Blue Champagne

A very fine collection, polished off with the most excellent thriller novella Press Enter. In fact, the average here is a rather high 3.75, which is very fine. A couple of the stories are related being in the same future history and sharing a character or two, also consecutive, Blue Champagne being the first. One writing joke piece that is perhaps more of interest to those at least vaguely related to the industry, but entertaining enough. Award nominations and Year's Best inclusions happened for 3/4 of these stories, so again, quality stuff this collection. Blue Champagne : The Pusher - John Varley Blue Champagne : Blue Champagne - John Varley Blue Champagne : Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo - John Varley Blue Champagne : Options - John Varley Blue Champagne : Lollipop and the Tar Baby - John Varley Blue Champagne : The Manhattan Phone Book (Abridged) - John Varley Blue Champagne : The Unprocessed Word - John Varley Blue Champagne : Press Enter - John Varley Little girl story. 3.5 out of 5 Golden Gypsy s3xtape sidekick shocker. 4 out of 5 Station disease girl dogshow. 4 out of 5 Transgender tryouts. 4.5 out of 5 Mother love hunt black hole sneaky convo. 3.5 out of 5 Nuked list. 3 out of 5 Typing production discussion. 3 out of 5 Electronic entity killer discovery. 4.5 out of 5 4.5 out of 5

Some Science fiction has great ideas, others have great characterizations. The best stories in Blue Champagne stand out in my mind because they have both. Real emotional depth of character and a well-formed extrapolation of technology and its related issues. There are a couple stories which are throw aways/filler - manhattan phone book and varley yarns - but even these 'stories' are amusingly ironic and worthy additions

I've read almost all John Varley's books and give my highest recommendation to ALL his collections of short stories: this one, Tango Charlie, Barbie Murders, etc. I loved the world he created and the way he continued it throughout all his short story collections. Read together, they present such regular features as symbs, an alien lifeforce that enters its human, after which the two coexist symbiotically in a most tender and intimate manner; their thus-transformed biochemistry is how both can work around Saturn's moons, where there's a continuing subplot of eco-monkey-wrenchers who are painting the rocks. Characters in the culture change their sex, not without soul searching, and experience their surroundings and relationships in enlightening new ways, and sometimes change back. I read everything I could get my hands on in one stream, and recommend your doing the same with all his short stories. They are wonderful read collectively. A couple of stand outs: Blue Champagne, about a gold cybernetic prostetis body for a paraplegic; Press Enter, about a unrelentingly evil computer; Tango Charlie, about a child who for years, with her pets, is the sole survivor on a space ship. (And it's been a decade since I read them). Enjoy!Conversely, I found his trilogy to be mediocre, tolerable, okay sci fi fare. Fun if you need something to read. Steel Beach gave me an ache. Without knowing a thing about the author's personal life, my immediate hit on it was that he's had too much psychotherapy, or something. I missed the brilliant voice of the short stories and could sense it there throughout Steel Beach, but it was as if the creative metaphors had been analyzed too much, taking most of the life out of them, or the talking cure was still going on but now in writing. The remaining glimmers and my respect for his past work kept me reading. Still and all, a great sci fi writer. Don't miss the short stories, one more time!

When I read the Titan trilogy some years ago I was bowled over by Varley's creativity. His complex metaphors based on biblical images, his mathematical logic with the Titanide runes and reproduction, and his development of relationships that transcended like-species. These things and more all combined to make me scour the bookstores for more of his work. When I found Blue Champagne, I was delighted. It is, as the previous reviewer mentioned on the down-side, but haunting. The title-piece has stayed in my memory and continued to tease me with unanswerable questions. From that time on I watched for new Varley releases. Steel Beach ended my watching for new works. The title is apt, it was a grey/grey book. Strange beyond sad, no one to care for, and the sorrow for this reader was very real. Savor the Blue Champagne. It is a fine vintage.

If you're tired of namby-pamby upbeat SF in "future perfect" tense, this book is for you. I can't believe it is out of print! It should be required reading for any true fan of science fiction. The stories are enthralling; the characters' lives are compelling. You'll lose yourself in Varley's vision.