The Ophiuchi Hotline

It is nice to know this book is in reprint. Having been fasinated with the idea of cloning since I was child and having been a firm believer in it since reading this book at the tender age of 16 (along with RAH's 'Friday') I am glad to know this book is available to a new generation of Science Ficion readers. Yes, he does set up the Jovians as a sort of 'god', but I believe, based on mans history, if we had the chance we would 'over run' another planet, therefore setting ourselves up as some type of 'god'

The only other book I've read by Varley is the relatively recent Steel Beach, which I enjoyed quite a bit, especially the opening line, which I still remember fondly to this day (if you've read the book you'll know what I'm talking about, if not, crack the book open in a bookstore and you'll see what I mean). The blueprint for a lot of the stuff in that novel can be found here, at least when it comes to Varley's worldview and his interpretation of SF. He does a clever thing in this novel and puts forward a situation that has already happened long in the book's past, so that while it informs the character's present actions, the reader wasn't really there for it, it's part of history. Here, the premise is that humanity has been kicked off Earth by the super-powerful Invaders, who apparently get along real well with dolphins and whatever lives inside Jupiter. Humanity, with nowhere left to go, spreads throughout the solar system and tries to make do with the fact that the homeworld is off limits. Over the years they've been getting all their information from something called the Hotline, a laser beam of information from an unknown source that they can only translate partially, but what they can figure out has made life interesting for everyone. In this novel, the presentation is just as important as the plot and Varley pulls out all the stops to depict his wild future history, of a human culture adapted to the stars, where sex changes and physical changes are completely ordinary . . . for all the wacky stuff, he manages to make it feel real, not an easy thing to do. The plot has to do with a man named Tweed trying to figure out how to get rid of the Invaders . . . to that end he gathers various people who have been kicked out of society and tries to use them . . . sometimes cloning them when things go slightly awry. The issues of cloning and genetics are consistently impressive and well thought out, almost surreal in a sense, especially when it focuses on the slightly rebellious main character Lilo, who keeps getting cloned more often than she'd like. Meanwhile just to make things more complicated, the Hotline seems to have sent along a phone bill, and no one is quite sure what that's supposed to mean. This is a lot of story for such a slim book and Varley manages to pull it off with a lot of skill, although the ending is still rather abrupt and the plot seems to lose focus toward the end. It can also be said that the idea of humanity playing third fiddle to just about everyone is sort of depressing and certainly not the most uplifting concept, but hey, life is like that sometimes. Not everything comes up roses all the time. His people soldier on anyway, determined to live their lives, even if in the cosmic scheme of things it's utterly pointless. Not a crowd pleasing premise, but the images and ideas he puts forward are amazing, his future is just as fully realized and complex as the real world and you won't regret any of the time you

This collection of short stories, and one novella, is wonderful; by far the best work of one of the best SF writers. His ability to convey spectacular alien environments in a few words is unparalleled. 'The Phantom of Kansas', the first story in the book, sets the tone...wild imagination, brilliant plot twists, wonderful conclusion.The Persistence of Vision, the last story in the book, though, is on another level entirely. It is so good that when I couldn't find a copy of the book to give to a friend, I typed it in to give it to her. The 40 hours of typing let me enjoy his work (that I had reread many times) on a whole new level; by having to concentrate on every word, every bit of punctuation, I was astonished again at his skill as a wordsmith -- not just as a spectacular storyteller.This is my favorite book.

Wow! Reading this book was a blast. It's pretty complex, what with all of the converging/diverging plotlines, but that makes it all the more fun. There are so many different ways to give a summary of this book - every one I've seen, from this website, to the book cover, to discussion groups, has an interpretation which, when taken collectively, doesn't sound like the same book. All I'll say is that it involves humanity learning of its standing in the universe, but on the way to the answer, you get to read about cloning, genetic manipulation, alien invasion, time-space travel, transmissions from deep space, etc.I admire John Varley's ability to fit SO MUCH plot into a 200-page book. The man has a fantastic imagination.Final note - "Javelin" has to be the most interesting and original character I've read of in years.

Varly has many intresting notions about the future of thechnology, politics and genetical engineering. I recomend it.