false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1189544306m/1872341.jpg 49844 2 Sparky Valentine is a former child star turned down-on-his-luck thespian who's just reached the grand old age of 100. Not that you could tell by looking at the old ham, who for some reason never seems to age--or stay out of trouble. Sparky's in the midst of a whirlwind theatrical tour designed to bring a bit of culture to the frozen desolation of the outer solar system when bad luck strikes in the form of a gumshoe hot on his tail. Sparky decides to skip the outer burgs for the more hospitable environs of Pluto, but things only get worse when he runs afoul of the notoriously unforgiving Charonese Mafia. As he's making his getaway, he learns something astonishing. The famous director Kaspara Polichinelli of Luna is planning a performance of King Lear, and he's short a lead to take on the title role. Sparky wires Polichinelli that he's interested, and Polichinelli tells him the part is his. Now all Sparky has to do is find a way to scrape together enough cash to get to Luna before the play starts while avoiding a seemingly unstoppable (and unkillable) Charonese hitman. <I>--Craig E. Engler</I> 1873228 book 1998 The Golden Globe total:179|5:60|4:61|3:45|2:10|1:3| 179 702 242 19 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 3 2 false Sun Sep 02 22:30:04 -0700 2007 Sat Dec 27 21:46:20 -0800 2008 Steel Beach--put a paragraph of each side by side and you probably won't be...more...]]> 1872341 0441005586 9780441005581 13 4 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1189544306m/1872341.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1872341.The_Golden_Globe 3 1 false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 16:57:46 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 12:41:42 -0700 2009 Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, The Garbage Pail Kids, and Shakespeare...more...]]> 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 5 0 false Thu May 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 04 17:03:26 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 11 20:03:20 -0700 2009
The main character is deeply conflicted, original, and interesting. As Varley often does, he jumps through chronology. We ...more...]]> 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 5 0 false Sat Nov 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 17 20:39:35 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 28 15:57:29 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1872341 0441005586 9780441005581 13 4 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1189544306m/1872341.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1872341.The_Golden_Globe 3 0 false Tue Jul 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 10 12:10:53 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 03:49:46 -0700 2009 Deus ex Machina at the ending, which (apparently) is highly involved...more...]]> 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 5 0 false Sat Jul 26 14:44:58 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 26 14:53:21 -0700 2008
There's also a lot of flashbac...more...]]> 1872341 0441005586 9780441005581 13 4 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1189544306m/1872341.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1872341.The_Golden_Globe 5 0 false Wed May 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 02 17:04:52 -0700 2008 Wed May 21 16:34:46 -0700 2008 The short answer is No, No I couldn't resist it.
...more...]]> 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 4 0 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Sat Feb 16 20:12:56 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 16 20:19:12 -0800 2008 Entertaining sci-fi picaresque.

Clever, witty tale of Sparky Valentine, an itinerant actor, ne'er do well, and former child star, on the loose through a future solar system as he flees from a variety of enemies and a murder charge. Gleefully, self-justifyingly amoral, in a manner reminisc...more...]]> 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 4 0 false Sun Mar 08 18:32:19 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 08 18:33:22 -0700 2009 1872341 0441005586 9780441005581 13 4 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1189544306m/1872341.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1872341.The_Golden_Globe 2 0 false Wed Jan 14 06:57:29 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 14 07:02:25 -0800 2009 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 0 0 false Sat Jun 06 12:15:46 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 12:16:22 -0700 2009 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 4 0 false Fri Feb 22 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 15 13:51:56 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 15 13:51:56 -0700 2008 more...]]> 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 4 0 false Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Sep 05 07:51:09 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 17 16:41:00 -0800 2007
Varley does an excellent job of worldbuilding (even if many of his novels basically share...more...]]> 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 5 0 false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Mon May 05 18:33:35 -0700 2008 Mon May 05 18:35:17 -0700 2008 more...]]> 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 5 0 false Wed Aug 15 18:23:49 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 15 18:25:53 -0700 2007 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 0 0 false Mon May 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 11:31:52 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 15:47:10 -0700 2009 happening. (Around the page count that my husband abandoned it as well.)]]> 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 5 0 false Wed Jul 30 19:05:40 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 19:06:15 -0700 2008 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 5 0 false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 13 20:36:04 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 13 20:36:33 -0700 2007 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 3 0 false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Tue Nov 20 08:01:07 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 20 08:01:30 -0800 2007 49844 0441006434 9780441006434 166 15 3.92 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170364346m/49844.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49844.The_Golden_Globe 0 0 false Mon Dec 14 09:11:19 -0800 2009 Mon Dec 14 09:11:19 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1872341