won a Hugo Award in 1956. It’s one of the “good-old-Heinlein” books from the fifties that so many have enjoyed before me.

Until “Double Star,” I’d never read a Heinlein novel. I’d memorized the Heinlein rules of writing (and not followed them), and I’d heard a few things about this revered sci-fi writer, but I’d never actually read him.

What a pleasure read he is! Heinlein was popular because he was a darned good writer. “Double Star” moves along at a great clip. It is full of comedy. The characters are likeable. There’s lots of action. And the main idea is clever and fun. What more can you ask from a book?

If you’re looking for “real” issues, and not just entertainment (I like entertainment myself), this book addresses many:

Politics. There’s lots of it, if you care. If you don’t, you can skip quickly through the political bits. Heinlein’s a liberal and the bad guys are of the “kill everything that doesn’t look human school.” But these bad guys stay happily in the background.

Issues of identity: If you impersonate someone for too long, do you lose your identity? And what makes an individual identity? Is it how you walk? talk? eat? who you know? what abilities you have? And if someone can impersonate all your ways, abilities and habits, aren’t they “you?” This question’s a fun one to think about.

Lastly, I like Heinlein’s style. He has a very casual, confident, almost improvisational style that is neat to read. He isn’t deliberating endlessly on each word he’s written. He has a good story to tell, and he doesn’t let much get in the way.

And the sexism in Heinlein? It’s there, of course. But I don’t think it interferes much with the tale. Those attitudes are almost a given in a tale from the 1950's. Sweet ‘Curly-Top Penny Child’ is a bit much, but only a cartoonish caricature. Not to be taken too seriously.

“Double Star” is definitely a worthwhile read, and a good introduction to a great sci-fi writer. I’m looking forward to reading more Heinlein.(less)

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May 18, 2012 JonSnow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This being my third Heinlein novel, I was concerned yet again (as I was with the second one) that this may not hold up to his other two books. While it was a great novel, I found it just a bit less convoluted and crazy as I was expecting. While it was an incredibly great story, and I never wanted to put it down, I only give it 4 stars because well, it feels like a 4 star book. I enjoyed it, but perhaps just slightly less than the other books I'd read of his.

READ IT if you're looking for a book a...more

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Apr 06, 2010 Jody rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, fantasy-sci-fi, young-adult

I read this book as part of the 'read a book from the year you were born' challenge. The pickings were pretty slim from the lists I could find. The Pulitzer winner, Andersonville weighs in at over 700 pages. The Newberry winner, Carry on Mr Bowditch, meh. There was a mystery available in Central Storage but they couldn't find it, so I ended up with this Heinlein book and liked it much better than expected. Don't read a lot of SF but it was interesting how modern this 50+ year old book felt. And...more

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Apr 18, 2011 Ivan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Пожалуй, заслуживает внимания лишь блестящая способность перевоплощения героя.
Этому уделено немало внимания, и такого замечательного описания вживания человека в роль я нигде не встречал.
Совершенно разочаровало описание политической системы и её ключевые фигуры.
А именно оно занимает большую часть книги, в этом весь мир.

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Jan 19, 2012 Lindsay Stares rated it 4 of 5 stars

Premise: Actor Lorenzo Smythe is tapped by spacer Dak Broadbent for a job: impersonation, no details. Lorenzo has no idea that he's about to be swept up in the intrigue of interstellar politics. Because if he had an idea about that, he'd have run in the opposite direction.

This book was so much fun. The prose style is delightful, the storyline interesting, the politics even compelling!

I really enjoyed it, and this is the first of the Hugo winners (chronologically) that I can say that about withou...more

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Sep 01, 2011 Boinks rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 08, 2009 Kris rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a great little quick read -I am going through the chronological order of Hugo Award (sci-fi/fantasy) winners (more or less). For this book, the sci-fi is mostly just the setting -anyone could appreciate the story. Sometimes the advancements of science aren't what they're cracked up to be. I mean how can we imagine a nation of Martians given what we know today? Heinlein, writing in the 50s, did not have that problem. Another nice little point of this story is its emphasis on human and "n...more

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Oct 05, 2010 Pvw rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Fluently written story about an actor who has to double as a famous politician, so that the latter's political opponents don't find out how badly they got to him in their latest assasination attempt. You are immediately absorbed in this fast-paced novel and the occasional humour makes it an even nicer read. One downside is that the book reaches its climax somewhere near the middle and then drags itself towards the end without any clear sense of direction. But all in all it is an entertaining nov...more

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Sep 26, 2010 Christina Zable rated it 4 of 5 stars

Heinlein may have been an arrogant misogynist (he certainly wrote like one), but he could also spin a good yarn, and this is one of his best. It will never be called "eerily prescient" (at least, I don't think that if/when we colonize Mars we'll be ruled by the House of Orange and using carbon paper), but the story really pulls you along. It's brief -- less then 300 pages -- and a page-turner from start to finish. In short, I really like it and highly recommend it (but do accept that it's very m...more

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Jun 26, 2010 Adrian rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really, really like Heinlein's writing style. The thing I can't get over is how quickly he wraps up stories. You're going along, you're totally engaged, and then suddenly, five pages more, and the whole thing is over. All the ends are tied up, but it's so fast that it makes me wish he'd taken a little more time with it. Really enjoyed this book. Am proceeding on to another Heinlein.
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Spencer also enjoyed this, in part because it's a novel about politics (partly) and the politics is stron...more

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Feb 24, 2009 Dave rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, speculative-fiction

Many of Heinlein’s early novels are aimed at a younger audience, and those which aren’t tend to be more light-hearted. “Double Star” falls into the latter category, with an unlikely premise and an unusual character as the narrator and hero of the story. Although, it is also difficult to call this an early novel considering he had 12 published prior to this one, and that is not counting his first novel which wasn’t published until after his death. “Double Star” was published originally in “Astoun...more Many of Heinlein’s early novels are aimed at a younger audience, and those which aren’t tend to be more light-hearted. “Double Star” falls into the latter category, with an unlikely premise and an unusual character as the narrator and hero of the story. Although, it is also difficult to call this an early novel considering he had 12 published prior to this one, and that is not counting his first novel which wasn’t published until after his death. “Double Star” was published originally in “Astounding Science Fiction” from February to April of 1956, and then in book form later that year.

For me, this is one of his best early novels. He stays within the boundaries of the story, and doesn’t rely on a “big surprise” to try to lengthen the plot. The hero is Lorenzo Smythe, an actor who has a rather high opinion of himself. He is engaged by Dak Broadback for a performance, but not a typical performance. Instead he is hired to be John Joseph Bonforte, the former Supreme Minister and leader of the opposition. Lorenzo will need to fool people who have known Bonforte for years, as well as many others, and worse yet he will need to be surrounded by Martians, whom he can’t stand the sight or smell of.

The story is cleverly put together, obstacles arise as the result of politics and situations, but they are certainly believable within the context of the story being told. This had been a problem with his earlier novels, at least it was a problem for me. The story is a bit predictable, as Lorenzo is forced to continue the role longer and longer as new situations arise, but that didn’t bother me as it was very enjoyable to read. This isn’t going to rank as Heinlein’s best, but it is a cut above most of his earlier novels. It is a enjoyable light read, and certainly a viable Hugo award winner from 1956. It has also been remembered on some fan polls ranking 44th on the 1987 Locus All-Time Poll for SF novels, and tied for 41st on the 1998 Locus All-Time Poll for SF novels from before 1990.
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About Robert A. Heinlein

Robert Anson Heinlein was an American novelist and science fiction writer. Often called "the dean of science fiction writers", he is one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of "hard science fiction".

He set a high standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of literary quality. He was the first SF writer to break into mainstre...more

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“Take sides! Always take sides! You will sometimes be wrong - but the man who refuses to take sides must always be wrong.” — 53 people liked it

“A slave cannot be freed, save he do it himself. Nor can you enslave a free man; the very most you can do is kill him!” — 25 people liked it

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